Catholic Singles are Turning to Religious Dating Sites like CatholicMatch.com

Religious singles who are looking for love are turning to niche online dating sites for help in their searches. According to a recent article in The Denver Post, these singles are looking for someone to marry who shares their faith and values.

Dating website CatholicMatch.com boasts 150,000 active members and is the largest online dating pool of single Catholics. Its founder Brian Barcaro explains, "I think because of the high divorce rate and number of broken families, there is a resurgence in people looking carefully at what makes a successful marriage. They are turning back to their faith."

Barcaro says the website tries to serve a broad spectrum of Catholics, but it does include important religious questions such as mass attendance and adherence to church teachings on issues like contraception and premarital sex.

Some subscribers such as Erin McCabe, who has been on the site for four years, say that their faith and religious life have been enhanced since joining.

Barcaro was a law student looking to meet people when he launched the dating website back in 2003. Its tagline, "Grow in faith, Fall in love" is the reason Catholic singles find this option so appealing.

As Christina Newman states, before she married a man she met through CatholicMatch.com, "I was having a really hard time finding a young Catholic man who was willing to go to Mass with me and practice the faith." Also, many of her friends had divorced, and Newman wanted more reassurance her union would last.

Religious dating sites seem to fill a void for those who are looking for commitment and shared values. Turning to faith provides them more opportunities in finding love.

For more information on this dating service, read our review of CatholicMatch.com.