Week to raise awareness of Natural Family Planning |
 |
 |
|
Written by ANGELA KESSLER, Chronicle Editor
|
|
Tuesday, 22 July 2008 15:01 |
It’s Natural Family Planning Awareness week and the Family Life Office of Catholic Charities of Toledo has the resources needed to help spread the word of this method of determining family size.
Deacon Tim Etue, Charities’ Family Life Office contact person, has a variety of materials for parishes and individuals to use to learn more about Natural Family Planning (NFP). From brochures, books and videos, to a listing of trained teaching couples across the diocese, those who want to learn more can.
“We’ve been using NFP for a long time in our diocese,” Deacon Etue says. National Family Planning is introduced to all people preparing for marriage in the church during Engaged Couple Conferences and Sponsored Couples Days.
For couples that want to learn more about Natural Family Planning, classes are provided throughout the diocese by trained and certified couples. The method involves becoming more aware of a woman’s fertility cycles using the sympto-thermal method. With a 99 percent effective rate, the method does not use drugs, but instead involves observations of the woman’s mucus, temperature and cervical signs.
The method is approved and encouraged for Catholic couples by the Untied States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Classes are $135 and offered in Bowling Green, Crestline, Defiance, Galion, Huron, Kalida, Norwalk, Shelby, Swanton, Tiffin and Van Wert.
In addition to referrals for individuals, Deacon Etue says the Family Life Office also offers resources for parishes. Booklets and brochures can be ordered at cost for parishes and resources such as videos and books can be borrowed at no charge. He suggests parishes use these for programs such as marriage enrichment nights.
“We want to raise the awareness of all Catholic married couples that this ministry is out there so they know they have a choice on how big their family will be,” Deacon Etue says.
For more information on the services available through the Family Life Office, contact Deacon Etue at 419-244-6711, ext. 404 or tetue@toledodiocese.org. A brochure with teaching couple contact information is available at www.catholiccharitiesnwo.org/pdfs/NaturalFamilyPlanning.pdf.
Additional details from the U.S. bishops are available at www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/nfp.
|
|
Last Updated on Friday, 07 November 2008 08:59 |
