Arlington Diocese celebrates Black Catholic History Month with the theme: Getting Married and Staying Married

2016-11-17
: About 40%-50% of married couples in the U.S. get a divorce*

American Psychological Association

ARLINGTON, Va. - A Day of Reflection to celebrate Black Catholic History Month in the Catholic Diocese of Arlington will be held this Saturday, November 19, 2016 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Vienna, Virginia. The theme for this year's diocesan event is: "Getting Married and Staying Married," which was selected by the National Black Catholic Congress. According to the American Psychological Association, about 40-50% of all married couples in the United States get a divorce. And, the divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher.

"We are quite grateful with the high caliber of Black Catholic speakers we will have on November 19 to talk about marriage and staying married. They will focus on the challenges couples face, scriptural and faith roots of male/female relationships and how to be truly present to each other in marriage," says Corinne Monogue, Director of the Office of Multicultural Ministries for the Diocese.

The keynote speakers are Andrew and Terri Lyke. They run the ArusiNetwork, which looks at marriage from an African worldview that defines the "I" in the "we" and emphasizes the role of the community as beneficiary and stakeholder of marriage. The ArusiNetwork stresses that just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a church to sustain a committed, lifelong, healthy marriage.

The event/discussion is open to the public.

When: Saturday, November 19, 2016.
8:30am - 12pm

Where: Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church
8601 Wolftrap Road, Vienna

Based on a 2010 Georgetown CARA study on cultural diversity in the Catholic Church, there are approximately 2.9 million African-American and African Catholics within the United States, which is 7.5% of the entire U.S. African-American and African population.

*http://www.apa.org/topics/divorce/