German Bishops Tell Vatican: Catholics Reject Sex Rules

Chicago Tribune
February 4, 2014

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-vatican-familygermany-20140203,0,4186314.story

* Survey shows wide rejection of rules on sexual morality

* Catholics want looser stance on remarriage after divorce

* Report boost pressure for reform at Vatican synod

By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Germany's Catholic bishops,

responding to a worldwide Vatican survey, said on Monday that

many Church teachings on sexual morality were either unknown to

the faithful there or rejected as unrealistic and heartless.

They said the survey, drawn up for a synod on possible

reforms in October, showed most German Catholics disputed Church

bans on birth control and premarital or gay sex and criticised

rules barring the divorced from remarriage in church.

The results will not be news to many Catholics, especially

in affluent Western countries, but the blunt official admission

of this wide gap between policy and practice is uncommon and

bound to raise pressure on Pope Francis to introduce reforms.

Bishops in Germany, one of the richest and most influential

national churches in the 1.2-billion-strong Catholic world, have

been pressing the Vatican to reform, especially over divorce.