Last week, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, reported on survey responses from U.S. dioceses in preparation for October’s first session of the Synod of Bishops on the family. Kurtz’s report was underwhelming at best …

“There is no real dialogue here, no real listening, only the assumption that Catholics will change their minds if bishops talk louder and longer …

“One large national survey that went mostly unnoticed by the media is worth discussing here because it provided an opportunity for Catholics from anywhere in the U.S. to give feedback, not only those in the 72 U.S. dioceses out of 195 that offered online surveys. Conducted in November and December by 15 progressive Catholic organizations, the survey reports on 16,582 respondents from across the United States …”

By Christine Schenk, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this column.

Voice of the Faithful® was among the progressive Catholic organizations supporting this survey.