Perception of the Sacramentality of Marriage among Engaged Couples

Abstract

Premarital catechizing recommended in the Directory for the Pastoral Care of the Family is one of the forms of the engaged couple's preparation to the sacrament of matrimony. It includes typically 10 to 12 catechizing meetings, which apply to the most important issues of Catholic marriage and the family. The present paper provides a short characterization of the participants and the content presented during the meetings held in the Archdiocese of Poznań. An increasing rate of marriage breakdowns shows the great importance of understanding the sacramentality of marriage. On the basis of long-term experience it is purposeful to include the issue of matrimonial sacramentality within the scope of catechizing meetings as one of the most important problems. Within the framework of the present study written at AMU Postgraduate Family Studies evaluation of catechizing in several parishes in Poznan has been done, which confirmed the generally positive perception of its form and content. A part of the questionnaire results related to the sacrament of marriage have been adduced and some positive changes in the attitudes towards the essence of matrimony have been proved. In the final part of the paper some general conclusions have been formulated.