Something had to change when most parents in a Spanish town were not married but wanted their children baptised or requested the children receive their first holy communion. Change happened, and Catholic couples in Sebastián de los Reyes are now lining up for a “macro wedding”. It is a new option for the parish, and Read more
As the marriage rate continues to decline in 2024 in the U.S., Catholic women discussed the struggles of modern dating in a segment on “EWTN News In Depth.” “I didn’t expect to be single into my 40s. That was not my plan,” said Anastasia Northrop (pictured), a Catholic woman who founded the National Catholic Singles Read more
More than 1.5 million couples globally have transformed their marriages after attending The Marriage Course, a marriage boot camp. Recently, fifteen couples marked the end of their transformative journey as they received blessings and celebrated the culmination of the seven-week course at Ryde Gladesville Catholic Parish near Sydney, Australia. Led by parish priest Fr Greg Read more
Joseph Henrich, an agnostic, credits the Catholic Church for shaping WEIRD culture, which represents less than 1% of the world’s population and is characterized by being Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. In his analysis, he connects the term “weird” to a significant event in global history – the implementation of the “Marriage and Family Read more
Realising that Western society was becoming increasingly secularised and practising Catholics were finding it difficult to meet romantic prospects who shared their core values and beliefs, Father Fernando Cuevas took it upon himself to help them. The Spanish priest from the city of Valencia has been dubbed the “Tinder Priest” because of his impressive matchmaking Read more
According to a new breakdown of Australian census statistics, Catholics have smaller families, are better educated and more diverse than ever, but are also older and are less likely to be married. The 2021 social profile of the Catholic community in Australia, prepared by the National Centre for Pastoral Research from census data released last Read more
Italy’s new right-wing government has submitted a $35 billion budget plan to the country’s parliament last week, without a controversial proposal from one of the parties that compose the governing majority to subsidise marriages in the Catholic Church. Read more
Louisa Wall, the Labour member of parliament for Manurewa in New Zealand, says the Catholic Church should stay out of the current Australian discussion about same-gender marriage because it lacks moral authority. She told the BuzzFeed political podcast Is It On? she is perplexed by the prominent role of the Catholic Church and its leaders in Read more
Kevin and Madeleine Feeney married in Auckland in 1954, built their dream home in Takapuna in 1957, lived there for 60 years, and had a joint send off — their coffins side by side — at St Luke’s Catholic Church in Bayswater, on August 4. Last year they moved from Takapuna into a retirement village Read more
I haven’t written in this space for some time, but now that the election is over some additional interventions seem necessary to capture what’s happening in Roman Catholicism’s remarkable period of controversy. My Sunday column talked a bit about the way in which varying interpretations of “Amoris Laetitia,” Pope Francis’s apostolic exhortation on the family, have Read more