Marital Crisis as a Cause of the Church’s Crisis: What a Study Reveals and 4 Recommendations for Addressing It

(ZENIT News / Washington, 10.12.2026).- The Catholic Church in the United States may be losing more than weddings as marriage rates decline: it may also be weakening one of the principal settings in which religious faith is passed from one generation to the next. A new report by Communio, a Catholic apostolate that helps parishes develop data-driven pastoral strategies, argues that rebuilding marriage and family life should become a central priority for the Church, rather than a secondary concern alongside evangelization, catechesis and youth ministry.

Published ahead of a Vatican gathering convened by Pope Leo XIV from October 7 to 14 to mark the tenth anniversary of Amoris laetitia, the report, The State of Marriage and the Family in the United States, was written by Communio founder and president J. P. De Gance and vice president Jared Smyth. Its central argument challenges the idea that declining marriage is an irreversible social trend: young people still aspire to marriage, the authors contend, but increasingly lack the examples, encouragement and practical support needed to pursue it.

The figures help explain their concern. Sacramental marriages in the United States have fallen by nearly 75% over roughly half a century. In 2023, the country recorded 111,245 Catholic weddings against 401,654 Catholic funerals, even as the Catholic population reportedly grew from 54 million to 75 million over the longer period covered by the comparison. Across American society, the marriage rate has declined by 65% since 1970. Meanwhile, households consisting of married parents and children under 18 have fallen from approximately 40% of all households in 1970 to around 18% today. For the first time in the country’s history, most adults are unmarried.

Communio sees these developments not simply as a demographic problem but as a challenge to the Church’s ability to transmit its faith. A 2024 survey of 7,440 Catholics who attend Mass weekly found that 83% had grown up with married parents. The report also notes that nearly nine in 10 priests ordained in the previous two years came from intact families.

The findings echo a thesis advanced by writer Mary Eberstadt in her 2013 book How the West Really Lost God: the weakening of family life may precede, and help drive, the decline of religious belief. If children are less likely to grow up in stable marriages where faith is practiced and shared, parishes may find it increasingly difficult to compensate through institutional programs alone.

For Communio, the implication is straightforward. Marriage ministry should not compete with catechesis, schools or youth evangelization for pastoral attention. It should help sustain the family environment in which those efforts can bear lasting fruit.

Yet the obstacles begin long before a couple approaches the altar.

The report describes a generation that has increasingly come to view marriage as the final achievement of adulthood rather than a foundation on which to build a life. In 1970, the average American groom was 23; today, he is around 30. Young adults are commonly expected to complete their education, establish careers, repay debts and buy homes before considering marriage.

Parental expectations reinforce that sequence. According to the report, 88% of parents consider financial independence very important for their children, while only 21% place the same emphasis on marriage. Smyth argues that parents need to communicate more clearly what they ultimately value most: not merely professional success, but the families their children build and the faith they practice.

The desire for marriage has not disappeared, although it has weakened in some groups. In 1993, 83% of American girls in their final year of high school said they hoped to marry someday; by 2023, the proportion had fallen to 61%. Among boys, the figure had changed little. At the same time, only 31% of adults aged 22 to 35 were actively dating, while 74% of women and 64% of men in that age group reported no dates or very few during the previous year.

Communio believes parishes could respond to this gap by creating more opportunities for young people to meet in person, develop relationships and discern whether they are called to sacramental marriage. In a culture where dating applications have left many dissatisfied, local Catholic communities remain potential places for relationships to grow through shared activities and personal contact. But the report argues that such opportunities are too often missing.

The Church’s shortcomings become even more evident after the wedding. According to Communio, 85% of churches allocate no resources to marriage or relationship ministry, while more than nine in 10 lack programs to help single people discern and form relationships directed toward marriage. Only 23% of Catholic pastors offer any support to newly married couples.

The resulting gap is particularly serious during the first five years of marriage, when many relationships encounter difficulties and separations are common. The report argues that parishes often accompany couples carefully through preparation for the wedding but provide little structured assistance once married life begins.

Communio’s experience suggests that this need not require large budgets or extensive new staffing. The report says that eight to 12 hours of practical marriage formation annually can measurably improve marital health. It also cites research indicating that spouses who pray and worship together divorce at rates 30% to 50% lower than other couples.

The authors point to a partnership with the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas between 2022 and 2025, which reached approximately 30,000 people. Participating parishes recorded a 23% increase in average Sunday Mass attendance. The example does not establish that marriage programs alone caused the rise, but it supports Communio’s argument that deliberate investment in family life can accompany broader parish renewal.

The report also identifies a stigma that keeps struggling couples from seeking help. Between one in five and one in four married Sunday Massgoers said their marriage was experiencing difficulties, yet marriage courses or retreats can be perceived as evidence of failure. Communio recommends offering enrichment to all couples, including those whose relationships appear healthy, so that seeking guidance becomes normal rather than an admission of crisis.

Clergy preparation presents another challenge. Although 88% of priests reportedly work with couples experiencing marital difficulties, 64% feel only moderately qualified or insufficiently prepared to help them. Rather than expecting priests to act as specialists in every situation, the report proposes training teams of married laypeople who can listen, offer initial support and refer couples to appropriate professional or pastoral assistance.

The broader catholic argument is that marriage itself is a vocation requiring lifelong formation. Citing Pope Paul VI’s Humanae vitae, the authors emphasize the capacity of married couples to evangelize and support other couples. A parish that equips spouses to accompany one another could extend its reach without relying exclusively on additional clergy or staff.

Communio recommends four practical steps:

1) use anonymous surveys to understand the condition of marriages in each parish;

2) establish continuing formation after the wedding;

3) remove the stigma attached to seeking help;

4) and preach more clearly about the value of marriage as a vocation accessible not only to people whose lives are already in order.

The report’s message to Church leaders is ultimately that the renewal of Catholic life cannot be separated from the renewal of family life. The Church has invested considerable effort in promoting priestly vocations, and the authors argue that comparable commitment is now needed for marriage.

For the bishops gathered in Rome, the challenge is to translate that diagnosis into sustained pastoral action. If marriage is one of the principal settings where faith, commitment and responsibility are handed on, then helping couples form and preserve stable families is not simply a response to a social crisis. It is part of the Church’s own mission.

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