“To have … To hold … To honor, Natural Family Planning, Supporting God’s gifts of love and life in marriage” is the theme of this year’s National Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, set for July 25-31.
The observance is an educational campaign of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to celebrate God’s vision for marriage and promote the methods of Natural Family Planning. NFP is a general title for ethical, natural, safe and effective methods for both achieving and avoiding pregnancy in marriage. NFP methods teach couples how to observe and interpret the wife’s signs of fertility and infertility. In the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, NFP methods “respect the bodies of the spouses, encourage tenderness between them and favor the education of an authentic freedom.” (CCC, no. 2370)
The dates of NFP week also highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25), which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, marriage, conjugal love and responsible parenthood.
To learn more, visit the USCCB website at www.usccb.org/topics/natural-family-planning.
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