Interfaith Marriage
Davidson, James D.
ratus (including efforts to smuggle military technology and circumvent restrictions on weapons of mass destruction). In addition, Baghdad undertook a massive civil engineering project, and a...
...Given the frequency of interfaith marriage and the greater likelihood of marital discord and divorce, church leaders should redouble their efforts to promote same-faith marriages...
...Trenton (24 percent...
...Yet, interfaith marriages accounted for 30 percent of all marriages sanctioned by the Catholic church in 1997 (Official Catholic Directory [OCD...
...They are less likely to accept traditional beliefs (such as the Nicene Creed), agree with the church's sexual and reproductive norms, and comply with the church's social teachings...
...and Chicago (20 percent...
...Hartford, Connecticut (18 percent...
...From the start, Iraqi officials complained that the enlarged relief effort would lead to further UN intrusion into their country's affairs...
...The mortality rate for children under five has more than doubled the pre-1990 period, meaning that within that halfa-million figure, about 289,000 excess child deaths have occurred...
...George A. Lopez is director of the undergraduate peace concentration at the Joan B. Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame...
...In dioceses where Catholics are 40-49 percent of the population, the intermarriage rate is a bit higher, 19 percent...
...Other dioceses include Oakland (27 percent), Manchester, New Hampshire (33 percent...
...The most probable numbers of excess deaths which might be attributed to sanctions for the period 1990-97 are about 500,000...
...During the debate about sanctions, the cavalier use of data by some religious and peace groups has been especially disconcerting...
...Dioceses in this category include New Orleans (where the interfaith marriage rate is 23 percent...
...The only regional exception to Blau's thesis in the Southwest, where Catholics are 22 percent and the intermarriage rate is relatively low (22 percent...
...In the Northwest, where Catholics are only 10 percent of the population, the interfaith marriage rate is 45 percent...
...They use religious education programs, youth ministry, and marriage preparation to explain how same-faith marriages contribute to marital stability, commitment to the church, and one's chances of passing the faith on to one's children...
...69 percent in Knoxville, Tennessee...
...the intermarriage rate is 32 percent...
...The impact of the sanctions may be either immoral or moral but judgments regarding their effect on innocent people must be assessed clearly by examining the response of the sanctioned country's leader and in light of the international relief effort mobilized on behalf of the innocent...
...Catholics are most likely to marry non-Catholics in dioceses where Catholics are less than 10 percent of the population...
...The Iraqi sanctions debate raises profound issues about ethics and international policy...
...Finally, leaders in largely non-Catholic areas should not be discouraged from proclaiming the benefits of same-faith marriage...
...That pattern began with Iraq's 1991-95 refusal to implement UN Resolutions 706 and 712...
...In Biloxi, Catholics are only 9 percent of the population and the intermarriage rate is 52 percent...
...Our quandary can be summed up in two questions: How do we deal with evil leaders in an effective and humane manner...
...Church leaders in highly Catholic areas should take credit where credit is due, but they also need to appreciate the advantages of ministering in areas where there are so many Catholics...
...He is co-author of The Search for Common Ground (Our Sunday Visitor, 1997), which recently received the 1998 Research Award from the National Conference on Catechetical Leadership...
...James D. Davidson is professor of sociology at Purdue University...
...they insisted that only a complete lifting of sanctions could adequately address the country's humanitarian and economic development needs...
...State figures (see table above) also show that the fewer Catholics there are in a given area, the higher the interfaith marriage rate...
...members of large groups have relatively few opportunities to interact with members of small groups...
...Regional data show the same thing...
...They also are less likely to register in parishes, attend Mass, and pray privately...
...In Portland, Oregon, where Catholics are 10 percent, the rate is 43 percent...
...Why are intermarriage rates so low in some dioceses, and so high in others...
...In the first three years of sanctions, those fifty years and older died in higher percentages because of the absence of heart, kidney, and other medications, along with the lack of equipment replacements...
...Catholics are 24 percent of the population in the Great Lakes region...
...they just need to understand that population statistics will limit their success...
...New York (19 percent...
...Several years ago, sociologist Peter Blau showed that members of small groups have many opportunities to interact with members of large groups...
