Catholic Marriage and Family Links

Marriage Preparation (Pre-Cana) Classes
You can register for the Marriage Preparation classes provided in your county at the New York Archdiocese web site.

A Basic Theology of Marriage
Description: Over two thirds of what the Catholic Church has ever said about marriage in her two thousand year history has come from John Paul II's pontificate.

A Case For Earlier Marriage
Description: - This essay explains the problems with postponing marriage until later in life and what the benefits would be for couples who choose to marry in their early twenties.

A Catholic Perspective on Domestic Partnership
Description: - The first of a two-part letter from Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde details Church teaching on marriage and family and its relationship to "domestic partnerships."

A Catholic Perspective On Domestic Partnerships, Part Two
Description: - The second of a two-part letter from Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde details Church teaching on marriage and family and its relationship to "domestic partnerships."

A Wonderful Site for Catholic Singles and Friends
Description: The best and easiest catholic dating club in the world! Date your love and look for your friends! Here you can find the happiness you are earnestly longing for!

Adoption
Description:

An Uncommon Policy Regarding Marriage
Description: - An article about the vital need for a re-evaluation of the annulment policy if we want to stem the erosion of the Sacrament of Matrimony.

Annulment Mentality: What You Can Do About It
Description: - This article outlines ways for parish priests to prevent unfounded cases of nullity from reaching the tribunal, thus reversing the annulment mentality.

Anthropological and Ethical Thoughts on Whether Domestic Partnerships Should Have Same Legal Status
Description: - Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Genoa, Italy writes on the legal status of domestic partnerships.

Apostleship for Family Consecration
Description: - Home page of the Apostolate for Family Consecration, an international association of Christ's faithful that seeks to simultaneously sanctify family and parish life.

Apostolate for Peace in the Family
Description: - A Catholic based professional counseling service by telephone.

Association of Catholic Families
Description: - Association of Catholic families headquartered in the United Kingdom, who try to give one another mutual, moral, spiritual and social support by linking committed Catholic families locally, nationally and internationally.

Australian Federation for the Family
Description: - Protecting the Family from pornography through political lobbying; conducting and disseminating research related to exposure and desensitization to pornography.

Banns of Marriage
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Beyond Dating
Description: - Today youth ministers, and even some teens, are sounding an alarm, that dating may be more intense and destructive than it was for their parents.

Bigamy
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Breaking Vows: When Faithful Catholics Divorce
Description: This article examines the growing but little-discussed phenomenon of faithful Catholic couples divorcing. Catholics can sometimes convince themselves that they aren't part of the same culture as the rest of the world.

Can same-sex marriage be stopped?
Description: - The marriage movement today is where the pro-life movement was on the eve of Roe v. Wade. That is, it is about to lose everything ? unless, that is, something is done.

Canonical Impediments
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Catechesis on the Sacrament of Marriage
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Catholic Family and Human Rights
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Catholic Family Ministries
Description: A Catholic community living its faith in accordance with the Magisterium and whose apostolate is to bring Jesus Christ to others with an emphasis on family evangelization.

Catholic Moms Place on the Internet
Description: Fellowship and Fun Ideas! Devotions, E-Discussion Groups, Catholic Shopping, Family Traditions, NFP Resources and Comments, E-Cards, Prayer Request Page.

Catholic Parents Online
Description: - Mission is to build a network of faithful, dynamic, and informed parents, students, and alumni, committed to working with Catholic schools and other programs of education to ensure the authentic teaching and protection of the Catholic Faith.

CatholicBrides.com
Description: CatholicBrides.com is the premier destination site for engaged couples preparing for their marriage in the Catholic church. We have secured the copyright permissions to the Rite of Marriage in both Canada and the US to provide easy to follow templates that guide couples through the process of preparing their Catholic Wedding Programs. Additionally, we are resource of information on such areas as engagement, the Catholic wedding ceremony and on our Catholic faith in general.

