PASTORAL GUIDELINES

AND CORE VALUES IN

PROMOTING NATURAL
FAMILY PLANNING
Antonio J. Ledesma, S.J., D.D.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural
Archbishop of Family
CagayanPlanning
de OroProgram
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
RH Bill issue: Protest rally
RH Bill issue:

NO to RH!
YES to
All-NFP!
“11 Years
in Serving
Family
and Life”
CWL – also Hapag-Asa & Caritas Manila
PASTORAL SITUATION:
Majority of couples today have
3 FELT NEEDS:

1. They want family planning

– re family size and spacing
of births.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
PASTORAL SITUATION:
Majority of couples today have
3 FELT NEEDS:

2.They prefer natural family

planning – if given adequate
information on fertility
Awareness and NFP methods.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
PASTORAL SITUATION:
Majority of couples today have
3 FELT NEEDS:

3.They want to choose

among NFP methods – to
suit their own circumstances and
preference.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Modern NFP Modern
0.6% Contraceptives
36.2%

No Methods
51.1%
Traditional Methods
12.0%
Current use of contraception and family planning among married
women, age 15-49, 2011 Family Health Survey, Philippines
Table 1. Wanted and actual fertility rates of Filipino
families by wealth quintiles.
Wealth WANTED ACTUAL Difference
Quintile Fertility Rate Fertility Rate

Lowest 3.3 5.2 -1.9

Second 2.9 4.2 -1.3
Middle 2.4 3.3 -0.9
Fourth 2.2 2.7 -0.5
Highest 1.6 1.9 -0.3
Source: National Demographic and Health Survey of 2008
 Education and Health Expenditure by Family
Mean Educ. Mean Health
FAMILY Expenditure Expenditure
SIZE
per student per capita

1 5,558 1,700
2 3,135 922
3 2,243 802
4 1,787 438
5 1,558 336
6 1,090 299
7 Orbeta “Poverty, Vulnerability,
Source: Aniceto 858and Family Size: Evidence from the Philippines.”
206
Philippine Institute for Development Studies, Discussion Paper Series No. 2005-19.
 (Means)
FAMILY PLANNING

(3) NATURAL (NFP)

BBT – Basal Body Temperature

BOM – Billings Ovulation Method (Goal)

(First Principle)
STM – Sympto-Thermal Method (2) RESPONSIBLE
(1) PRO-LIFE PARENTHOOD
LAM – Lactational Amenorrhea
Method a) procreation
b) education
SDM – Standard Days Method

TDM – TwoDay Method

(Context: Pluralistic society)

(4) INFORMED & MORALLY

RESPONSIBLE CHOICE
Four Pastoral Guidelines for an RP-NFP Program
I. We are
Pro-Life.
We are Pro-Life.

1)The human person

is created in the
image of God.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 GOD’S CREATION
“It was you who created my being,
knit me together in my mother’s
womb. I thank you for the wonder
of my being, for the wonders of all
your creation.”

- Psalm 139
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
We are Pro-Life.

2)The human person is

created by God in
unity of body and
soul.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 BODY AND SOUL
“Already you knew my soul. My
body held no secret from you
when I was being fashioned in
secret and molded in the depths
of the earth.”
- Psalm 139
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
We are Pro-Life.

3) The human person is open to

transcendence: he is open to
the infinite and to all created
beings.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
We are Pro-Life.
4) The human person is endowed
with a moral conscience that
enables him to recognize the
truth concerning good and
evil.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
NATURE MEANS NATURAL SUPERNATURAL
END END
Human
Rights and
Duties

Reason Know truth Truth

Free Will Love good/ Summum

beautiful Bonum

Conscience Should do moral good Beatitude

Basic needs health/life Eternal

Body
Life

DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

We are Pro-Life.

5) The human person is

essentially a social and
relational being.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Religious Experience

Church

s
ge
ta
Parents… Teachers

tS
gh

lf
Se
God

Ei

y
M

ily &

ily
So t y
n

m nts
y
ld

t io

m
i

et

Pa s
un

rs r
or

s
pe the
on
Fa re

fa
ci

nd
Na
W

w
ie
O
m

Ne
Fr
Co

Nature

Earth, Sky, Water, Fire…

Plants and Animals

Universe

Fig.3. RELATIONSHIPS OF A HUMAN PERSON

We are Pro-Life.

6) The Christian view of the human

person balances the mystery of sin
with the universality of
salvation in Jesus Christ.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
II. We are for
Responsible
Parenthood.
 Responsible Parenthood (HV)
“In relation to physical, economic, psychological
and social conditions, responsible parenthood is
exercised, either by the deliberate and generous
decision to raise a numerous family, or by the
decision, made for grave motives and with due
respect for the moral law, to avoid for the time
being, or even for an indeterminate period, a new
birth.”
(HV, 10)

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Responsible Parenthood (PCP II)
“Christian parents must exercise responsible
parenthood. While nurturing a generous attitude
towards bringing new human life into the world,
they should strive to beget only those children
whom they can raise up in a truly human and
Christian way. Towards this end, they need to
plan their families according to the moral norms
taught by the Church.”
(PCP II, 583)

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Role of the Christian Family
1) Forming a community of
persons
• an “intimate community of life
and love”
• Equal dignity of parents, children,
elderly
• “a school of deeper humanity”
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Role of the Christian Family
2) Serving life.
• “transmitting by procreation the divine
image from person to person”
• conjugal love – “fully human, exclusive
and open to new life”
• family as “the first school of social
living”
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Role of the Christian Family
3) Participating in the
development of society.
• the “first school of the social virtues”
• the family plays a social and political
role
• lives out the values of truth, justice,
freedom and love
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Role of the Christian Family
4) Sharing in the life and
mission of the Church
• family as the “domestic church”
• Christian marriage as a “profession of
faith”
• Discover the image of God in every
brother and sister
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
III. We are for Natural
Family Planning.
What is Natural Family Planning (NFP)?

