Forty years ago our parents had to get married if they wanted to have sex and children. Those who flouted the convention were either careless or brave. Today, nearly half of the children born in New Zealand are born outside marriage. At any one time, though, only about 12 per cent of them live with Read more
A record low 20,900 marriages took place In New Zealand last year, less than one-third of the number in 1971 and one half of the 1987 rate. In 2010 the marriage rate was 12.5 per 1000 unmarried adults. 273 resident civil unions were registered, of which 73 per cent were same-sex. Catholic Centre family life adviser Sue Devereux said Read more
I was married for a long time to a man addicted to porn. I am now divorced. I became aware of his addiction early in our marriage. I found the ‘girlie’ magazines hidden under the bed, read, he said, for the articles. I wanted to believe him. Every time I found them, I felt nauseous, Read more
Divorced Catholics should look elsewhere for God’s mercy, somewhere other than the Eucharist, the Head of the Vatican’s council for family, Cardinal Ennio Antonelli told a conference for Latin American bishops. The Catholic Church welcomes those who are divorced and remarried, but, “mercy is inseparable from the truth,” he said. “Those who are divorced and Read more
A validity of a study claiming Catholics are more supportive of gay and lesbian rights than the general population and other Christians is being seriously questioned. The study “fails the “gold standard” of social surveys’ according to Dr Mark M. Gray, director of CARA Catholic Polls and a research associate for the Center for Applied Read more