Maybe, you did not ever consider online dating sites at all. But now due to the coronavirus, you are thinking seriously about joining an online dating site.
Are other Catholic singles going on Catholic dating sites? Can I find a mate online?
Catholic dating sites are being utilized in the search for a spouse. From my friends, I know of at least five Catholic couples who met on Catholic dating sites. Some people have met someone in their local area, while others had long-distance relationships and they became married.
According to a 2013 article in the National Catholic Register
Catholic Match has served almost a million people since it was founded in 1999
Catholic Singles had more than 200,000 active users
Ave Maria reports 3000 marriages
Catholic Chemistry just launched video chat online in June 2020.
So, yes, thousands of Catholics are on Catholic dating sites and finding their life partners online.
From my experience from using two Catholic online dating sites, generally, you create a profile by answering a list of questions about yourself and your views on Catholic teaching and practices. Then, you upload at least one picture of yourself. You can search for people to contact and other people can contact you, too.
When making the decision to sign up for a Catholic online dating site it would be wise to talk with someone you know who has tried it. Pray and ask the advice of single friends as well as married friends you know. You may also decide to ask your father, mother, sister, or brother for advice. Ultimately, it is you who will decide if you’ll join a Catholic dating site.
When you do decide to join a Catholic dating site, remember to ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in finding your husband. Bishop Fulton Sheen wrote a book called Three to Get Married. “Three to Get Married” is referring to the husband, wife, and God. The main purpose for the vocation of marriage is for a husband and wife to help each other get to heaven.
Some important things to think about and be aware of when considering whether to join an online dating site are:
1. Will you contact prospects as a single woman or will you wait for men to contact you? Some women like to search for potential partners and be in control of who they will meet. If you decide to search for possible prospects, I would recommend that you wait for them to ask you on a first date. (This might be an online date or a social distance type of date during the coronavirus.) When the man is the one who asks you out on a first date, you can see that are interested in you because they took the initiative and lead to ask you out on that first date.
2. Will you connect only those near your local area? Some couples have met people that were just in their backyard, so to speak, but since these online dating sites have people from all over the world, there is a possibility that you’ll find your perfect match somewhere else in the world.
3. Are you willing to have a long-distance relationship? How will you keep in contact with someone who lives far away? Who will travel first to meet the other? If your relationship moves to the courtship stage, how will you involve your parents, especially if your parents are at another location?
4. What is the age range of the men I am willing to connect with for dating? Would you want to connect with men 1 – 4 years older or younger than you? How about 5 – 10 years older or younger? What is the biggest difference in age range you would consider?
5. When and how will you decide to meet in person after connecting online? From my experience from corresponding with someone long distance, I think it would have been better to meet sooner than later. Other similar things to think about are how long will you keep the correspondence in the text or email form? When will you move to video chat?
6. Some men might have different views on dating than you. Some may be more geared for meeting several prospects and seem to be more superficial.
7. Some might not mention their views on certain Catholic teachings and practices.
8. Some people’s online persona may be drastically different than their real-life persona.
9. Some people can have a shopping mentality when it comes to online dating.
When it comes to communication on these sites, trust quality over the number of messages or emails you are receiving from someone.
Be sure to know what is important to you so that you are not getting committed too soon in a relationship.
Move more quickly from texting, online messages, and emails to video chat and meeting in person. Move more slowly when deciding to become exclusive in dating and deciding to get engaged.
Talk about your beliefs, values, and life goals before getting too committed.
After praying about it, asking advice from others, and thinking of the considerations above, you might proceed with joining a Catholic dating site, especially during this time of the coronavirus.
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