CDO archdiocese hopes replication of own NFP model

CDO archdiocese hopes replication of own NFP model
By Arjay S. Felicilda

The archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro is wishful that the model of church-government engagement along the responsible parenthood and natural family planning (RP/NFP) programs can be replicated in other areas.
This was expressed by Archbishop Antonio J. Ledesma, SJ in his message, which was read for him by Monsignor Elmer Abacahin, during the National Population and Development Assembly in Metro Manila, November 25 this year.
“Engagement does not mean ‘wholesale collaboration’. Rather engagement connotes a ‘critical distance’ from government agencies, while assisting and maintaining separate programs for NFP,” Ledesma pointed out.
In this manner, he said the church retains its identity, independence, and integrity particularly in values formation, which has also been propitiously accepted by government and non-government agencies.
Some volunteer workers of the church are also workers of the local government, facilitating the sharing of values principles.
“In the final analysis, the challenge is for both faith-based and government organization to reach out to as many more couples as possible that need to be served and to hear the good news that indeed RP is pro-life and pro-family and that the modern methods of NFP are valid, viable and vital for the nation’s well-being,” he further stated.
The archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro has been introducing and implementing the RP/NFP program for over three years now, parallel to the programs of the Commission on Population (POPCOM) and the Department of Health (DOH).
Ledesma disclosed that the archdiocese’s ALL-NFP team provided training manuals and initial and ongoing trainings to municipal health officers and barangay health workers “because this is one area where church and government are working together, albeit through separate programs, for the same goals of RP/NFP.”
These efforts, Ledesma noted, is being recognized by the local government units of the provinces of Misamis Oriental and Camiguin and the city of Cagayan de Oro, whose chief executives have issued decrees setting aside budgets for the promotion of RP/NFP in their respective areas of responsibility.
Thus, from the perspective of the local church, the entire territory of the archdiocese has now become ‘NFP Country’, Ledesma said.