News & Events

Couple to Couple League broadening appeal of NFP education by incorporating Theology of the Body

 

The Couple to Couple League International (CCLI), a leading provider of education in Natural Family Planning (NFP), is revising its teaching approach to incorporate Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. After considering the changes for more than a year, the League’s Board of Directors voted in January to move in a direction it believes will broaden the appeal of its NFP education. A two-year process of updating CCLI teaching materials has been underway, and the organization has now dedicated this project to the memory of the Holy Father.

 

Since 1971, CCLI has instructed more than 171,500 engaged and married couples in the art of NFP through their series of classes, while basing the morality component on the covenant theology. It was an appropriate application of Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical, Humanae Vitae. Pope John Paul II brought new understanding to the meaning of marital love in his series of talks from 1979 to 1984 which is popularly known as the “Theology of the Body.” The basic tenets of this new theological synthesis that relate to NFP will be incorporated throughout all of CCLI’s teaching materials and the organization’s affairs. This includes the League’s training and education, teaching, writing, counseling, and the like.

 

This change will allow CCLI to better connect with member couples and those attending its classes and reading its publications. The organization plans to use the Pope’s Theology of the Body approach to emphasize the emotional, physical and spiritual benefits of fidelity and periodic abstinence in marriage.

 

“Our goal is to help couples grow closer to God by living this theology,” said Linda Kracht, CCLI Chairman of the Board. “CCLI’s Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP gives them the practical tools for doing this.”

 

CCLI remains committed to its “triple strand” educational approach, which combines the Sympto-Thermal Method of NFP, moral theology as it applies to marital intimacy, and the importance of ecological breastfeeding and its effect on the natural spacing of children.

 

“Pope John Paul II’s descriptions of marital love as a reflection of God’s love have proven compelling for people all over the world,” commented Fr. Richard Hogan, CCLI Board Member. “CCLI is eager to use this theological construct, which has already proven very appealing to engaged and young married people, so the League saw this as a natural step.”

 

CCLI is continuing to grow with NFP outreach in 23 countries, and nearly 8,000 couples per year are taught in the United States by more than 950 volunteer teaching couples. “In addition to updating our theological foundation, we’re looking into new technologies to deliver our instruction, updating our teaching materials and adding new opportunities for teacher training,” said Andrew B. Alderson, CCLI executive director. “We expect to become even more proficient at providing NFP education and support to anyone who wants it.”

 

The Couple to Couple League International, based in Cincinnati, was founded in 1971 to teach engaged and married couples the Sympto-Thermal Method of Natural Family Planning. For more information, visit www.ccli.org.