Catholic Dating | Catholic Central

Dating in the Catholic world can be awkward, confusing, and depressing. But it doesn't have to be! Kai and Libby give us some tips on how to make the dating experience better, both for you and everyone you date.
From Family Theater Productions in Hollywood.
Visit our website for the transcript, study guide, and more! - www.catholiccentral.com
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[@maxlindqvist736]

Thank you for saying that we shouldn't be in relationships just because the spouse would check all the boxes. I just went through that kind of a relationship ( I am undergoing training as a catholic convert).

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Max Lindqvist, we are glad we could help and hope our content continues to inspire you as you move forward on your lifelong faith journey!

[@melkam9917]

I have dated the Word of God 7 years ago and then I proposed to her, that I want to embrace her all my life long and she accepted me kindly and I started living happily ever after.

[@BoogieBoogieBoyLock]

Hahaha “she checks off all the boxes” this is amazing. I love this channel!!! I’m just wondering where I can find people that actually live like this- where are youuuu? I’m going to have to favorite this video and watch it every time I feel hopeless about love. You’re the best. ❤️

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

aww! We're in LA, but hope is out there, all over the world!!

[@catholicchiara]

Funny, practical, and relevant! One of the best Catholic vids on dating I've encountered. Thank you and may God bless!

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Chiara, thank you for your kind words. May God bless you as well! Please remember to subscribe to our channel.

[@bl8596]

This was HILAREOUS. Keep up the good work guys! God bless!

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

B L thanks! We will do our best!

[@MaxUushona]

A friend recommended this. So much practicality and truth in this. Thumbs up guys!

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Thanks!

[@curtpiazza1688]

Excellent presentation!

[@Name-le2cc]

Please make more video of this guys Catholics need it sooo much

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

we're working on it!

[@Name-le2cc]

@@CatholicCentralVideos thanks so much

[@missrosieflores]

Nice Channel!!! It's excellent have this Catholic Channel! I love it! Thanks!!!

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Awww...

[@tumuhimbisegodwin9951]

This one from dream singles it's Amazing, when you have never see if you can't believe it, but now it's unbelievable to see prominent couples being joined together and they're so happy. Infact I was so pleased with their wonderful testimonies, even to see people from different places or countries are well helped. It's wonderful, may God bless all of you.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Tumuhimbise Godwin, thank you for your kind words and may God Bless you as well. If you are single and would like to see some more content on "Catholic Dating" we would urge you to watch "The Dating Project" which was produced by our parent organization. www.thedatingprojectmovie.com/

[@leigh-anncalotes5301]

Just discovered this channel! Good stuff guys 👏🏻

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@cmcasadoiro]

I am new here, but this is really good! You have got a new suscriber

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Thanks for subbing!

[@ka-trip574]

I Like this video. 😊 Thank you! Practical dating tips.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

You're welcome!

[@carlosenrique1712]

I love this Channel!

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Carlos Enrique thank you!!

[@vickycals5276]

Carlos Enrique hello how you doing dear

[@TaylorJohnson1]

I am IN LOVE with this video.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Thank you Taylor.

[@johnmcmahon4222]

Awesome!

[@lovelifenlobos585]

Nice content dears God Bless. we are catholic couple.... had our own straggles and now we started our channel to speak family problems in our Indian context

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Nice!

[@no_prisoners6474]

Love this

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Thank you!

[@annasahlstrom6109]

There aren't many single guys at church or they're kids or college students, so I have to look outside my church, which hasn't worked out. I have given up too easily too many times so I really need God's help to find my husband.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Anna, we have actually heard this from a number of people regarding this episode and please know that we sympathize with your plight. But please also realize that there are resources available to you to aid you in your search. We would suggest you watch “The Dating Project” which was co-produced by our parent company, Family Theater Productions. We would also suggest that you look into Catholic Young Adult groups in your area and activities, such as “Theology on Tap

[@JewelBlueIbanez]

That video at the beginning is a thing. We had to watch it in school.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

lol really? Sorry to hear that...

[@deb353]

Hahaha I'm brazilian, but i love this channel! So funny.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Muito obrigado!

[@hectordanielsanchezcobo7713]

HERE I AM _EATING _*_DOUGHNUTS_* !!!!!

[@NeltharionXXXX]

Libby is hot, burning by The Holy Spirit

[@bl8596]

I burst out laughing 😂

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Yum.

[@owntheskeptics8818]

I love you guyssssssss ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Thank you!

