The 12% increase in Church weddings last year could have been the result of a campaign by the Cana Movement in favour of marriage at the altar, Cana director Fr Joseph Mizzi said today.

He told timesofmalta.com that the campaign had promoted the advantages of marriage over cohabitation.

"More people are realising that if they truly love each other, they should show commitment through marriage, as against cohabitation," Fr Mizzi said.

"We think that our campaign helped people to decide to marry rather than simply live together."

"We encouraged the people to invest in firm commitment. It is through marriage that one really shows appreciation of the other person, rather than having an ongoing trial, which is what cohabitation amounts to," Fr Mizzi said.

"The people are realising there is value in marriage."

He said that a very small proportion of civil marriages were between Maltese spouses, and even then, many couples sought to have their marriage convalidated by the Church. Most civil marriages, he explained, were among foreigners who viewed Malta as a marriage and honeymoon destination.

Fr Mizzi said there was always more to be done to improve marriage preparation, as a measure to ensure that families remained united.

He stressed however, that one needed to continue to work on a marriage even after the wedding.

"You need to continue to invest. We have started meetings for couples who have already married, and we hope this idea will catch on because people must never stop working on their relationship."

The Curia said yesterday that the number of weddings that took place in churches in Malta last year increased by 12 per cent last year when compared to 2009, to reach 1,616.

There were 1,379 marriages last year between Maltese nationals and another 68 involving a Maltese and a foreign spouse.

The statistics do not include weddings in Gozo.

Statistics on civil marriages were not immediately available.