Why weren't we included?

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broker252

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The diocese in which I reside sent out a survey to Catholics who have not been active in a significant amount of time in an attempt to get them to list their concerns about how things are run and what made them leave in the first place. I am a little disappointed that the survey did not branch out to those that do go to church and remain active who do have many of the same concerns. If you were to search this online, you can see the survey and the results and answers and it was quite astounding.

I feel that even those who go regularly should have a chance to contribute and that the diocese should take the (name removed by moderator)ut of a larger group as we have many of the same concerns.

Feel free to view this link to see exactly what was asked along with the answers.

americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?entry_id=5015
 
I think this is a brave and intelligent move and the survey seems well-designed for its purpose. It does not of course indicate anything about those who are still in the fold, or those who are out and don’t want to say why. Other groups, particularly the marginalised and illiterate are probably not picked up either. None-the-less this Bishop now knows stuff he did not know before. i don’t imagine he will be altering church teaching on transubstantiation to get back the person who mentioned that but there is obvious scope to deal with what anti-abortion ex-Catholics perceive as an ‘over-emphasis’ on that issue. I would be worried, if I were the Bishop, about the comments on sermons. Does any diocese have a programme of quality control on these?
 
I think that the comment about the church not being only the priests and the hierarchy, but also those in the pews speaks volumes. There are plenty of well educated people with plenty of common sense whose ideas and outlooks most certainly can have something to offer. Unfortunately, the problem of arrogant, closed minded priests is very real and it needs to be addressed. They should look directly at us, not down on us. I heard a quote in the past that is so true. “The church should be a hospital for sinners, not a social club for saints.”
 
Is it possible for you to complete the survey on your own and send it to the bishop’s office, with a note explaining your position?
 
I’m not sure. I suppose I can contact the diocese and and request one. It appears that it targeted people who have not been active. That’s a problem. It needs to include people that are still active so that it can be a true representation. I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way too.
 
broker252 said:
I’m not sure. I suppose I can contact the diocese and and request one. It appears that it targeted people who have not been active. That’s a problem. It needs to include people that are still active so that it can be a true representation. I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way too.
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Well, they are trying to address a problem in the Church today, to get the inactive Catholic back into the fold. The sole purpose wasn’t to uncover their concerns only and I’m sure you probably have many of the same concerns but that wasn’t the purpose of the survey. You are not part of the problem so you are not part of trying to find a solution to why people have left the Church. Your participation actually wouldn’t be a true representation. If the Church was using the survey to find out the issues that people find problematic and then only asking inactive Catholics that would skew the results, it wouldn’t be a true representation. But that wasn’t the purpose of the survey.
 
I disagree with your statement Patrice. I think it was conducted incorrectly as aw whole. It should have been randomly generated by a computer and should have gotten the points of views of the Catholics in the diocese of all walks. Not only those who have left. it shouldn’t target a single group. They should recognize that even active participants have concerns.
 
broker252 said:
I disagree with your statement Patrice. I think it was conducted incorrectly as aw whole. It should have been randomly generated by a computer and should have gotten the points of views of the Catholics in the diocese of all walks. Not only those who have left. it shouldn’t target a single group. They should recognize that even active participants have concerns.
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You’re missing the point. They know concerns exist, that’s not the problem they are addressing at this point with this survey… They are addressing the problem of Catholics walking away from the Church. You’re not an inactive Catholic, you do not meet the criteria of the people they are addressing, you are not the problem so you can’t participate in the solution. If and when the Church wants to address concerns by all parishoners, active and inactive, then you would have a reason to be upset for not being included.

Our former parish recently sent out a survey to families that had children enrolled in their school and then left. They wanted to get a picture of why families left. If they included current families still enrolled in the school, the results would be skewed. Even if the current families shared many of the same concerns as the families that left, it still would not be an accurate survery.
 
Again, it’s an incomplete survey in my opinion. I’m a well educated person and I feel you have to look at the big picture to get truly accurate results. Let’s be realistic, a tiny percentage of those that left will return. They should look into the people who are present and the concerns they have to prevent them from leaving too. They know who is present and I think a much more accurate finding would be received if it included a random sample more representative of the whole population. I’m not saying to crank out 900,000 surveys. But 3000 may have given a more true reading.
 
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