|
Diocese
of
Scranton
Expanding Pre Cana Format
The
Diocese of Scranton is expanding its Pre
Cana format to prepare couples for the
Sacrament of Marriage.
Bishop
Joseph F. Martino has approved the expanded
offerings to ensure that couples are ready
to enter a faithful and permanent union, and
to become an intimate partnership that
reflects the love of God to their children
and to the world.
“The
Church’s vision for marriage can bolster
couples’ commitment to one another and to
marriage itself,” he said. “Immediate
marriage preparation is a key time for the
Church to help couples broaden their vision
of marriage as a vocation and to give them
practical assistance for entering married
life.”
One
of the goals of the program is to address
the negative effect that divorce has had on
matrimony. Fear of divorce is one of the
reasons frequently cited by today’s young
people to explain why they choose to live
together instead of marrying.
According
to Mary Ann Paulukonis, director of the
Diocesan Family Life Office, many young
couples have a mistaken notion that
cohabitation will improve their chances of
success in marriage, when research has shown
it actually has the opposite effect. Fear of
divorce has also eroded confidence in the
permanence of marriage, leading people to
limit their investment in their marriage and
to evaluate it according to short-term
satisfaction, which is a key factor
contributing to poor marital quality.
The
new Pre Cana format was developed by the
Family Life Office, a component of the
Office for Parish Life. It is based on God’s
Plan For A Joy-Filled Marriage, a
supplemental marriage preparation program
published by Ascension Press. It includes
instruction on the theology of the body and
sexuality according to Catholic moral
principles.
The
expanded format will combine lessons from
the God’s
Plan program with key elements of the
current Pre Cana program. They include the
FOCCUS premarital assessment instrument,
communication skills work, information on
Natural Family Planning, and exercises that
illustrate the significance of the Rite of
Marriage and the spirituality of the home.
One
of the Family Life Office goals is to make
the expanded format easily accessible to all
engaged couples in the Diocese by training a
team for each of the 12 Deaneries. In 2007
there will be at least 12 Diocesan Pre Cana
Conferences using the expanded format. The
remaining conferences will use the condensed
version until there enough people trained to
offer the full day. While the new format is
longer (8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m.)
and includes lunch, the same fee ($75) is
charged for either program.
In
addition, the Family Life Office has been
working with Engaged Encounter volunteers to
expand the team that can offer more
Encounter weekends. These intense weekends
of marriage preparation are designed to help
couples deepen their relationship with each
other and God. They are held at
Fatima
Renewal
Center
in
Dalton
, a quiet rural setting that allows
participants to concentrate without the
distractions of day-to-day concerns.
“As
a former Marriage Encounter team priest,
Bishop Martino is supportive of this program
and other lay ecclesial movements that
strengthen marriage and family life,” Mrs.
Paulukonis said.
A
schedule of Engaged Encounter weekends and
Pre Cana conferences is on the Diocesan web
site: www.dioceseofscranton.org. Couples can
register online provided they mail the fee
to the Office for Parish Life. The schedule
and a registration form are also printed in
the Marriage
Preparation Calendar brochure sent this
month to parish priests and deacons.
Couples
contemplating marriage are urged to contact
their parish priest as soon as possible.
They should complete a Pre Cana conference
or Engaged Encounter weekend at least six to
nine months before their anticipated
wedding. Following the program they will
need time for FOCCUS follow-up in the parish
and for Natural Family Planning instruction.
Further
information about our Pre Cana program is
available at our page on
Marriage Preparation.
Phone inquiries may be made to the Office
for Parish Life, 570-207-2213.
|
