Helping the Sydney community with relationships, parenting, ageing, disability, pastoral services and mental wellbeing.
Preparing for marriage is one of the most important steps a couple can take. For Catholic couples, it’s not just planning a wedding, it’s preparing for a sacrament, a lifelong covenant of love under God. That’s why more engaged couples and referring priests are turning to CatholicCare Sydney’s Becoming One pre-marriage course: a program that blends faith, evidence-based relationship skills, and real, honest conversations about what makes a marriage strong delivered by passionate and professional educators.
2026 will also see CatholicCare’s Becoming One program return to Parish based venues, so that couples are preparing for their marriage in its rightful place – on Church grounds.
A Modern Course Rooted in Catholic Values
Unlike traditional lecture-style programs, Becoming One is interactive, practical, grounded in Catholic teachings integrated with contemporary research on what makes relationships thrive. Couples work in small groups with experienced educators, exploring everything from communication and conflict, family influences and the sacramentality and life giving nature of marriage.
The course is open to couples at all stages - whether newly engaged, long-term partners preparing for marriage, or couples wanting to strengthen their relationship foundations before marriage.
Building a Marriage That Lasts
The heart of the program is the “Bigger Picture”: helping couples understand not only who they are as individuals, but who they want to become together under God. Through activities, discussion and guided coaching, couples explore key areas such as:
The course invites couples to slow down, talk deeply and build the emotional, practical and spiritual skills essential for married life.
“It opened up more dialogue between us”
One couple who recently completed the course said the experience was transformative:
“We have more of an understanding of who we are individually and where we want to go together as a married couple. We’ve already implemented a few of the techniques we’ve learnt from the course.”
This is a common theme among participants, who often describe the course as a turning point - an opportunity to talk openly about hopes, challenges, expectations and faith.
Why CatholicCare Sydney?
Couples choose CatholicCare Sydney because CatholicCare is the official social services agency of the Sydney Archdiocese.
The program honours the sacredness of marriage while offering practical, research-backed guidance for modern relationships. It’s marriage preparation that is both heartfelt and helpful, rooted in Catholic teaching, yet fully attuned to the world couples live in today.
About Becoming One:
CatholicCare’s Becoming One Group course combines evidence-based research on marriage and relationships with experiential activities and coaching by professional experienced educators.
Course Duration: Varies. Please seeBrochurefor more details.
Course Cost:$420
Course format:Group
For individual couple work, please refer to Intimate II. Intimate II suits couples who have been married before, have children either together or from a previous relationship, are older, or have been living together for a number of years.
Download the 2025 Course Calendar
Download the Marriage & Relationships Education Brochure
By Anneliese Alexander – Pastoral Services Director, CatholicCare Sydney