...The two Portlands illustrate this pattern...
...They are the authors of "Trouble in the Gulf: Pain and Promise," the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (May~June, 1998...
...Many have preferred to repeat highly inflated numbers...
...Four dioceses are typical: Fall River, Massachusetts (18 percent...
...When the Catholic population declines to 10-19 percent, the intermarriage rate jumps to 40 percent...
...And how do we relieve the suffering of innocents that might result from actions taken against those leaders...
...A moral case against sanetions should be able to stand on the basis of ten thousand innocent deaths or even one thousand innocent deaths...
...What is essential is the truth, and in my view, nothing could be more insulting to the prayer and fasting of faithful people trying to eliminate devastating sanctions, nor as dehumanizing to Iraqis themselves, as consciously employing incorrect data because of a belief that higher casualty numbers might mobilize more people to work against sanctions...
...the intermarriage rate is 33 percent...
...and Gary, Indiana (37 percent...
...Thus, all other things being equal (for example, the quality of parish-based Commonweal | 2 September 11, 1998 catechetical programs), the likelihood of interfaith marriage increases as the percentage of Catholics decreases...
...As the percentage of Catholics shrinks to 20-29 percent, the intermarriage rate increases to 33 percent...
...The answer lies in social forces beyond the control of church leaders...
...This is an unacceptable tragedy...
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...52 percent in Lafayette, Indiana...
...The dioceses of Brownsville, Texas (where Catholics are 81 percent of the population), and Newark, New Jersey (where they are 51 percent) are good examples...
...Racial and ethnic factors probably account for this exception...
...It's no wonder that diocesan and parish leaders encourage Catholics to marry Catholics and to avoid interfaith marriage...
...Catholics are only 4 percent in the Old South...
...But others are far above it.The intermarriage rate is 43 percent in Portland, Oregon...
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...When Catholics comprise 50 percent or more of the total population in a geographical diocese, the interfaith marriage rate is only 18 percent (well below the national average of 30 percent...
...Some dioceses, such as Brownsville, Texas (6 percent), Newark, New Jersey (16 percent), and Providence, Rhode Island (17 percent) are well below the national average...
...Lafayette, Indiana, with only 8 percent Catholics also has a rate of 52 percent...
...They are less likely to agree with canon law on matters such as the need to attend Mass and to limit ordination to celibate males...
...Simply stated: It is not true that I million Iraqis have died as a result of sanctions...
...In New England, where Catholics are 42 percent of the population, the intermarriage rate is only 23 percent...
...In addition, Baghdad undertook a massive civil engineering project, and a military campaign against the marsh Arabs of southern Iraq through 1994, rather than address the needs of the general population...
...James D. Davidson INTERFAITH MARRIAGE Location, location, location ompared to Catholics with same-faith spouses, Catholics in interfaith marriages are more likely to experience marital discord and divorce...
...When Catholics are 30-39 percent of the population, the intermarriage rate rises to 24 percent...
...Recent reports from Baghdad indicate that even the limited success of relief efforts that has occurred may compromise the Iraqis' claim that the humanitarian crisis warrants a full lifting of sanctions...
...Iraq's responsibility is compounded by its refusal to participate fully in the implementation of the various Security Council proposals to supply food, medicine and relief supplies...
...The archdiocese of Milwaukee is typical: Catholics are 29 percent of the population...
...and Pittsburgh (30 percent...
...With David Cortright he has written extensively on sanctions, including reports to relevant UN agencies on the humanitarian impact of sanctions...
...the interfaith marriage rate is 53 percent...
...In Portland, Maine, where Catholics are 18 percent, the intermarriage rate is 36 percent...
...The original research sources that gave rise to exaggerated figures such as "1 million deaths due to sanctions" have printed adjustments and corrections, but these revised data have not been acknowledged by activists...
...One final point may be in order...
...and 71 percent in Burlington, Vermont...
...Data from the OCD (1997) confirm Blau's thesis...
...In the case of Iraq, the moral ground continues to rest with sanctions...
...By April 1995, a more detailed oil-for-food program came into being through Resolution 986, which was later bolstered by Resolution 1111...
Vol. 125 • September 1998 • No. 15
