(On marriage) The love they pledge is greater than any emotion, feeling or state of mind, although it may include all of these. It is a deeper love, a lifelong decision of the heart. Even amid unresolved conflicts and confused emotional situations, they daily reaffirm their decision to love, to belong to one another, to share their lives and to continue loving and forgiving.
(Amoris Laetitia n. 163)
Marriage and Family Life is part of the family of the Agency for Evangelisation under the leadership of Canon Christopher Vipers, Director of the Agency for Evangelisation.
Our role is to work alongside existing groups to promote a renewed culture of the Gospel of Life within parishes, schools and the wider community.
Deacon Roger Carr-Jones is our Marriage and Family Coordinator and his contact details are rogercarrjones@rcdow.org.uk / 07342 818686
Marriage - We enable the single, married couples and families to deepen their understanding of the beauty of Catholic teaching on marriage and the family. We arrange the Annual Mass of Thanksgiving for Matrimony, a diocesan-wide celebration of this great vocation. We provide guidance and resources on the preparation of couples for marriage, the provision of on-going enrichment, healing and counselling, and help for the divorced and separated.
My advice is never to let the day end without making peace in the family. And how am I going to make peace? By getting down on my knees? No! Just by a small gesture, a little something, and harmony within your family will be restored. Just a little caress, no words are necessary
(Amoris Laetitia n. 104)
Family - We help families to deepen their awareness that God is present in the everyday events of family life and that they are ‘the domestic church’, where the Word of God is first proclaimed, received, studied and experienced. Parenting can be challenging at times, but it is a journey shared with the wider family of the Church to help and support you.
The experience of love in families is a perennial source of strength for the life of the Church
(Amoris Laetitia n. 88)
Youth - We have produced a resource, Made4Love, for Sixth Forms, which includes a couple witness testimony on married life, and is designed to enable young people to discuss and explore long-term, positive, healthy relationships within the context of marriage and Catholic teaching.
No one can think that the weakening of the family as that natural society founded on marriage will prove beneficial to society as a whole. The contrary is true: it poses a threat to the mature growth of individuals, the cultivation of community values and the moral progress of cities and countries.
(Amoris Laetitia n. 52)
Why not have a look at The Call, The Journey and the Mission: An Invitation from the Bishops of England and Wales to reflect on the Gift of Marriage and Family Life
