NFP Awareness Week

Were you aware that this is Natural Family Planning Awareness Week? Probably not. But every year, the Natural Family Planning Program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sponsors an NFP Awareness Week to coincide with the anniversary of the promulgation of Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI's encyclical reaffirming the traditional Catholic teaching on birth control, in 1968.

If you've never thought about investigating NFP, this is the perfect week to do so! A German study in 2007 found that the sympto-thermal method, the most common method of NFP in use today, is 99.4 percent effective when practiced correctly. Of course, unlike other methods of regulating birth, Natural Family Planning is not "set it and forget it." But with a little bit of research, study, and training, you can enjoy the many benefits of NFP.

If you would like to learn more about NFP, you can start with this summary of what Natural Family Planning is and why couples choose to practice it. Then, check out these links to online Natural Family Planning Resources. Finally, to understand better the Catholic teaching behind the rejection of artificial birth control and the embrace of natural methods, read my summary of Humanae Vitae itself.

When you're ready to move on, you can find the entire text of Humanae Vitae on the Vatican's website, and the USCCB's Natural Family Planning Awareness Week website includes a wealth of resources on NFP for both laity and those in the ministry.