Everyone knows that divorce is a frequent problem, but measuring it exactly is not an easy task according to a report from Canada. The Ontario-based Vanier Institute of the Family published its 3rd edition of “Divorce: Facts, Causes and Consequences” earlier this month.
In it Anne-Marie Ambert, a retired sociology professor, looks at the Canadian situation and compares it to other countries. The common affirmation that one out of every two marriages will end in divorce is not as simple as it sounds, she observed….
[When the proper adjustments are made] this means that couples contemplating marriage for the first time need to keep in mind that the divorce rate for first marriages is lower than 38%, probably closer to 33% according to Ambert.
Perhaps the only surprise here for some of us is the exceptionally high rate of divorce in Quebec, about ten percentage points higher than the rest of Canada. But that only seems to show how pervasive has been the loss of faith and discipleship there, in a predominantly Catholic area that has experienced a very sad and high degree of secularization, or de-Christianization.
As for the coventional wisdom that the divorce rate in North America is around 50%, I welcome the cautionary warning that this is misleading, since it ignores the fact that such a simplistic figure ignores the key difference between first marriages (which break up less often) and subsequent marriages (where the divorce rate is even worse than 50%). But even if only 33% of first marriages now end in divorce, that is still, of course, unacceptably high.
No fault divorce has been an absolute disaster. There is MUCH that the Church can do to counter this deadly social trend toward the normalization and casual acceptance of divorce. The Roman Catholics pioneered Marriage Encounter as one such effort, and it has now spread ecumenically. But I especially like the innovative work of “Marriage Savers,” a national movement led by Mike and Harriet McManus (former Episcopalians), and in particular their simple but amazingly effective idea of churches matching up newlyweds with an older, experienced “mentor couple” that can help advise and encourage those just beginning the great but challenging adventure of building a lasting and fulfilling marriage.
David Handy+