For many Catholic couples who were married civilly, the desire to fully participate in the sacramental life of the Church and receive the Eucharist remains a deep longing.
In response, the Diocese of San Jose, California, led by Bishop Oscar Cantú, has launched a landmark convalidation initiative under the California bishops' "Radiate Love" campaign, witnessing dozens of couples enter into the sacrament of matrimony over the past few months.
Originally planned as a small pilot program, the initiative received a massive swell in interest from local families seeking to place Christ at the center of their marriages. Because of the high volume of registrants, celebrations took place across multiple communal Masses presided over by diocesan bishops on July 25, Aug. 1, and Sept. 26, alongside separate private ceremonies for couples who requested them.
The initiative began after the director for Adult Spirituality and Family Life for the Diocese of San Jose, Jose Soto, noticed how many couples attending weekly Mass with their children refrained from Communion due to their marital status.
"We adapted the title 'Radiate Love' because it was used by the California bishops as a way to promote marriage and family in 2024-2025," Soto said. "So, as that initiative was drawing to a close, I created a Radiate Love task force, which was about four or five marriages that I put out an invitation to, and they were passionate about marriage and family, and they helped me put on events throughout the year. One of them said, 'Jose, my heart breaks when I see couples ... come to church, they bring their kids to Mass on Sunday, and they don't take Communion, and I wonder if there's anything we can do to help those couples.' And that's how it started."
While organizers initially planned for a small cohort of 12 to 15 couples to establish a framework, news of the program spread through parishes. After the time to sign up was over, there were a total of 102 couples ready to begin.
"We were just so excited and overwhelmed at the same time, but it was so joyful," Soto said. "It just said to me that there's a need out there, and that couples are willing to come forward when they are welcomed, and when they are, when they see that there's an initiative from the Church to walk with them, to journey with them."
Volunteer mentors Veronica and Richard Wildanger, who had their own civil marriage convalidated 22 years ago, joined the task force after being approached by Soto to support the "wonderfully successful" surge of applicants.
To ensure couples received thorough pastoral care, the diocese implemented the Witness to Love program for marriage preparation by pairing up civilly married couples with experienced mentor couples to walk them through the process. The Wildangers believed this was the next step in turning their marriage toward God.
"And the fact that the diocese offered it up, all of a sudden it was like someone stretching a hand out and saying, here, just hold my hand and we'll guide you through every step," Veronica said.
For candidates like Mireya Aristizábal and Juan David Díaz, who were married civilly three years after moving from Colombia, the program provided both spiritual clarity and personal connection as a couple.
"But in my heart, there was always that little itch," Aristizábal said in Spanish. "Because I said, 'Well, I want to be with my partner, but I want to be with him before God.' That is, the sacrament of matrimony. It's that, the desire to have and to live the sacrament to its fullest."
Her husband saw the decision as a way to support his wife's spiritual life while growing in his own faith.
"She was invited to the party, but they weren't giving her dinner," he said in Spanish. "So it's very difficult … to block her from her beliefs. I said, 'No, I also believe in God, I like the Catholic Church, so let's go.'"
According to Aristizábal, the preparation process helped ground their relationship in shared spiritual formation, finding their community in their new home to join them for the celebration on Sept. 26.
"The impact has been drawing us closer to God, knowing that we are seeking him, and that we want to put him in first place in our lives," Aristizábal said in Spanish.
Throughout the program, organizers and mentors emphasized the theology of sacramental marriage as an unbreakable covenant rather than a mere social agreement, Soto explained.
"When you bring God into it, this is now a covenantal marriage, not sort of a contractual marriage, but a sacramental marriage," Wildanger told EWTN News. "Our Lord is now present, and you owe a responsibility to God to really try to help your spouse get to heaven. It's not solely at this level; it's more of an also at this level. And God is now watching and present in you and can bring graces from that."
Soto noted that elevating civil unions into sacramental covenants provides families with a deeper sense of purpose, stating that couples can "mirror that when they give themselves to each other in holy matrimony."
For many couples, receiving the Eucharist after years of abstaining was an emotional milestone. Some even had exceeded 30 years of only civil marriage, causing many tears of joy, according to Veronica Wildanger.
Rather than detracting from the intimacy of the sacrament, participating in a group ceremony highlighted the universal nature of the Church.
"That makes me see that the Church is unity, and that sharing this sacrament with other people demonstrates that the Church is still very much alive, that it believes in marriage, and that it wants to keep fighting for it," Aristizábal said.
For couples who did not reach the program in time, or were limited due to missing documentation, time constraints, or anxieties — all of which Soto claimed were obstacles experienced by couples during the last year, the message of encouragement is clear: Do not be afraid.
"I would just say that the Church welcomes you, and the Church is here with open arms, and that whenever you are ready, we are here to walk with you every step of the way," Soto said. "So my advice would just be to, if you have it in your heart, if there's been a tug in your heart that says, maybe I should get married in the Church, to listen to it, to respond to it."
