Couples weekend part of worldwide renaissance of marriage.
A weekend conference planned for late August in Perth by Catholic marriage educators aims to launch nothing less than a renaissance of marriage, not just for couples but all members of the Church.
The Renaissance of Marriage mini-conference will take place at the Wollaston College Conference Centre in Mt Claremont throughout the afternoon and evening of August 29.
Keynote speakers will be Michael and Tricia Casey, who will also conduct single-sex workshops at the conference.
Organisers Luke and Vannessa Van Beek, Perth-based marriage educators outside their fulltime jobs, are the driving force behind the WA mini-conference.
The subject of marriage is so important the Van Beeks, who were also involved for several years in Catholic Engaged Encounter here in Perth, want as many people as possible – single or married – to attend.
The conference is a product of the Catholic marriage organisation known as The Pastoral and Matrimonial Centre, founded by well-known US Jesuit Father Chuck Gallagher in 1972, who also established the more well-known Marriage Encounter movement.
In Australia the PMRC is led by well-known Sydney Catholic couple Byron and Francine Pirola who are also members of the Pontifical Council for Marriage and the Family.
That the Renaissance of Marriage conference is even being offered to the public is something of a surprise; the first conference was held in Sydney last year, but was planned only as an exclusive event for past participants and active leaders in the PMRC.
Organisers threw the doors open to the general Catholic population when it became apparent that the program was just too good to keep to themselves.
Like well-known Catholic marriage prepqaration and education courses such as Celebrate Love or Embrace, PMRC is part of a growing surge of attention focused on the state of modern marriage as more and more Catholics realise that marriage touches everyone and has become a battleground for youth, the future of the Church and of wider society.
In 2009, the Renaissance of Marriage Mini-Conference series will be held in eight locations throughout Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
While many draw the conclusion that marriage is an outdated and irrelevant artefact of a bygone era, the Pirolas are optimistic about the conference and its message.
“The Renaissance of Marriage” says Francine, “is about drawing attention to the tremendous resource that married couples represent. Too often in the Church we get side-tracked by the problems and failures of marriage. We focus on the needs of couples and families, and forget, that they are the Domestic Church – a formidable force for evangelisation!”
“Far from being a relic of the past” adds Byron, “we firmly believe that marriage as envisioned by the Church is a credible and realistic response to the challenges of modern life. If marriages are failing today, it’s not because marriage itself is at fault. Rather, couples need to be called and empowered to fully embrace the vision of the Church for their marriage – a passionate, tender, intimate and life-giving encounter with their spouse.”
Vannessa Van Beek says the coming conference will be quite different to other efforts to underpin or spread marriage education.
“What distinguishes The Renaissance of Marriage conference from other events for marriage and relationship educators”, says Vannessa, “is not just it’s Catholicity. It is founded on the premise that the sacrament itself is a key part of the message.”
Luke Van Beek said that Catholic couples who understand the sacramentality of marriage are essential in forming modern marriages.
“We need more than just well trained individuals to run our marriage courses in the Church,” says Luke.
“We need sacramental couples who will teach the theory, witness to it and inspire others to greater ambition for their marriage. Nothing is more effective in preparing couples for marriage, or helping married couples achieve their potential, than the powerful example of another couple.”
Michael and Tricia Casey (Sydney) will present the Man and Woman in Relationship single-sex workshops at the Perth Mini-Conference.
“Most of our work in the PMRC has focussed on the couple and been directed to the couple”, says Tricia.
“In recent years, it has become increasingly obvious to us that there is a great deal to be gained from women working together and men working together for the good of their marriages.
“The woman’s workshop was designed to empower women to minister to each other in healing and their relationship with their father.
“This is an important relationship in the formation of every woman and it powerfully influences her ability to trust her husband.”
The men’s workshop draws on the insights of Richard Rohr and helps men to sit with some of the big life questions. “Most married men are so busy providing for their families that they don’t get time to reflect on how their life is unfolding”, says Michael, a doctor and lecturer at the University of Notre Dame Australia and managing director of a busy medical centre.
“The workshop aims to create the space for men to think deeply about their priorities so that they can go back to their wives with renewed energy and purpose.”
Conference Schedule
2pm: Gather and welcome
2.30pm: A vision for Marriage Formation
3.30pm: Man and Woman in Relationship (single sex workshop)
6pm: Break
7pm: Dinner with Talk by Luke and Vannessa Van Beek and Michael and Patricia Casey
See www.thepmrc.org/renaissance
Marriage educators on the ground promote John Paul II’s Theology of the Body
NEW Jersey-based Fr Charles Gallagher SJ, founder of the The Pastoral and Matrimonial Centre, and his associates turned out to be a prophetic voice proclaiming the central place of the Sacrament of Matrimony in renewing the Church and the world.
When Pope John Paul II delivered his epic Theology of the Body to audiences in 1979, a synergy between his theology and the work of the PMRC became apparent. Ten years later Fr Gallagher began working closely with a global network of Catholic couples including Sydney’s Byron and Francine Pirola to develop Celebrate Love – a marriage enrichment program that provides a practical counterpoint to the insights of the Theology of the Body.
The weekend seminar is both educative and experiential allowing couples to encounter themselves and their spouse in a radically new way. The program was first piloted in the US in 1989 and in Australia in 1992.
Also developed, as part of a suite of resources on the topic, is Embrace and Engage (both for engaged couples), the Passionate Love Weekend (for couples, clergy and dedicated singles), Living Love (a series of short exercises for couples), and the Movement of Continuous Prayer for Marriage and Family.
The PMRC programs have undergone substantial offshore expansion over the past five years.
Celebrate Love and Engage for example are now established in London and New Zealand and couples are in training in Uganda.
Variants of the Australian courses are also widely available in the US. Couples from all these areas converged on Sydney in February 2008 to attend the first Renaissance of Marriage Conference – a formation conference for married couples and marriage educators.
A stellar list of contemporary Catholic marriage educators includes Gonzaga and Paskazia Lubega of Masaka, Uganda; Edmund Adamus, Director of Pastoral Affairs in Westminster Diocese, UK; Byron and Francine Pirola from Sydney, co-authors of Celebrate Love and Embrace; James Parker of Living Waters and Harvesters and Nicole Parker of Fertility Care, London; former senior Australian Liberal Party federal Minister Kevin Andrews and his wife Margaret from Melbourne, Fr Gerald Gleeson of the Catholic Institute of Sydney; Jonathan and Karen Doyle of Choicez Media in Canberra; Michael and Tricia Casey (Sydney), Luke and Vanessa Van Beek (Perth), Ron and Mavis Pirola, Pontifical Council of the Family and Directors of PMRC Australia. In 2009, the conference has evolved to take the form of a series of local mini-conferences held in Newcastle (March), Wagga (July), Sydney (Aug), Perth (Aug), London (Oct), Christchurch (Oct), Wellington (Oct) and Brisbane (Dec). The 2010 conference will held in Sydney.