Nearly 700 Ohio Catholic priests and bishops will gather in Columbus this week (Nov. 5-6) in an unprecedented attempt to bolster marriage, which they see as an imperiled institution.
The two-day conference is in response to soaring divorce rates, people living together without marital commitments and the growing trend of same-sex unions, said Dan Andriacco, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
“In general, the state of marriage is not as healthy as we would like it to be,” he said.
It has been my conviction for a long time that one of the greatest opportunities for the Christian churches in a predominantly secular and relativistic culture is the nurture of marriages (between men and women). People seldom marry intending to divorce, but when divorce happens there is agony all around. To help them prepare and then to enable couples through their marriage, especially when the romantic gloss has worn off, is a noble ministry.