The Church wants changes in wedding preparations. Premarital instruction may take longer

The Polish Episcopal Conference is working on introducing uniform standards for premarital courses - informs polastnews. The new guidelines are intended to prevent too superficial preparation of engaged couples for the sacrament of marriage. This postulate was included in the position regarding the pastoral care of families, which the bishops debated during the June plenary meeting in Łomża. The next step will be to present the proposal to the Pope during the October meeting in the Vatican.

Various forms of courses, no uniform rules

Currently, there are no uniform rules in Poland regarding the length and form of premarital education. The Code of Canon Law obliges pastors to prepare engaged couples, but does not specify how long it should last.

In practice, dioceses offer a variety of courses: from weekend meetings, through several-week workshops, to online classes. For example, in the Archdiocese of Warsaw, the "Joy and Hope" program includes two stationary meetings and five e-learning tasks.

Longer courses – better preparation?

According to the chairman of the Polish Episcopate, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, too short courses do not fulfill their role. It is impossible to prepare a person well for one of the most important decisions of his life during a few hours or one short meeting - emphasizes the hierarch. He warns that shortened preparation may be limited to formalities and not to actual support of the engaged couple.

Archbishop Wojda emphasizes that not only the number of hours is important, but also the quality and scope of the topics discussed. The engaged couple should have time to talk about the relationship, faith, sexuality, parenthood, responsibility and conflict resolution.

Like the Vatican?

The new standards are to be similar to the model proposed by the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. The document "The Path of Catechumenal Initiation to Married Life" stipulates that the Church should be much more involved in preparing couples for weddings.

According to him, the first stage of studies should last about a year and only end with an engagement. The next stage - direct preparation for the wedding - would last several months. The last one assumes accompanying the spouses for two or three years after the wedding.

However, the document stipulates that the given time frames are "indicative" only.