Wheaton College

Family Planning: The Catholic Priest's Perspective

This study is exploratory in nature and will collect data on participants� attitudes toward and exposure to NFP, their personal opinions on contraception and Church teaching on the subject, information on how, when, and how often they approach the subject with their congregation, and their personal opinions on why so few couples choose NFP. This will permit the investigation of a number of questions, such as: How knowledgeable are Catholic priests on the subject and use of NFP? Have they received specific training on the use of NFP and if so, in what form? How do participants view NFP in terms of its effectiveness, its conformity with church teaching, and its relevance to modern couples, and do variables such as age, race, and length of service affect views on the aforementioned factors? How often and in what situations do participants approach the subject of NFP (i.e. during sermons, during premarital counseling with couples engaged to be married, etc.)? How frequently are they approached by couples with questions about contraception and/or family planning? How comfortable do they feel discussing NFP and contraception in general? Is there anything that would increase their comfort level with or likelihood to address these topics? How much influence do participants feel they, and by extension, the church, have in the contraceptive decisions of couples in their parish? What is their perception of why so few couples choose NFP, and what, if anything, do they believe the church could do to improve this?