Interfaith Marriages of Catholics in the Detroit Area

Abstract

In examining background factors in the interfaith marriages of Catholics, it is important to include not only those marriages in which both partners maintain their childhood affiliation but also those in which one partner converts. After examining the implications of this rule, this article presents a secondary analysis of some survey data from the Detroit area. The evidence indicates that the intermarriage rate for Catholic men is not significantly different from that of Catholic women, that education in Catholic schools predicts conversion rates rather than intermarriage rates, and that in one small sample a Catholic ceremony was most often chosen by the partners in a mixed marriage.