My boyfriend [now husband] brought this topic up at our Marriage Encounter. And those running the Encounter cringed a bit, and those in attendance were surprised! Because a priest is not supposed to marry ANY couple who say they have no intention of procreating, yet, how many priests bring this up during the talk/testing/etc. they have with the couple prior to marriage?
Our Pre-Cana classes were conducted by a nun. At one point we were separated and asked these questions. One of which was “are you freely willing to have intercourse with this woman?”
I rolled my eyes a bit, stroked my chin and said, “Sister, may I have a few minutes to think about that?”
The poor nun nearly passed out. Spent a lot of time in confession after that one.
Our priest told us in no uncertain terms that bringing the children up (meaning - you ARE going to have children) Catholic is a non-negotiable.