Knowledge Needs, Acquisition, and Use among the Catholic Bishops of the Philippines

This research jointly undertaken by the Institute of Philippine Culture (IPC) and the John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (JJCICSI) aims to ascertain the knowledge needs, acquisition, and use of the Catholic bishops of the Philippines. Using semi-structured, face-to-face interviewing with 62 bishops who consented to participate in the study, the study seeks to find out which social issues are deemed most important by the bishops, and the programs that are being implemented to address these social issues by the (arch)bishops in their respective (arch) dioceses, vicariates, or prelatures. The research also intends to find out the social issues on which the bishops would like to receive information (knowledge needs); the sources of information they either trust or distrust (knowledge acquisition); and for what purposes they use information on social issues (knowledge use). In addition, the study probes the bishops' personal stand on some social issues -- including issues involving the family -- and their views of some Post-Conciliar Popes, including the present pope, Pope Francis.