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Family, as a Sanctuary of Life, has the duty to use in an ethical
manner, the mass media and other communication technology for the
fundamental duty of evangelization. If used creatively, television, radio,
drama, newspapers, and journals can serve, and the mission of
evangelization will be more lively. 106

Those who work in the media industry are challenged to be prudent
and truthful in conveying the news. In the process of attracting people, if
they neglect truth and values, they are destroying a generation and a society
itself. 107

4.3.2.2.4 Special Marriage Preparation Courses

Considering the family as the Sanctuary of Life, the Syro-Malabar
Church gives proper instructions to Christian families in Kerala that follow
the teachings of the universal Church and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of India (CBCI). There are special marriage preparation courses that are
conducted at the diocesan level. 108 The duration of the courses is usually
three days. Through these courses, young men and women receive a good
knowledge of family life, sexual life, psychological and spiritual aspects of
human love, the value of human life, the sacramentality of Christian
marriage, and the importance of responsible parenthood. 109 The participants
are awarded certificates which have to be presented to the parish priest
before the celebration of the marriage. The themes included in the marriage
preparation course can be summarized as follows:

1. Marriage is a Covenant and Sacrament: the sacredness and
preciousness of human life, sacramental grace. Unity and
indissolubility of the sacrament of marriage, family as the Domestic
Church.

106
Cf. LINEAMENTA OF EPARCHIAL ASSEMBLY OF THE DIOCESE OF KOTTAYAM
SEPTEMBER 11-15, 2000, Christian Witness of Knānāya Community (Malayalam),
Kottayam, 10 March, 2000, p. 64.
107 Cf. MOOLAKKATT, ARCHBISHOP MATHEW, Circular, no. 141, Media Day 2013,
Catholic Metropolitan’s House Kottayam, 28 October, 2013.
108 Cf. The Report of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council’s Commission for the Laity and
the Family, in GEO PAYYAPILLY, The Family Commission Report, Pastoral Orientation
Centre, Ernakulam, 1999, p.1.
109
Cf. KANIAMPLACKAL, PHILSY, Evangelisation of the Family and the Church’s
Magisterium: Family as Ecclesia Domestica in the Experience of the Syro-Malabar
Church, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis, Romae, 2001, p. 236.

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