Archbishop in South Africa Urges Marriage Preparation to Address Rising Divorce Cases

In his June 24 address, Archbishop Tlhagale cautioned against falling for the contemporary world of pleasures in which people prioritize sexual activity as the ultimate good at the expense of marriage commitment.

“If we continue going down that road of seeking pleasure and not looking at the commitments that come with marriage then we will never have stable families,” the South African member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) said.

Couples need to look at marriage as a vocation and a Sacrament that should be preceded by “a Christian orientation,” the 75-year-old Catholic Archbishop who started his Episcopal Ministry in April 1999 as Archbishop of South Africa’s Bloemfontein said.

He continued, “Those who wish to be married must understand the grace that comes with marriage. That grace must resonate between the spouses. They must sense the presence of the Holy Spirit in the act of becoming one.”

“The Sacrament of marriage should be preceded by a Christian orientation. We must become first the disciples of Christ before we get married,” he said, and added that there is a need “to bring faith into our discussions of marriage, and to prepare couples to encounter Christ himself.”

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Archbishop Tlhagale further said, “If you recall that the example of Christ married to his church, that should be the ideal; we should have, in front of us, the picture of Christ getting married to his church for life.”

“We have a limited understanding of the gift of the Sacrament of marriage, of the gift of spousal love. We do not understand that marriage is a vocation, and when you get married, you are actually responding to God’s invitation to get married,” the South African Archbishop said.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.