Welcome to our special page for Parish Ministers! Thank you for reaching out to the separated/divorced in your care. Especially in the early months, separated/divorced couples, and their children, desperately need our care and support. Besides the catastrophic loss of the family unit, the loss of financial, emotional and social support that a spouse normally provides, and even the loss of one's identity and self-esteem, the separated/divorced often feel they have lost God and the Church as well. Just when they need God the most, they often feel like spiritual failures, and feel alienated or unwanted by the Church. Some are still under the false impression that if one is separated or divorced they are ex-communicated or that they cannot receive the sacraments and many leave the Church because of these ideas. Let us reach out with deep compassion to the separated/divorced - as Jesus would. Let us help them find the support and assistance they need to reconcile (if that is possible), or to cope, grieve, and heal (and become whole again).

Top 10 Things Your Parish Can Do For The Separated and Divorced

1. Refer to separated/divorced couples/families with compassion, not judgement - because they are hurting.
2. Include petitions for separated/divorced occasionally in the Prayer of the Faithful - as they desperately need our prayers.
3. When writing or talking about families, be sensitive to the fact that not all families in the parish are two-parent families.
4. When planning, allow as much flexibility as possible for separated/divorced families, recognizing that separated/divorced parents may have an uncooperative ex-spouse that is not willing to attend a "mandatory meeting" or, the involved parent may not be able to bring a child to class on a certain day because the child is visiting the other parent.
5. List information on support groups, retreats, etc. for separated/divorced in the parish bulletin.
6. Place books or pamphlets about coping with separation/divorce in the parish book rack.
7. Help connect separated/divorced in your parish with others who have gone through the same thing.
8. Send someone to facilitator training so they can start a separated/divorced group in the parish.
9. Observe Separated/Divorced Healing Weekend in your parish (annually in November).
10. Offer free or low-cost professional counseling at the parish level or offer counseling subsidies for those who are in need.

For information on specific programs and support groups we offer - check out our separated/divorced page for individuals by clicking here.