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California Diocese Launches Convalidation Initiative to Strengthen Marriages
Confirmed
In Short: The Diocese of San Jose, California, has launched a convalidation initiative as part of the California bishops’ 'Radiate Love' campaign, aimed at strengthening marriages and bringing couples closer to their faith.
Soto noted that many couples attending weekly Mass with their children were refraining from Communion due to their marital status, prompting the need for the convalidation program.
The initiative, titled 'Radiate Love,' was adopted from the California bishops’ campaign to promote marriage and family in 2024-2025.
Volunteer mentors Veronica and Richard Wildanger, who had their own civil marriage convalidated 22 years ago, joined the task force to support the surge of applicants.
Organizers and mentors have emphasized the theology of sacramental marriage as an unbreakable covenant rather than a mere social agreement.
Originally planned as a small pilot program, the initiative received a massive swell in interest from local families seeking to place Christ at the center of their marriages.
In related news, California has officially banned child marriage, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing legislation to end the practice that was still legal in 32 US states.
The ban raises the minimum marriage age to 18 years, aligning with efforts by advocates and survivors who have campaigned for years to prohibit marriage under 18.
Equality Now and Unchained At Last, along with other human rights organizations, celebrated the passage of Bill AB-1267, which establishes 18 as the minimum legal age of marriage without exception.
Limited legal rights of minors in California previously left them unable to protect themselves from forced marriage.
The initiative and the ban reflect broader efforts to strengthen and protect marriages and families in California.
What this adds
The convalidation initiative has gained unexpected momentum, far exceeding initial expectations.
The ban on child marriage in California is part of a larger national trend, with 32 states still allowing minors to marry under various conditions.
Advocates argue that raising the minimum marriage age to 18 aligns with the legal recognition of minors' inability to consent to marriage.
What's confirmed
- Soto noted that many couples attending weekly Mass with their children were refraining from Communion due to their marital status, prompting the need for the convalidation program.
- The initiative, titled 'Radiate Love,' was adopted from the California bishops’ campaign to promote marriage and family in 2024-2025.
- Volunteer mentors Veronica and Richard Wildanger, who had their own civil marriage convalidated 22 years ago, joined the task force to support the surge of applicants.
- Organizers and mentors have emphasized the theology of sacramental marriage as an unbreakable covenant rather than a mere social agreement.
- Originally planned as a small pilot program, the initiative received a massive swell in interest from local families seeking to place Christ at the center of their marriages.
- In related news, California has officially banned child marriage, with Governor Gavin Newsom signing legislation to end the practice that was still legal in 32 US states.
- The ban raises the minimum marriage age to 18 years, aligning with efforts by advocates and survivors who have campaigned for years to prohibit marriage under 18.
- Equality Now and Unchained At Last, along with other human rights organizations, celebrated the passage of Bill AB-1267, which establishes 18 as the minimum legal age of marriage without exception.
- Limited legal rights of minors in California previously left them unable to protect themselves from forced marriage.
- The initiative and the ban reflect broader efforts to strengthen and protect marriages and families in California.
What's still developing
- In response, the Diocese of San Jose, California, led by Bishop Oscar Cantú, has launched a landmark convalidation initiative under the California bishops’ “Radiate Love” campaign, witnessing dozens of couples enter into the sacrament of matrimony over the past few months.
- “And the fact that the diocese offered it up, all of a sudden it was like someone stretching a hand out and saying, here, just hold my hand and we’ll guide you through every step,” Veronica said.
- “When you bring God into it, this is now a covenantal marriage, not sort of a contractual marriage, but a sacramental marriage,” Wildanger told EWTN News.
- Keeping up with your California representatives felt impossible before.
- It was March when a group of California lawmakers decided they’d broach a sticky topic: child marriage.
- Perhaps even more surprising, two influential groups in Democratic politics — the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood — have historically staunchly supported the law.
- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Dylan Sprouse and Barbara Palvin have welcomed their first child, a baby girl, after nearly three years of marriage.
- "People have the audacity to tell me that I made a choice - kids, they can't consent." Bee and other child marriage survivors have been working for years to have child marriages banned in California and across the United States.
- Historically, child marriage was permitted nationwide; however, legal frameworks are evolving, as 32 states still allow minors to marry under various conditions.
- Close-up of a woman's hands in chains while holding a bouquet to represent child marriage (Image courtesy: Unchained At Last) (Catch all the US News, UK News, Canada News, International Breaking News Events, and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily International News Updates.
- The vast majority of child marriages involve girls wed to adult men.
- In 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Committee specifically called on the U.S. to prohibit marriage under 18.