What is the primary reason for Catholic Church interest in Natural Family Planning? Is it health? Certainly NFP in all its forms is health-promoting in several different ways. Ecological breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for the baby for a longer time than any other form of breastfeeding, and its extended amenorrhea, 14 to 15 months on the average, offers several health advantages to mothers as well. Monitoring of their fertility can help women become aware of possible health problems well before they become acute. Further, the use of NFP spares couples the unhealthy side effects of many of the unnatural forms of birth control. For these reasons alone the basics of ecological breastfeeding and systematic fertility awareness should be taught in the appropriate health classes at every level of education. Health, however, while a great human value, is also a secular value, and the negative reaction to the promulgation of Humanae Vitae in 1968 certainly was not concerned about health issues. Further, the absence of NFP instruction in the health courses of Catholic colleges, high schools, and parishes is a pretty good indication that the promotion of good health is not the primary reason for the Catholic Church’s interest in natural family planning.
How about effectiveness? In February 2007 a German study demonstrated a 99.6% effectiveness of the Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP. Again, effectiveness is a human and secular value, and only a few have criticized the Church’s promotion of NFP because it is so highly effective in avoiding pregnancy. On the other hand, not a few have complained that some forms of NFP have not been as effective as that German study indicates. Lastly, in Humanae Vitae the practice of NFP is not promoted on the grounds of high effectiveness even though prior to its publication there were European studies showing a 99% level of effectiveness.
How about morality? Certainly this is the reason that jumps out at us as we look at the teaching documents of the Church. Pope Pius XI taught us in his 1930 encyclical Casti Connubii (On Chaste Marriage) that contraception “is an offense against the law of God and of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded with the guilt of a grave sin” (par. 56). Pope Paul VI reminded us in Humanae Vitae that contraceptive behaviors are “intrinsically dishonest” (n. 14). Pope John Paul II placed the issue squarely as a matter of truth. “The moral norm, constantly taught by the Church in this sphere, and recalled and reconfirmed by Paul VI in his encyclical, arises from the reading of the language of the body in truth” (July 11, 1984). Nor did he stop with the last of the Theology of the Body lectures in September 1984. In April, 1986 he told the participants in a conference on moral theology that denying the doctrine of marital non-contraception is “equivalent to denying the Catholic concept of revelation.” In March, 1988 he reminded the participants in a conference on responsible procreation that the teaching of Humanae Vitae “belongs to the permanent patrimony of the Church’s moral doctrine.”
There can be no doubt that the Church promotes NFP as a way of providing practical help to live out the demands of chaste love in marriage. And yet I think there is more. In the publication of The Theology of the Body: Human Love in the Divine Plan, we get a clue from the title of Part Two: “Life according to the Spirit.” As Christians, we are called to live according to the Spirit of God. To put it briefly, the primary mission of the teaching Church is to evangelize the world, and that includes its own members.
Evangelization, then, is what I think is or should be the prime impetus behind the conscious efforts of the Church to promote and teach natural family planning. The Gospel of Mark shows us that Jesus began his public teaching with a great summary of all that would follow. “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe the Gospel.” The fuller translation of “repent” is “Have a change of heart,” and believing in the Gospel is more than a purely intellectual acceptance of the teachings of Christ. It is also a trusting faith. To paraphrase a part of the Sermon on the Mount, “Don’t be anxious about the material things of life. God knows you need these things. Sure, you need to work, but seek first the kingdom of God and do his will and trust Him to take care of the rest of these things.”
The teaching of Christ as it comes to us through the Church calls married couples to authentic love. We all know that. And we have heard many times from the First Letter of St. John that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” What about the opposite? Can something close to perfect fear cast out love? Why do some couples refuse to accept the teaching of the Church regarding marital love? Isn’t it fear? Specifically, isn’t it fear that another child in the family might bring anything from inconvenience to real hardship? And isn’t there a fear either to accept the discipline and self-control involved in systematic NFP or a fear of an unplanned pregnancy? In short, isn’t it a fear to have that change of heart that Jesus calls for, a change of heart that involves carrying the daily cross of self-control and trusting God and not just ourselves? And isn’t a prime task of the Church to help its members to undergo that change of heart that allows real trust and casts out fear?
Call me crazy if you will, but I think the teaching Church should welcome the task of promoting and teaching NFP as a way to carry out its mission of evangelization in a very practical way. After all, what other moral teachings of the Church affect so closely the lives of its adult members on a day-to-day basis? As such, the Church should make sure that the NFP programs that operate under its umbrella are not just teaching anatomy but are consciously helping to carry out this mission. That means that we who teach NFP have to learn and use the biblical language of evangelization—conversion and discipleship, faith and trust, hope and love, sin and repentance, prayer and fasting, Jesus as the Lord of lords and the King of kings. We who teach natural family planning are blessed with the opportunity to share in the evangelization mission of the Church. We need to thank God for this opportunity and do what we can to fulfill this responsibility.
The Art of Natural Family Planning, 4th edition, written by us now costs $70.00 from CCL. For those interested, the cost is $44.10 at amazon.com.
NEXT WEEK: NFP: Why Breastfeeding?
John F. Kippley
Sex and the Marriage Covenant: A Basis for Morality (Ignatius)
Natural Family Planning: The Question-Answer Book, online at
www.NFPandmore.org