Chastity Begins at Home Parental Rights and Chastity Education
Description: - What are the rights and duties of parents when it comes to chastity education? How can they effectively resolve their concerns regarding chastity education programs at a parish or school in a constructive manner?

Children Need Morality
Description: - In his 1929 encyclical Christian Education of Youth, Pope Pius XI taught that, "particularly in young people, evil practices are the effect not so much of ignorance of intellect as of weakness of a will exposed to dangerous occasions . . ."

Christian Marriage
Description: - Christian Marriage is the full text of the 1969 Lenten Pastoral, signed on behalf of the Irish Hierarchy.

Christian Marriage: A Covenant of Love and Life
Description: - Pastoral Letter by Cardinal Law, Archbishop of Boston on marriage, issued on March 25, 1998.

Church Weddings: Obligation to Faith or Family?
Description: Fr. Saunders clears up the thorny question of what to do if someone close — friend of family — is marrying outside the Church.

Civil Marriage
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Cohabitation -- A Compilation
Description: - A compilation of documents and articles on the subject of cohabitation before marriage.

Cohabitation and Marriage in the Church
Description: - A Letter on Cohabitation and Marriage by Archbishop Sheehan of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, NM.

Cohabitation Before Marriage
Description: - Pastoral Letter issued by the Kansas Bishops directed to engaged couples who cohabit and to those involved in their marriage preparation.

Cohabitation Fails As A Test For Marriage
Description: - This article explains why the act in the bedroom has no sacred meaning unless it is an expression of the marital sacrament celebrated and forged at the altar.

Cohabitation: Response Over Reaction
Description: - This article by Barbara Markey advises priests preparing couples for the Sacrament of Matrimony how to respond when faced with the issue of cohabitation.

Common Benefits
Description: - Proponents of same-sex marriage have made major inroads within the American legal system, although they have not yet won any significant popular support.

Contemporary Dating as Serial Monogamy
Description: - A thought-provoking article on patterns of teenage dating.

Couple to Couple League
Description: - International, interfaith, non-profit organization dedicated to teaching Natural Family Planning (NFP) to married and engaged couples.

Day Care Dangers (and the Double-Income Myth)
Description: - Children who spend long hours in non-maternal child care are more likely to be aggressive and disobedient, and less likely to have strong relationships with their mothers.

Discipline: What Works and Why
Description: - Here are some basic ideas about the parents' role of moral leadership in the family, often referred to as "discipline."

Disparity of Cult
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Engaged Encounter
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Engaged, Catholic and Living in Sin
Description: A problem affecting the average parish — and one that does not get discussed openly or often enough — is that of cohabiting couples who come to the Church to make wedding arrangements. Some practical strategies to deal with the situation involve not a little evangelizing.

Engagements--In Church
Description: - This article describes the betrothal ceremony and includes the ceremony taken from the old Roman Ritual.

Exceptional Marriages
Description: - A private counseling practice specializing in solutions to tough marriage, family and personal problems.

Family Research Council
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Family, Become What You Are!
Description: At the the 32nd Meeting of the Bishops of the Church in America, held in San Antonio, Texas, February 16-19, they issued a statement affirming the fundamental value and importance of the family. 'In this new millennium, the whole American Continent is undergoing profound questioning about the fundamentals of society in general and its foundational unit, the family, in particular,' the bishops said.

Family, Marriage and and De Facto Unions
Description: - The Pontifical Council's document lamenting the steady growth in the number of young couples living together without benefit of marriage.

Family, Marriage and De Facto Unions
Description: - The Pontifical Council's document lamenting the steady growth in the number of young couples living together without benefit of marriage.

Feminism and Marriage: a Reflection on Ephesians 5: 21-33
Description: - Since this passage with the admonition of St. Paul for wives to submit themselves to their husbands as to the Lord, creates great difficulties for modern-day feminists, I have selected it as the springboard for this article on feminism and marriage.

Focus on the Family
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Gay Marriage: Not a Very Good Idea
Description: - The institution of marriage is already reeling because of the effects of the sexual revolution, no-fault divorce and out-of-wedlock births.

