Pope Paul VI begins his encyclical Humanae Vitae by stating, “The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator.” He also notes that “[t]he fulfillment of this duty has always posed problems to the conscience of married people” (HV, 1). In other words, the question of responsible parenthood is a perennial concern for married couples.
We share with our Creator the astounding ability to create new human life, through our God-given design as male and female who can become “one flesh.” This uniquely human ability insistently calls us to answer the question, “How do we responsibly live out our sexual nature in a way that honors our God and each other?” Natural Family Planning (NFP) is a key which can “unlock” the door to answer that question, by providing couples the means responsibly to exercise their gift of procreation, and to grow in love, while taking account of “their own duties toward God, themselves, their families and human society” (HV, 10).
California is not only the most populous state in the nation, with the greatest number of Catholics,1 but also has the great fortune to possess the only state-level association in the United States devoted to NFP, the California Association of Natural Family Planning (CANFP). Since my ordination I have worked to support both individual marriages and the sacrament of Christian marriage, so when I was asked to join the Board of CANFP, I willingly accepted.
In the more than ten years I have served on the Board, my efforts to support marriage have benefitted from a wide variety of services the Association has offered. In addition to being a clearinghouse for “all things NFP,” CANFP has connected and supported our NFP teachers throughout the state and beyond, as well as hosting multiple state-wide conferences. In 2018, to celebrate and honor the 50th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, the Association held the largest national-level conference in the country, with over 700 attendees. Over 40 videos from that historic event, in English and Spanish, are still available to all for free(!) at www.celebratehv50.com. In the dioceses where I have been privileged to serve as their bishop, first as Bishop of Oakland and now as Archbishop of San Francisco, experts from the CANFP Board have made excellent presentations to our deacons and to medical professionals in the diocese, as well as to our priests to help them better understand this vital topic.
Certainly one of the most valuable services provided by CANFP has been the weeklong educational conferences they have offered to our seminarians, who in a few short years will be our priests and will serve as guides to our married and engaged couples. It is absolutely critical that they be aware of the benefits NFP provides couples and be able to speak knowledgeably on the subject. The follow-up evaluations of these programs by the seminarians speak to the value of this component of their education, offering them knowledge, confidence, and concrete ways to assist couples in this most important aspect of married life.
Thank you CANFP for your support of life and married love!
1 https://news.gallup.com/poll/226844/religiously-segregated-states-america.aspx