Loneliness, boring parish events, and a ‘Tinder priest’: Why aren’t young Catholics getting married?

Cardinal Kevin Farrell noted that the number of both civil and Church marriages is declining worldwide during a Vatican conference on the apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia. The conference took place in Rome from Oct. 7 to 14.

Farrell, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family, and Life, said parents are as concerned about these declining rates as clergy. He stated that many Christian parents see their children struggling with loneliness, hesitation toward lasting commitments, or a total rejection of the religious path their parents followed.

In the United States, Catholic marriages have decreased by nearly 75 percent over roughly half a century, even as the Catholic population increased. In Spain, the bishops' conference reported 31,462 Catholic weddings in 2024, down from 33,500 in 2023. According to the CEU Demographic Observatory, Catholic weddings accounted for 20 percent or less of total weddings in Spain, compared to 99 percent in 1976.