Getting Teenagers out of Their Shells and into Their Souls
Description: - My adolescent is completely immersed in himself, very focused on expressing himself. I'm worried that he's losing sight of the objective truths we've raised him with.

Helping kids and adults take responsibility for their own character
Description: To ensure continual growth in the moral life, we must first know ourselves. We gain this self-knowledge by regularly examining our behavior and reflecting on the kind of person we are and would like to be.

History of Marriage
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Holy Family Institute
Description: - A Catholic secular institute for Catholic married, widowed and engaged couples. Membership is open to any Catholic husband and wife who lead normal lives and observe the teaching of the Church in their marriages.

Homeschooling
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How Splitting Up Brought Them Together
Description: - Did you know that sociological studies show that living together before marriage increases the risk of divorce by as much as 50%?

How to Keep Kids Catholic? The Answer is In the Cards
Description: - Katherine Andes, a creator of Friendly Defenders Catholic Flash Cards, wants to make an entire generation of children more like her daughter, Lauren.

How to Tell Your Children the Truth About Sex
Description: - This brief essay explains how to link ultimate intimacy with ultimate commitment in teaching your children the truth about sex.

Human Family Foundation
Description: - Organization dedicated to promoting the dignity of the human family as the basic cell of society and the fundamental model of society. Also publishes an e-zine called Sequela, the Journal of Faith, Feasting and Fasting.

Human Sexuality, Marriage and Same-Sex Unions
Description: Questions and answers prepared by the Bishops of Pennsylvania regarding the Catholic vision of love and sexuality, the uninterrupted and universal understanding of marriage in human history; some of the challenges to marriage today, and why the Church is obliged to proclaim the truth about human sexuality, marriage and the good order of society.

It's About Marriage
Description: - Whatever side you're on, the debate over gay marriage has got to become a debate about marriage - not just a debate about gays.

Large Family, The
Description: The Pope gives a beautiful defense of large families. He calls them "those most blessed by God and specially loved and prized by the Church as its most precious treasures." He says that, "Wherever you find large families in great numbers, they point to: the physical and moral health of a Christian people; a living faith in God and trust in His Providence; the fruitful and joyful holiness of Catholic marriage." This address was important when it was given but it is even more important and relevant in our time when family life is under siege by society.

Letter to Families (Gratissimam sane)
Description: - John Paul II

Licensing of Parents: Totalitarianism Reaches For the Whole Human Race
Description: - Frank Morriss discusses the intrusion of the State into the life of the family.

Links to Church's Documents on Marriage and Family
Description: - Marian Cenacle Movement

Marital Embrace Is The Sacrament, Not Procreation
Description: - Dietrich von Hildebrand introduced the distinction between "meaning" and "end" in marriage. The following article explains why the sacrament is the marital embrace, not procreation.

Marriage And Indissolubility: A Historical Note
Description: - Peter J. Riga gives us an historical account of the nature of marriage and the influences that Roman, Germanic, and Canonical laws have had on the structure of marital law and its indissolubility in the western world.

Marriage and the Law of God
Description: - Chapter 9 of Society and Sanity by Frank Sheed.

Marriage and Unmarriage
Description: - Bishop Colin Campbell's excellent article on marriage taken from his weekly column.

Marriage Existential
Description: - Chapter 10 of Society and Sanity by Frank Sheed.

Marriage in Christ: The Sacrament of Faithful, Lifelong Love
Description: - Pastoral Letter of Bishop John F. Kinney.

Marriage in the 50 States
Description: Many states across the nation are moving to either strengthen their existing statutory language that recognizes marriage between a man and a woman or to amend their constitution to preserve the traditional meaning of marriage. The information on this page is intended to reflect the breadth of the movement to defend marriage throughout the United States.

Marriage Preparation With Co-habiting Couples
Description: - An analysis of the problem of co-habiting couples.

