A now, something a little different for a Sunday morning: marriage tips from the Catholic Church.

No. Really. I’m not making this up.

Last month, I noted that the USCCB had launched a new initiative to support and enrich marriage. Now, it’s finally starting to get some media buzz:

Alarmed by the persistently high divorce rate and the explosion in couples living together without a license, Catholic bishops nationwide have teamed up on a media blitz aimed at promoting and strengthening marriage.

The first ad campaign, launched this month, featured ordinary people talking about what they’ve done to enrich their marriage. The bishops hope that the stories – one wife brought her husband mustard for his sandwich; another gave hers an enormous hug to start the day – will inspire spouses everywhere to work harder to keep the flame alive.

Some supporters of the campaign say this may not be an ideal moment for the church to offer relationship advice.

“These guys are plagued by scandals involving sexual misconduct – how come they’re telling other people what to do? That’s the obvious, cynical reaction,” said John Grabowski, an associate professor of moral theology at the Catholic University of America.

Grabowski also said that the campaign would be colored by the same-sex marriage debate. The Catholic Church strongly opposes such unions; the bishops plan to step up their political activism on the issue in coming years. With that in the background, some viewers might dismiss the ads as conservative propaganda.

“That’s a minefield the bishops will have to walk,” Grabowski said.

He believes they can do it and has signed on as an adviser to the campaign. The bishops are also consulting with couples at all stages of dating, marriage and divorce, to make sure the advice isn’t coming solely from a bunch of single men sworn to celibacy.

In future stages, the bishops’ campaign – known as the National Pastoral Initiative on Marriage – will be directed more narrowly at Catholic couples. A pastoral letter, to be released within the year, will reinforce the theology of heterosexual marriage as a sacrament. The bishops also plan to develop brochures and counseling resources for priests.

For now, however, the ad campaign is designed with ecumenical appeal. There are no references to the Catholic Church until the end of each spot, when the announcer promotes the campaign’s Web site, ForYourMarriage .org. The couples interviewed appear to come from a variety of backgrounds; one woman wears a traditional Muslim head scarf.

“How effective it will be is anyone’s guess, but it can’t hurt,” said David Popenoe, director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University.

The article notes that the Church is coming to this a little late in the game; Protestants have been regularly talking up marriage, and marriage skills, (even sex!) in their sermons for decades, but Catholics rarely mention them in the pulpit (perhaps, I’d suggest, because most of the people speaking in the pulpit are unmarried.)

Curious? Check out the For Your Marriage website.

Image: “Marriage of Joseph and Mary,” Conception Abbey, Conception, Missouri.