The Australian bishops' Pastoral Projects Office has released the full report of a research project into "disconnected Catholics" as the project moves to its second consultative stage.Catholic dioceses, organisations and other interested people will have the opportunity to respond to a research project which explores why some Catholics have stopped going to Mass, the Pastoral Projects Office says in a statement.
The findings of the Disconnected Catholics research project were earlier presented in summary form to the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference at its November 2006 meeting.
Forty-one people aged from 29 to 74 were interviewed for the qualitative research project.
The reasons they gave for ceasing to attend Mass covered a range of church-related issues as well as inter-personal, cultural and social factors.
However, half the participants said they still attend Mass occasionally and almost one third said they might return to weekly Mass attendance in the future.
The full report, released this week, provides many personal accounts from those interviewed in the research.
Director of the Pastoral Projects Office, Mr Bob Dixon, said that, in asking for this research to be carried out, the Bishops have shown a desire to understand the views and experiences of Catholics who have stopped going to Mass According to the statement, with the release of the full report, the project will now enter its second phase, of consultation.
"We have designed a process of consultation to seek responses from leadership and consultative bodies in dioceses and other Catholic organisations," Mr Dixon said. "We also welcome feedback from others who read the report. The purpose of the consultation process is to assist us to prepare recommendations that will help the Church enhance its pastoral practices at national, diocesan and parish level."
Mr Dixon said that he hope the report will stimulate discussion and action in the Church.
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Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce