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Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, issued a statement ahead of National Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week, calling for married couples to use and benefit from God’s design for love and children.
National NFP Awareness Week runs from July 20-26 and serves to call attention to Humanae Vitae, Pope St. Paul VI’s encyclical on married love. In his July 18 statement, Bishop Burbidge, who previously served as the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said that Humanae Vitae could be considered more relevant now, on its 57th anniversary, than it ever has been before.
“In giving themselves to each other in the covenant of marriage, husbands and wives are called to cooperate with God in his plan for human love and life,” Bishop Burbidge wrote. He contrasted NFP to widespread practices like contraception and in vitro fertilization (IVF) that contradict God’s plan, noting that NFP does not separate procreation from the unitive aspect of the marital act.
“Very simply, this means a couple who practices NFP knows that God intends life and love to go together and the couple wants to keep these dimensions always together in their marital relationship,” he explained, adding that NFP also fosters communication between spouses to make “virtuous decisions concerning parenthood.”
Bishop Burbidge also pointed out that NFP is a tool that brings hope to many couples through helping them understand their fertility.
“Many couples have been blessed with children through NFP after being told they were infertile, discovering that attentive care may reveal treatable conditions and new possibilities,” he wrote. “NFP honors God’s design, upholds the dignity of husband and wife, and respects the dignity of children.”
Bishop Burbidge urged Catholics to “pray and work for a society where love is rightly ordered—where the sanctity of marriage is upheld, where the dignity of every human life is protected, and where families flourish.”
“When spouses collaborate with God’s plan and with each other through trust and sacrifice, their love becomes a powerful witness to the world, fostering a hope that radiates far beyond their own home,” he said. “I encourage all couples, especially those preparing for marriage, to learn about the Church’s teachings on Natural Family Planning. In doing so, couples will find freedom, hope, and deeper communion with one other and with God, the author of life and the first to love.”
