Is your marriage on the rocks? Or has it broken down already?
Fear not as there’s now help
from the International Retrouvaille Ministry in Goa.
Retrouvaille (French word meaning to
rediscover) and sporting the tagline ‘A lifeline for Married Couples’, held its
first-ever Weekend programme for Goan couples at Panjim from August 17 to 19,
2018
Goa Archbishop Rev Felipe Neri Ferrao
invited Retrouvaille-Mumbai to start a Retrouvaille ministry in Goa to help
couples facing challenges in their marriages. The first Goa weekend was
conducted by Retrouvaille Bombay, supported by their Bangalore team. The
modalities were handled by the Diocesan Family Service Centre (DFSC), Panjim.
The arrival of Retrouvaille to Goa seems
timely. The analysis of the figures from the latest Census 2011 data, show that
with a divorce rate of 0.13% and a separation rate of 0.25%, the occurrence of
breakdown of a marriage is relatively higher among Christians in Goa.
Retrouvaille’s Weekend programme is held
mainly for couples in troubled marriages but the couples who participated in
the first Goa Weekend were people holding leadership positions in various
church-related bodies. They were given an experience of a Retrouvaille
programme in order to become resource persons for future Weekend programmes in
Goa.
All the participants were of the opinion
that this programme not only heals broken marriages but also enriches fairly
good marriages.
Interestingly, though a Retrouvaille
programme is given from a Christian perspective, it is open to couples of all
religions. There is almost no religious content in the programme and it is open
to couples of all faiths.
The live-in Weekend programme begins on
Friday evening, continues through Saturday and ends on Sunday evening. You have
to attend the programme as a couple. No singles are allowed to attend the
programme. After the live-in weekend there are post-sessions which are spread
over three Sundays, which help further enhance the skills learnt at the
weekend. Being an International body, the content and format of the programme
is uniform.
DFSC director Fr Kenneth Telles said that
Retrouvaille under the umbrella of DFSC will work to form a team in order to
conduct the weekend program with the Goan couples who have attended the weekend
this August. This weekend will be open to all couples who would like to attend
and experience this program, the date of which is yet to be announced. “We are
grateful to Fr Cajetan Menezes, Aubrey and Alzira Menezes, who are Retrouvaille
regional coordinators for putting a tool in our hands to strengthen marriages,
thereby building stronger families,” Fr Telles said.
Retrouvaille was founded in 1977 in
Quebec, Canada, and now has spread in many countries. In India, Retrouvaille
was first started in Bangalore in 2011 and in Bombay in 2012. Goa is the third
state in India to have Retrouvaille.
More
details about Retrouvaille can be obtained on their websitehelpourmarriage.org
