About the Institute

The Pope Paul VI Institute is the only Catholic Institution of its type in the United States and perhaps the world that has dedicated its services to the development of morally and professionally acceptable reproductive health services. The Institute is nationally and internationally recognized for its major accomplishements, including the Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System (CrMS), the official language of a woman's health and fertility and the new women's health science, NaProTECHNOLOGY.

The Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction was built in 1985 as a direct response to the appeal by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical letter, Humanae Vitae, issued in July 1968. This encyclical addressed Church teaching in the areas of married love and fertility regulation. This was based on a theology of marriage and the family and on an understanding of the human and spiritual dimensions of conjugal love. It was based on the fundamental principle that love and life should never be separated.

Pope Paul VI called "men of science" and "physicians and health care professionals" to "persevere, therefore, in promoting on every occasion the discovery of solutions inspired by faith and right reason..." He recognized the imbalance between theological teachings and the availability of reliable and morally acceptable methods of family planning. Scientific advances in the natural means for the regulation of human fertility were needed if couples were to live out these teachings with success and joy.

Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers responded to this call. He began research in December 1968 as a medical student. After residency, he established research centers at St. Louis University and Creighton University Schools of Medicine. To carry on this research, he and his wife Sue founded the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction, a decision they made on the day of Pope Paul VI's death, August 6, 1978. The Institute opened on September 1, 1985. At the Pope Paul VI Institute, a segment of America's medical community has answered the challenge of Humanae Vitae.

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Current Reproductive Medicine
Real Problems...Unreal Solutions

The artificial reproductive technologies were introduced with the birth control pill in 1960. Dissension and silence within the Church led to confusion amongst Catholics. Medical and family planning needs were real. With the immediate distribution of the birth control pill, it did not take long for universal application and acceptance. Today, little difference exists between Catholic and non-Catholic couples' use of contraception.

The last 45 years of artificial reproductive technology represents fertility control in the areas of family planning and reproductive health. It employs contraception, sterilization, abortion, and in vitro fertilization (abortive). Artificial reproductive technologies are now considered the only option for the couples with reproductive and gynecological health problems and concerns. Reproductive medicine has moved from birth control pills (BCP) for family planning to "designer" birth control pills for management of gynecological and reproductive problems. As a result, physicians have stopped looking for the causes of the conditions and treatment is aimed only at the treatment of the symptoms.

Oral contraceptives, which are potentially abortifacient, provide only symptomatic treatment when prescribed for women's health problems and they do not affect the underlying causes. The birth control pill is used to "treat" menstrual cramps, recurrent ovarian cysts, abnormal bleeding, premenstrual syndrome, acne, irregular cycles, and endometriosis. Abortion is used to "treat" high-risk pregnancies. In vitro fertilization is used to "treat" infertility and recurrent miscarriages. These unreal solutions to real problems are all abortive approaches.

In 1987, the Church document Donum Vitae ("The Gift of Life"), was released. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) addressed the Church's response to the artificial reproductive technologies used for the treatment of infertility. The Institute's efforts were already moving in the direction of addressing these reproductive issues.

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Pope Paul VI Institute:
Real Solutions to Real Problems

The Institute networked a natural system of fertility regulation with a women's health science using the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare™ System (CrMS) and NaProTechnology. These provide effective, morally acceptable and sexually healthy options for women and couples.

The CrMS and NaProTECHNOLOGY enable couples to connect or reconnect love and life in the area of fertility regulation and in reproductive and gynecological health.

Thirty years of unwavering commitment and dedication to sound research has had the following results:

Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System
An effective, published, and complete system of natural fertility regulation. Couples can use it either to achieve or to avoid pregnancy. The system's standardized charting provides an excellent health record for women to know and understand their procreative and gynecologic health.

NaProTECHNOLOGY
The medical breakthrough of NaProTECHNOLOGY (natural procreative technology) is a women's health science that is an effective alternative to artifical reproductive technology (ART). NaProTECHNOLOGY presents for the first time a thorough understanding of normal and abnormal menstrual cycles. This emerging science provides treatments that are completely cooperative with the menstrual and fertility cycles bringing relief to women and couples.

