What does the Catholic Church teach concerning family planning?

"Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan"

To find out more, click the link above that leads to the USCCB document. With this document the bishops seek to provide explanation of Catholic teaching on conjugal love and responsible parenthood in an easy-to-read question and answer format.  As you will see, its style is informal and engaging.  The intended audiences are engaged couples, married couples, and others who do not understand these Church teachings.  It is meant to open the door to the hearts of couples so that God's truth can take seed.  This document was three years in the making.  It has been scrutinized by three committees of bishops (Pro-Life Activities, Marriage and Family Life, and Doctrine).  Versions of it have been tested among engaged couples in diocesan marriage preparation programs throughout the country.  Their responses have been very positive.

 

Find answers to your questions about Natural Family Planning  

Each year the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commemorates Pope St. Paul VI issuing the encyclical Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) with Natural family Planning Awareness week. If you haven't yet, take some time to read  this brief document and be enriched by its vision for married love rooted in Christ. This year's them is "Love, Naturally!" Natural Family Planning and Fertility Based Awareness Methods are wonderful tools for married couples seeking to live chastely, fruitfully, and prudently in accord with the vows they made on their wedding day. We encourage all Catholics to make use of the resources listed below to learn more about these methods and promote a greater understanding of God's design for married love across our society.

• Couples' stories about the benefits of NFP

• Videos on couples embracing NFP

• A priest's testimony about the benefits of NFP

• NFP Related Prayers and Scriptural Resources

Couple to Couple League and the Sympto-Thermal Method

Couple to Couple League and the Sympto-Thermal Method: Attend a course and learn a natural method of family planning that is safe, effective, morally acceptable and good for your marriage through the Sympto-Thermal method. Great for achieving as well as postponing pregnancy. Classes are available in person and online. If you are interested in becoming a Natural Family Planning instructor or official promoter, CCL offers these opportunities as well for free. Couple to Couple League also offers NFP courses live online with a teaching couple or at your own pace with a supervising teaching couple. Live classes in our diocese are offered in Pensacola, Niceville, and Panama City

Sign up for the Couple to Couple League natural family planning class series at Sacred Heart Hospital, Pensacola by contacting Dr. Mark & Debra Kummer at cclsantarosa@yahoo.com or (850) 607-6037.

Sign up for the Couple to Couple League natural family planning class series in Niceville as well by contacting Ben and Karina Orr at kandborr@gmail.com or (309) 678-4368.

Sign up for the Couple to Couple League natural family planning class series in Panama City by contacting Richard and Doris Gaunt at dsgaunt@gmail.com or calling (850) 265-5491.

The Creighton Model

The Creighton Model is a reproductive science that teaches couples about their fertility and offers natural medical treatment for infertility and other woman's health issues in a holistic manner.  The Creighton model relies on a woman's cervical mucus symptoms to closely track fertility signs via charting. After an introductory class, Creighton users receive private, one on one instruction from their instructor over the course of one year. Follow-ups occur regularly following the initial 12 month period of instruction. Classes for The Creighton Model are now being offered in Milton and Panama City.

Milton/Pensacola/Gulf Breeze - please contact Jenny Craft at jjwicraft@yahoo.com or call (850) 221-2052. Click here for more information.

Panama City - please contact Melissa Cornman at emeraldcoastfertilitycare@gmail.com or call (407) 415-6575. Click here for more information.

The Billings Ovulation Method

The Billings Ovulation Method: Couples using the Billings Ovulation Method® track the woman's natural and unique signs of fertility and infertility each day. Based on the primary observation of sensation, four simple rules are applied within the woman's cycle (the first three rules are used before ovulation and the fourth rule is applied once the fertile phase is over) based on a couple's desire to achieve or postpone pregnancy. Contact Deacon Santiago Molina in the Tallahassee/Quincy area at deaconsanti@gmail.com for more information on this method.

Please visit Tallahassee's NFP website for a full schedule of courses to attend. The cost is $25.00 per couple and locations alternate between the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More and Good Shepherd parishes.

Teacher Training for Billings Method contact Deacon Santiago Molina deaconsanti@gmail.com for more information 

On November 10, 2018 we were blessed to hold a conference commemorating 50 years of Humanae Vitae and the lastest developments in the world of fertility awareness. Becky Knapp, Natural Family Planning Coordinator for the Diocese of Wichita, spoke on the most effective fertility awareness based methods available today. Katie Ibarra, most recently of Dumb Ox Ministries, presented on Humanae Vitae and the Theology of the Body. And Chris Galletti, FACTS Ambassador and medical student at Florida State University, delivered information on the work of FACTS promoting scientifically based information about fertility awareness based methods among the medical community.

If you missed the conference please take time to read Bishop Wack's letter on the importance of Humanae Vitae 50 years after its publication:

Updated October 22, 2018

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