- Feb 5, 2002
- 167,668
- 56,887
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
The Holy See on Tuesday released the official English language translation of a new pastoral guideline aimed at guiding couples to better prepare for marriage, titled, Catechumenal Pathways for Married Life.
The Dicastery of Laity, Family and Life explainedthat “the aim is to set up discernment paths of catechumenal inspiration, which can truly accompany young people to rediscover their faith and experience it when the vocation to family life opens up in them.” The document, first published in Italian in June, is a response to Pope Francis’ calls to engage young couples and provide new models for formation as they approach the Sacrament of Marriage. Pope Francis said in a 2017 address to the Roman Rota, “I would like to stress the need for a ‘new catechumenate’ for marriage preparation.”
But what is a marriage catechumenate? “A catechumenate model for marriage preparation uses relationships as the basis for catechesis,” Mary-Rose Verret said in a video introducing the model, implemented in the program she developed with her husband, Witness to Love. Verret, who has worked for more than a decade helping to prepare couples for marriage, argued, “Today we don’t understand what it means to be human, what it means to be man, what it means to be woman.” These ideas, she said, “have to be introduced in the context of a relationship.”
“The Church must go beyond a type of formation which is solely intellectual, theoretical and general (i.e. religious literacy) when engaging with those who intend to marry,” the new document reads. “We need to walk with them along a path that leads to an encounter with Christ, or to deepen this relationship, and assist them in making an authentic discernment of their own vocation to marriage, both on a personal and interpersonal level.”
Continued below.
In long-awaited-for English translation, Vatican proposes a catechumenate model for marriage preparation
The Dicastery of Laity, Family and Life explainedthat “the aim is to set up discernment paths of catechumenal inspiration, which can truly accompany young people to rediscover their faith and experience it when the vocation to family life opens up in them.” The document, first published in Italian in June, is a response to Pope Francis’ calls to engage young couples and provide new models for formation as they approach the Sacrament of Marriage. Pope Francis said in a 2017 address to the Roman Rota, “I would like to stress the need for a ‘new catechumenate’ for marriage preparation.”
But what is a marriage catechumenate? “A catechumenate model for marriage preparation uses relationships as the basis for catechesis,” Mary-Rose Verret said in a video introducing the model, implemented in the program she developed with her husband, Witness to Love. Verret, who has worked for more than a decade helping to prepare couples for marriage, argued, “Today we don’t understand what it means to be human, what it means to be man, what it means to be woman.” These ideas, she said, “have to be introduced in the context of a relationship.”
“The Church must go beyond a type of formation which is solely intellectual, theoretical and general (i.e. religious literacy) when engaging with those who intend to marry,” the new document reads. “We need to walk with them along a path that leads to an encounter with Christ, or to deepen this relationship, and assist them in making an authentic discernment of their own vocation to marriage, both on a personal and interpersonal level.”
Continued below.
In long-awaited-for English translation, Vatican proposes a catechumenate model for marriage preparation
