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Heroic Love and Family Planning

Detroit Stories

Sergio Lopez and Giovanni Vitale have a goal to empower men to join the conversation on Natural Family Planning. Show notes: (0:03) We meet Sergio and Juanita Lopez and learn about their introduction to — and immediate skepticism of — Natural Family Planning. We also learn that their marriage faced trouble, and they were considering divorce when Juanita suggested NFP as a way to reconnect. (2:35) Sergio talks about the struggles he and Juanita were facing and their decision to try Natural Family Planning. Sergio was skeptical at first, but he shares how it illuminated the disconnect that he and Juanita were feeling and equipped them to start overcoming it. (6:18) Juanita and Sergio become certified NFP instructors; they also begin a Spanish course to remove barriers to the NFP Creighton model that the Spanish-speaking community previously faced. (8:08) Nicole Joyce, the Archdiocese’s Natural Family Planning Coordinator, discusses NFP’s main goals and how it can place the responsibility for pregnancy and childcare on both the husband and wife. We learn, too, about the gender disparity in interest in NFP and how a group of men in the Archdiocese of Detroit are working to shift that gap. (10:33) Giovanni Vitale, co-founder of Whole Mission, discusses the mutual understanding of shared responsibility that is integral for couples and families to thrive. He talks about the importance of praying with one’s spouse about the Lord’s call for the family, which begins with having a formed conscience. He also shares practical ways that men can become involved with fertility management. (15:00) Nicole talks about the earliest ways sexual responsibility can be formed and Natural Family Planning can be promoted, and the importance of discernment and intention in fertility discussions.