Marriage: A Communion of Life and Love
Description: A pastoral letter in defense of the Church's teaching on marriage and contraception, published by Bishop Victor Galeone of St. Augustine. This letter is written in response to various bills being introduced into the legislatures that would redefine marriage as the stable union of any two adults regardless of gender. Such legislation would equate same-sex unions with traditional marriage. Bishop Galeone courageously calls contraception "the taproot of a serious disorder" which is causing marriages to fail and worsening sexual behavior at every level of society.

Matrimony, The Sacrament Of Fidelity And Procreation
Description: - This is a conference on the sacrament of Matrimony given by Father Hardon in 1998.

Mixed Marriage
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Modern Myths About Cohabitation
Description: Nearly 4 million couples were living together outside marriage in 1990, eight times as many as in 1970, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Linda Waite, a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago, has done several studies on cohabitation and marriage. She speaks here of modern myths about the lifestyle. She spoke of modern myths about the lifestyle recently with Register correspondent Jay Copp.

Moral and Canonical Aspects of Marriage
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families
Description: - Anti-pornography organization.

No Communion for Divorced and Remarried Catholics
Description: - The decree supports earlier statements by two other Vatican bodies: the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Divine Worship.

On-line Baby Journal
Description: - Babysstory.com invites you to record, save, print, and email the funny, memorable and, of course, frustrating events that come bundled along with a new kid. Create everything from birth announcements to thank-you notes.

One Man, One Woman
Description: The case for preserving the definition of marriage.

One Man, One Woman
Description: No matter how you feel about gay marriage, we should be able to agree that the citizens and their elected representatives must not be excluded from a decision as fundamental to society as the definition of marriage.

Only One Man: Bishop John Fisher and Christian Marriage
Description: As a child I devoured junior history books, and relived through them the battles of the past. It must have been they which first taught me about the great battle which was the English Reformation.

Out-of-Wedlock Childbearing and Paternal Absence: Trends and Social Effects
Description: - Document issued by the Congress of the Pontifical Council for the Family, which met at the Vatican on June 3-5, 1999 for a conference on "The Paternity of God and Paternity in the Family."

Papal Errors in the Ordinary Magisterium?
Description: - Did Pope St. Gregory the Great really teach that the presence of pleasure in marital sexual intercourse is sinful? This article proves he didn't.

Parents have the inalienable duty and right to educate their children
Description: - The Holy Father's homily in Santa Clara, Cuba on January 22, 1998.

Pastoral Care Of The Family: Couples In Difficulty
Description: - Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Family

Pastors Must Not Be Afraid to Follow Paul VI's Example In Teaching True Nature of Conjugal Life
Description: - Holy Father's Address of September 20, 1998 during his visit in Brescia with the pastoral workers involved in the family and school apostolates.

Paul VI Institute
Description: - Committed to the development of a culture of life based on responsible parenthood, responsible fertility regulation, and ethical means for the treatment of infertility and related reproductive disorders.

Pennsylvania Bishops Document on Cohabitation
Description: - Document by the Catholic bishops of Pennsylvania calling unmarried couples to live apart until their wedding.

Preparing for Marriage
Description: - An excellent article on how to prepare for marriage by an experienced pre-Cana teacher.

Presentation on Marriage and Same-Sex Unions
Description: - A presentation on marriage made by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights on the Discussion Paper 'Marriage and Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Unions'.

Problems Facing the Family
Description: - An interview with Michel Schooyans on Problems Facing the Family, a major expert in bioethics and demography in the Catholic world on the objectives of the Congress on "Children, Springtime of the Family and Society" held at the Vatican in October 2000.

Proclaiming the Church's Teaching on Marriage in the Age of Birth Control and Dissent
Description: Dr. May's purpose in this essay is to suggest how we can best proclaim to Catholics today, in this age of birth control and dissent, the truth of the Church's teaching on marriage. He summarizes the shift in the attitudes of American Catholics toward the teaching of the Church between 1958 and today. He then presents the teaching of the Church on marriage as a specific vocation to holiness and integral to God's wise and loving plan for human existence.

