Marriage in the Catholic Church: A Survey of U.S. Catholics, October 2007

In summer 2007, The Center for Applied Research for the Apostolate (CARA) in Washington, DC conducted a national poll of adult Catholics designed to provide a comprehensive portrait of aspects of marriage for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

CARA is a national, non-profit, Georgetown University affiliated research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church. Founded in 1964, CARA has three major dimensions to its mission:

• to increase the Church's self understanding
• to serve the applied research needs of Church decision-makers
• to advance scholarly research on religion, particularly Catholicism

Most Rev. Gerald F. Kicanas, D.D., Ph.D., Bishop of Tucson serves as Chair, CARA Board of Directors

The results of this survey included: (1) awareness of and understanding of Catholic Church teaching on marriage, (2) general attitudes about marriage, and (3) personal experiences of marriage preparation, the sacrament of marriage, and daily married life. For a full copy of this survey go to: Marriage Report.

The survey groups respondents into four categories consistent with other major surveys taken in the US. Highlights of the survey follow these descriptions.

• The “Pre-Vatican II Generation,” ages 65 and over in 2007. The Pre-Vatican II Generation was born before 1943. Its members, age 65 and older in 2007, came of age before the Second Vatican Council. This generation paved a crucial role in creating many of the social and religious institutions of the twentieth century.

• The “Vatican II Generation,” ages 47-64 in 2007. These are the “baby boomers” who were born between 1943 and 1960, a time of great demographic and economic growth. They came of age during the time of the Second Vatican Council and their formative years likely spanned that time of profound changes in the Church. They are sometimes considered a “questioner” generation; in Church life they tend to share common memories of a Catholic childhood but now exhibit a wide variety of forms of religious practice and understanding. In general, members of this generation are more likely than the generations before them to emphasize concerns of individual self-actualization over institutional commitment. Pre-Vatican II Generation parishioners make up 19 percent of respondents to the survey.

• The “Post-Vatican II Generation,” ages 26-46 in 2007. Born between 1961 and 1981, this generation, sometimes called “Generation X” by demographers, has no lived experience of the pre-Vatican II Church. For many of this generation, their religious training occurred during the 1970s and 1980s, a time when catechetical styles were very different from the methods used up to the late 1960s. They were children at a time when divorce rates rose rapidly (among the Vatican II Generation) and seemingly intractable socio-economic problems grew. Sometimes called a “survivor” generation, they are relatively less likely to make long-term commitments, are more pessimistic and pragmatic, and are relatively more interested in issues of identity and community. Forty percent of respondents are members of the Post-Vatican II Generation. Vatican II Generation parishioners make up 31 percent of respondents.

• The “Millennial Generation,” ages 18-25 in 2007. This generation, born between 1982 or later (up to 1989 in the adult sample), have come of age primarily under the Papacy of John Paul II. Because some still live with their parents, their religious practice is often closely related to that of their families of origin. Ten percent of respondents belong to the Millennial Generation.

It is important to note that even relatively small percentages reported in this report represent a large potential audience given the size of the adult Catholic population. As a rule of thumb, every 1 percentage point of the adult Catholic population is approximately equivalent to 500,000 persons.

(The following percentages have been statistically adjusted to compensate for higher or lower rates of participation in the survey among various demographic groups.)

SINGLE PEOPLE:
Not surprisingly, respondents from the Millennial Generation are more likely than others to be single (89 percent). Pre-Vatican II Generation respondents are more likely than others to be married or widowed (63 percent and 21 percent, respectively). Those from the Vatican II Generation are more likely than others to be divorced (18 percent).

Question: “In your opinion, how is marriage in the Catholic Church distinctive or different from the concepts of marriage in civil law, secular society, or other faith traditions?” Three-quarters of respondents provided a response.

The most common themes for these responses regarded the sacramental nature of marriage;

• The presence of God at the wedding and in the marriage
• A stronger, long lasting commitment
• Limitations on divorce and remarriage
• More rules and regulations
• There are no distinctive characteristics

The following statements reflect understanding of the Catholic sacrament of marriage

• The sacrament of marriage extends beyond the wedding day. 84%
• Married love helps the couple care for others beyond their family. 74%
• Married love brings the husband and wife closer together and therefore closer to God. 67%
• Children bring the husband and wife closer together and therefore closer to God. 67%
• Married love reveals God. 64%
• Married love is imperfect yet holy. 63%

The top three attitudes about Marriage are:
1) Watching children grow up is life’s greatest joy. 78%
2) When you marry, you want your spouse to be your soulmate, first and foremost. 77%
3) Couples don’t take marriage seriously enough when divorce is easily available.71%

The youngest generation is most likely to agree with the following statements:
• When you marry, you want your spouse to be your soulmate, first and foremost.
• Couples don’t take marriage seriously enough when divorce is easily available.
• Marriage is whatever two people want it to be.
• Living with a partner before marriage decreases the risk of divorce.

