Face masks become part of the attires of these couples who seized the chance to get married for free at a mass wedding event by the Bacolod City government. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A Radyo Veritas survey has found out that overall, 45 percent of Catholic respondents believed that marriage was not necessary before people could live together as opposed to 40 percent who said that it was.
The remaining 15 percent of the 1,200 respondents in the combined text-based and online survey on people’s perception of common-law partnership said they were undecided.
The question asked in the survey conducted from Jan. 1 to 31 was: “Should couples get married first before living together and not engage in a common-law partnership (live-in) arrangement?”
The results of the survey, according to Rev. Fr. Anton Pascual, Radyo Veritas president, posed a “challenge in the Church’s ongoing mission to evangelize the Catholic faithful, most especially nominal Catholics, on the beauty of the sacrament of marriage.”
The Church follows the Bible’s teachings which give “transcendental value” to marriages and put God in the middle of marital unions.
The Veritas Truth Survey cited Hebrews 13:4, which stated that “marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”
Age is a factor
But the survey results also indicated that age was an important factor in people’s views toward live-in partnerships. More respondents in the age 40 and older group were in favor of marriage compared to young adults and teenagers.
Among the adult respondents or those between 40 and 60 years old, 48 percent believed that marriage should come first before living together. Only 29 percent said it was not needed while 23 percent were undecided.
For the elderly respondents or those aged 61 years old and above, 61 percent said couples should be married first, 33 percent answered that it was not necessary, while 6 percent were undecided.
Compared to them, the majority of younger respondents found a live-in arrangement before marriage acceptable.
Among teens aged 13 to 20 years old, 51 percent said a common-law partnership was OK while only 34 percent were against it. The remaining 15 percent were undecided.
For young adults, or those between the ages of 21 and 39, some 68 percent said that living together before marriage was acceptable. Only 21 percent were against the setup while the rest were unsure.