Catholic Church's stress on 'natural family planning' finds takers in Goa By Frederick Noronha
PANJIM: Little-noticed by most, Goa's Catholic Church is contributing to this state's declining population growth. It's doing so by imparting teaching to all of its flock getting married about 'natural family planning' methods. This explains in part the unusually high adoption at present of 'traditional methods' of family planning, that get reported in official statistics in this rather highly educated state which has the fourth-highest literacy rate among states nationwide. NFHS-2, the National Family Health Survey, recently reported that current use of family planning methods among Christians in Goa is only a little lower (40 percent) than among Hindus (50 percent) and Muslims (48 percent). But 'traditional method' use accounts for 43 percent of contraceptive use among Christians, compared to only 15 and 4 percent among Hindus and Muslims. Socorro Mendes, a Catholic priest who heads the Goa Family Service Centre, takes pride in the fact that this institution got a Rotary Club award in Kolhapur for family planning. "We pointed out that the Catholic Church doesn't believe in operative methods (of birth-control) but believes in educating people through natural ways," he says. Brigida Gonsalves, a former school teacher from the North Goa village of Tivim who now works for the Church-run Family Service Centre as a responsible parenthood trainer, imparts knowledge to young couples the Church-approved method of family planning, which is called 'Natural Family Planning' or NFP. "It's quite effective, provided the couples come for a follow-up," she says. This knowledge is part of the virtually-compulsory 'marriage formation courses' that the Catholic Church runs for all engaged couples before they can exchange vows at the altar. But the hour-long talk might not be enough to learn the intricacies involved, suggests Gonsalves. "This method works even in slum areas. Illiterate people are able to follow it," she says, as a couple of coloured pencils and a chart that needs to be marked sit on a table in front of her. "Even if they don't use pens or pencils, they write on the floor or keep records with a piece of charcoal," she says. Of course, this method, she says, can be used to space or hasten the birth of children, by understanding more closely the woman's fertility cycle. Given economic pressures, widespread education for women in Goa, the fact that many women work outside the home, and such factors, most use it to delay children. Precise figures are however unavailable. There are differing methods of 'Natural Family Planning', which primarily depends on the avoidance of sexual relations on certain days of the month, depending on the woman's menstrual cycle. To determine the days of avoidance, different proponents at varied points of time have favoured the rhythm method, the sympto-thermal method, the ovulation method, or the mucus method. There is a degree of intricacies involved. Some methods, for instance, depend on careful recording of the woman's body-temperature to calculate her 'fertility days'. "Sometimes, I feel it may not be of use (to those without a religious motivation). They may not put in that extra effort at record-keeping," opines Gonsalves. In the past, 'Natural Family Planning' has been dismissively called the Vatican Roulette by its critics who see it as being prone to being inaccurate. (Roulette is a game of chance, played with a revolving disk and a ball.) But over the years, the NFP methods have got more refined in their approach. This, contend its proponents, tend to make it more accurate. But there are different trends on this issue among Catholic public opinion. Valy and Anna Coelho, a Mumbai-returned couple with five children, are strongly committed to propagating the 'natural family planning methods. "We don't have statistics (as to how many practise this in Goa). This is something people don't talk about," says Valy Coelho. He adds: "But I think the Church in India has fallen in line with the government policy. It has forgotten the real Catholic Church's teaching that birth control used is limited to National Family Planning and, importantly, that this too is to be used only if there is a 'serious reason' for it." "(If anyone could use NFP so easily) they could argue that if they can use this, why not use other forms of family planning? After all, the end is the same, isn't it?" argues Anna Coelho. Such debates apart, the fact is the Church could be also helping young couples by offering at least some pre-marital understanding of sexuality. Given its traditional religious orientation, the Church perspective differs from the liberal, commercial or media-driven contemporary understanding of sexuality that dominates the mainstream global debate. But, having no teaching seems to be worse. In a study published this year, Gracy Andrew and psychiatrist Dr Vikram Patel of the Sangath, a group working on child development and family guidance, found that 'blue films' were a source of sex and sexuality-related information for more than half the boys studied. Over one-third girls, on the other hand, depended on their mothers a major source of information on this subject. (ENDS) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? 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