We celebrate the first anniversary of the Diocesan Centre for Marriage, Life and the Family created in January 2018 to strengthen family life and better serve its needs. Here is a partial assessment of a pretty full year.

Thanks to the warm welcome from several parishes and diocesan groups, the small team from the Centre was able to open up to the needs of couples and families, and started offering them resources and support.

You might have ran into the team in your parish or at the Université de la famille. The team members also reached several young adults through the Decoding Love 101 project, an introduction to the Theology of the body, in consultation with Youth Ministry.

Dozens of couples have attended marriage preparation sessions coordinated by the Centre, which will soon be at the Parents and Kids Fair 2019 at Place Bonaventure, in close collaboration with the Office for Faith Education.

Co-directors Katherine Perrault and Ellen Roderick can count on the support of a wonderful team: Mrs. Julie Waters, responsible for marriage preparation for the Anglophone sector, Fr Gilles Surprenant, family guide, and Lucie Serveaux, secretary.

The team can also benefit from the experience and tips of several couples, parents and priests who are part of the Diocesan Centre for Marriage, Life and the Family, presided by the archbishop Christian Lépine, to identify the best practices to meet the challenges and needs related to marriage, life and the family.

We therefore seize this opportunity to present you with Décoder l’Amour-Parents, a project launched this year to meet the needs of parents seeking resources and support from the Church as part of their educative mission with children concerning sexual education.

What does 'Décoder l’Amour-Parents' mean?

In 2018-2019, the Centre proposes a series of evenings on today’s educational challenge for parents.

By following Pope Francis’s approach on the education of children (The Joy of Love), we try to broaden our vision and horizon on “sexual education” to teach about love. God’s frame plan enables us to understand the richness of sexuality, the freedom of the children, friendship, desire and vocation. And God’s invitation to this love story leads a majority of people to open up to marriage and family.

Why was that program introduced?

Parents look for places where they can mingle with other couples facing similar challenges to seek mutual support. Denouncing is not sufficient. We also need to build a new culture with other parents and set up a community whose members can help one another in hope.

Are parents interested in the project 'Décoder l’Amour-Parents'?

About forty parents have already participated! Décoder l’Amour-Parents… what a program! These rewarding evenings make us dig deep within. Conferences, testimonies, sharing, nobody comes out of it unscathed! Thank you all. —Constance, mother of three children.

We welcome you to the next evening meetings which will be held on March 21 and April 30. Register here!

Do you have any other projects?

Even though the Centre is located at the archdiocese, the team seeks to be present where it can answer the needs of both couples and families within the diocese. We wish to make ourselves available to those who contact us to share their needs and ideas. Whether there is a need for couples in crisis to receive resources, for a parish to be supported in marriage preparation or for evening discussions on bioethics, there is an array of possibilities to fulfill your needs!

Contact us at (514) 925-4300, extension 206, or at centreDMVF@diocesemontreal.org