Bishop promotes marriage day, week observances, use of USCCB resources
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two initiatives in February focus attention on the need to strengthen marriage, in line with the U.S. bishops' priority interest in that area, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., told his fellow bishops. Bishop Rhoades, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, expressed support for World Marriage Day Feb. 13 and National Marriage Week USA Feb. 7-14 in a Jan. 13 letter to bishops. World Marriage Day, promoted by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, has as its theme this year, 'Love One Another.' The observance received Pope John Paul II's apostolic blessing in 1993, and 'has continued to grow and spread among many countries and faith expressions ever since,' Bishop Rhoades said. National Marriage Week USA is sponsored by the Let's Strengthen Marriage Campaign. First observed in the United Kingdom in 1996, it has since spread to other countries. Bishop Rhoades also urged use of the online resources on marriage at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' website, www.foryourmarriage.org, and its Spanish-language counterpart, www.portumatrimonio.org; advocacy resources at www.marriageuniqueforareason.org on why marriage should be promoted as the union of a man and a woman; and the bishops' pastoral letter on marriage, 'Love and Life in the Divine Plan,' available online at www.usccb.org/loveandlife.
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Two initiatives in February focus attention on the need to strengthen marriage, in line with the U.S. bishops' priority interest in that area, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., told his fellow bishops. Bishop Rhoades, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, expressed support for World Marriage Day Feb. 13 and National Marriage Week USA Feb. 7-14 in a Jan. 13 letter to bishops. World Marriage Day, promoted by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, has as its theme this year, 'Love One Another.' The observance received Pope John Paul II's apostolic blessing in 1993, and 'has continued to grow and spread among many countries and faith expressions ever since,' Bishop Rhoades said. National Marriage Week USA is sponsored by the Let's Strengthen Marriage Campaign. First observed in the United Kingdom in 1996, it has since spread to other countries. Bishop Rhoades also urged use of the online resources on marriage at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' website, www.foryourmarriage.org, and its Spanish-language counterpart, www.portumatrimonio.org; advocacy resources at www.marriageuniqueforareason.org on why marriage should be promoted as the union of a man and a woman; and the bishops' pastoral letter on marriage, 'Love and Life in the Divine Plan,' available online at www.usccb.org/loveandlife.