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Email: "Catholic Marriage Prep Highly Successful in Encouraging Abstinence, NFP: Survey"

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BY LifeSiteNews.com By Kathleen GilbertCOLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado, June 17, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholic couples who undergo marriage preparation based on the teachings of the Church are drastically more likely to agree to abstain until marriage and use Natural Family Planning (NFP), suggests a survey of Catholic couples participating in an online preparation course.While 90-95% of engaged Catholic couples are believed to be sexually active before marriage, 76% of couples who took the Catholic Marriage Prep Online course signed a pledge card to remain abstinent until marriage. 22% said they "want to discuss the matter further," while only 2% said they would not abstain. Also, 72% of couples said they would practice NFP, a natural method of spacing births, with 5% refusing outright. About 80% of all Catholic couples use artificial contraception, which is opposed to Church teaching."Couples who want the Truth and that are ready to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church are in the large majority," commented Catholic Marriage Preparation Inc. (CMP) regarding the survey results. "When the teachings of the Church are well explained ... and presented in a respectful, non-judgmental environment, couples are more inclined to accept them and cling to them as their own."CMP also notes that "the way instructors approach the couples is as important as the content of each class," saying that success depends on building trust between instructor and couple, sharing personal stories from married Catholic couples, and on meeting the couples "where they are" to achieve understanding.The group also suggests that the online course gives enough time for the couples "to ponder, process, and discuss the information received in the classes on their own, in the privacy of their homes which leads to deeper conversations than just a weekend retreat."To visit Catholic Marriage Prep Online, click here.  http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/catholic-marriage-prep-highly-successful-in-encouraging-abstinence-nfp-surv/

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