Thirty-nine questions are on the questionnaire. Questions 4, 5, and 6 are of most interest to family psychiatrists. Deserving of admiration is its concern for families in migration and for the mistreatment of women.
The terms "regular" and "irregular," used in the questionnaire, are canonical terms unrelated to what actually happens in any given society. It should also be explained that Catholics who married always had to declare that they would welcome such children as God happened to send along, recognizing that he might choose not to send any. A decision to refuse to accept the possibility of children invalidated the marriage vows and constitutes grounds for annulment.
Excerpts from the Vatican document
Questions 4, 5, and 6 of the Vatican’s questionnaire seem aimed at gathering data on different kinds of families. Here are those three questions:
Pastoral Care in Certain Difficult Marital Situations
a) Is cohabitation ad experimentum a pastoral reality in your particular Church? Can you approximate a percentage?
b) Do unions which are not recognized either religiously or civilly exist? Are reliable statistics available?
c) Are separated couples and those divorced and remarried a pastoral reality in your particular Church? Can you approximate a percentage? How do you deal with this situation in appropriate pastoral programmes? (sic)
d) In all the above cases, how do the baptized live in this irregular situation? Are they aware of it? Are they simply indifferent? Do they feel marginalized or suffer from the impossibility of receiving the sacraments?
f) Could a simplification of canonical practice in recognizing a declaration of nullity of the marriage bond provide a positive contribution to solving the problems of the persons involved? If yes, what form would it take?
Does a ministry exist to attend to these cases? Describe this pastoral ministry? Do such programmes exist on the national and diocesan levels? How is God’s mercy proclaimed to separated couples and those divorced and remarried, and how does the Church put into practice her support for them in their journey of faith?
On Unions of Persons of the Same Sex
a) Is there a law in your country recognizing civil unions for people of the same-sex and equating it in some way to marriage?
b) What is the attitude of the local and particular Churches towards both the State as the promoter of civil unions between persons of the same sex and the people involved in this type of union?
c) What pastoral attention can be given to people who have chosen to live in these types of union?
In the case of unions of persons of the same sex who have adopted children, what can be done pastorally in light of transmitting the faith?
The Education of Children in Irregular Marriages
a) What is the estimated proportion of children and adolescents in these cases, as regards children who are born and raised in regularly constituted families?
b) How do parents in these situations approach the Church? What do they ask? Do they request the sacraments only or do they also want catechesis and the general teaching of religion?
c) How do the particular Churches attempt to meet the needs of the parents of these children to provide them with a Christian education?
Source: Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization
A secular view of marriage
A secular view of marriage has been advanced by economists Betsey Stevenson, Ph.D., and Justin Wolfers, Ph.D., who describe the extent to which marriage is shaped by economic forces. "Productive marriage" is based on a division of labor. In the earlier part of the 20th century in Western countries, school, education, and the emerging TV and magazine markets illustrated how women could be good homemakers and men could be good providers. The liberation of women through education and access to birth control changed the playing field. Prior to this, college-educated women were the least likely to marry. Since the 1960s and 1970s, educated women could prevent pregnancy and support themselves, and found little use for the previous productive model of marriage.
Men, also, did not see educated, financially independent women as suitable marriage partners. The high divorce rate among those who married in the1970s reflected discontent with this model of the productive marriage.
In contrast, Dr. Stevenson and Dr. Wolfers write, "hedonic marriage" occurs when people who marry are of similar age, educational background, and perhaps occupation. The hedonic marriage better suits educated women who seek a companion, and it thrives when time and resources are available to enjoy companionable life. Same-sex marriages make sense when considered in this broad frame. Supporting this concept is the fact that couples who have married in recent years are more likely to stay together than were their parents’ generation. Of course, this discourse is only relevant in parts of the world in which women have access to birth control and opportunities for education, work, and social standing.