RASTATT, Germany — The transient military lifestyle, with its frequent deployments and reassignments, can be hard on a marriage. The Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS), offers couples support through an ongoing series of marriage enrichment retreats. The latest took place this past weekend in Rastatt, Germany. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, welcomed 20 U.S. Military couples from nine installations throughout Europe. They gathered at the Saint Bernhard Bildungshaus Retreat Center —a site run by the Archdiocese of Freiburg in southwest Germany near the German-French border along the Rhine River.
The couples spent the Oct. 9-11 weekend there, huddled in prayer, group sessions, and dialogue, using the REFOCCUS Marriage Enrichment Inventory, a resource developed by FOCCUS, Inc. USA, of the Archdiocese of Omaha in Nebraska. FOCCUS stands for “Facilitate Open Couple Communication Understanding and Study.” The couples explored the topics of compatibility, communication, and accompaniment. Archbishop Broglio celebrated Mass on Saturday and Sunday mornings.
In their post-retreat evaluations, the couples commented on how the experience nurtured their marriages. “It was helpful to have this time to gather as a group and learn how to strengthen our marriage in God’s grace then take time to reflect in smaller groups on the material discussed,” said one. “Realizing how much more I could improve my marriage. This gave me even greater hope for happiness as God intends. It has been a fantastic eye-opener to discover how my marriage has evolved over the years and highlighted the important but missing pieces of the jigsaw that I need to find in order to make my marriage thrive in the eyes of God.” Others commented on the “thoughtful questions and discussions,” appreciated the “time away from the kids to spend time together,” and found the retreat center a “great location…. The facility was welcoming and beautiful.”
Following the retreat the couples, enriched by their experience, dispersed to their home bases, including Naval Air Station (NAS) Rota, Spain; Royal Air Force (RAF) Base Lakenheath, United Kingdom (UK); Ramstein Air Base, U.S. Army Garrisons (USAG) Bavaria – Grafenwoehr, Rheinland-Pfalz – Sembach, Stuttgart, and Wiesbaden in Germany; USAG Benelux – SHAPE in Belgium; and USAG Vicenza in Italy.
This was the 12th such retreat sponsored by the AMS since 2018 at locations throughout Europe, the U.S., and Guam. Previous AMS Marriage Enrichment Retreats have been held Feb. 16-18, 2018, in Marriottsville, MD; Dec. 7-9, 2018, in Alhambra, CA; September 27-29, 2019, in San Angelo, TX; Dec. 6-8, 2019, in Assisi, Italy; Oct. 1-3, 2021, in Atlanta, GA; July 8-10, 2022, in Waldfischbach-Burgalben, Germany; May 19-20, 2023, on Guam; Oct. 18-20, 2024, in Nemi, Italy; April 11-12, 2025, in Waldfischbach-Burgalben; Sept. 5-7, 2025, in Gyeongpo, South Korea; and Feb. 27-28, 2026, in Waldfischbach-Burgalben.
AMS Vice-Chancellor for Evangelization Mark Moitoza, Th.D., D.Min., oversees the organization and facilitation of these retreats, which are funded by generous benefactors and open to Catholic couples seeking deeper marital relationships while juggling the military lifestyle.