Welcome to Catholic Women & Couples NFP

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Who We Are

Catholic Women & Couples NFP [CWCNFP] is a lay-Catholic organization which teaches, without charge, Fertility Awareness and Natural Family Planning [NFP] to Adult Catholic Women and Catholic Couples . Adult Catholic Women must be 18 or older. For Catholic Couples, either the man or the woman [or both] must be Catholic or registered in an RCIA program

Our Mission

Our mission is to assist Catholic Couples and Adult Catholic women to prepare for and to live virtuous marriages in full harmony with Catholic Church teaching.

We focus on the virtue of chastity. We teach God’s plan for married couples.

We teach that Fertility Awareness and Natural Family Planning is the superior alternative to contraceptives.

We believe that Catholics should be informed on how to attain the happiness and joy of living a chaste family life without charge.

USCCB

The Catholic Women & Couples NFP no-cost program has been recommended by the Natural Family Planning Program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (See Exhibit # 1 Page 13)

Our Philosophy

It is our Philosophy that the advancement and promotion of Natural Family Planning is an integral ministry of the faithful of Catholic dioceses working in their parishes. The primary objective of this service is to support the sacred covenant of marriage in the context of the Church’s total vision of the Sacrament of Matrimony.

We believe in the values and principles inherent in the teaching of the Church as expressed by the second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. (Gaudium et Spes); by Pope Paul VI in his Encyclical letter On Human Life (Humanae Vitae); by Saint John Paul II in his Apostolic Exhortation The Family in the Modern World (Familiaris Consortio) and The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae); by the congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in its Instruction on Respect for Human Life (Donum Vitae); by Pope Benedict XVI and by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation (Amoris Laetitia).

We believe that through NFP we give public witness to these beliefs and values concerning the sacredness of human life, conjugal love, sexuality and responsible parenthood.

We believe that NFP couples accept fertility as a gift and recognize their cooperation with God in the creation of new life.

History

The St. Augustine Foundation [SAF] Yonkers, N.Y. SAF is a 501 (c)3 charitable foundation, founded in 2001.

Catholic Women & Couples NFP [CWCNFP] is a name registered by SAF. CWCNFP’s sole mission was to promote and teach no-cost

Fertility Awareness and Natural Family Planning programs for Catholic Couples and Adult Catholic women 18 and older.

My Catholic Doctor [MCD] was founded in 2017 by Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann.

Dr. Kathleen is a board certified pediatrician and mother of 7.

CWCNFP and MCD have agreed to work in partnership with CWCNFP referring Catholic Couples

and Adult Catholic women with health insurance to MCD.

Catholic adolescents will be referred to MCD for all purposes.

CWCNFP works with adults only; however MCD offers an Adolescent Program.

Humanae Vitae

What the Church Teaches: “God’s Vision of Married Love and the Gift of Life”

In Humanae vitae Blessed Pope Paul VI reflects upon how God designed the nature of married love. This he draws from Sacred Scripture and the Catholic Tradition. The Holy Father writes that married love is fully human (involving the body and soul). Married love is total, faithful, and fruitful (see HV no. 9).
“Fruitfulness” is discussed primarily in terms of God’s gift of fertility to husband and wife. So important is this gift that Scripture teaches that God calls husband and wife to take up a sacred stewardship over the powers of life that He shares with them (see Gen. 1:26-28; cf. HV, no. 8). Indeed, this gift is directly related to how God created men and women in the divine image (made for communion with God and each other–life-giving love). Children are gifts from God. They are part of the fabric of married love. Consequently, spouses should be open to receiving children lovingly seeking to nurture them as they form their families. Procreation and care of children go together.
Humanae vitae raises up the question of planning births in a family. The Church has always taught that it is reasonable for husband and wife to space and even limit births in their marriage for just reasons (see HV, no. 10); however, they are called to support God’s design not to reject it. Use of contraception or sterilization rejects God’s gifts. That is because contraception and sterilization do harm to the nature of married love and the gift of life–they separate the unitive and procreative nature of conjugal relations (see HV, no. 14). “Husband and wife express their committed love not only with words, but with the language of their bodies ….the mutual gift of fertility is an integral part of the bonding power of marital intercourse.” (USCCB, Married Love and the Gift of Life, pp. 4, 5.) To reject one’s fertility by using contraception or being sterilized is to reject God’s gift to husband and wife (see HV, no. 12).

Does this mean that couples are to leave their family size to chance?

No!

God invites husband and wife to cooperate with Him in their mission of responsible parenthood. Spouses should pay careful attention to the nature of marriage as God created it, their current responsibilities to each other, any children already born, and the wider society (see HV no. 10). Within this context, the methods of Natural Family Planning (NFP) are acceptable because they respect God’s divine plan for marriage!

To deepen your understanding of these beautiful teachings see NFP Church Teaching.

USCCB Love and Sexuality Page

USCCB Pro-Life Committee 25th Anniversary of Humanae vitae statement

USCCB NFP Program Humanae vitae 40th anniversary publication

To Our Non-Catholic Friends

We regret that we are not able to offer our “no-cost” NFP training programs to others. However, if you have health insurance, you may be eligible for the teaching of the efficacy, risks and side-effects of contraceptives and the Fertility Awareness alternatives by MyCatholicDoctor with no CO-PAY. We suggest you contact mycatholicdoctor.com. You are also invited to use information in our website. We also recommend that you inquire of any of the many organizations offering NFP training. They are usually quite good and their prices are modest.