Promoting a Catholic understanding of marriage and family life.

Lexington, KY. August 25, 2009. One of the major issues of importance for the Church in the new millennium is how best to communicate a Catholic understanding of marriage and family life.

The United States College of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) began a multi-year initiative in 2005 to look at improving what it saw as a weakening in the understanding of Marriage.  Leaders from the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, also took up this challenge, in conjunction with the Familia apostolate, during the first National Marriage Conference on August 7 & 8, 2009, in Lexington.

During the conference, Lexington Bishop Ronald Gainer used the example of the Holy Family as the perfect role model for families today.  He exhorted Catholic families to be models for others and “a leaven” to change society, and he stressed the importance of recourse to the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist to enhance and strengthen the marriage bond and family life. Learn from Bishop Gainer’s talk here.

Father Steve Roberts, Diocesan Vocations Director, who had received a medical degree with a specialty in Obstetrics and Gynecology before becoming a priest, discussed how the Catholic Church can best convey its views on the dignity of human life in the current debate on bioethics. Read more about the talk here.

Mike Allen, Director of Family Life Ministries for the diocese, offered detailed suggestions on how the Catholic Church can become what he called a “Marriage-Building Church.” View more details on that talk here.

For more information about Familia, its programs, and its upcoming conferences, visit www.familiausa.net.