Focus groups see help, challenges in church teachings on marriage

Published: 2006-06-20

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic married couples find church teaching on marriage as a sacrament and a vocation to be very helpful but see its teaching on contraception as a challenge, according to participants in nearly 200 focus groups sponsored by the U.S. bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family Life. The focus groups, held in late 2005 and early 2006, involved more than 1,500 people in 64 dioceses and one eparchy. Groups were held for newly married couples, those in their middle years and older couples; Spanish-speaking couples; and remarried couples. There were also groups for divorced and separated people and single young adults. "We pastors need to find fresh, bold ways to promote the rich teachings of the church," said Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Knoxville, Tenn., committee chairman. "Hearing from the focus groups is one step toward that goal." Participants in the focus groups discussed their personal experience of marriage, church teaching about marriage, and parish and diocesan support for married couples.

Copyright (c) 2006 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .