Valentine’s Day may be over for 2006, but some single men and women are still searching for Mr. or Ms. Right. While many head to smoky bars or noisy clubs in an effort to find that special someone, more and more singles are turning to the Internet for love.
ROMEOVILLE—Valentine’s Day may be over for 2006, but some single men and women are still searching for Mr. or Ms. Right. While many head to smoky bars or noisy clubs in an effort to find that special someone, more and more singles are turning to the Internet for love.
Catholics are no exception to the Internet dating craze. There are literally hundreds of sites devoted to helping people of faith find one another. Anthony Buono and Raymond Koza, founders of Catholicpeople.com and Ave Maria Singles spoke with the Catholic Explorer in telephone interviews Feb. 13 about Internet dating and the services they provide.
Koza launched Catholic People in 2001 just after the tragedy of 9-11. “I used to work in the World Trade Center as a stockbroker, so watching the towers fall was a real shock for me,” he said. Distressed by the number of Catholics along with others who died that day, Koza said he got the idea for his Web site. “I wanted other Catholics to be able to come together all over the world,” he added.
That was five years ago and despite money difficulties and technological changes, Koza said that Catholic People is still going strong. “It’s my baby and I never thought it would take off the way it did,” he said.
Unlike many dating sites, which mainly focus on bringing young people together for serious relationships, Koza said his site was centered on connecting people for all sorts of reasons. “We are a friendship site and a dating site at the same time, because people around the world will use us to stay in touch with family members, but people will also use us to find that special someone,” he added.
Users who create profiles on Catholic People are matched based on their age, location and values. The matched couple then decides if they wish to take things further by using a chat feature on the site, which offers live streaming audio and video. “Currently we have 10,825 members and are one of the fastest growing dating websites out there,” Koza said.
In addition, he added, many members who come to the site are simply looking to connect with long lost family members or keep in touch with people who are overseas. “We also get a lot of members of the military on our site, who use it to let their family members know how they’re doing,” he said.
While creating a profile and running an initial search is free, Koza said anyone wishing to use the chat feature or run an advance search must be willing to pay a fee of $50 a month. “Many other dating sites try and take advantage of people who join, but we just want to provide a place for Catholics to connect over values that are important to them,” he said.
With membership rising, Koza said he hopes one day to see over 5 million Catholics using the site. “That is only 1 percent of the Catholic population, but it would show me that I have created something people really need,” he said.
With so many Web sites devoted to Christian or faith based dating popping up all over the Internet, Anthony Buono, founder of Ave Maria Singles, said anyone choosing to sign up for one should be careful. “These sites offer a trial period or a fee of $9 a month. That may sound good, but it ends up being around $150 a year,” he said.
Ave Maria Singles, on the other hand, offers new members a $180 one-time only fee to join the site. “That way we weed out the people who are just curious about the site and may not be looking for a serious relationship,” said Buono.
The basic fee allows users to post a profile with photos, send messages to interested parties, as well as allowing members to search for other singles who fit their criteria. And while many other dating Web sites are content to see their members in serious relationships, Buono said people who come to Ave Maria are looking for much more. “The people who come to our site are discerning a vocation to marriage and are looking for the person they wish to share their life with,” he said.
However, Buono was quick to add that finding the right person takes time and anyone who plans on joining a dating site should not be disappointed if they don’t meet someone right away. “A young woman recently called to cancel her account and said she had just found someone after six years on the site,” he added.
Currently, Ave Maria, which has been in existent for eight years, has over 10,000 members, 453 of whom are married, 186 who are engaged and 1,126 of whom are in a committed relationship, said Buono.
Both Koza and Buono said after the creation of their sites, they quickly realized that Internet dating was going to become popular. However, the founders said they created their sites to provide a service to faithful Catholics and not to make money. “I have a profile at my site even, because I am a single Catholic and know what it’s like,” added Koza.