Supporting marriage and family in the 21st century

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PROVIDENCE — A few years ago, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) created the “National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage.” The initiative, approved in November of 2004, is a multiyear effort to develop not only a pastoral letter on marriage, but also give those who assist engaged couples preparing for marriage the necessary resources and support needed that will help strengthen their union.

Defining what marriage is and should be, both as a human institution and sacramental reality, has been cause of great concern and debate over the last half of the 20th century. The rise in divorce, a declining marriage rate, non-marital cohabitation, and same sex unions necessitates finding a new approach to promote, teach and sustain Christian marriages in order to maintain the life-giving and love-giving elements needed to keep children, families and the church strong.

On a local level, those assisting in preparing engaged couples, face the daunting task as to what topics and issues should be taught and when to begin teaching them. No doubt, we do a good job preparing our children for First Penance, Eucharist, and Confirmation and this process is done over a period of years. Clearly, preparing a couple for a sacrament that is a life-long commitment must be given the same consideration and challenge. As church, we also recognize that married couples need the support of the faith community from newlyweds through the senior years.

The initiative’s purpose as outlined, is a broadly based collaborative effort to strengthen marriage. The centerpiece will be a pastoral letter emphasizing the bishops’ teaching and pastoral responsibilities. Contemporary concerns about marriage will be addressed from the point of view of Catholic teaching and pastoral practice. What is truly unique about this initiative is that it will seek out expertise from diverse sources to include engaged and married couples, social scientists, theologians, educators, communication experts, as well as others. The initiative, which is broken down into three phases, began earlier this year.

The first phase, Preparation and Development, was initiated and lasted from 2005-2006. These were the topics and issues that were cited in the pastoral letter and how best to communicate them. To do this, various methods were employed including, focus groups, symposiums, conducting research for empirical data, as well as previous published reports on marriage, to name a few.

The second phase, the writing and approval of the pastoral letter, is now in progress. This is based on the activities, research, and findings from phase one.

Finally, the third phase, is the implementation and follow-up. It is hoped that this will lead to further development and application of the themes in the pastoral letter. As stated in the initiative, “The intent should be to share the Christian message on marriage, in all its aspects, in as many ways possible.” This could be the catalyst leading to creating and revising policies and programs encompassing marriage as a life-long process and as church, have the ability and resources to address the needs of any particular age and cultural groups. In addition, the initiative will also act as a vehicle to advocate for marriage preparation and education toward public policies affecting marriage. Finally, by promoting and working with other churches, religious and civic organizations, we can help others to prepare for marriage and support them which in turn builds a stronger community beyond the boundaries of a local parish.

The Diocese of Providence is playing an active role of the initiative. In addition to working with the USCCB, we are collaborating with the National Association of Catholic Family and Life Ministers (NACFLM) and The Church in the 21st Century Center, based at Boston College.

With God’s help, the National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage will help serve as a beacon, allowing marriage and families to adapt to the issues and problems today and in the future based on the solid foundation of the church’s teachings.