Bishop Thomas John Paprocki has announced that a questionnaire available at the diocese's website will be part of the 2015 Ordinary Synod of Bishops in Rome next October. The theme of the assembly is "The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and Contemporary World."

All of the Catholic faithful in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois are invited to respond to the questionnaire. The responses will help inform Pope Francis and the Synod of Bishops about the challenges faced by today's families and enable them to discuss and develop appropriate pastoral solutions.

"I ask Catholics to prayerfully and purposefully consider each question in the questionnaire," said Bishop Paprocki. "These important questions will assist me in offering a summary on the Synod's theme of marriage and the family."

The link to the questionnaire is available online at www.dio.org.

The responses will be assembled, summarized and presented to the bishop who will share the findings with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for incorporation into a document that will be forwarded to the Vatican for use at the Synod.

To help prepare for the meeting, Pope Francis asked bishops worldwise to consult with the faithful in developing a new set of questions aimed at getting a better understanding of the challenges faced today by families. The lineamenta, or outline, will explore three parts:

1. Listening: The Context and Challenges of the Family,

2. Looking at Christ: The Gospel of the Family, and

3. Confronting the Situation: Pastoral Perspectives.

The deadline for submitting reponses is March 1.

In 2013, the Catholic bishops of the world were asked to respond to a series of questions to prepare for the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops held in 2014. The responses to theose questions were examined thoroughly in an effort to more deeply understand the new challenges of the family.