• Natural Family Planning (NFP)

is an approach for regulating
births by identifying the
fertile and infertile periods of
a woman’s cycle.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
What is Natural Family Planning (NFP)?
• As an educational process and a way of
life, there are four elements:
 It involves the observation of a naturally
occurring body sign or signs
 in order to identify the woman’s fertile
and infertile periods.
 It involves the timing of intercourse
 to avoid or achieve pregnancy.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
What is Natural Family Planning (NFP)?

• NFP methods are Fertility

Awareness Based (FAB), as
classified by the World
Health Organization

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
What is Natural Family Planning (NFP)?
In contrast to artificial contraceptives, NFP
means No DIDO – i.e.,
No Drugs
Injections
Devices
Operations at any time.
It also means no withdrawal.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Our “All-NFP” Program
means we:
1) include all modern NFP
methods;

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
All - NFP includes the following
methods:

1. Basal Body Temperature (BBT)

2. Billings Ovulation Method (BOM)
3. Sympto-Thermal Method (STM)
4. Lactational Amenorrhea Method
(LAM)
5. Standard Days Method (SDM)
6. TwoDay Method (TDM)
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Our “All-NFP” Program
means we:

2) reach out to all chapel

communities &
households;

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Our “All-NFP” Program
means we:

3) promote NFP all the way, i.e.,

without back-up
contraceptives;
4) involve all family-oriented lay
organizations.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
CBCP Consensus on
the Standard Days
Method (SDM)
(Reached at the CBCP Plenary
Assembly
in January & July 2009)
Consensus on Natural Family Planning
and the Standard Days Method

1. The Standard Days Method, provided

it is not mixed with contraceptives, is
a natural family planning method and
is consistent with the moral teaching
of the Catholic Church. The bishop
should inform the priest or lay faithful
who think otherwise and should stop
him from spreading his error.
Consensus on Natural Family Planning
and the Standard Days Method

2. It belongs to the bishop to

decide whether his diocese
will promote or not the SDM,
in accordance with his
pastoral discernment.
Consensus on Natural Family Planning
and the Standard Days Method

3. The bishop may not prohibit any

couple in his diocese from using
SDM as their method of natural
family planning.
“ In necessariis, unitas; in dubiis, libertas;
in omnibus, caritas.”
+ GABRIEL V. REYES, D.D.
Facilitator of the Dialogue
Why Natural Family Planning?

1. Normal intercourse is
preserved. Couples can
plan the size of their
families and space births
the natural way.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?

2. NFP is morally acceptable to

people of all religions. It
does not separate the love-
giving and life-giving
dimensions of the marriage
act.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?

3. Modern NFP methods are

effective and reliable. They are
based on scientific evidence.
Simplified methods are easy to
learn.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?

4. There are no inherent

health risks in NFP
methods, unlike the use
of contraceptives.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?
5. NFP is pro-poor. Once the
method has been learned,
there is no cost involved. It
empowers couples not to
rely on health centers or
drugstores.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?

6. NFP is sustainable across

generations. Mothers can
readily pass on the
practice of NFP to their
daughters.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?

7. NFP involves a joint

decision by the couple.
Neither partner feels
being used by the other.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?

8. Through periodic abstinence, NFP

engenders sexual discipline for
the spouses, mutual caring, and
self-control in the rearing of
children.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?
9. NFP enhances communication
between spouses and promotes a
wholesome family life. NFP
couples seldom or never end up in
separation or divorce, or resort to
abortion.
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Why Natural Family Planning?

10. NFP can be used to

avoid or achieve
pregnancy.

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Natural Family Planning
“Periodic continence, that is, the methods
of birth regulation based on self-
observation and the use of infertile
periods, is in conformity with the
objective criteria of morality. These
methods respect the bodies of the
spouses, encourage tenderness between
them, and favor the education of an
authentic freedom.” (CCC, 2370)

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
IV. We are for enabling
couples to make an
Informed and Morally
Responsible Choice,
according to the dictates
of a Right Conscience.
 Three kinds of Freedom

1. ontological freedom
2. civic and political
freedoms
3. authentic freedom

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Conscience and Natural Law
“For man has in his heart a law
inscribed by God… His dignity
lies in observing this law, and by it
he will be judged…By conscience
in a wonderful way, that law is
made known…”
(Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 16)

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Formation of Conscience

• vs. ignorance and sinful

habits
• objective norms of morality
• full knowledge & full
consent
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Three Dimensions to
Consider for a Sinful Act
• Act or object
• Intention or
motivation
• Circumstances
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Extenuating Circumstances
“Imputability and responsibility for an
action can be diminished or even
nullified by ignorance, inadvertence,
duress, fear, habit, inordinate
attachments, and other psychological
or social factors.”
Pope Francis
(Evangelii Gaudium, 44)
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Responsible Parenting
Factors to consider:
• good of children, present and future
• material and spiritual situation
• good of family, society and Church

“ It is the married couple themselves who

must in the last analysis arrive at these
judgments before God.”
(Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 50)

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Local Church’s Role
• information on all NFP methods
as a pastoral imperative
• proclamation more than
denunciation
• charity, compassion, formation
of conscience
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 Government
Al
program lF
Pm
eth
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Couples’
No! 3 felt
P needs
F
A ll-N
Church
advocacy s!
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Church Response to RH BILL
Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program
Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
 NFP vs. CONTRACEPTIVES

“The more we promote All-

NFP, the sooner
contraceptives will die a
natural death.”

- a Family Life worker

Responsible Parenthood and All-Natural Family Planning Program

Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro
Thank