Information and Training for Parish Leaders

The Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan expresses the desire that every parish develops or continues sacramental preparation, including marriage. Couples preparing for marriage, whether practicing their faith or returning to the church for the sacrament, can benefit from adult faith formation focused on the sacramentality of marriage and critical life skills for marriage and family life. 

In late October 2019, Cardinal Collins approved five widely recognized marriage preparation programs for use based on a shared set of new standards for theological and pastoral instruction.  One of these programs, Joy-Filled Marriage from Ascension Press, has been selected for use in all of Catholic Family Services of Toronto's marriage preparation programs. 

The other four vetted programs include Witness to Love; Beloved; Transformed in Love; and Living Our Faith in Love, which is specifically for couples who cannot currently attend a formation program together in the same city. For a description of these programs, please see our list of resources.

If you have any questions regarding these programs, or if you are currently using a program that is not listed above that you would like to continue to use, please contact the Office of Formation for Discipleship. It is important that any program employed is aligned to the new standards for theological and pastoral instruction.