[@missrosieflores]

Good to know. Thank you!!!

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

You are so welcome!

[@caribaez5711]

I like this video 🙃😒 I didn’t know nothing about dating.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

We're here to help!

[@madisonreynoldz2504]

Who's the guy in the video? He looks so familiar!! Where have I seen him from?

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

You may have! Kai has been in a number of movies and TV shows.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Yes, he is.

[@vincentfox4929]

Im an Indian catholic and dating is not a part of our tradition nor is it encouraged so its facinating to see how other catholics find others to marry.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Thank you, Vincent, glad to know we're helping. God bless.

[@Dave-zl2ky]

So you are allowed to date now? A Catholic school student from 1959 to 1968. The dark ages.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Yes, Dave, your dark ages are over! Date, laugh, love, share, have fun! Life is good. God bless!

[@ryandeschanel6925]

Wow... That's depressing.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

How so?

[@ryandeschanel6925]

@@CatholicCentralVideos Unattainable perfection.

[@AngelBien]

@@ryandeschanel6925 how is it unattainable perfection?

[@estebanavelar4118]

Hilarious! I loved it! My issue is there is no high quality women to make a family with, so I just stopped dating. If I find a woman it will be by God’s grace.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Esteban, we are glad you enjoyed our episode. When it comes to finding the right woman, maybe your standards need some tweaking. It's good that you think ahead to making a family, but that could actually be setting a standard that's too high up front. As Kai says in the episode, "take it step by step, keep going out with her, without assuming she's probably your future spouse. You can always re-assess...." We also hear from many Catholics about stumbling-blocks related to piety and morality, but we really need to get to know someone at the human level before we can judge their moral and spiritual character, and certainly actions speak louder than words. The hardest part of dating, as Libby suggests, is looking in the mirror: "So if there are a few things you could improve on," she says, "focus on healing what could be holding you back and developing your gifts and talents." And Kai adds: "If you don't know who you are, you can't look for someone truly compatible." By all means please check out our resources linked to the episode. If you're YouTubing, go to our website catholiccentral.com, search for the "Catholic Dating" episode and scroll down to "Resources." Our documentary "The Dating Project" is first on the list, an amazing account of one of the most popular courses at Harvard University, a how-to workshop in the fundamentals of dating. Other resources include links to a blog, a Ted talk, a rant and more, all about dating issues and strategies. We wish you Godspeed, Esteban. Don’t give up and, yes, God's grace in all things!

[@estebanavelar4118]

@@CatholicCentralVideos Wow thanks for the reply! I don’t lose hope but searching is not a priority, it just doesn’t work that way. I am focused on things of God first and let everything else fall in place in due time. But def the other Christian religions are 1000 times better than Catholics at promoting traditional marriage.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Thanks, Esteban, and yes, being focused on God is a sure perspective for making our choices. But we're confused when you say other Christian denominations are better at promoting traditional marriage than the Catholic Church. Catholicism is the only faith that regards marriage as a sacrament, not just a rite. And a lot of the anger towards the Church these days is BECAUSE Catholics promote “traditional” marriage between a man and a woman. What you may be experiencing is that some Catholic young adult ministries are less focused on encouraging relationships between young men and women than other Christian denominations are. Voices like yours can make a difference in the success of these ministries at the parish level, and that may be a way that your focus on God can serve not only you but others on the same journey.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Esteban, we don’t usually add a PS, but another of the options that neither of us has mentioned is that your experiences may be pointing you in a direction other than dating and marriage - the single life and maybe even (don’t laugh!) ordination. Your “focus on God” is very possibly the work of the Holy Spirit leading you to a period of broader discernment rather than just one of withdrawal from searching for dates. This can be an enormous gift and opportunity. We have made episodes that deal with the discernment process, “Everyday Discernment,” and two of the time-tried ways of using scripture to assist in discerning God’s will in our personal lives, “Lectio Divina” and “Ignatian Meditation.” Of course we also have “Holy Orders,” an episode that’s surprised us with views three times that of Catholic Dating. Just a thought, we’ll be praying for you, Godspeed!

