Separated and divorced Catholics are deserving of compassion and support from the Catholic community. The impact of divorce is often immense and multiple. Divorce often leaves a lasting and ripple effect for the couple, children and other family members. The immediate and long-term need for support and healing resource is well documented.
The Catholic community “…must do everything possible so that such people [those in irregular marriages] feel loved and accepted, that they are not ‘outsiders’ even if they cannot receive absolution and the Eucharist. They must see that they too live fully within the Church.” —Pope Benedict XVI comment to divorced Catholics, World Meeting of Families, June 2012
Resources
Children of Divorce
When Parents Divorce or Separate Workbook and Leader's eGuide – 8-week group program to help children work through their feelings and the common problems that arise from parental separation or divorce while drawing on their faith and Catholic teachings.
Adults of Divorce
The Catholic Divorce Survival Guide – 12-week DVD parish program that brings healing and hope to divorced and separated Catholics. With the help of expert counselors, theologians, and priests, author and presenter Rose Sweet guides participants from pain and loneliness to hope and healing.
Books for helping youth and children cope with parent's divorce:
- Now What Do I Do? A Guide to Help Teenagers with Their Parents' Separation or Divorce by Lynn Cassella-Kapusinski
- Teens Are Non-Divorceable: A Workbook for Divorced Parents and Their Children: Ages 12-18 by Sara Bonkowski
- What in the World Do You Do When Your Parents Divorce? A Survival Guide for Kids by Kent Winchester J.D. and Roberta Beyer J.D. (ages 5-10)
- When My Parents Forgot How to be Friends (Let's Talk) by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos (ages 4-8)
- What Can I Do?: A Book for Children of Divorce by Danielle Lowry (ages 8-12)
- Helping Your Kids Cope with Divorce the Sandcastles Way by M. Gary Neuman (5-12)
- How to Talk to Your Children About Divorce by Jill Jones-Soderman
Books for helping adult Catholics cope with the aftermath of divorce:
- Rebuilding After Divorce: Making Your House a Home by Rose Sweet
- A Woman's Guide to Healing the Heartbreak of Divorce by Rose Sweet
- Divorced. Catholic. Now What? by Lisa Duffy
- Divorce and Beyond Participants (Divorce & Remarriage) by James Greteman, Leon Haverkamp, Elsie Radtke
- Healing After Divorce: Hope for Catholics by Susan Rowland
- Prayers for Catholics Experiencing Divorce by Vicki Wells Bedard, William Rabior ACSW
- The Gift of Self: A Spiritual Companion for Separated and Divorced Faithful to the Sacrament of Marriage by Maria Pia Campanella