Proposing Courtship
Description: - An insightful article that suggests that in order for an improvement to take place in the mores that govern relations between men and women we must look to the past.

Putative Marriage
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Recommendations For Care of Divorced Catholics
Description: - The Pontifical Council for the Family held its 13th plenary assembly on 22-25 January, in the Vatican, on the theme "The Pastoral Care of the Divorced and Remarried." They concluded with the publication of the following recommendations.

Recommendations Of Third Meeting Of Institutes For Marriage And Family And Bioethics Centres
Description: - Institutes For Marriage And Family And Bioethics Centres

Sacrament of Holy Matrimony
Description: - Patristic documents illustrating that Christ elevated Marriage to a sacrament.

Sacrament of Marriage
Description: - Catholic Encyclopedia

Sacramental Grace in Marriage
Description: This article provides an explanation of the wonderful effects of the graces conferred by the Sacrament of Matrimony. "Not only does Matrimony make the married pair officially supernatural in action, but it provides them with the remedies against the wounds of personality caused by sin. The 'cussedness of human nature' left by original sin, the pettiness, the angers and tensions found in marriage have an inherent remedy in sacramental grace. Even the weaknesses incurred by personal sin, the hungers created by unchastity both in and out of marriage, the infidelities to parental obligation which leave marks of desire and parental sloth are met by the repentant husband or wife with special helps to overcome them."

Sanctity in Marriage: It's the Same Difference
Description: The purpose of this article is to establish that married people seriously seeking sanctity — seriously seeking perfection — poverty, chastity and obedience serve the same basic purpose as they do for the religious, with marked differences of course in their specific application.

Suffer the Little Children to Come Unto Me
Description: - Achieving world peace or teaching children to behave at Mass - which is tougher?

Survey of Marriage/Family Issues
Description: - Links to further resources provided by Biblical Evidence for Catholicism

Taking Toddlers to Church: Actions Speak Louder Than Words!
Description: - A young couple who attends Mass with their four children every Sunday recently received a letter from an anonymous parishioner complaining about the distraction their little ones were causing during the liturgy. What a shame.

Talk to Kids about Sex, Love, and Character
Description: As parents and educators, we worry about many areas of our children's decision-making ? sex, drugs, drinking, drinking and driving ? where the wrong choices can carry a high cost. But we sense that they are most vulnerable, most at risk emotionally as well as physically, in the sexual area of their lives. The damage to our children's health, heart, and character from premature sexual involvement may go deeper, and last longer, than the effects of any other mistakes they might make.

Teddy Roosevelt's Passion for Family Life Outranked Every Other
Description: - William Mattox, Jr.

The Catholic Family as the Third Millennium Advances
Description: - This site is dedicated to helping the Catholic family learn more about the Jubilee year, the Holy Father's plans for celebrating the Jubilee, and the abundant graces available to all.

The Christian Family
Description: The purpose of this article is to strike a positive note and review briefly some of the essential features in the development of our nation's Number One Need — well-ordered, happy, Christian families.

The Dating Dearth: A Man's Perspective
Description: - If you are an unmarried woman trying to meet Mr. Right and not having much success, this article may help.

The Four Secrets of Raising Christian Heroes
Description: - How can we be sure that our children will have what it takes to not only resist evil, but also stand against it with moral courage and spiritual conviction?

The Importance of Fathers In Our Search for God
Description: - Address by Archbishop Chaput delivered to the pastoral workers of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The Knot That Can't Be Tied: Secular, Natural and Sacramental Marriage
Description: - The purpose of this article is to lay out a five-step argument about the nature of marriage, with the specific aim of showing why homosexuality (and homosexual "marriage") is incompatible with that objective reality.

The Latest War Against Marriage
Description: - Today thanks to a myriad of sociological studies showing that men, women, and children are better off, not worse off, in committed two-parent families, the campaign against marriage has metamorphosed once again.

The Latest War Against Marriage
Description: - A commentary on the effort to de-institutionalize marriage and a presentation of the evidence for the benefits to all of marriage as an institution.

