Church in Germany promoting family and marriage with three year campaign

Berlin, Germany, Jan 24, 2008 / 01:55 am

The Church in Germany has launched a new campaign to promote the family under the theme, “Living Love Together.”  This campaign will take place over three years and will offer spiritual counseling, formation and access to the sacraments for couples and their families.

The Archbishop of Berlin, Cardinal Georg Sterzinsky, explained that this campaign is intended to address the issue of the decline in religious weddings during the last 18 years.  He said the abandoning of the Catholic faith, the increase in marriages between couples of different faiths and the lack of openness to marriage among young people are to blame for the decline.

The theme for the campaign this year will be “Preparation for Marriage.” In 2009 the theme will be “The Road from Couple to Family,” and in 2010, “Love and Spousal Relationships after the Kids Leave Home.”  

Meanwhile, the German government is re-launching a campaign to get couples to have more children.  The campaign “You are Germany” began in 2005 and this year is aimed at encouraging families through videos and other resources to have more children.