The Divorced People Living in New Relationships in Reality of Polish Church. Observations Inspired by a Questionnaire Carried out Before the Synod.

Abstract

The crisis of a family that destroys the western civilization is the great challenge to Church to evangelize those who have lost their faith. The family is the basic environment of transmission of faith and this question should be taken into consideration. This problem induced the Pope Francis to  devote  the  approaching  General  Synod  of  Bishops  to  discussing  this  matter.  Along  with a preparatory document to the Synod, the questionnaire has been sent to each episcopate. It contained questions concerning the reception of the Catholic teaching on the family, all kinds of difficult cases and pastoral experience which local churches have in answering these problems. Among other things, specified in the document, there appeared the question of the baptized, who after a divorce entered into a new non-sacramental relationship. The authors of the questionnaire are interested in the percentage of the faithful the problem concerns, identifying the way they cope with their problem and the evaluation to what degree they have been included in the appropriate pastoral care programs.

In the Polish Church this problem undoubtedly grew stronger in last decades. The official statistics show big increase in the number of divorces and new marriages. Couples living together without a Church wedding take their difficult situation emotionally from being indifferent to it, feeling social discomfort, bearing a grudge for it, being embittered, feeling the rejection to sincere longing for the sacramental life or expressing a genuine grief because of evil that had happened in their lives. It should be stated that in spite of the presence of this question in the pastoral care programs and courageous activities of individual priests - the pastoral care of people in non- sacramental marriages in such a degree as it is carried out by Polish Church does not answer the problem.