Office of Family Life

Office Description:
The Office of Family Life helps the faithful of the Diocese of New Ulm to know, love, and serve God by promoting marriage and family life according to the teachings of the Catholic Church and by a diocesan-wide educational approach to Natural Family Planning (NFP), the Theology of the Body, chastity education, and ethics and morality.

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Diocesan Marriage Preparation Program

The Marriage Preparation Program is a full-day Saturday program conducted with the help of married couples, at the Education Center of St. Aloysius Church in Olivia. It is designed specifically for engaged couples and is an opportunity for them to explore and strengthen their relationship. The program complements preparation efforts at the parish level and addresses key aspects of married life: commitment and sacramental marriage, communication—including intimacy and sexuality issues, conflict—including gender/personality issues and addictions, children—including natural family planning and parenting, career—including financial planning and work/leisure issues, and church—including interchurch, interfaith, and spirituality issues.

2013 Marriage Preparation Program Dates:

September 7

Marriage Preparation Registration Form

For further information contact: Catholic Pastoral Center, Family Life Office, 1400 6th St. N., New Ulm, MN 56073; (507) 359-2966.

Remarriage Preparation

The Remarriage Preparation Program is designed for couples in these situations: one or both are divorced and the annulment process has been completed; one or both are widowed or already in a second marriage and desire to have their marriage validated in the Church. In addition to topics covered in the regular marriage preparation program, the remarriage preparation program considers topics such as step-parenting and blending families, relating with a partner's former spouse and in-laws, and grieving issues related to divorce or death of a former spouse. The program is conducted at St. John's Church in Hector.

2013 Remarriage Preparation Program Dates:

August 24

Remarriage Preparation Registration Form

For further information contact: Catholic Pastoral Center, Family Life Office, 1400 6th St. N., New Ulm, MN 56073; (507) 359-2966.

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Natural Family Planning

List of NFP physicians, practitioners, and trainers in the Diocese of New Ulm.

Natural Family Planning, or NFP, is an umbrella term for methods that allow a couple to achieve or avoid a pregnancy by monitoring the wife's fertility.

There are many different programs that provide methods of NFP. Each program teaches either the ovulation method or the sympto-thermal method. Each is a safe, natural, and reliable way of timing pregnancy.

In the Diocese of New Ulm, both NFP methods are being taught with three programs represented: FertilityCare (ovulation), NFP International (sympto-thermal), and Couple to Couple League (sympto-thermal).

For a list of NFP physicians, practitioners, and trainers in the Diocese of New Ulm, click here.

For more information on what NFP is, check out the July 2012 issue of "The Prairie Catholic," page 10.

For more information on NFP and the programs in the diocese, contact Sr. Candace Fier, 507-359-2966.

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Other Programs

Marriage Encounter

A program for married couples who want to strengthen their marriage. For more information about program dates in Minnesota and the Dakotas, visit www.wwmesection8.org/cgi-bin/wwme-eekends.cgi

or call 507-644-3523 for regional opportunities.

Retrouvaille
A program for couples considering separation or divorce. To find a Retrouvaille Program in your area, visit

www.retrouvaille.org/dates/php or call 1-800-470-2230.

Resources

List of resources