Archdiocese studying marriage preparation guidelines

The Archdiocese of New Orleans is reviewing its marriage preparation policies with an eye toward encouraging church parishes to consider Catholic marriage as a special moment of evangelization for young adults, said Father Garrett O’Brien, who is heading the marriage preparation policy committee.

“The aim is to ask that parishes see marriage prep as a parish ministry,” said Father O’Brien, who was ordained in 2012 and asked by Archbishop Gregory Aymond to lead a review of marriage preparation policies in the archdiocese. “This has a lot to do with the new evangelization. Young couples are coming to the church wanting a sacrament, and this is a chance to plug them into their home parish.”

The committee began its work more than a year ago under the leadership of then-Auxiliary Bishop Shelton J. Fabre, who was named bishop of Houma-Thibodaux last September.

The committee, which is actually a subcommittee of the Pastoral Practices Committee, consists of 10 members. In addition to Father O’Brien, the members are Father John Payne, a canon lawyer; Deacon Drea Capaci and Mario Sacasa of the archdiocesan Family Life Apostolate; Susan and Merlin Hymel, Engaged Encounter; Jan and Lloyd Tate, In-Home Marriage Preparation; and Claudia and Steve Shultz, Day for the Engaged.

Deanery feedback reviewed
The committee is discussing feedback it has received from deaneries on current marriage preparation policies. The archdiocese last issued formal marriage preparation guidelines in 1988, and the Province of New Orleans, which encompasses the seven Catholic dioceses of Louisiana, promulgated marriage guidelines in 2008.

While the committee’s work is ongoing, Father O’Brien, parochial vicar of St. Joan of Arc Parish in LaPlace, said it is working through possible policy changes and clarifications, which would then be presented to several archdiocesan advisory groups such as the Presbyteral Council, the Deans Council and the Ministerial Council.

Once Archbishop Aymond accepts the policies in final form – there is no firm timetable for that – they would become the guidelines for the entire archdiocese. The state’s bishops also are working separately on an updated version of marriage preparation policies.

Father O’Brien said he hopes whatever policies are finally adopted, parishes will become a focal point for marriage preparation. He envisions more married couples stepping forward as mentor couples, with the result of “enriching the family life of the parish.”

Several steps
Father O’Brien said when a couple comes to him to be married in the church, he usually engages them in a five-step process:

“First of all, I want to get to know them and make sure they know what they’re asking for and what the church has in mind for marriage,” Father O’Brien said. “Those are the four pillars – fidelity, permanence, unity and procreation. I want them to understand generally what that means – the moral guidelines. That way, if they want to proceed, they have an informed conscience.”

Then, Father O’Brien will use the FOCCUS Pre-Marriage Inventory to help couples review their relationship, learn more about themselves and discuss couple communication. He explains the difference between civil marriage and the sacrament of matrimony. He will review what Scripture says about marriage and then also introduce the couple to “theology of the body” and the questions surrounding human sexuality.

“One of our committee’s goals is to enrich the marriage preparation content,” Father O’Brien said. “We want to give the couple more time to assimilate the marriage preparation materials. Even though marriage preparation is a six-month process, it might be easy to rush through without having an adequate opportunity to take in what everything means. We want to do that without adding an undue burden on the couple.”

For more information, contact the Family Life Apostolate at 861-6243. Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at [email protected].