Marriage Enrichment Retreat Draws Record Turnout In Germany

WALDFISCHBACH-BURGALBEN, GERMANY — The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), welcomed a record thirty-one U.S. Air Force couples to Waldfischbach-Burgalben, Germany, this past weekend for an AMS Marriage Enrichment Retreat. The couples, from the Holy Family Catholic Community at Ramstein Air Base, about 20 miles away, all participated in the April 11-12 retreat at the Maria Rosenberg Pilgrimage Site and Spiritual Center — a site run by the Diocese of Speyer in southwest Germany. Fathers Emeka C. Okwuosa, Ch, Capt, USAF, and Joseph Deichert, Ch, Col, USAF (Ret.), worked with the planning committee and the facilitator, AMS Vice-Chancellor for Evangelization Mark Moitoza, Th.D., D.Min., to organize the retreat.

Photo of the Marriage Encounter courtesy of the Archdiocese for Military Services

The couples came to the retreat center following an opening session at Ramstein’s North Chapel, where they prayed the Stations of the Cross and enjoyed a soup supper. They spent the weekend huddled in prayer, group sessions, and dialogue, using the REFOCCUS Marriage Enrichment Inventory, a resource developed by FOCCUS, Inc. USA, of the Archdiocese of Omaha in Nebraska. FOCCUS stands for “Facilitate Open Couple Communication Understanding and Study.”

The couples engaged in sessions covering the topics of “Marriage as a Process,” “Intimacy,” and “Commitment.” In their post-retreat evaluations participants said the encounter provided, among other things, “a better understanding of how to talk with my partner”; “the ability to sit and connect with my wife and learn from small groups that we are not alone”; “a deeper appreciation of the gift of ‘self’ to my husband”; “a good reminder about the importance of nurturing our marriage—it is God’s marriage—He loves us so much thus we love each other in this covenant.”

This was the ninth such retreat sponsored by the AMS since 2018 at locations throughout Europe, the U.S., and Guam. It boasts the largest attendance yet! Previous AMS Marriage Enrichment Retreats have been held Feb. 16-18, 2018, in Marriottsville, MD; Dec. 7-9, 2018, in Alhambra, CA; Sept. 27-29, 2019, in San Angelo, TX; Dec. 6-8, 2019, in Assisi, Italy; Oct. 1-3, 2021, in Atlanta, GA; July 8-10, 2022, in Waldfischbach-Burgalben, Germany; May 19-20, 2023, on Guam; and Oct. 18-20, 2024, in Nemi, Italy. These retreats are funded by benefactors of the Archdiocese.