Our present Catholic Church is facing enormous challenges. Some so-called ‘doctrines’ are not actually based on Sacred Scripture or genuine Tradition, but on mistaken philosophical or scientific beliefs going back to Greco-Roman times and the Middle Ages. Some moral teachings overlook the hard evidence provided by the modern sciences.

Our Institute investigates such issues in depth. We try to understand what is involved and formulate the correct answer. This we do with the help of scholars from academic institutions all over the world. We then present our findings to church leaders, teachers and the community at large.

Below is an outline of the various steps in this process.

Defining the question

The problem often arises from contemporary pronouncements by church authorities, especially Popes or departments of the Roman Curia operating from the Vatican.

The issue needs to be analysed to discern what exactly is at stake.  This involves a first critical assessment of the relevant papal documents, and the reaction by believers and by academic scholars.

Our core team, with the help of external scholars whenever needed, develops an INITIAL DRAFT which sums up questions that need to be answered, and some of the principal evidence relevant to answering them.

Constructing the Report

A workgroup of academic experts, invited by the Institute to volunteer their time and expertise, contribute by adding to a shared online document the relevant evidence they are aware of, together with their own observations and conclusions.

The shared online document is known as a ‘WIKI’. Each member of the workgroup has access to the WIKI and can add to the text. It is not unlike a common mural to which all members of a community can contribute.

This grows out, in the course of time, to a fully-fledged REPORT which is continually pruned and trimmed by our research coordinator.

The experts of the workgroup hail from a wide spectrum of disciplines. Our Report on the Ethics of Contraception, for instance, was constructed by dogmatic and moral theologians, Bible scholars, church historians, sociologists, biologists, psychologists and others.

Testing the Statement

The findings of the Report are then summarised in an academic statement. This is submitted to an international network of scholars for their assessment.

The declaration is drawn up by the research coordinator and his core team. Members of the workgroup become the first level of signatories.

It is then translated into many languages. Our Statement on the Ethics of Free and Faithful Same-Sex Relationships, for instance, has been translated into eight languages. Apart from the original English they are: German, Spanish, Tagalog, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish and Slovenian.

To test the Statement – like testing a vaccine – it is submitted to university professors and academic specialists all over the world. They assess the validity of the Declaration and express approval by co-signing it.

Launching the Statement

We launch the Academic Statement at a public event to make it reach as wide an audience as possible.

Our Declaration on the Ethics of Contraception, for example, was widely reported on in the media:

• National newspapers. The Huffington Post (USA), The Sunday Times (UK), The Irish Times, Het Nederlands Dagblad, ABC (Australia), etc.
• Religious magazines. The National Catholic Reporter and AMERICA Magazine (USA), The Tablet and the Catholic Herald (UK), Adista (Italy), Revista Javeriana (Colombia), etc.
• Social Media. Facebook groups pages, newsletters of Catholic reform movements, etc.

Overview