Natural Family Planning Awareness Week Begins July 22 In U.S. Dioceses

WASHINGTON—"Faithfully Yours" is the theme of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, July 22-28, a national educational campaign of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on the Catholic teaching on married love and the gift of human life. The annual campaign, which began in 2002, promotes awareness of Natural Family Planning (NFP) methods.

"NFP Awareness Week is an opportunity for married couples and Catholics everywhere to better understand and embrace the Church's uniquely positive and liberating message on the truth of married love," said Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. "The theme for 2012, 'Faithfully Yours,' highlights the beauty of how husbands and wives are called to live out their total dedication to one another."

The dates of NFP Awareness Week overlap with the anniversary of the 1968 papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, in which Pope Paul VI reaffirmed the Church's teaching on human sexuality, married love and responsible parenthood.

Resources including a poster, prayers, homily notes, bulletin inserts and ideas for celebrating and promoting NFP Awareness Week at the local level can be found online: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/natural-family-planning/awareness-week/index.cfm. For more information, contact Natural Family Planning email.

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Keywords: U.S. bishops, USCCB, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, education campaign, Natural Family Planning, Catholic Church, NFP, contraceptives, birth control, married love, human sexuality, responsible parenthood, Pope Paul VI, Bishop Kevin Rhoades, Humanae Vitae, resources, dioceses, Catholic teaching

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