Tamale, Jan. 2, GNA - The Pastoral Council (PC) of the Catholic Church in the Tamale Archdiocese is to train more women in peace and conflict resolution, highlighting the use of non-violence means in managing conflict situations.

It would also educate women on the Domestic Violence Bill and the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) document. These form part of the strategic plan of action of the Church for the 2006.

Mr. Conrad Weobong, Secretary to the Pastoral Council, announced this when he read the 2005 annual report of the Church to the congregation on New Year's Day in Tamale. He said the Church would strengthen its marriage-counseling units in the parishes and make them accessible to married couples to help resolve marital problems.

The training of prospective counsellors from the ethnic groups and the undertaking of more marriage enrichment programmes for couples in the parish as well as providing pre-marital instructions for would be married couples would be the focus of the PC this year. The PC Secretary noted that marriage institutions in the country had not been given the needed attentions they desired and called for pragmatic measures to make them to deliver.

" The basic unit of society is the institution of marriage but unfortunately, married counselling units, especially within the parishes, which are expected to create happiness among married couples have rather brought sad stories and abuses among them due to their inactivity", he said.

Mr. Weobong said many Catholic couples were going from place to face in search of solution to their marital problems and in the process fell foul to their faith.

"In the parishes, behind what appears to be happy faces of many married couples are sometimes very sad stories of abuses which they have to bear to protect the image of a family", he noted, adding "many marriages are now more dead than alive".