Free Republic

Continuing to represent one of the largest shifts of public opinion in Gallup history, 87% of Americans now favor marriage between blacks and whites, up from 4% in 1958. These data are from Gallup's Minority Rights and Relations poll, conducted June 13-July 5. The poll surveyed 4,373 Americans, including 1,010 non-Hispanic blacks. Approval of marriages between blacks and whites is up one percentage point from 2011, when this attitude was last measured. Approval has generally increased in a linear fashion from Gallup's first measure in 1958, reaching the majority threshold in 1997, and crossing the three-quarters line in 2004. Eleven...

I surprised our son one day. He was preparing for his Confirmation, and I felt it was important to have a heart-to-heart talk. I explained that while he will still need instruction in the Faith, that, in fact, it would become his responsibility to open his heart to the catechism and take it seriously. It was no longer just something Mom wanted. Confirmation should be something he wanted. I needed to know: Does he want to say Yes? His first thought came out right away and I knew it had been looming for a few years: “Hey, Dad’s not Catholic...

Jewish leaders in the UK are warning that British Jewry may die out if more is not done to try to combat intermarriage. Studies show between 30% and 50% of young British Jews now marry outside the religion. Britain's Jewish population is in serious decline. The last census for Britain showed that 266,000 people said they were Jewish - 0.5% of the population. Dwindling numbers But 50 years ago figures show there were at least double that number, with about 500,000 British Jews. "Intermarriage and assimilation are the biggest threat to British Jewry right now," says Rabbi Yitchak Schochet, adviser...

Mayor Overruled on Mixed Marriage PARIS (Reuters) - Serge Dassault, the French aviation magnate who also happens to be mayor of a Paris suburb, has been ordered by a court to wed a couple he refused to unite because he suspected theirs was a marriage of convenience. Better known in the world of fighter jets and expensive planes, Dassault refused to perform the typical French mayor's Saturday duty recently because the relationship between the French woman and Tunisian man seemed unusual to him. "People marry to create a family, but the bride is 52 years old and the groom...

Although this Catholic Update often focuses on the two partners in an interchurch marriage, it is a valuable tool for all of us—family members, friends and fellow parishioners—as we reach out to support them in their faith journey. Many Catholics married to persons of other Christian denominations feel left out of parish activities because they don't fit the profile of the "normal" Catholic marriage. This Update can remind the whole Catholic community of the vital role interchurch couples can play in the working toward full unity of those whose common bond is Jesus Christ. That these marriages succeed is the...