Lansing — In his 1968 encyclical, “Humanae Vitae,” Pope Paul VI reminded the faithful that marriage is “far from being the effect of chance or result of the blind evolution of natural forces,” but the “wise and provident institution of God the Creator, whose purpose was to effect in man His loving design.”

As challenges to traditional marriage — including divorce, contraception and the same-sex marriage debate — have arisen both locally and nationally, Michigan Catholics have decided that marriage is something to celebrate.

MichiganCelebratesMarriage.com, a website seeking to provide resources for parishes, schools and other institutions, recently came together as an initiative of the Michigan Catholic Conference, the Catholic Church’s official public policy voice in the state.

“The Year for Marriage is a province-wide effort to help parishioners and general society understand the positive nature of marriage and how it contributes to the common good,” said David Maluchnik, director of communications for the MCC.

Maluchnik said the initiative is “diocesan-based,” as each diocese will promote the year “in its own way;” he added that the year “is really assembled by and intended for production by each of the seven dioceses in the state.”

Maluchnik worked with both David Grobbel, associate director of the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Marriage and Family Ministry, and Anita Houghton, regional coordinator within the archdiocese’s office of Evangelization, Catechesis and Schools to promote the project throughout Metro Detroit.

Working alongside the seven Catholic dioceses in Michigan, the website offers resources to help promote a “Year of Marriage” leading up to Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia in 2015 for the World Meeting of Families.

Michigan’s Year of Marriage officially began Nov. 30, the first Sunday of Advent.

The initiative seeks to utilize social media to help promote the message, such as a Twitter, YouTube and Facebook page; featured hashtags include #Marriage, #YearforMarriage and #MarriageMatters.

Website resources include articles and videos on ways to build a successful marriage and family life; topics include “Why is Marriage Good?”; “What’s Unique About Marriage?”; “What Help is Available for Marriages?”; and “For Young Adults: Why Care About Marriage?”