Premarital Counseling within the Catholic Church of Sri Lanka: Integrating Faith, Psychology, and Cultural

Abstract

This article evaluates the Pre-Cana programme within the Roman Catholic Church of Sri Lanka as an institutionalised model of premarital pastoral counselling and psychoeducation. Pre-Cana is a premarital counselling service within the traditional counselling framework associated with the religious background. Apart from other religions, the Catholic Church is significantly involved in premarital counselling, mastering Pre-Cana in a well-organized manner. Administered through diocesan Family Apostolates, most notably in the Archdiocese of Colombo, Pre-Cana is a mandatory prerequisite for the Sacrament of Matrimony. This study unpacks the Pre-Cana framework by integrating Pastoral Counselling and Developmental, Preventive, and Psychoeducational Interventions. Primarily delivered as an intensive, multi-day seminar retreat, the programme brings Western therapeutic frameworks, such as Active Listening, Cognitive Reframing, and Financial Resource Management and psychoeducation to couples who are willing to get married. By analysing its preventive, educational, and clinical functions, this paper demonstrates that Pre-Cana provides a foundational therapeutic space for addressing communication pathology, intergenerational trauma, and relational adjustment within Sri Lanka’s distinct socio-cultural fabric.