Fr. Matthew Habiger OSB - NFP Outreach - Natural Family Planning

Fr. Matthew Habiger OSB was ordained in 1968. He has held a variety of positions in the service of the Church. His first assignment was to a large parish in Burlington, Iowa where for four years he experienced the many challenges made upon a parish priest. His next assignment was four years as Newman chaplain for the University of Kansas. Here he discovered the need of the Church to address the intellectual life. During the summers of these eight years he acquired a masters degree in catechetics and a masters degree in academic theology.

In 1976 he was assigned to teach theology at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas and to be the college chaplain. This familiarized him with the problems and challenges of higher Catholic education. Between 1980 and 1985 he earned a doctorate in moral theology at the Catholic University of America and taught theology while serving as college chaplain at Benedictine College.
In 1990 he began a ten-year tour of duty proclaiming the Gospel of Life throughout the world, as a member of Human Life International, where he eventually served as President and Chairman of the Board. He has done two series for EWTN, on Catholic Social Teaching and on the 25th anniversary of Humanae Vitae, and has been a guest on various EWTN shows. He has lectured extensively throughout the world in 55 countries to a wide variety of audiences on the life issues, and has first hand experience of the problems confronting the culture of life.

Since 2003 he has become a fulltime member of NFP Outreach team of priests. Now his focus is primarily upon promoting God's Plan for Marriage Spousal Love, which includes counter acting the contraceptive and sterilization culture." He does this through parish missions, NFP parish weekends, and Theology of the Body seminars.

He writes a weekly column for Catholic newspapers called NFP Q&As. 30 newspapers throughout the country currently carry this column. Back columns are posted on this website.

He is a guest on Catholic radio shows, including EWTN and Catholic Answers. Discussing various aspects of spousal love and NFP with radio hosts like Teresa Tomeo of Ave Maria Radio of Ann Arbor, MI, is a good way to popularize recent developments, and insights from publications and journals.

He makes Promotional Tours for NFP in dioceses, visiting bishops, family life directors, NFP coordinators and teachers of NFP. These promotional tours take him across the entire USA.

Perhaps the most important project is Clergy Conferences on the theme: “How to Preach God’s Plan for Marriage, Spousal Love and Family from the Pulpit.” In 2006 NFP Outreach provided seven clergy conferences in these dioceses: Toledo, OH; Gary, IN; Kansas City, MO; Lubbock, TX; Laredo, TX; Amarillo, TX and a CCL conference in Lexington, KY.
Reactivating the pulpit is crucial for retrieving strong marriages and healthy, happy families.

As of April 07, he has worked for EWTN’s Q & A program “Ask the Experts” on NFP. This is a good opportunity to answer peoples’ questions, and allows us to draw them further into the rich mystery of spousal love.

Recent Articles: OPEN LETTER TO BIOLOGY DEPARTMENTS AT CATHOLIC COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES - - Fr. Matthew Habiger