NFP Week after Study Group 9

This article by Mindy Robinson raises important questions, questions to wrestle with, not dismiss because they are challenging.

Three passages to highlight:

1. NFP may be a godsend for some couples, but until its limitations are acknowledged, it will continue to harm families and individuals whose sufferings are often trivialized, denied, dismissed, or even romanticized by the church. At a time when the church is prioritizing such synodal values as listening and accompaniment, our religious leaders need to listen to the stories of those who have experienced NFP as damaging…

2. Contrary to the popular claim that NFP “divorce-proofs” your marriage, several women identified NFP as a factor contributing to marital breakdown. For some, this was caused by the erosion of intimacy. For others, Catholic sexual teaching provided an opportunity for a coercive partner to weaponize a woman’s fertility against her. Domestic violence advocates have long observed that pregnancy can be used to keep women isolated and dependent on controlling men—a dynamic recently highlighted in the Netflix docuseries Shiny Happy People. A method of family planning that can only be used if both partners are fully committed to avoiding pregnancy is a method that gives women in toxic marriages no control over their own fertility.

3. The church needs to revisit this issue in a way that more fully recognizes the burdens that NFP places on already burdened families. The problems cannot be reduced to “sin” or “weakness”: There are too many situations where responsible parenthood is a moral necessity, and NFP just doesn’t work. Catholics in those situations need solutions that don’t boil down to “suffer and pray.”

Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis emphasized the principle that "reality is more important than ideas." And just a couple of months ago, Study Group 9 of the Synod released a report with guidance for the Church to discern challenging doctrinal, pastoral, and ethical issues. The heart of their report is expounding on that principle from Francis. One passage:

“The aim is to discern, with God’s grace and the contribution of all, 'what the Spirit is saying the churches' (Rev. 2:7), listening for what is true and good by attending to questions that not just theoretical but emerge from the reality of lived experience.”

In other words, the Holy Spirit also speaks through the lived experiences of the People of God, and we as a Church need to listen with curiosity, not defensiveness.

Again from Synod Group 9:

“It is not a matter of devising a strategy to hide real difficulties or of forcing the issue to assert a new doctrine: it is a matter of starting from the listening to experiences and fostering pastoral and ecclesial practices of mutual knowledge, collaboration, inclusion, and dialogue among believers. For it is only in this way – in the light of the lived and shared experience of the Gospel within the Christian community – that one can come to discern and promote the 'good' inscribed in experiences and practices.

What is at stake, as is clearly understood, is the overcoming of the theoretical model that derives praxis from a 'pre-package' doctrine, 'applying' general and abstract principles to the concrete and personal situations of life. The task, therefore, is to rediscover a fruitful circularity between theory and praxis, between thought and experience, recognising that theological reflection itself proceeds from the experiences of 'good inscribed in the sensus fidei fidelium.'”

This report is remarkable. Catholics who strive to be faithful to the Church but who have serious questions can find some reassurance that they are not sinful, broken, or ignorant because they have these doubts. Rome is opening up space for these discussions to be had.

NFP Article: https://uscatholic.org/articles/202307/is-catholic-rhetoric-about-nfp-telling-the-full-story/

Report from Study Group 9: https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/process/implementation/10workinggroups/final-reports/sg9/SG-9_Final-Report.pdf