On December 6, 2025, the 9th Conference of the Polish Association of Natural Family Planning Educators was held in Warsaw, Poland, in cooperation with MaterCare Poland – the Polish branch of MaterCare International, an international association bringing together Catholic healthcare professionals dedicated to caring for mothers and children.
This conference marked the 35th anniversary of the Polish Association of Natural Family Planning Educators and the 10th anniversary of MaterCare Poland. Both organizations for years have been promoting natural family planning, and this year’s conference was dedicated to the prevention of procreative health disorders (a term preferred by the main organizer rather than “reproductive health,” as the beginning of human life involves procreation, not merely reproduction), focusing primarily on preventing infertility, which negatively affects demographic trends in Poland and worldwide.
The conference was held in the Hall of St. John Paul II at the headquarters of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, named after the Warsaw archbishop and Primate of Poland, Blessed Stefan Wyszyński (1901–1981), a victim of the communist regime.
The conference was conceived as an interdisciplinary gathering of experts – gynecologists, obstetricians, pediatricians, endocrinologists, immunologists, psychiatrists, midwives, nurses, and others – presenting key opportunities for action by different institutions and associations that, with the help of natural methods, contribute to improving procreative health and preventing and treating infertility.
The introductory presentations emphasized the need for care for procreative health from the very beginning of life, the importance of preconception and prenatal, and later postnatal, care for mother and child. Part of the conference was dedicated to youth health: how to prevent conditions and diseases in young people that may later negatively affect fertility, how to raise young people in a healthy way, what should be avoided, when to undertake diagnostics and treatment, and what challenges medical professionals and natural family planning educators face in an integrated approach to caring for young people’s procreative health.
The conference also had an international dimension. Invited speakers included Dr. Anna Stępniewska (Verona, Italy), who lectured on the prevention and treatment of endometriosis as a possible cause of infertility, and Prof. Rok Čivljak (Zagreb, Croatia), President of the Croatian Catholic Medical Association (CroCMA) and the European Federation of Catholic Medical Associations (FEAMC). Professor Čivljak, within the panel “Selected Health Problems of Adolescents and Their Impact on Future Procreative Health,” gave a lecture titled “Navigating the Path of Parenthood in Young Adults: Understanding the Fertility, Timing, and Social Implications of the Demographic Crash.” In his lecture, he emphasized a negative demographic trend in Europe and worldwide, presented common medical causes of infertility, and the importance of choosing the optimal time for parenthood, since part of the increasing infertility problem stems from delaying marriage and parenthood from one’s twenties to one’s thirties and forties, which significantly reduces the likelihood of natural conception. He also presented demographic data for Croatia and the long-standing contribution of the CroCMA in raising awareness of demographic problems through numerous lectures, symposia, and round tables involving CroCMA members throughout Croatia.
The conference also included several noteworthy panels, among them “Home, Family, and School – Their Importance for Proper Growth and Maturity of Future Parenthood” and a workshop presentation titled “Mother to Daughter, Woman to Woman,” illustrating the successful transmission of knowledge about parenthood from mothers to daughters.
The conference concluded with the panel discussion “The Role of Doctors, Midwives, and Natural Family Planning Educators in Caring for the Procreative Health of Young People,” summarizing the key messages of the speakers. The FEAMC President concluded with thanking the organizers for the invitation, congratulated them on an excellent event that gathered almoust 200 participants, and emphasized the importance of properly informing and educating young people about fertility and parenthood so that they do not later face infertility issues in adulthood, especially due to delaying or abandoning marriage and parenthood.
On the second day of the Conference, the General Assembly of the Polish Association of Natural Family Planning Educators was held, and the conference participants gathered once again in the university chapel for Mass celebrated by Msgr. Romuald Kamiński, Bishop of the Warsaw-Praga Diocese and Chairman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference Committee for Pastoral Care of Healthcare Workers. After the Mass, Professor Čivljak, on behalf of CroCMA and FEAMC, thanked all the gracious hosts for their invitation and exceptional hospitality, especially Bishop Romuald Kamiński, the conference president and organizer Dr. Ewa Ślizień Kuczapska, MaterCare International Board member and Vice-President of the Polish Catholic Medical Society Prof. Bogdan Chazan, FEAMC Vice-President Prof. Dariusz Gąsecki, and President of MaterCare Poland Dr. Radosław Maksym.
Professor Čivljak was accompanied at the Conference by CroCMA Secretary General Andrea Koščec, MPharm. Before returning to Croatia, the hosts took the guests on a short tour of Warsaw’s Old Town, showing them some of the most historically significant Polish institutions and landmarks: the Royal Castle (Zamek Królewski), St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Bazylika św. Jana Chrzciciela), Sigismund’s Column (Kolumna króla Zygmunta III Wazy), the Old Town Market Square (Rynek), and the famous Royal Route (Krakowskie Przedmieście), home to the Presidential Palace, the University of Warsaw campus, the renowned St. Anne’s Academic Church, and the Holy Cross Church, where the heart of the famous composer Frédéric Chopin is interred. In front of this church stands the famous undefeated Warsaw statue of Christ with the Cross, bearing the inscription that still proclaims “Sursum corda – Lift up your hearts!” A message that, even in the darkest moments of Poland’s difficult history, encouraged Poles not to lose heart on their “Way of the Cross,” trusting in the heavenly Father. This message came to the forefront of global attention through Pope John Paul II and his historic homily delivered at Solemn Mass on June 2, 1979, in Warsaw’s Victory Square during his first visit to Poland after being elected as Pope. The Pope said: “It is impossible to understand the Polish nation without Christ… It is impossible to understand this city, Warsaw, the capital of Poland, which in 1944 engaged in an unequal struggle against the aggressor, a fight in which it was abandoned by the Allies, a battle after which the city was left buried in its own ruins – without remembering that among those same ruins stood the statue of Christ the Savior with His Cross in front of the church on Krakowskie Przedmieście Street. It is impossible to understand the history of Poland from St. Stanislaus to Maximilian Kolbe in the Auschwitz concentration camp unless this long period is evaluated according to the fundamental criterion that bears the name of Jesus Christ.” This homily resonated throughout the world and, in the opinion of many, the Pope’s visit to Poland initiated the unraveling of the Communist regime in Central and Eastern Europe.
Of course, the tour of the city had to include music – a piano concert at the Frédéric Chopin Concert Hall, where renowned Chopin works were performed by the talented Ukrainian pianist Ksenia Ahisheva.
It was a pleasant, fruitful, and memorable gathering in Warsaw with dear colleagues from Poland!
Rok Čivljak
President of FEAMC and HKLD
