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
Keep the lines of communication open, and buy gold. Those are the two things and the only things my husband and I learned in our marriage preparation classes 25 years ago. It’s hard to say which bit of advice was less helpful. We already knew communication was important, but what we really needed was practice. Read more
Couples must wait at least a year – up from six months – to celebrate their nuptials if they want a church wedding in Singapore. Singapore’s archdiocese says Archbishop William Goh Seng Chye changed the policy for booking churches for weddings after discussions with the archdiocese’s priests. The new policy aims to ensure couples take Read more
There is no such thing as a normal marriage Cardinal Vincent Nichols told the World Meeting of Families in a keynote address. “Everyone is different” and all married couples will go through periods of difficulty. Fragility and brokenness are part of that. Couples and families often need resources and support, Nichols said, although they should Read more
Priests are not the best people to train others for marriage, according to the head of the Vatican’s office for the family. “They have no credibility; they have never lived the experience; they may know moral theology, dogmatic theology in theory, but to go from there to putting it into practice every day … they Read more
Priests lack the necessary experience to offer marriage preparation programmes for engaged couples, says Cardinal Kevin Farrell. Farrell is the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Read more
Father Michael Delcambre looked at his congregation on Sunday and realised he had what other pastors might call an unusual sight. He counted 10 newly married couples sitting right there in the pews, and they were regulars. “I wondered if these couples would be coming to Mass if we had not really gone out of Read more
The Church’s doctrinal chief says the synod on the family faces a challenge in helping people in difficult situations while staying true to Jesus’ teaching. In a recent interview, Cardinal Gerhard Muller said the synod in October will need to deal with “the challenge of finding pastoral solutions to ensure a stronger integration of people Read more
A British government-backed study calculates that every British Pound spent on marriage preparation courses could save the taxpayer up to £11.50. The report follows on estimates that broken relationships cost Britain between £20 – £44 billion annually and emphasises that when the social cost of separation is taken into account successful relationship initiatives could pay for themselves Read more