Word: rausch
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July 1 is a day to remember for young Roman Catholics in the diocese of Phoenix. Since that date, by order of Bishop James S. Rausch, any couples wishing to marry in the church have been required to give their priest six months' advance notice. During the waiting period they must undergo a highly structured course of preparation and counseling, complete with a written "premarital inventory" that tests the conjugal attitudes of the would-be husband and wife...
...Rausch's six-month rule may strike some as draconian, but the bishop is no mossback. He built a reputation as a progressive within the hierarchy during four years as the top staff executive of the U.S. bishops' conference. Since Rausch, 50, arrived in Phoenix two years ago, he has been an activist on such issues as the rights of farm workers and minority hiring, which has drawn him the wrath of the conservative Arizona Republic...
...bishop is attacking the marriage problem with characteristic zeal. Catholicism considers marriage to be "indissoluble"; divorce is not recognized and remarriage while the spouse is alive is forbidden. Yet Arizona Catholics' marriages are breaking up at a rate similar to the general population's. Rausch spent two dreary weeks pondering the rolls of failed marriages at the diocesan tribunal. Says he: "I read how these people had suffered, and decided we had to do a better job." He summoned a task force of 25 priests, nuns and laity to develop a plan. He took the task force...
...post-Vatican II style, the bishop's policy was developed through consultation, and has popular backing. Rausch was responding to outcries from besieged priests, troubled parents and Roman Catholics active in the influential Marriage Encounter movement...
...Phoenix rationale is straightforward. Marriage is a vocation. "You cannot become a plumber or an electrician in two weeks," remarks the priest who heads the diocesan tribunal. Bishop Rausch believes that lack of mature preparation is the chief cause of trouble. "We need to move our young people beyond romance or physical attraction to the sound foundations of love." It will take hard work, he adds, for Catholics to resist the trend to treat marriage and divorce casually...