Catholics give couples marriage ‘refresher’ course

The Institute for Marriage and Family is launching for the first time in Malta, a comprehensive programme to enable married couples to further strengthen their marriage according to the Catholic faith.

The programme is being hosted at the IMF's premises in Naxxar.

Director Dr Anthony Rutter Giappone, who holds a Masters Degree on Marriage and Family from the Pontifical Institute John Paul II for Studies on Marriage and Family in Rome, said the focus of the Institute is to provide holistic formation and training to married couples, enabling them to live their marriage as a beautiful and fruitful experience of human love that is fundamental for their own good and for the good of their family and society.

"We have identified a gap in the local education sphere and our mission is to focus on the beauty of marriage through practical formation and training, witness and peer support. We would like to introduce conjugal relationship education," he said.

The Programme has four dimensions: the human, spiritual, academic and pastoral. Every dimension is directed by a team of professional people, among them Dr Dione Mifsud, Head of the Department of Psychology within the Faculty of Social Wellbeing at the University of Malta, and Mgr Anton Gouder as the Spiritual Director of the Institute.

Every module consists of six fortnightly two-hour input sessions, a Sunday meeting with the family, a weekend seminar and an open meeting. The next module commences on Thursday, 17 January, 2013. Some of the themes that will be dealt with are Building Positive Attitudes, Teachings of the Church on Marriage and Family, and Household Management Skills. Sessions are conducted in Maltese.

For more information and to register, contact the Institute for Marriage and Family at [email protected] or phone 9942 9907 up to 14 January.