Nonetheless, the divorce rate among American Catholics roughly matches the general population's. I don't think the problem is that American Catholics, at least in general, don't care what the Church teaches in this regard. Most people don't get married planning to bail out when things get tough, and most Catholics understand why they shouldn't. I think the problem is that our secular, materialistic, and individualistic culture dominates people's sensibilities and thus forms their hearts more powerfully than any principles taught by their churches.
Perhaps that's why then-Cardinal Ratzinger was right to speak of the future of the Church as lying in small, intentional communities rather than the standard institutional settings.
