California bishops and marriage ministry partner to strengthen family life

(OSV News) -- California's Catholic bishops are teaming up with a national marriage ministry to strengthen family life throughout the state.

On Aug. 20, the California Catholic Conference announced it had entered into its first-ever partnership with the Virginia-based nonprofit Communio, a national marriage ministry that works with both Catholic and Protestant churches.

Using a data-driven and evangelistic approach, Communio provides an array of resources to foster Christ-centered relationships, encompassing singles, couples preparing for marriage and those in marriages seeking enrichment or repair.

According to the CCC release, every Catholic parish in California will have access to Communio's relationship ministry model, which the nonprofit claims has effected a 24% drop in the divorce rate of Jacksonville, Florida.

The partnership builds on the California bishops' "Radiate Love" initiative rolled out in July 2024, which provided monthly reflections, prayers, videos, homiletic guides and even social media graphics, all designed to "help families become witnesses of God's love" as it is expressed through marriage and family life, according to the initiative's website.

That effort, in turn, was a move to "shift the narrative" on marriage, especially in light of the U.S. bishops' three-year National Eucharistic Revival, Kathleen Domingo, executive director of the California Catholic Conference, previously told OSV News.

"The (California Catholic) bishops had this great idea that it would be a fantastic outgrowth of a year spent talking about the Eucharist to talk about marriage, and for them to kind of lead the conversation -- to lead some education, reflection, information and prayer; to share some resources to help people who are already married; and to give encouragement to people who would like to be married," she told OSV News amid the "Radiate Love" launch.

"Radiate Love" will culminate in a "Love IRL (In Real Life) Marriage Summit," which will take place Sept. 26 at Christ the Light Cathedral in Oakland, California. The event will also mark the official transition to the Communio marriage ministry partnership with the California bishops.

Auxiliary Bishop Timothy E. Freyer of Orange, an executive officer for the CCC, expressed his enthusiasm for the move.

"In John 10:10, the Lord said that he came so that we would have life and have it more abundantly. We know that strong marriages and healthy families help us to have this abundant life, so we are excited to partner with Communio," he said in the news release, adding the ministry has "time-tested methods and processes to build healthy marriages and families."

Domingo said in the release she was confident that Communio would benefit marriages and families in the state.

"I’ve been watching the progression of Communio over the years and hearing really great things from our marriage and family life directors, who have always told us that Communio is the gold standard,” she said. "If they could have any tool in their toolbox to help parishioners and parish families, it would be Communio."

In its release, the conference cited declines in the state's marriage and family stability rates, pointing to data from the Public Policy Institute of California, which found just under 55% of "prime-aged adults" there were married, with only 57.6% of teens raised in "intact homes."

PPIC also reported "historically low growth" in the state's population from 2010-2020, with numbers falling short of national trends.

The National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University has reported a decades-long downturn in marriage rates, with the number of those walking down the aisle in the U.S. plummeting almost 60% since 1970.

Still, a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data has recently found a modest decline in the number of unpartnered adults, from 44% in 2019 down to 43% in 2023. Pew also noted a slight increase in married adults, from 50% to 51% during the same period.

At the same time, divorce rates have declined over the past 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and with the average marriage age now between 28 and 30 -- as well as midlife first marriage rates rising since the 1990s -- the statistics may suggest less of an outright rejection of marriage, and more of a reprioritization of, or possible hesitancy toward, the vocation.

The Institute for Family Studies, a pro-marriage, pro-family nonprofit based in Charlottesville, Virginia, has highlighted a rise in "gray divorce," with seniors ages 65 and up seeing a 15% divorce rate in 2022 -- approximately three times their cohort's rate during the 1990s -- even as overall divorce rates have fallen.

"Today … many despair of marriage. Marriage rates are declining," California's bishops said in a letter to the faithful about the "Radiate Love" initiative. "(Marriage) is increasingly seen as an unattainable luxury by poorer and marginalized Americans. And the ties between marriage and children are breaking, with unfortunate consequences."

Working with California's Catholic bishops, Communio hopes to change that, said Damon Owens, the nonprofit's director of church growth and leader of the statewide effort.

"We are thrilled to partner with the bishops of California and share their vision of strong, vibrant marriages as the key to strong, vibrant parish life,” said Owens.

He noted Communio's Nationwide Study on Faith and Relationships, which found that 1 in 5 couples in the pew each Sunday reported marriage struggles, and said that parishes can become "'relationship hubs' experiencing growth in every area of parish life, including attracting new parishioners."

"We look forward to continuing this success in every parish in California," said Owens.