The answer is not only that they may, but that they should!
The most recent documents refer to candidates for Marriage (CPML, 49) as the recipients of the marriage catechumenate.
And who are the candidates for Marriage? They are all those for whom Marriage is a near possibility, including dating couples, engaged couples, and also cohabiting couples who have no impediment to receiving the Sacrament of Marriage. Of course, I am not referring to early-stage dating relationships, but rather to mature dating, where the couple has already begun discussing marriage.
I have spoken about this for years, though I have not always been believed, due to the entrenched but mistaken idea that couples should approach the parish for the “premarital course” after having set a wedding date. I have even heard of parishes that would not accept couples unless they already had the date of their wedding scheduled and would impose an expiration period for the certificate of participation. In other words, everything contributed to turning it into a premarital course for engaged couples too close to the wedding, rather than a true moment of discernment.
The most recent document of the Holy See on marriage preparation, published in 2022, confirms the use of the expression “candidates for Marriage” and reaffirms this shift in paradigm by stating that engagement should be formalized after the Proximate Preparation, as a fruit of the discernment made possible by this formative stage:
“The specific goal of this stage is to finalize each couple’s discernment about their vocation to marriage. This may lead to the free, responsible, and deliberated decision to enter into marriage, or it may lead to the equally free and deliberated decision to end the relationship and not to marry.” (CPML, 55)
“C. Catechumenal Phase:
First stage:
– Proximate preparation (about a year)
– Rite of Betrothal (concluding the proximate preparation)” (CPML, 24)
And, to leave no doubts, it later explains this point explicitly:
“At the conclusion of this stage, the Rite of Betrothal could take place as a sign of entry into the subsequent stage of final preparation. This rite – which includes the blessing of the betrothed and their engagement rings (in places where this custom is commonplace) – expresses its full meaning only when celebrated and lived in faith, since the rite offers the opportunity for the couple to ask the Lord for the graces needed to grow in love and to prepare worthily for the Sacrament of Marriage.” (CPML, 59)
In addition to pointing out that engagement should come after the marriage catechumenate, this document offers us an invitation to recover the beautiful Rite of Betrothal, which has been practically forgotten.
Offering catechesis to couples who have not yet set a wedding date and who may not even consider themselves formally engaged is a pastoral practice I have developed in my apostolate as a marriage catechist. Thanks to widespread communication and parish guidance, it has become increasingly common to welcome into the catechumenate not only formally engaged couples, but also a significant number of dating couples who are seeking genuine discernment.
Nevertheless, it is important to emphasize once again that these sessions are not intended for couples who have only recently begun dating and certainly not, as unfortunately sometimes happens, for teenage couples. The initial accompaniment of dating couples who have not yet reached sufficient maturity in their relationship to begin considering Marriage is now included in the Intermediate Phase (“reception of candidates for Marriage”).
This is also a novelty introduced by this recent document of the Holy See, situated between the Remote and the Proximate Preparations. It is a time for the parish to get to know these couples and offer them initial formal guidance regarding the true purpose of dating, which is Marriage, while also encouraging and preparing them for the Marriage Catechumenate (the Proximate Phase).
