About 4,300 people have filled in the Maltese version of the Vatican’s questionnaire, which was distributed to 160,000 households, on the wishes of Pope Francis, in an attempt to identify pastoral challenges.
“I am very happy with this response,” said Joe Inguanez, director of Discern, the Church’s research institute which reformulated the questionnaire.
Although simplified, the questions have been deemed by many to be too difficult to answer with some even arguing that the questionnaire could only be compiled by theologians.
“Considering the circumstances, the obstacles and the bad press, this is a good turnout,” said Fr Inguanez.
The final number of surveys submitted will probably reach 5,000 as the Curia is still waiting for questionnaires from Gozo and other parishes in Malta.
“We are still inputting data and people are still in time to submit the questionnaire,” he said.
Several households complained to Times of Malta that they never received the questionnaire, something which has been worrying Fr Inguanez. “We are aware of this and we’ll be taking the issue up with Maltapost, because distribution was in their hands.”
A question of the sort needs a book to explain it
He said the surveys received were mostly filled in, but some of the questions were left blank or had “too difficult” written in the answer box.
The question which went unanswered most was: “What do you understand by Natural Law?”
Fr Inguanez himself admitted that a question of the sort “needs a book to explain it” and that it is a “debatable concept in philosophy these days”.
He said the basic principle was that these are laws which talk of an act everyone feels is wrong or right, as the case may be, such as “do not kill” or “love thy neighbour”.
“It is universally felt that man should not kill, even though some do kill,” he said by way of example.
When it was pointed out that the American survey did not carry the question and that it was made up of four easy-to-understand questions, Fr Inguanez said: “Originally the American bishops were not going to send out the questionnaire and then they went ahead with a very simplified version.”
He insisted, however, that they were not given a research brief by the Vatican and that Discern just wanted to make sure no one would point fingers at the Maltese Curia and accuse it of “censoring certain questions”.
The data gathered will be compiled into a private report and sent to Rome by the end of January. Gozo Bishop Mario Grech will then officially present it at the Bishops’ synod in October.