Our Mission & Vision
“By His Wounds You Have Been Healed”
1 Peter 2:24
To help young adults and adults with divorced and separated parents give voice to their pain and find transformative healing in Christ.
Our Mission
We do this as a Catholic, peer-led ministry by providing unique programs and means for Christ to transform their life-draining wounds into life-giving resources of faith, hope, love, and joy for themselves, their relationships, and the Church.
How We Do It
Providing peer groups with others who know this pain and can walk together towards healing.
Our retreats are an opportunity for those with divorced or separated parents to reflect on the wounds caused by their family’s divorce and begin to find healing.
Online materials from counselors, adult children of divorce witnesses, and LGW leaders through presentations, online retreats & support groups, and more.
We provide resources and research to help bring awareness to this need and point others to healing.
The Need
1,000,000 children
a year experience their parents' divorce.
who were regularly attending a church or synagogue at the time of their parents’ divorce say that no-one – neither from the clergy nor the congregation – reached out to them at that time.
2/3 of young adults
25% of Americans
claim no formal religious identity, a crisis in part caused by children of divorce leaving their faith because they believed that the Church wasn’t listening or ministering to their wounds
40% greater chance
of divorce by adult children of divorce, caused in part by unhealed wounds can lead to beliefs and behaviors that harm relationships.
47% more likely
to be currently cohabiting, compared to those who were raised in intact, married families, partially due to their unhealed fear of marital commitment and subsequent rejection.
And yet very few dioceses, parishes, or college campuses have a ministry dedicated specifically to the needs of men and women with divorced or separated parents.
The need is tremendous! But for those who do receive deep healing, the ripple effects are exponential – affecting not only themselves but all of their relationships, their marriages and families, their religious vocations, and so on. The pain caused by divorce is deep, but God’s healing goes deeper.
Our Vision
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Currently, ministry to adult children of divorce and separation is a glaring pastoral need in the Catholic Church. Very little dedicated outreach or pastoral care exists for adults whose parents are divorced or separated, despite well-established evidence that the break-up of one’s parents can cause deep, lasting wounds that affect a person’s well-being on multiple levels. These men and women deserve the Church’s comfort, assistance, and love, not silence and avoidance. Life-Giving Wounds has the programs and vision that can help bring healing to these precious sons and daughters of God.
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The nationwide presence of a dedicated retreat for adult children of divorce or separation, and follow-up support groups, will offer life-giving Catholic community for adult children of divorce or separation, and will help remedy the glaring pastoral need referenced above. Dioceses, parishes, and colleges can all be home bases for this ministry.
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It’s not uncommon for adult children of divorce – especially young adults – to abandon their faith or distance themselves from the Church in part because they feel the Church has been too silent about their wounds and hasn’t helped them enough. (For example, see “How Decades of Divorce Helped Erode Religion” in the Washington Post.) Life-Giving Wounds provides an invitation back to the Church by sharing the Father’s look of love and a practical way forward to deeper healing.
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Statistically, adult children of divorce are more likely themselves to divorce; we want to change that. Discovering God’s deep healing impacts not only individuals but also whole families and future generations. Our groundbreaking Perfect Love Casts Out Fear project will develop online course targeting young adults from broken homes, and we’ll strategically partner with existing marriage mentorship networks to connect individuals, especially young adults and engaged couples, to mentor couples so that they can receive authentic witnesses of inspiring, faith-filled marriages.
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Adult children of divorce or separation who have found healing are tremendous witnesses to love in suffering and uniquely helpful to others on the same path. By proactively inviting some past participants to become leaders in their dioceses and parishes, in collaboration with local leaders, we hope to grow local ministries and provide witnesses to God’s healing power and love. (Our volunteer team of 70+ are largely LGW alumni!)
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Healing is attractive to others, and parishes that meet these needs will have many individuals able to witness, befriend, and support others on their pathway of spiritual healing.
Learn more about our story
Join us in supporting adult children of divorce or separation!
Your contribution will help provide Catholic community, programs, and resources to young adults and adults navigating the challenges and pain of parental divorce or separation. Join us in making a difference in the lives of those who are often overlooked in the aftermath of parental divorce or separation.
Donate now to offer support and healing.