Ahead of Vatican Meeting, US Apostolate Releases ‘State of Marriage and the Family’ Report
U.S. apostolate Communio released a report urging the Church to take a more proactive role in promoting marriage and supporting couples before and after marriage. The report says young people remain interested in marriage, despite falling marriage rates and rising divorce rates in recent decades. Communio argues that parishes that prioritize marriage have seen marriages and Mass attendance recover, suggesting the decline is not inevitable. The report was released ahead of a Vatican gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, where bishops and married couples will discuss challenges facing families.
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A report from the U.S. apostolate Communio urges Catholic parishes to make marriage ministry a higher priority, arguing that the decline in marriage is not inevitable and that sustained support before and after weddings could benefit couples and the Church. Its release precedes a Vatican gathering marking the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia. 1
Titled The State of Marriage and the Family in the United States, the report focuses on five themes due to be discussed at the Vatican, including supporting newlyweds and helping young people discern marriage. From Oct. 7–14, Pope Leo XIV is convening bishops in Rome for the anniversary meeting; 11 married couples from five continents are also expected to describe challenges to passing on the faith in secularized societies. 1
Communio says young people continue to want marriage, but lack pathways, examples, and encouragement to pursue it. Its president, J.P. De Gance, called for practical parish ministries to help young people develop relationships that could lead to sacramental marriage. 1
The report says sacramental marriages in the Catholic Church have fallen by 75% since 1970, while intact families have been a minority in the United States for much of the 21st century. It presents stable married households as important to the Church’s future: 83% of weekly Mass attendees grew up in a married home, and nearly nine in 10 men ordained to the priesthood in the past two years were raised by married parents in intact families. 1
It also reports that couples who pray and attend Mass regularly experience divorce less often than the general population. The study argues that parental religious practice, a warm parent-child relationship, and marital stability are central to transmitting faith, and that marriage ministry complements rather than competes with schools, catechesis, and youth programs. 1
According to the report, 85% of churches spend nothing on marriage or relationship ministry, and only 23% of Catholic pastors offer ministry to newlyweds. While marriage preparation remains common in many parishes, the report says support often diminishes after the wedding and many clergy feel underprepared to provide marital counseling. 1
The study also points to limited dating among young adults: only 31% of people ages 22–35 date actively. Communio vice president Jared Smyth said parents should communicate that marriage and family life matter, noting the report’s finding that nearly 90% of American parents regard their children’s future career and financial success as important, compared with 20% who place similar importance on their children getting married. 1
The report recommends that parishes provide eight to 12 hours of ongoing formation annually for married couples, potentially led by trained lay couples. It says inviting healthy, thriving couples to participate can make marriage enrichment seem like ordinary support rather than a sign that a couple is in trouble, making it easier for couples facing difficulties to seek help. 1
Communio argues that parish and diocesan efforts to promote marriage could help reverse declining rates, drawing a comparison with campaigns to encourage priestly vocations. De Gance said he hopes Church leaders will treat marriage as a central but underfunded need and take concrete steps to address its decline. 1*
The Church’s role in strengthening marriage and family life
The Church strengthens marriage and family life not merely by defending an ideal, but by helping spouses and families live their vocation through teaching, sacramental grace, pastoral care, and the witness of Christian homes.
The Church teaches the dignity and demands of marriage: faithful, enduring love, openness to life, and parents’ irreplaceable responsibility for their children. This teaching is meant to guide and support couples, not simply to judge them. Christian spouses receive a particular grace in the sacrament of Matrimony—grace that helps perfect their love, strengthen their unity, and sustain them as they welcome and educate children.
That support should begin before a wedding and continue throughout married life. The Church calls for sound preparation for marriage and ongoing pastoral care, including practical help for couples navigating communication, finances, family relationships, and parenting. The wider Christian community—clergy, married couples, friends, and family—has a part in supporting spouses, especially when their relationship is strained.
The Christian family is often called a “Church in miniature”: it shares in the Church’s mission by making Christ’s love present in daily family life. Parents have a unique role in forming their children, while the Church helps parents fulfill that vocation through catechesis, prayer, and participation in the sacraments. Family prayer, including in times of joy or hardship, teaches children to entrust their lives to God and to grow in discipleship.
This means that strengthening families is not only a matter of offering programs. The Church’s pastoral work must help couples and children deepen their faith, participate more fully in the sacraments, pray, and serve one another generously.
The Church is also called to accompany people whose family lives involve suffering or difficulty. Its pastoral care should include single mothers, separated spouses, divorced people, and abandoned children, with maternal concern and practical support.
Families also need conditions in society that enable them to flourish. The Church therefore works with people and institutions that support marriage and family life, and urges public authorities to respect and protect the family. This reflects the family’s importance not only to the Church but to society: it is where people are born, grow, and learn how to live with others.
Finally, Christian families strengthen others by their example. Homes marked by fidelity, generosity, and solidarity can make the beauty of married love visible and encourage other families. In this way, the Church’s role is both to serve families and to help them become witnesses of love within the Church and the wider community.