THE FOUR F'S THAT CAN DOOM YOUR MARRIAGE

Here is an interesting insight into the problems facing marriage today by Cardinal Sean O'Malley (The Four F's that can Doom your Marriage.) The first problem is the easy availability of divorce made possible by no-fault divorce laws. No-fault divorce came to Guam in 1998. The record shows there was no opposition from the church. Today, Guam leads the world in the number of divorces per capita. (4.7 divorces per 1000 population, 2010 Guam Statistical Yearbook vs Russia 4.5 per 1000, 2011 United Nations Demographic Yearbook)

And while we're on the subject, here's a few other things we should know about Guam:

1. Guam has the most liberal abortion laws in the nation which allow for the termination of nearly one out of ten pregnancies with more than 60% being Chamorro. (2012 Guam Medical Records)
2. Guam has the 14th highest suicide rate in the world and a rate 1.2 times the national average (2011 World Health Organization and A Profile of Suicide on Guam, September 2011)
3. Guam has a 20% higher out of wedlock birth rate (60%) compared to the rest of the nation (40.8%, CDC 2010) Note: Guam stopped reporting “illegitimate” births in 2005. 60% is based on the average between 2000 and 2005).
4. Guam has double the teen birthrate compared to the rest of the nation (Guam PDN, 6/25/13)
5. Guam’s rape rate of 94.4 per 100,000 is triple the national average. (2011 Yearbook: 151 reported rapes. U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012, Table 314)
6. Guam abuses and neglects its children at nearly double the national average (Guam child maltreatment rate of 76.81 per 1000 children based on 2012 CPS report and 2010 census vs 41.2 per 1000 children national average as per Table 3-2, Child Maltreatment 2011, Children’s Bureau, U.S. DPHHS)

On the bright side, Guam has no casinos...and two seminaries.