More Mixed Marriages

The Roman Catholic Church frowns on Catholics marrying Protestants, but such marriages are becoming more common. Some fresh findings by Jesuit Sociologist Father John L. Thomas of St. Louis University, as published in the Catholic World:

P: Three out of every ten marriages performed by the Roman Catholic Church in the U.S. today are "mixed," and there is no way of computing the number of mixed marriages made without Catholic sanction. P: Catholic girls are more likely to accept mixed marriage than Catholic men; the proportion is about 3 to 2. From the church's point of view, this is more reassuring than if it were the other way round, says Father Thomas, since all studies show that the mother has greater influence than the father over the children's religion. P:Mixed marriages occur least often in the lowest income groups and "increase rapidly" with income. P:Mixed marriages will continue to increase, predicts Father Thomas, as children of such marriages grow up to make mixed marriages of their own. "In spite of considerable propaganda against mixed marriages, the attitude of Catholic and Protestant young people toward such unions is increasingly tolerant."

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