University of Western Australia academic Dr Philippa Martyr said while the full report of the international survey contained rich material from the open-ended responses, subsequent reporting in the media highlighted responses to the "loaded" closed questions.

Dr Martyr is a contributor to a current study by the University of Notre Dame Australia surveying Australians who identify as Catholic about their beliefs and practices.

The report authored by Dr Tracy McEwan and Dr Kathleen McPhillips from the University of Newcastle, and Professor Tina Beattie at the University of Roehampton in London, was commissioned by the Catholic Women Speak network and is being submitted to the Vatican as part of the process of Synod 2021-23.

The findings were drawn from responses submitted by 17,200 women from 104 countries from 8 March to 26 April this year.

The survey included more than 20 closed questions, where respondents were invited to choose from a set of responses about their faith, practice and views about the Church, and only three open-ended questions.

The study aims to provide insights into the Catholic population in this country and inform understanding of it might develop in the future.

"What is disappointing is not only the loaded nature of the survey, but also that those were the findings that they showcased at the front end in the executive summary when actually there was some really lovely rich data that could have been showcased, but wasn't, and someone made a decision about that," she said.

When the survey was released in March, Dr Martyr wrote in The Catholic Weekly that most of the questions are "deliberately exclusive of conservative Catholics" and allowed for no nuance in responses.

"For example, we're asked if we think radical reform is needed in the Church. I do think that radical reform is needed in the Church - but my idea of ‘radical' and someone else's is going to be completely different," she wrote.

Sources

Catholic Weekly

CathNews New Zealand

The Overcoming the Silence campaign encourages women to be more assertive in making their voices heard.

The Church must elevate women to leadership positions if it is to restore trust following sexual abuse scandals, says Sydney woman Stephanie Lorenzo.

Lorenzo is spearheading the global campaign to give women and lay men a greater voice inside the church.

The campaign organisers suggest women write short messages to Church leaders explaining why women should be represented alongside them in decision-making roles.

The campaign's official website urges women to post selfies online or on Instagram so their messages can reach the widest possible audience.

"If women can give birth to more children of god why can't we make decisions that will effect them?" one post says.

"It is time for women to have proper roles in the church. We don't live in the dark ages anymore. Women HAVE RIGHTS!" another post says.

Men are supporting women too by posting notes on the campaign's website:

"It's time our Church leaders act on what they have preached for years — the dignity and equality of women — let them place more women in positions of meaningful leadership in the Church alongside priests and bishops," one says.

One of the campaign's chief goals is to have 30 percent of all leadership roles in the Church at a global level open to, and occupied by, women.

This is part of a broader plan to empower women and have them stand on an equal level to men within the Catholic Church hierarchy.

The Catholic Women Speak website which is supporting the campaign says:

"We believe that the global diversity of Catholic women is a gift to be shared and not a problem to be solved.

"We represent many different cultures and ways of life, and we look for a Church in which these can be fully embraced and affirmed as sources of wisdom and resources for transformation."

The campaigners point out Catholic women are almost totally excluded from positions of leadership in the Church.

"For example, more than 50 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics are women, but less than three percent of the Vatican's leaders are female."

The website notes the Vatican is not only excluding women from Church affairs either.

"Vatican City is now the only state in the world in which women are officially denied the right to vote" the Catholic Women Speak website says.

Source

• La Croix
• The World News
• Image: ABC