‘Marriage is a path to true and enduring happiness’

By Wendy Shaw and Josh Low

As Tony and Heidi Portugal approach their golden wedding anniversary later this year, they have some wisdom to share with others.

Pray together as a couple.

Tony, 76, and Heidi, 74 were married in the Philippines in September 1975, moved to Australia in 1984, and settled in Tasmania in 2019. They have five children and 14 grandchildren.

The joyful couple explained that God had bought them to Tasmania and now they are leaders in Couples for Christ Australia, a Catholic renewal community that aims to strengthen the Christian family.

They were one of eight couples to have their union blessed at the Archdiocese of Hobart’s annual Marriage Mass at the Church of the Apostles in Launceston on 16 February. This followed a similar event at St Mary’s Cathedral, Hobart, on 9 February.

Tony shared his thoughts on marriage.

“Marriage is a covenant with God,” the retired engineer said.

“There are always challenges in marriage but love gives us understanding. Communication is important – being able to forgive weaknesses – and so is being in a community like Couples for Christ. That strengthened our marriage.”

Heidi, a retired senior teacher, added: “Tony’s motto is ‘Once sweethearts, always sweethearts’. Tony and I are opposites in many ways, and we have strengths and weakness but we love each other. We work for complementarity rather than uniformity or conformity. Together we complement each other.”

They both agreed on the importance of prayer and that ‘couple prayers are very effective’.

“We always pray as a couple.” Heidi added.

At the Hobart Marriage Mass celebrated on Sunday 9 February at St Mary’s Cathedral, 11 couples came forward to have their wedding rings blessed, renew their vows and receive both a blessing and recognition of their milestone anniversaries.

John and Christine Gora were among the couples honoured on the day, as they celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this year.

Having wed in June of 1974, and with four children and nine grandchildren, the couple say their family has been the greatest achievement of their life together.

They added that working as a team, grounded in faith, to tackle the various challenges that life brings, is essential to a fulfilling marriage.

“We have always shared a common interest in our Catholic faith,” John explained.

“Now with the stresses of mortgages and work behind us, and the children all going well, we can relax and enjoy our time together. We look forward to a lot more time together.

“I think that the most important aspect of marriage for me is having a companion to share my life with.”

Christine added that stability of having someone who is always there to provide practical and emotional support, both in the good and the difficult times, is important.

“We always look out for each other and know we can rely on each other for support.

“There will be stresses, perhaps brought on by outside pressures. When this happens, [you have to] trust in God and support each other.”

Archbishop Julian celebrated both the northern and southern Marriage Masses. During his homily, Archbishop Julian underlined the importance of “encouraging couples to embrace and live the full and rich vision of Christian marriage and family”.

“As a Church, we stand for the inherent worth and dignity of the marriage covenant, which is blessed as a sacrament. We believe in the crucial role that marriage and family plays in promoting the common good of society,” he said.

“It is the family that generates true human society and a strong culture of family life is an indispensable condition for individual and social wellbeing …

“Very simply, God created human beings, designed precisely for marriage. Marriage is the way in which human love is purified and raised to a noble expression.”

The Church is pro-marriage, pro-family and pro-life, Archbishop Julian said, calling on legislators to protect human sexuality from what he termed “ongoing commodification and dehumanisation expressed in the pernicious porn industry”.

He warned that advances in artificial intelligence risked further dehumanising relationships and society, and also called on law-makers to save childhood from the grip of social media.

“Let our children be children, learning the wonder of play and personal interaction,” Archbishop Julian said.

“We salute those couples who today celebrate anniversaries of their marriage,” Archbishop Julian added.

“They are witnesses to the essential good that is marriage and family. They show that marriage is a path to true and enduring happiness.”

The Archdiocese’s Director of Life, Marriage and Family, Mark Griffin, said the two Marriage Masses were a beautiful celebration of the sacrament of marriage.

“This is a beautiful tradition that has been taking place for 10 years now within our Archdiocese and is a great community witness to the many graces and blessings that flow through these marriages to each of the spouses and beyond,” Mr Griffin said.

“Thank you to all the couples who participated and may God continue to bless you in your marriages.”