For National NFP Awareness Week, The Catholic Morning Show welcomes Dr. Gregory McKernan of Vitae Family Health Care in West Des Moines to explain why natural family planning is about restoring fertility and health, not simply avoiding pregnancy. Anne Marie Cox of the Diocese of Des Moines then joins to celebrate four local winners at the 2026 Catholic Media Awards, including Bishop William M. Joensen's first-place Bishop's Column in The Catholic Mirror. Together, the two conversations spotlight how Iowa Catholics are living out both family life and Catholic media with intention this week.
NFP Awareness Week with Dr. Gregory McKernan National Natural Family Planning Awareness Week runs July 19–25, 2026, timed each year to the anniversary of Pope St. Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25, 1968). This year's USCCB theme, "Natural Family Planning: Designed by God. Guided by Love. Open to Life," lines up with Pope Leo XIV's July prayer intention for the respect and protection of human life. Dr. Gregory McKernan, a family medicine physician at Vitae Family Health Care in West Des Moines, explains why NFP isn't "Catholic birth control" — it's about restoring a couple's natural fertility and health using tools like the Creighton Model FertilityCare System and NaPro Technology.
Local Winners at the 2026 Catholic Media Awards Anne Marie Cox of the Diocese of Des Moines stops by to celebrate four Catholic Mirror contributors honored at the 2026 Catholic Media Awards, presented by the Catholic Media Association at its June conference in Atlantic City:
Cox also shares how the Catholic Mirror's move from a newspaper to a bimonthly magazine is changing how Catholic news reaches central and southwest Iowa.
Listen Live The Catholic Morning Show airs weekdays at 7 a.m. Central on the Catholic Radio Network. Stream anytime at IowaCatholicRadio.com or on the Iowa Catholic Radio app.
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