The Medical & Surgical Practice of NaProTECHNOLOGY
In the summer of 2004, a major medical textbook, The Medical & Surgical Practice of NaProTECHNOLOGY, authored by Dr. Hilgers, was published. This textbook is a compilation of almost 30 years of dedicated research and provides a strong professional case for doctors and medical schools.

Enter www.naprotechnology.com

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Pope Paul VI Institute:
Dedicated to Building a Culture of Life

The Pope Paul VI Institute is dedicated to building a culture of life by confronting the culture of death:

• By confronting the contraceptive mentality, which is the gateway to abortion.
• By confronting artificial reproductive technologies that suppress, distort, and alter women's fertility; that negatively impact marriages and families; and that lead to the "new abortion."
• By confronting moral erosion.
• By confronting Planned Parenthood's agenda.

Through 30 years of research, education and service, the Institute has field tested the teachings of the Church and bridged the gap between the Church teachings and their successful application:

EFFECT ON COUPLES

• Gratefully receive medical intervention from medical providers that is effective and value based without sacrificing religious beliefs.
• Experience an effective natural means for the regulation of birth.
• Can practically live out an integrated vision of human sexuality (SPICE).
• Learn how to live with their fertility and recognize it as a gift from God and that children are the supreme gift of marriage.
• Reconnect love and life - the unitive and procreative aspects of their marriage.
• Reconnect with the Church causing their faith to deepen.

EFFECT ON MEDICAL PROFESSION

• Find their faith, once again, while practicing medicine without compromising their religious beliefs.
• Gain confidence in providing an effective medical alternative for their patients through moral and effective Catholic reproductive health services.
• Receive a legitimate alternative to medically accepted artificial reproductive technologies in medical schools and hospitals.

EFFECT ON CLERGY

• Understand and proclaim the teachings of the Church within their ministries in the areas of sexuality and medicine in the context of these new medical advances.

Reconnecting love and life is not only essential but is possible and within reach! The Institute assists priests and the Church in their ministry to promote the Culture of Life in Women's healthcare.

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Mission Statement

The Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction is a multi-faceted organization which dedicates its programs of research, education, ethics, and service to building strong marriages and healthy families. As the Institute pursues the development of a morally and professionally acceptable reproductive health service, it is committed to the development of a culture of life based on responsible parenthood, responsible fertility regulation, and ethical means for the treatment of infertility and related reproductive disorders. Taking its direction from the wisdom of the Roman Catholic tradition, the Pope Paul VI Institute has been built on the rock of faith, continues to take its strength from that faith, and looks forward to serving God's people into the third millennium by the light of that faith.

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Thomas W. Hilgers, MD:
Discoverer of NaProTechnology and Founder of the Pope Paul VI Institute

Dr. Hilgers first research in the natural means to regulate fertility was conducted in 1968 as a senior medical student. After completing his residency at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine and the Medical College of Ohio at Toledo, Dr. Hilgers became a geographic full-time member of the faculty in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Louis University School of Medicine. He established the St. Louis University Natural Family Planning Center, a research center funded by research grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Missouri Division of Health. This work was brought to the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Creighton University School of Medicine in July 1977 with the establishment of the Creighton University Natural Family Planning Education and Research Center. During this time, Hilgers and his co-workers developed the CREIGHTON MODEL FertilityCare™ System.

Dr. Hilgers is a clinical professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Creighton University School of Medicine. He is also a diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (1976) and the American Board of Laser Surgery (1988). He is the only member in the State of Nebraska of the prestigious Society of Reproductive Surgeons.

