By Akubueze-Chukwudebe Jessica
It’s one thing to know about marriage and another to learn and understand the different factors embedded in marriage which help a man and woman to live together for a life time
It was along this line that the Catholic Diocese of Awka, through the Family and Human Life Unit, FHLU of the Diocese held a 2-day Marriage Instructors’ Seminar, with the theme: ‘Marriage: Loving Partnership of a Man and a Woman for Life”.
The seminar which was held 11th and 12th of July, 2025 witnessed the presence of many resource persons who delivered insightful topics; and participants from all the parishes in the Catholic diocese of Awka.
The Awka Diocesan Coordinator of Family and Human Life Unit while delivering the topic ”End and Properties of Marriage’ explained that marriage is more than just for procreation as there are various aspects of marriage and many ends to be reached for marriage to be enjoyable by the man and woman.
He said the current generation did not understand the meaning and holiness of marriage which was why they did not see the need to understand marriage before jumping into it, thus, leading to frequent divorce cases and domestic violence.
He listed some of the ends and properties of marriage that should be met before getting married as; compatibility, procreation, unity and indivisibility, unus (One) and shared duties.
On compatibility, Fr Aniukwu said a man and woman before getting married should go through all tests and discuss to understand if they were ideally compatible with each other before putting a ring on it, noting that it was one of the key ends of marriage.
Moving on to procreation, Fr. Aniukwu explained that procreation was one of the reasons for man’s creation, although it should not be the sole reason for marriage. He said a man and woman should ensure they agreed on whether they wanted kids or not in a marriage, and how many they wanted before getting married.
Looking into the Properties of Marriage, Rev Fr. Aniukwu, listed Unus, meaning one, as a great property. He explained that Unus showed that a man and a woman were one, both physically and spiritually, as they both should let nothing come between them and their love. He said it showed that they were strong together in faith and in God, thus, making their marriage stronger
On another note, Dr. Mitchelle Onugbolu, with her topic titled, ”Roles and Responsibilities of Marriage”. It emphasized the seriousness behind responsibilities in marriage.
She said a man’s responsibility to his wife is to respect, provide and protect her, as he is not a master but a companion. For the woman, she should remember that she is a wife first before becoming a mother, and should thus, always remember to show her husband love and provide service.
Dr. Onugbolu emphasized that the main reason for marriage was for companionship.
Explaining further, she said a couple who were parents to children should endeavour to remember that they were role models, and, as such, should not fail to handle their responsibilities well before their children who they were to mentor, guide, advise, love and protect.
Dr. Onugbolu, advised couples to always remember to take care of the elderly as it was a duty, and that while doing so, they should remember to allow their children live their lives as they had lived theirs.
On the second day of the Seminar, Rev. Fr. Jerome Okafor, who representated the Catholic Bishop of Awka, Most Rev Paulinus Ezeokafor, spoke on the Laws of Marriage.
He said the natural institution of marriage was the one that God raised to the status of sacrament in the gospel of Matthew Chapter 8.
Fr Okafor explained that there are different forms of marriages, vis: Customary Marriage, Polygamous Marriage, Polyandry, Communal Marriage and the Trial Form of Marriage.
Expatiating on those forms of Marriage, he said that Customary Marriage is one guided by laws, either the court or traditional laws.
‘Marriage is no longer practiced by people committed to one another, because one feels like; there must be control, so laws have been added so they could be kept within limits. On the other hand, Communal Marriage is one that is based on single fatherhood and single motherhood, which is living with a child without a wife or a husband,’ he said.
He said the Trial Form of Marriage was one that did not have trust in it. Under this form, he said, it did not matter if it worked out or not.
‘This set of people do not understand the need for love and holiness in marriage, they don’t understand what trust and marriage entail,’ he explained.
Fr. Okafor went on to discuss the problems in marriage, among which he mentioned ignorance and poor religious foundation. He said that if one was not grounded in the knowledge of God and did not understand that marriage was sacred, one would never take marriage seriously.
He ended his lecture by advising that no one could conduct marriage in a non-certified church.
More still, Rev Fr. Dominic Anyalagbuna, explained the issue of infertility, noting that the use of neo-reproduction technology assist in giving birth to children.
He said children were not investments but precious gifts from God, advising that people should not only get married to give birth to children.
‘For marriage, the communion comes first; that is the communion of love, and if children come, that’s good, but if not, they should give thanks to God,’ he said.
He added, that the inability to give birth, doesn’t render the goodness of marriage useless, it does not remove the dignity of marriage, as marriage remains if there are children or not, as children are gifts from God and should be cherished.
Other speakers at the event were:
Rev Fr. Obrora Ike; Fr. Hillary Ezenwa; Mrs. Theresa Agha; Mrs Ebere Maria Ezeonwu; Engr. Chukwuma Ono; Mr. Oliver Nnamani and Fr. Maximus Muojeke.
In an interview with, Rev. Fr. Christopher Anukwu, the Coordinator, Family and Human Life Unit, he expressed joy and thanksgiving to God for making the seminar a success. He thanked the Bishop, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor for all the support he gave the FHLU; the paper presenters; and the participants from the parishes for their active participation.