An Invitation from the Bishops of England and Wales

Our Catholic faith and the teaching of the Church enable us to affirm the truth about marriage and family:
We believe that marriage is a sacred and beautiful vocation; because
We believe in God our Father, who creates every person, male and female, in His image and likeness;
We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Saviour, who reveals what it is to be fully human, who shows God’s love to us and commands that we love one another;
We believe in the Holy Spirit, whose living presence sanctifies our hearts and purifies our desires;
We believe in God as Three Persons, a relationship of reciprocal mutuality and equality, the model for all human relationships;
We believe in the Church, the bride of Christ, whose mission is to announce the Good News of salvation and the call to conversion;
We believe that in baptism we have become sisters and brothers in Christ for him and for each other, our first responsibility as Christians and as family members;
We believe that, for the baptised, Christ has raised the married state to the dignity of a sacrament;
We believe that, in Christian marriage, a man and woman are joined together as husband and wife in a bond of love that is total, faithful, fruitful and lifelong in which Christ is ever present;
We believe that marriage and family are for the mutual good of husband and wife and the procreation and education of any children God may send them;
We believe that families are schools of deepest humanity, where virtue is learned and parents are the first teachers in the ways of faith;
We believe that the family is the foundation of society and the common good;
We believe that prayer and the life of faith sustain marriage and family as the domestic Church;
We believe that the Lord is present in the joys and struggles of spouses and families;
We believe that times of difficulty in marriage and family life can also be moments of growth in holiness and love and therefore have a special claim to the Church’s pastoral ministry;
Therefore as a church - We believe that marriage is the basis for family life which offers to the world the witness of faith lived as a journey of hope, joy and love.


From Sunday 22nd March you will have the opportunity to respond in writing to various to Reflect on the Gift of Marriage and Family Life questions which will be given out over a 3 week period.