San Francisco archdiocese studying steep drop in sacramental marriages
May 25, 2011
The Archdiocese of San Francisco, California, is conducting a special study of its marriage-preparation program, looking for an explanation of a steep decline in the number of Catholic weddings.
The San Francisco archdiocese has seen a 47% decline in the number of Catholic weddings in the past 20 years. During that same period, the Catholic population of the archdiocese rose by about 12%.
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Posted by: Obregon -
May. 25, 2011 10:30 PM ET USA
San Francisco is a bastion of secular living and a study is needed to find out why in a gay city traditional Catholic marriages are in trouble? Wow!
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Posted by: -
May. 25, 2011 8:29 PM ET USA
Why would anyone wonder why Catholic marriages are in decline? I have dear friends who have been divorced by their spouses, then the spouse forced a declaration of nullity on them and "married" someone else. That is not what the Catholic Church teaches. But it's the practice that so many priests have advised for so long that we're experiencing the kickback. Why should the offspring of illusory marriages want to go through more of the same suffering and humiliation?
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Posted by: dover beachcomber -
May. 25, 2011 8:00 PM ET USA
In San Francisco, the problem goes a lot deeper than marriage-preparation programs.
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Posted by: adamah -
May. 25, 2011 7:36 PM ET USA
Methinks the problem starts long before a couple would end up in formalized marriage prep. Might want to start by looking at the complete loss of faith and lack of orthodox preaching and teaching. Just a suggestion.
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Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
May. 25, 2011 6:31 PM ET USA
I think this is going to prove to be a national trend. Fewer Catholic families are being formed; fewer baptisms of infants. It's the beginning of a national tragedy, because without firm rooting in the soil of the Church, our people will be blown away by the first firm gust of spiritual wind. Time to pray and work smarter.
