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VPR's coverage of arts and culture in the region.

Group Says Vermont Catholics Not Consulted For Vatican Survey

Concerned Catholics of Vermont (CCOVT) says it has filed an official objection with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington over the handling of a survey conducted by church bishops on behalf of the Vatican.

The group says Catholic laity in Vermont was not consulted by then-Bishop Salvatore Matano when the Vatican asked bishops to poll parishioners on a range of church teachings.

Matano was appointed to lead the diocese of Rochester, N.Y. last November.

The survey precedes an ‘extraordinary synod of Bishops’ next month and is designed to gather Catholic’s views on family issues including birth control, divorce and same-sex marriage.

Last year, when the survey was announced, the Vatican encouraged bishops to disseminate it as widely as possible, including at the parish level. Some U.S. dioceses chose to post surveys online to gather lay input.

CCOVT says after requesting information from the Burlington Diocese late last year, it was told that Matano had already submitted a survey response on behalf of Vermont Catholics. The group says it also contacted Matano in Rochester, who, "declined to indicate the nature of the consultation or the specific content of his reply to the survey."

In a news release the group said, “given the manner in which the survey for the Extraordinary Synod was addressed by the diocese, Vermont Catholics have no notion what was reported to Rome about how we access the surveyed issues and, given no information about the consultation undertaken, we have no grounds for knowing whether the report was accurate.”

Concerned Catholics of Vermont was founded last year with a mission, “to promote and encourage thoughtful and respectful discussion within the larger Vermont Catholic community.”

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington has not responded to VPR’s request for information about how the survey was conducted. 

Steve has been with VPR since 1994, first serving as host of VPR’s public affairs program and then as a reporter, based in Central Vermont. Many VPR listeners recognize Steve for his special reports from Iran, providing a glimpse of this country that is usually hidden from the rest of the world. Prior to working with VPR, Steve served as program director for WNCS for 17 years, and also worked as news director for WCVR in Randolph. A graduate of Northern Arizona University, Steve also worked for stations in Phoenix and Tucson before moving to Vermont in 1972. Steve has been honored multiple times with national and regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for his VPR reporting, including a 2011 win for best documentary for his report, Afghanistan's Other War.
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