[@pamirb3784]

Is he John Travolta new generation? 😸

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Maybe John Travolta is an older generation's Kai? 😀

[@angelrogo]

1:38 That's the KEY of EVERYTHING. "I don't want what I see around me. I just want my Prince Charming and I know is somewhere waiting for me!!!" 2:52 😂😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Best joke ever!!! 3:32 For Catholics, "yes" means "no" and "no" means "yes". That's why we are in the situation we are in. 4:04 Who wants the right person and to be the right person? Catholics are only looking for Prince Charming! 4:50 Precisely, the Catholic Church says marriage solves all the problems, especially on sex. And that's why there are so many fake Catholic marriages. 5:23 The Catholic Church has traditionally viewed singleness as a curse. That is why the only advice the Church gives to singles is: "God's plan for you is for you to remain single. As Jesus said, pick up your cross and follow Me." We inhabitants of traditionally Catholic Mediterranean countries know this quite well. 6:13 Translated: "If you are single, you will always remain single. And be glad you are single, because being married is very bad and causes a lot of problems." Sure, that must be why all Catholics want to be single for life, to get rid of the problems of being married...

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi angelrojo, we are dismayed by your bitter comments. As you see from the other comments on this page, your experience does not seem to be widely shared. We are sorry that your personal dating life has proved so negative. You speak of the situation in the Mediterranean world, and from your comments it’s fair to conclude that’s it’s quite different from that of North America’s. You might benefit from our series called , “Lasting Marriages: I do…and Still do” (kzbin.info/www/bejne/h4SVh3xvrpyaj80), in which Catholic couples (on this side of the Atlantic) discuss their marriages. They do not present themselves in an ideal light, but there is no talk or evidence of the inhumane burdens, constraints and misconceptions that you inaccurately attribute to all Catholic relationships. We did not say that Catholics can only date Catholics. We are saying you shouldn’t start out with marriage, Catholic or otherwise, as the number one precondition for your date. Just enjoy being two people exploring the new vistas and mysteries of each other. There are degrees of insight and commitment that need to occur long before talking of marriage. You scoffed in one of your comments about the “big joke” of the dignity of persons… but your mutual dignity as human persons, as God’s children, must be recognized and cherished as the foundation and first principle of all our relationships, regardless of religious affiliation or the prospects of marriage. The Holy Spirit works in mysterious and surprising ways. Trust that God will do God’s part in your relationship, but you need to do your part and recognize the beauty, truth and goodness of the person God has put before you. Otherwise, there is no hope or rationale for marriage, in or out of the Catholic Church.

[@angelrogo]

