What an insult this is to young people. The Church believes in young people. The Church believes that they can observe chastity. The Christian community, by its example and support, must help them to do so. During courtship, chastity offers a special challenge and also a special opportunity.
Courtship is a time of great delight for a couple.
Their lives are transformed by their new-found love. While thanking God for this gift, they must be clear that romance will not last always and that marriage must be based on a love that is more permanent and realistic. Courtship and engagement are a time for learning how to pass from the ecstasy of falling in love into the constancy of loving. Happiness in love means much more than sexual fulfilment. Courtship is above all a time for consolidating deep affectionate friendship, in which each partner grows in understanding the personal qualities of the other and in adjusting to the temperament and ideas of the other.