Pope Francis Says Most Catholics Getting Married Don’t Know What They’re Getting Into, Really

Pope Francis has a lot of thoughts on the sanctity of marriage. Chief among them? Let’s start with how pretty much that whole “sanctity” part is pretty darn old-school. So old-school, in fact, that today’s couples don’t really understand what it means.

On Thursday, in some off-the-cuff responses (as is the Pope’s style, ya know), Francis said that “the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null.”

Why? Well, because we live in “a culture of the provisional,” where committing to anything takes too much energy.

“It’s provisional, and because of this the great majority of our sacramental marriages are null,” Francis said, according to the Catholic News Agency.

“Because they say ‘yes, for the rest of my life!’ but they don’t know what they are saying,” Francis continued. “Because they have a different culture. They say it, they have good will, but they don’t know.”

Francis made the remarks during a Q&A session after a meeting of the Diocesse of Rome. Someone apparently asked about the “crisis of marriage,” according to CNA, and Francis didn’t hold back.

In fact, Francis was so skeptical about people rushing into marriage that he detailed how, as Archbishop of Argentina, he put a stop to “shotgun weddings” where the bride was pregnant.

Instead, Francis seemed to suggest that living together before marriage might be worth it if it helps couples develop their “fidelity” to each other.

In other words, best to know you can stand each other’s annoying quirks before walking down the aisle.