Coraggio

Coraggio met Oct. 10 at Holy Trinity Parish for its monthly meeting. Deacon Charlie Koressel led a Holy Hour that included the day’s Gospel reading, a homily from Deacon Koressel and recitation of the rosary.

After the Holy Hour, the group listened to a presentation from Terri Zilliak and Lori Spindler about Natural Family Planning. Zilliak and Spindler began teaching NFP to couples 10 years ago and promote the Creighton model of NFP, which they call the most accurate method of NFP. “We like teaching the method,” Spindler said.

For Spindler, the introduction to NFP came several years into her marriage when she and her husband determined they needed help in spacing out pregnancies. “It’s a natural way to plan your family,” she told the group. “It’s an easy method to learn.” She also noted that one of the major benefits of using NFP is that it helps to promote communication in a marriage.

Spindler gave a basic summary of the Creighton model of NFP. “This method’s very accurate,” she told the group, adding that the Creighton NFP method is 99.5% effective, and can be used to either avoid or achieve pregnancy depending on the couple’s circumstances.

Spindler and Zilliak also noted that, in addition to going against Church teaching, artificial birth control remains less effective than NFP. Pregnancy can still occur when using birth control pills. Furthermore, if an egg becomes fertilized when a woman uses the pill, it can prevent the egg from implanting, which the Catholic Church considers a very early abortion. Zilliak explained that, although many people want to ignore the Church regarding these matters, the Church still knows what should be done. “They know what they’re talking about,” she said. Spindler added that the divorce rate for couples who use NFP tends to range between one and three percent.

Coraggio usually meets the second Friday of each month at Holy Trinity Parish. It is open to Catholics ages 18-35 in the Evansville area. The next meeting is on Nov. 21 and will feature Fr. Jason Gries as the speaker. For more information, email coraggioevansville@gmail.com or visit the group’s Facebook page at facebook.com/coraggioevansville