USCCB Releases Landmark Study on Catholics and Marriage
by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS

Staff Writer
(Feb. 14, 2008) Catholics who attend Mass regularly are more likely than those who don’t to be currently married, to have more children, to have a Catholic spouse, and to be familiar with Church teaching on marriage.

This is only one of many interesting findings in a newly released study commissioned by the Committee on Marriage and Family Life of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University and funded by the Knights of Columbus.

More than a thousand adult Catholics were polled on a variety of topics pertaining to marriage such as their understanding of Church teaching on marriage, their general attitudes about the sacrament, and their personal experience with married life.

“Not surprisingly, the study paints a mixed picture,” said Archbishop E. Kurtz, Chairman of the USCCB Committee. “It gives us reasons to be grateful and hopeful. It also raises concerns and presents us with challenges.”

Mass matters
One of the study’s positive findings is that in spite of a culture that no longer encourages marriage, Catholics still believe in it. Only about one in ten Catholics think marriage is an outdated institution or that personal freedom is more important than the companionship of marriage. A whopping 78 percent believe watching children grow is one of life’s greatest joys.

More good news is that Catholic attitudes toward marriage are not overly influenced by negative media portrayals, changes in civil law or other faiths. For instance, only a third or fewer Catholics cite representations of marriage in popular culture (33 percent), civil law traditions (29 percent), or other faiths (22 percent) as having any influence on their opinion.

The study also found interesting distinctions in marital status and views on marriage between Catholics who attend Mass regularly and those who don’t. For instance, regular Mass attenders tend to have more children than those who attend Mass once or twice a year or never (2.6 children compared to 1.6 and 1.8 respectively).

“Those who attend Mass weekly are more likely than those who attend less frequently to be currently married, to have a Catholic spouse, to say they are very familiar with Catholic teaching on marriage, and to have views about marriage that are informed by their faith and consistent with Church teaching,” Archbishop Kurtz said.

“These findings seem to be consistent with a general conclusion of social research, namely, that
religious affiliation and practice are related positively to marital stability and vice versa.”

The ‘culture of divorce’
Sadly, the study also found that Catholics are not very different from the general population when it comes to divorce.
Twenty three percent of adult Catholics have gone through a divorce with 11 percent either currently remarried, living with a partner, or widowed. These numbers are similar to those of the U.S. population as a whole.

Interestingly, the study found that divorced or separated Catholics are significantly less likely than currently married Catholics to have been married in the Church (45 percent compared to 65
percent).

Only 15 percent of divorced Catholics have bothered to seek an annulment.

Catholics born between 1943 and 1960 are more likely to have been divorced with 38 percent of this generation having experienced divorce compared to 16 percent of all other adult Catholics.

“We are very concerned about this fact inasmuch as divorce in the parents’ generation can reverberate in negative ways into succeeding generations,” said Archbishop Kurtz. “In this way, a ‘culture of divorce’ gains a foothold and competes against as ‘culture of marriage.’”

Not surprisingly, the study found that currently married Catholics are much more likely to have had parents who were married, which proves the power of an example of fidelity.

“The next generation of young Catholics is being influenced strongly by the marriages of their parents today. Will the influence be positive or negative? That is the key question,” Archbishop Kurtz says.

The erosion of marriage since the rebellious sixties may already be having an influence on young people. The study found a growing rate of marriage outside the Church by younger Catholics (41 percent) and more than half of unmarried young Catholics not thinking it is important to be married in the Church.

The study found that Catholics are conflicted about divorce, however. While 87 percent of Catholics believe marriage is a lifetime commitment and are significantly less likely than the general population to think divorce is the best solution when a couple can’t resolve their problems, 67 percent still believe divorce is acceptable in some cases with 17percent saying it is acceptable in all cases.

“Findings like these reveal how conflicted people can be about divorce as well as how important it is to give more support to couples to help them sustain and, if necessary, reconcile and restore their marriages,” Archbishop Kurtz says.

Overall, the research presents us all with a sense of both urgency and opportunity, the Archbishop said.

“It enhances our commitment to teaching about the gift of marriage, to offering pastoral care for couples and families, and ultimately to the renewal of marriage and family life in our Church and society.”

To read the full study, see http://cara.georgetown.edu/MarriageReport.pdf

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