Pope Francis has hailed the billing method of natural family planning or NFP as a valuable tool for married couples that also enlightens them about the significance of the marital act. The Pope emphasized how John and Evelyn Billings created a straightforward approach for natural knowledge of fertility in the second half of the 20th century, giving a tool for responsible management of procreative decisions, in a statement delivered on April 28 to a symposium on the Billings method.
Pope Francis acknowledged their approach might have appeared outdated compared to pharmacological interventions, but the method has remained timely and challenging. The Billings method has spurred reflection on the need for education on the value of the human body, an integrated vision of human sexuality, cherishing the fruitfulness of love even when not fertile, and building a culture that welcomes life and addresses the issue of demographic collapse.
Pope Francis Praises Billings Method of Natural Family Planning
According to Catholic News Agency, Pope Francis addressed attendees of the international conference “The ‘Billings Revolution’ 70 Years Later: From Fertility Knowledge to Personalized Medicine,” which took place in Rome from April 28 to 29. By recognizing a couple’s natural fertile and infertile cycles and using that knowledge to either conceive or postpone conception by periodic abstinence, the Billings method, a type of natural family planning, is a technique of birth control that the Church has approved.
The Catholic Church holds that while artificial birth control measures like sterilization are not morally acceptable, natural birth control measures like periodic abstinence are. Pope Francis stressed the importance of anthropological and ethical approaches to serious instruction in the field of human sexuality.
Additionally, according to the article in National Catholic Register, he stressed the value of comprehending the unitive and procreative definitions of the marital act, which, when acknowledged, strengthens spouses’ generosity of love and prepares them to embrace a new life. Without this understanding, the sexual experience becomes cheap and self-referential and loses its human and responsible features.
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Vatican Confirms Mediation Initiative for Russia-Ukraine Conflict
The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, revealed the existence of a Vatican initiative to support mediation efforts aimed at putting an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. According to the story shared in ABC News, despite this, representatives from both nations insisted they needed to be made aware of the initiative. Parolin agreed that there might have been communication problems within the bureaucracies.
He had a private meeting on his way home with the former ambassador of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, Pope Francis made reference to the Vatican’s “mission” during a press conference. The Pope emphasized his willingness to do whatever was necessary to end the war while giving no further information regarding the mission.
Cardinal Parolin echoed Francis’ remarks about the mission despite using the future tense. Additionally, Parolin made it clear that Metropolitan Anthony, the Russian Orthodox Church’s current representative abroad, was present at the Vatican as part of routine interactions between the two churches and was unrelated to the peace mission.
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