VALUES:
(94 percent) provided an answer to the open-ended question, “What three or four values have helped most in sustaining your marriage?”

• By far the most commonly cited value is trust (52% of married respondents answering the question).
• The second most frequently cited set of values is related to faith, belief, or spirituality (27%)
• followed by communication (19%)
• and family, children, or parenting (18%)

Respondents are also particularly likely to identify faith and beliefs, including things such as prayer, shared worship, and participation in the Catholic Church.

Between ten and 20 percent of respondents say that the following values have helped sustain them: communication, family, honesty, commitment, respect, and fidelity.

Although somewhat less common, other values that 20 or more respondents (at least 4 percent) identify are working through problems, compromise and forgiveness, being friends, a sense of humor, and spending time together.

Many respondents cited the following values as being among the most important to their marriage: honesty (17%), commitment (16%), respect (13%), and fidelity and loyalty (11%).

Fewer respondents cited the following as core values: working through problems (7%), patience (6%), compromise, forgiveness, acceptance (6%), being friends (5%), humor (4%), and spending time together (4%).

CHILDREN:
On average, adult Catholics have had two children and about a third of respondents have not had any. Twelve percent have had one child, 22 percent have had two, 15 percent of respondents have had three children and 19 percent have had four or more children. It is important to note that many of these respondents’ children are adults. On average, only 38 percent of respondents’ children are under age 18 and 77 percent of those children under age 18 are Catholic.

More than eight in ten Catholics entered the Church as infants and about one in ten entered as children or teenagers. Seven percent converted to Catholicism as adults.

Mass Attendance:
About one-third of Catholics report that they rarely or never attend Mass. About one quarter attend a few times a year. One-fifth attend once or a few times a month, and about one fifth attend every week.
Respondents who belong to the oldest generation (the Pre-Vatican II Generation) are particularly likely to say that they attend Mass at least once a week (45 percent compared to 20 percent of the Vatican II Generation, 13 percent of the Post-Vatican II Generation, and 10 percent of the Millennial Generation).

Catholic Teaching:
71 percent of Catholics say they are at least “somewhat familiar” with Catholic teaching on marriage. Among those who expressed an interest in learning more about specific teachings, the following listed areas were identified:

1) Commitment, fidelity, and faithfulness (30%)
2) Divorce, annulment, and remarriage (26%)
3) Interfaith marriage (a non-Catholic spouse) (25%)
4) Sexuality and intimacy (24%)
5) Openness to having children (23%)
6) Family planning (methods used to achieve and avoid pregnancies) (19%)

The more frequently Catholics attend Mass, the more likely to say they are at least “somewhat” interested in learning more about each of the six aspects of Church teaching on marriage.

Differences are greatest for the topic of commitment, fidelity, and faithfulness. Fifty percent of weekly Mass attendees are at least “somewhat” interested in learning more about this topic. This compares to 38 percent of those who attend once or a few times a month, 30 percent of those who attend a few times a year, and 13 percent of those who rarely or never attend Mass.

Among those interested in learning more about Church teachings on marriage, four tenths would prefer to do so through printed materials available at their parish and through online resources.

CHALLENGES:
What are the challenges to a marital relationship?

• One-third of married Catholics say that finding quality time together as a couple and communication issues have been at least “somewhat” challenging to their relationship.
• One-quarter or slightly more say that in-laws and issues related to intimacy or sexuality have been at least “somewhat” challenging.
• Slightly fewer than one-quarter of couples have found that parenting and differences in approaches to parenting have been at least “somewhat” challenging in their relationship.

About half of those who are likely to ask for help with marital troubles say they would seek help from family members, God or prayer life, and friends.

More than twice as many Divorced or Separated than those who are married believe that divorce is acceptable “in all cases”, when there is a disagreement about religion, and when there are financial troubles. The number one reason for accepting divorce by both viewpoints is addictive behavior(s).

(Source: Mark M. Gray, Paul M. Perl, Tricia C. Bruce, CARA, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, Marriage in The Catholic Church: A Survey of US Catholics – October 2007, online, http://cara.georgetown.edu/MarriageReport.pdf, 2008)