Die Situation von Familien und familiären Beziehungen in Italien und die Familienpastoral der Kirche, aufgezeigt am Beispiel der Diözese Bozen-Brixen
The situation of families and family relations in Italy and the family pastoral of the church, illustrated by the diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone

Summary/Abstract: In Italy, both church and civil marriages are declining. At national level, the number of civil marriages has meanwhile surpassed the number of Church marriages. In addition, separations and divorces as well as civil second (and third) marriages are on the increase. In May 2016, same-sex and “de facto” partnerships were legally recognised. In Italy as a whole, there have been profound changes in the realities of life in partnership, marriage and family. Although they can be seen as a crisis of the traditional form of family and its credibility, they are socially tolerated and accepted to a large extent. The Italian Church has so far reacted to these changes primarily by intensifying efforts to a qualified preparation to marriage, on the one hand, and by developing a particular pastoral concern for “injured families” on the other, i. e. for marriages and families in difficulties or who have failed. As the example of the diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, which held a diocesan synod in 2013–2015, shows, pastoral work in future has to go beyond the areas of qualified preparation for marriage and accompaniment of couples and families, especially in the case of wounded and failed marriages, and to deal more intensively with the question of how also the faithful living in non marital partnerships, can be supported pastorally and be more actively involved in the life of the Church.

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