Marriage Encounter celebrates 40th anniversary

A Catholic organisation which has helped thousands of married couples enrich and strengthen their relationship is celebrating its 40th anniversary at the end of this month.

More than 70 married couples, nine Catholic priests and a bishop are meeting in a hotel in Daventry on June 30 for a special weekend convention to mark 40 years of Marriage Encounter in England and Wales, which is part of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter movement. Bishop Peter Doyle, the Bishop of Northampton, the diocese in which the convention is being held, will attend on the Saturday to give an official welcome.

As part of the celebration the couples and priests will all reflect on their first Marriage Encounter weekend, the event which is at the heart of the movement.

A Marriage Encounter Weekend offers couples the opportunity to grow closer and to improve their commitment to each other and priests to deepen their awareness of and their relationship with their people in a pastoral setting. Through a programme of presentations from other couples and a priest, the weekend helps people to refocus on the values that are really important to them and to live more joyful and purposeful lives.

Founded in Spain in the 1960s, Marriage Encounter spread to the USA, the UK (1972), other parts of Europe and today it is active in over 100 countries.

Originally founded in the Catholic Church to help strengthen the sacrament of marriage the worldwide movement now is active in most other Christian traditions. There is also an Engaged Encounter branch to help engaged couples prepare for marriage.

Tony and Pam Darroch, the couple who are part of the ME national leadership team organising the anniversary convention said: “We are meeting to celebrate the wonderful achievement that is 40 years’ worth of commitment and belief in the value of marriage and to promote the Movement into the next 40 years and beyond. It will be a weekend of celebration, sharing and renewing friendships. We are delighted to welcome so many couples and priests and our Episcopal adviser Bishop John Hine.

“We know that all the couples coming to the convention and many others who have experienced a weekend, often after many years of marriage, speak of enjoying the delight of rediscovering each other and having a life changing experience.

Father John Naughton, the National Team Priest added: “Marriage continues to be under threat as an institution and married couples experience all kinds of pressures on their relationship, especially in these difficult economic times. We hope people will hear about this event and want to know more about how they can enrich their marriage. There are five Marriage Encounter and Engaged Encounter weekends to come this year and details are on our website: www.wwme.org.uk “

Marriage Encounter is not aimed at marriages that are in difficulty, because the movement does not offer advice or counselling for marriages in crisis and the weekend does not involve any group participation; the couple focus on each other.