The Marriage Angel
Description: - A look at St. Raphael the Archangel, the patron of happy meetings, as a powerful ally in finding the marriage partner. Includes a prayer for single Catholics.

The Nature of Sex and Marriage
Description: - Chapter 8 of Society and Sanity by Frank Sheed.

The Patriarchal Family in History
Description: - Written in 1933, historian Christopher Dawson analyzes the roots of the patriarchal family and predicts the downfall of the family in a contraceptive society.

The Power of the Pope and the Marriage of the Baptized
Description: - An article about the Papacy and the indissolubility of Christian marriage.

The Power to Define Marriage
Description: - On September 25, 1998, Bishop Francis DiLorenzo Of Honolulu asks the Catholics of Hawaii to help educate voters on gay marriage bill.

The Role Of The Family In John Paul II's Program For Building The Civilization Of Love
Description: - This article explains John Paul II's teaching regarding the family's role in combatting the an erroneous philosophy of man which is prevalent today.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Parental Irresponsibility
Description: - Seven factors turning out this nation's first generation of killer kids.

The Value of Marriage and the Family
Description: The General Assembly of the International Commission of the Civil State (CIEC) was held in Edinburgh, Scotland, from September 14 to 18, 2004. CIEC is an organization which attempts to harmonize the legislation of the Member States on civil status. Its headquarters are in Strasbourg. The last Plenary Session discussed the plan of the Convention for the exchange of documents on the civil status of persons in a condition for registered partnerships and the problems related to this situation.

The Vocation of Marriage in God's Plan
Description: - The former Archbishop of Denver delivered this address in August, 1994 to the International Congress on the Family in Lima, Peru.

Thoroughly Modern Marriage
Description: "To insure their survival, all societies need traditional marriage, which can be the presumptive union of one man and one woman. Any alteration, change, or significant modification can only have ruinous consequences on that society." Dr. William A. Borst, author of "Liberalism: Fatal Consequences", says that most Americans are unaware of the concentrated assault on traditional marriage by the homosexual lobby and that the decision of the court in Massachusetts — if left to stand — will obfuscate the fundamental sources of law in this country.

Top Ten Myths About Marriage
Description: A discussion of the most common misinformation about marriage.

UN Conference Stalls Over Parental Rights, Teen Sex And National Sovereignty
Description: - Update on the United Nation's Hague Forum's anti-family initiatives which appear to be stalled due to intervention by the Vatican.

Unhealed Wound, The
Description: The mainstream media are perpetuating the myth of the "Good Divorce," wherein parents try to get along for the sake of their children. John Omicinski, a child of divorce himself, exposes this fable and reveals the lifelong impact of divorce on children. This is a personal, rather than statistical, view of the impact of divorce on children.

Wars of the Ring
Description: - The familiar way of marriage as a 'bridge' between a man and woman is now the focus of intense legal scrutiny and controversy.

Wedding and Family Planner
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Wedding Planner (Secular)
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What Canon Law Taught Me About Teen Dating
Description: - Pete Vere shares advice regarding unhealthy teenage dating behavior, as well as what type of courtship leads to healthy marriages.

When Bad Kids Think They Are Great
Description: - There is a fine line between high self-esteem and conceit, and probably no one knows this better than Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) psychologist Roy Baumeister, who has studied the effects, in fact, the dangers, of high self-esteem.

Why Marriage Is Good for You?
Description: - Quietly, with little fanfare, a broad and deep body of scientific literature has been accumulating that affirms what Genesis teaches: it is not good for man to be alone, no, nor woman neither.

Women for Faith and Family
Description: - An excellent organization which represents about 50,000 Catholic women in the United States and abroad who express fidelity to the teachings of the Catholic Church in all matters of faith and doctrine.

World, Work and Family: The Role of Women in Building a Culture of Life
Description: - Denver's Archbishop Charles Chaput gave this address on the role of women in building a culture of life. His remarks delivered in October 2003 were the Centennial Lecture of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas, at the Catholic University of America.