Preliminary communication
https://doi.org/10.31337/oz.76.1.7
An Analysis of Different Aspects of Partnership among Couples Preparing for Marriage
Antun Volenik
orcid.org/0000-0002-1017-3218
; Faculty of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Slavica Blažeka Kokorić
orcid.org/0000-0002-3846-8384
; Social Work Study Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Maja Laklija
orcid.org/0000-0002-2580-4983
; Social Work Study Centre, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The paper presents the results of a survey conducted on a sample of 244 persons (122 couples) attending a Marriage Preparation Course as an integral part of the immediate preparation for the celebration of the Sacrament of Marriage within the Catholic Church. The aim of the research was to examine the characteristics of engaged couples who are in the phase of immediate preparation for marriage which includes the sacramental dimension. Also, the research tested for differences in the characteristics of such couples depending on an assessment of the importance of faith in their personal life. The results showed that 71% of the participants lived a joint life with their fiancé/fiancée before marriage, 11% of them entered marriage already expecting a child, and another 8.3% with their child already born. Cohabitation is significantly less frequent in the case of engaged couples who exhibited the importance of faith in their personal life to a higher degree. The data obtained in this part of the research showed that as many as 71.0% of research participants consider religion to be important or extremely important in their lives and only 6.5% consider it unimportant or extremely unimportant. The results obtained through ANOVA showed that - between the groups of fiancés who lived together before marriage and those who did not - there is a statistically significant difference which is contingent upon the importance of faith in one's personal life, especially in terms of the differences in attitude between men and women. Based on the data obtained, the article addresses the current state of marriage and family pastoral care in the Republic of Croatia and proposes some adjustments with regard to the premarital life of the majority of couples.
Keywords
marriage; the Sacrament of Marriage; preparation for marriage; partnerships
Hrčak ID:
249660
URI
Publication date:
21.1.2021.
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