Parish & Diocese
Helping the Church Accompany Families Through Marital Crisis, Separation & Divorce
When a marriage is in trouble, the Church is often one of the first places people turn—and sometimes one of the last.
They may be looking for help saving their marriage, discerning whether separation is necessary, navigating divorce, or healing years after a marriage has ended. They need more than a referral for tribunal paperwork. They need a pathway of healing toward restoration.
Abounding Joy Ministry helps parishes and dioceses develop sustainable Catholic ministry for people experiencing marital crisis, separation, and divorce—grounded in the truth about marriage and shaped by the mercy of Christ.
Dioceses
Build a coordinated diocesan approach to divorce ministry, equip parish leaders, and create a sustainable pathway of accompaniment.
Parishes
Provide pastors and parish leaders practical ways to welcome, accompany, and connect Catholics experiencing marital crisis, separation, and divorce.
Ministry Leaders
Receive formation, training, resources, encouragement, and support to confidently accompany those entrusted to your care.
Who Walks With Them?
The Church already has important ways of serving families—marriage preparation, marriage ministries, pastoral care, and canonical processes. But when a marriage begins to break down, people can fall through the gaps between them.
Intentional divorce ministry closes that gap. It creates a clear pathway of accompaniment that helps people remain connected to Christ and His Church through marital crisis, separation, divorce, and the long journey of healing.
The Church cannot wait for every hurting person to find their way back to us. They are the Hidden Flock. We have to go looking for them. A personal invitation from a priest, deacon, parish leader, Facilitator, friend, or fellow parishioner can be the moment someone realizes: “There is a place for me here.”
Because people need more than a response to a crisis.
They need someone to walk with them through the journey.
You Don't Have to Build it From Scratch
AJM brings everything needed to launch and sustain divorce ministry in your parish or diocese:
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Clergy and ministry leader formation
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A model built around a team, rather than over-extending our priests
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Build a New Life Workshop (BNLW), a 12-week Catholic Support & Healing Intensive
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Facilitator training, teaching, workbooks, and promotional tools
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Coaching, consultation, and ongoing support
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Free Catholic divorce support groups and events
AJM carries the infrastructure.
The parish brings the relationship.
The diocese builds the pathway.
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Together, we create something none of us can create alone: a sustainable culture of accompaniment.
What Makes the AJM Approach Different?
AJM's ministry is rooted in the Church’s teaching on marriage, human dignity, family life, healing, holiness, and the vocation of every person. We do not separate compassion from truth or mercy from the call to holiness.
We do not want to become another place you send people. We want to help you build a system in which people don't fall through the cracks.
Effective divorce ministry should strengthen the relationships, sacramental life, ministries, and pastoral care already present in the parish—not create a parallel Church.
Designed to be scalable, a diocese does not have to build everything at once. A pathway can begin with one parish, one trained leader, or one resource and grow into a coordinated ministry across multiple parishes.
Wherever You Are, We Start From There
Already have a divorce ministry? We'll help you strengthen what's working and fill in what's missing. Starting from nothing? We'll help you build a pathway from the ground up.
Our goal is collaboration, not duplication.
Build a New Life Workshop
Build a New Life Workshop (BNLW) is a one-of-a-kind, turnkey, 12-week live Catholic support and healing intensive for people experiencing marital stress, separation, or divorce. Through Catholic teaching, practical guidance, professional coaching, live discussion, and compassionate community, participants are supported in moving toward healing, identity, forgiveness, belonging, holiness, hope, and mission.
BNLW can be hosted in-parish or online and is designed as a structured healing experience within a broader pathway of accompaniment. AJM provides the teaching, livestream, Companion Workbook, facilitator resources, formation, promotional tools, and ongoing support, while parishes and dioceses provide the local relationships and community that make accompaniment personal.
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Parish and diocesan partnerships can also significantly reduce the cost barrier for participants, helping more people access the support they need.
Schedule a Parish/Diocese Ministry Collaboration Call to explore bringing Build a New Life Workshop to your parish or diocese.
"Our parish wanted to do something meaningful for people experiencing separation and divorce, but we didn't have to build an entire ministry from the ground up. AJM gave us everything: the structure, resources, guidance and support to begin accompanying people well."
-Catherine, Parish Ministry Leader
The Need Is Real—and the Response Is Growing
The growing response to AJM’s formation and BNLW shows the great need and that parishes and dioceses are seeking practical ways to strengthen this ministry.
Divorce Ministry Trainings
125+ Participants | 60+ Dioceses Represented | 7 Countries Represented
Fall 2026 Build a New Life Workshop
200+ Registered | 20+ Host Parishes | 42 Dioceses Represented
Behind every number is a person.
Behind each registration is a person who may have wondered whether anyone sees what they are carrying.
Behind each host parish is someone willing to open a door and say: “You still belong here.”
What Could We Build Together?
Talk with Carolyn Klika Catino about your pastoral needs and what a pathway of accompaniment could look like in your community. No commitment. Just a conversation.
Equipping the Church to accompany wounded families with truth, mercy, healing, and hope.
Together we can make sure no Catholic walks through separation or divorce alone.