@@CatholicCentralVideos It has become very fashionable for insultingly young Catholic and Protestant couples and married couples (in many cases under 25 years of age) to make videos on KZbin giving advices on marriage, the wedding night, contraceptive methods, and being single, and regarding the latter, especially about the defects we single people have (that is, those of us who have never been married) for which we do not deserve to get married, and also the obligations that we single people have and married people don't have it. My answers should not surprise you; the responses are even more acidic and sarcastic in this kind of videos when Protestants make them, since the Protestant community is even more intolerant if possible than the Catholic one. Especially hurtful are the videos of married couples telling us singles how bad it is to be married and how wonderful it is to be single because we have more free time and we can serve God better. And, at the same time, society and the Catholic and Protestant churches rub in our faces the defects that we singles have: "your biological clock is ticking"; "you are going to stay to dress saints" (to be left on the shelf) (two very typical and very painful phrases from Spanish and Italian societies); "you are too picky"; "you're a weirdo"; "God's plan for you is that you remain single forever; pick up your cross and follow Him"; and my favorite one, "if no one has loved you when you were young, much less when you were old." I, as a Catholic, for personal, religious, and historical reasons, have had, have, and will always have a special affection for Karol J. Wojtyła, Saint John Paul II. He has been the only one in the history of the Catholic Church to offer a theological and philosophical response to the human need to love and be loved. However, in the real world, there are no Catholic women who want to be loved that way. Catholic women, young and not so young, are only looking for their Prince Charming, their 6'5 tall, blue-eyed, blonde, athletic, 6-figure salary, to offer them the life of luxury they have always deserved, and, of course, a lot of premarital sex. That's why it makes me laugh when I hear people say that being Catholic means "believing that all people have dignity and worth", since currently there are no Catholic women who believe in that, and many men don't believe it either. That is why the relationships between men and women in the Catholic Church are so false. In Spain, it is a fact that 6 out of 10 supposedly Catholic marriages, married in the Church, end in divorce in less than 10 years. I have been a direct witness to some of these false marriages by the Church that have ended in divorce. The reason is quite simple: there is no true love, there is no tolerance, there is no respect; there is only physical attraction and attraction for money. In Poland, my current country of residence, Catholic women's superficiality and contempt for single men is even worse. This is what dismay us as single men. We are at the moment in history with the highest number of singles in the Catholic and Protestant Churches. Faced with such expectations of contempt for singles and unrealistic and fanciful perspectives on the part of women within the Church, people are reacting. More and more singles are leaving Catholic and Protestant churches to pursue their human desire to love and be loved by kind, tolerant, understanding, sensitive, and realistic women, regardless of their ideology and their religion or lack of religion. This is what being Catholic is about, tolerating, respecting, accepting, and loving anyone, regardless of their beauty, their work, their wealth, their ideology, their religion, or their lack of religion. Because to be Catholic is to be Universal. This is not an isolated problem of one or two people, it is a general problem of society, particularly of the intolerance and fantasies of the Catholic and Protestant communities. No Catholic couple or marriage, no priest or bishop or archbishop or cardinal will ever understand the pain, frustration, and suffering of people who have been created by God to love sincerely and deeply and to be loved, and have been deprived by society and the Church of the opportunity to give to someone special everything we can give. This is the time when the Catholic community has to stop making videos and start really focusing on tolerance, understanding, and acceptance of involuntary singles, abandon hypocrisy and contempt for others, and promote true Catholic moral values, encourage single men and women to get to know each other in heart and spirit, and not by their looks or their money. It will be too late when all the single men have left the Church.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi again angelrojo. In so many ways we totally agree. You say that “being Catholic is about tolerating, respecting, accepting, and loving anyone, regardless of their beauty, their work, their wealth, their ideology, their religion, or their lack of religion. Because to be Catholic is to be Universal.” We say Amen! We expressed the same sentiment when we said that “our dignity as human persons, as God’s children, must be recognized and cherished as the foundation and first principle of all our relationships, regardless of religious affiliation or the prospects of marriage,” We understand that what you are further saying is that in the battlefield of life, people often do not live up to these ideals. Again we say Amen! We disagree with you only to the extent that you lay this failure entirely at the feet of the Catholic Church. But that feels a bit contradictory to us because at the same time you praise St Pope John Paul II for his pastoral wisdom in these matters, wisdom that still guides the Church - at least the North American Church. In fact his thought and spirit run strongly through our episodes “Love,” “Marriage” and “Sexuality.” That said, we do not wish to deny your personal experience in your part of the world. We are truly sorry to hear about it. But for ourselves, we can attest by first-hand experience that we do not find “all Catholic women” to be venal and self-serving. Nor can we agree that there is “no Catholic couple or marriage, no priest or bishop or archbishop or cardinal” who understands that “we are created by God to love sincerely and deeply and to be loved.” These are generalizations that would be hard to support statistically, given the enormous population they implicate. As you yourself point out there are “true Catholic values" supporting "tolerance, understanding, and acceptance of involuntary singles,” values that “encourage single men and women to get to know each other in heart and spirit, and not by their looks or their money.” If this is true, and we believe it is, it is hard for us to exclusively blame the Catholic Church for the situation you describe. What we are more likely to believe is that faithful, prophetic Catholics like yourself can make a difference by continuing to embody the values that you share with the Church, wherever they lead, and to trust in the God who brings all things to the good. We pray that for ourselves and all Catholics as much as we pray it for you.

[@NoName-zb1gm]

Catholic dating is a joke. It's just dating. Faith means nothing to most women. They go to Church alone like it's their personal hobby and don't care if their spouse or boyfriend goes with them to Mass. I was thinking of asking a girl I know if she'd like to go to Church. I don't know if she's Catholic or goes to Mass but she's a nice girl and perhaps introducing her to our faith is another option.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

We wouldn't say that "Catholic dating is joke." What we have done is to describe a more intentional form of dating, where the end goal is something more than "hooking up." At the same time, as we try to illustrate in this video, we would hope that people who do date with an eye towards a lasting relationship do not put too much pressure on themselves to find the perfect partner. As for your situation of asking a specific non-Catholic girl out, if you feel you are attracted to her, go for it and see how it goes. She does not have to convert, but should respect your beliefs. If the relationship progresses, it is important to have conversations about what your faith means to you - not as a way of cramming Catholicism down her throat, but as a way to help her to understand your commitment to the faith.

[@angelrogo]

@@CatholicCentralVideos Yes. That's why it is way more realistic the possibility to find a good non-Catholic woman who is truly respectful, tolerant, kind, loving, and eager to have a stable relationship that can end in a marriage, and because that's exactly what I'm offering to her. Trying to find all this in a "Catholic" woman is impossible.