Creating the NFP market: whose responsibility?
I believe the answer to that question is found in Romans 10. After proclaiming the importance of faith in the Lord Jesus for salvation in verses 1-13, St. Paul continues: “But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men preach unless they are sent?”
Let’s paraphrase that in reference to natural family planning as a means of marital chastity. How are couples to know and believe that it is the grave matter of mortal sin to use unnatural forms of birth control unless they are told? And how are couples to know that natural forms of conception regulation provide a moral and effective way to postpone or avoid pregnancy unless they learn? And how will most couples learn without attending a course? And how can they attend a course unless they are sent? It is obvious that the vast majority are certainly not coming on their own.
In 1989 a committee of American bishops issued a small book on preparation for marriage. Of special note to us, they urged that every engaged couple should be required to attend a complete course on natural family planning, not just a session squeezed into a busy pre-Cana day. As of this writing, only six dioceses have such a requirement. Furthermore, in succeeding USCCB documents on natural family planning (2006) and marriage (2009), the requirement was not mentioned.
It appears to me that many bishops have hoped that the NFP movement could do the job without much help from bishops and priests. The stark reality is that the government numbers are telling the bishops that very few Catholics are living chaste and holy marriages. Granted, the National Survey of Family Growth figures have problems. They do not include women who are breastfeeding, or letting the babies come as they may, or are infertile or pregnant. A skeptic might think that many of those surveyed may have been Catholic in name only. Undoubtedly. But a look at those who attend church every Sunday is hardly encouraging. Yes, the NFP use is much higher; it jumps all the way up to a whopping four-tenths of one percent among every-Sunday churchgoers.
The bottom line is that bishops and priests need to require the right kind of NFP course as a normal part of preparation for marriage.
Tomorrow: Can bishops require natural family planning instruction?
John F. Kippley
Sex and the Marriage Covenant
Natural Family Planning: The Complete Approach