FEBRUARY 2017

naturally planning
Catholic Church’s Teachings on NFP
BY PAUL NATINSKY
Natural Family Planning
(NFP) is not what it used
to be and for many, that is
a good thing.
Gone are the low success rates of
the “rhythm method” and the guessing
game couples played when trying
to naturally control the growth of
their families.
“The rhythm method is a very
old method and I would frown at
anybody teaching it today, because
it’s not very effective,” said Fanar
Kashat, who has been teaching NFP
for 14 years. “I joke when I teach
my classes that I am a product of the
rhythm method. It’s not very effective;
it’s about 70-80 percent.”
Kashat currently teaches premarital
couples classes at Mother of
God Chaldean Catholic Church in
Southfield. “Newer methods rely on
women charting biological indicators
daily and have success rates close
to 100 percent,” she said. The two
most popular charting methods include
the Billings Ovulation Method
and the Symptothermal Method. In
both cases, the key indicator is cervical
mucus. Women learn to monitor
the consistency and color of the mucus
to distinguish fertile days in their
cycles from those that are not.
“If someone wants to have more
than one data point, they may like
the Symptothermal Method more.
If somebody says well, ‘I don’t want
to take my temperature every morning,
I want something that’s simple,’
they might like the Billings method
more,” said Kashat.
The Symptothermal Method requires
daily body temperature checks
and factors in a number of other
indicators including cervical position,
mid-cycle cramping and mood,
according to the Christian Family
Planning website.
“If you don’t look at the cervical
mucus, you can throw any method out
the window,” said Kashat. Indeed, just
using temperature without looking at
cervical mucus brings the success rate
down from the high 90s to 70 or 80
percent, according the same website.
While there are health advantages
to refraining from hormone-based
birth control pills and surgical procedures,
for Catholic couples the main
appeal of NFP is that it is consistent
with the church’s teachings.
“In the ‘60s, there was a church
document published by Pope Paul
VI, called Humanae Vitae. The document
laid out the church’s teachings
on life issues and contraceptives,”
said Fr. Pierre Konja of Mother of
God Church. “It was very prophetic
in its teachings against contraceptives
and the church has been under
criticism since then.”
The church is consistently against
contraceptive use of any sort. These
are viewed as interruptive methods.
These include, oral contraceptives,
hormonal IVs, condoms, vasectomies,
tied tubes, and other things
of that sort that are directly against,
“openness to life,” said Fr. Pierre.
“The procreative aspect of sex is
not divorced from the unity aspect,”
said Fr. Matthew Zetouna of St.
George Chaldean Catholic Church
in Shelby Township. “What I mean
by that is sex is supposed to have two
elements always present: a unitive element,
bringing two together in love
and freedom; and then also it is, by
nature, procreative. So, to divorce
one of those factors from the nature
of sex is to not give the act itself it’s
sacred due.”
For priests and teachers, working
with young couples on this topic, it
can be challenging and refreshing.
“It’s not an easy topic to teach,” said
Dr. Silvana Younan, an internist who
has been teaching NFP at St. Thomas
Chaldean Catholic Church in West
Bloomfield for the past year. “I feel
sometimes these couples find this to
be intrusive. When we present these
classes, we tell them from the medical
aspect what we’re there to teach
them. I also try to help them from the
moral aspect why our faith wants us to
follow natural family planning.”
A major concern among couples
is the effectiveness of NFP. “You had
these methods like the rhythm method
that are out there and are natural,
but are not effective,” said Kashat.
“So, it jades the reputation for NFP.”
The other concern is the work involved.
“We live in an instant gratification
society,” said Kashat. “NFP is
work. You don’t just take a pill, or put
a condom on and move on with your
life. It takes work to take the class,
to learn how to chart, and to be disciplined
at following it.”
Fr. Pierre added that, “the Western
world is very much accustomed
to have a selfish lifestyle, one, maybe
two children maximum and then you
get so overburdened with stress. People
from big families learn to sacrifice,
how to love, and that the world
doesn’t revolve around them. They
are better parents because of some of
these qualities.”
However, Fr. Matthew reports
that couples are more enthusiastic
about NFP. “There are a lot of Catholics,
especially Chaldeans, nowadays
that are hearing about NFP and they
are saying to themselves, okay, this is
what the church says, I’m going to do
it,” he said. “They are very comfortable
talking about it, and I’m happy
about that because in the Chaldean
community it’s, taboo to talk about
sex and issues related to sex.”
Those involved in teaching NFP
agree that there is a fine line between
acceptable uses of NFP, and using the
technique as a de facto form of birth
control. Financial hardship, medical
considerations and even finishing
graduate school were cited as possible
legitimate reasons to delay family
growth.
It seems the motive for using NFP
is at least as subject to forethought as
employing it. In many cases, teachers
and priests challenge parishioners
to consider their decision prayerfully
and ensure that they are not putting
off having more children for selfish
reasons.
“The majority of practicing Catholics
disagree with the church on this
teaching,” said Fr. Pierre. “They either
disagree with it verbally or they
disagree with it in practice.”
He continued to say that he
The church is consistently against contraceptive use of any sort.
These are viewed as interruptive methods. These include, oral
contraceptives, hormonal IVs, condoms, vasectomies, tied tubes, and
other things of that sort that are directly against, “openness to life.”
– FR. PIERRE KONJA
would challenge his parishioners to
understand that church teachings
are supportive of their happiness and
reflective of their relationship with
God and not arbitrary or archaic.
Classes are generally available at
Catholic churches, though they vary
in length, content, and whether they
are a required part of a pre-marital
curriculum.
Online resources on natural
family planning include:
http://www.woomb.org
a website centered on the
Billings Ovulation Method
http://www.christianfamilyplanning.org/symptothermal.php
a website containing detailed
information on the Symptothermal
Method
“Green Sex”
a presentation by Jason Evert
on the virtues of NFP
38 CHALDEAN NEWS FEBRUARY 2017