Thomas W. Hilgers, M.D., is the director of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska. He is currently a senior medical consultant in obstetrics, gynecology, reproductive medicine and surgery at the Pope Paul VI Institute and is the director of the Institute's National Center for Women's Health. He currently serves as the medical director of the Pope Paul VI Institute's dedicated Reproductive Ultrasound Center, which is nationally accredited by the Ultrasound Practice Accreditation Commission of the American Institute for Ultrasound in Medicine. He is also the medical director of the Institute's National Reproductive Hormone Laboratory, which is a dedicated reference laboratory for reproductive hormone studies. John Vasiliades, PhD, serves as technical director of that laboratory, which is fully licensed for interstate commerce.

Through the leadership of Dr. Hilgers, the education programs of the Pope Paul VI Institute have become both national and international in scope. Over 1,000 teachers of the CREIGHTON MODEL System and 300 physicians have been trained. Now, several off-campus Creighton Model education programs have also been developed.

Dr. Hilgers, who has been involved in education and research throughout his professional life, has authored several books and numerous research articles, mostly in the areas of reproductive medicine and surgery. He is the author of nearly 110 professional books, book chapters, and articles. He has also produced eleven videotapes, numerous audiotapes, and presented seven different poster sessions at professional meetings.

In addition, he is the recipient of five different research awards including an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Assumption College, Worcester, Massachusetts and an honorary doctorate of Public Health from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. In 1994, Pope John Paul II appointed him to full membership in the Pontifical Academy for Life and with his wife, Susan he served for five years on the Pontifical Council for the Family. In 1997, the Nebraska Family Council named Dr. Hilgers Physician of the Year. In 2001, he was presented with the John Cardinal Wright Award by the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars and in 2004 he was the recipient of the Linacre Award, one of the highest awards given by the Catholic Medical Association. The Hilgers are the parents of four sons and one daughter.

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Organization Reviews

A list of professional organizations that have participated in the independent and voluntary review of the work being conducted by Thomas W. Hilgers, M.D., and the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction:

1. American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (certification by training, written and oral examination)
2. American Board of Laser Surgery (a review of 25 cases plus an eight hour written examination)
3. Society of Reproductive Surgeons (an 18 month case load review)
4. Creighton University School of Medicine Division of Continuing Medical Education (all CME offerings of the Pope Paul VI Institute)
5. American Academy of Family Physicians (CME review)
6. American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (CME review)
7. American Medical Association (CME review)
8. Ultrasound Practice Accreditation Commission of the American Institute for Ultrasound in Medicine (clinical case review and accreditation of the Institute's dedicated ultrasound division)
9. Nebraska Health and Human Services System (review of Pope Paul VI Institute's National Hormone Laboratory)
10. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Care Financing Administration for the Pope Paul VI Institute's National Hormone Laboratory CLIA certification for Interstate Commerce
11. College of American Pathologists (laboratory quality control)
12. Inter-laboratory Comparison Program from Bio-Rad Laboratories
13. Pope Paul VI Institute FertilityCare™ Allied Health Education Program (reviewed and accredited by American Academy of FertilityCare™ Professionals; program meets standards of the Academy, which are the highest in this field)
14. FertilityCare™ Center of Omaha (formal approval from the American Academy of FertilityCare™ Professionals Commission on Service Program Approval)
15. FertilityCare™ Center of Omaha (official affiliate of the FertilityCare™ Centers of America)

In addition to the above, the following formal affiliations exist with the Pope Paul VI Institute:

1. Creighton University
2. University of Nebraska Medical Center (currently inactive)
3. Methodist College of Nursing - Ultrasound Department.

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Chapel of the Holy Family

The scientific work of the Institute is integrated with its foundational spiritual dimensions. The Chapel of the Holy Family is located on the third floor of the Pope Paul VI Institute. The Chapel provides clients, patients, families, and staff a place of prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.

Antepedia (designed and created by Sister Renée Mirkes, director of Center for NaProEthics) in the Chapel illustrate a verse from the Gospel of St. John, 1:14, "In the beginning was the Word...the Word was made Flesh...and made His dwelling among us."

The Chapel is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. for personal prayer. Mass is celebrated on Mondays at 8:30 a.m. and on the first and third Fridays of the month at 8:30 a.m. Eucharistic Adoration is scheduled for one hour on Thursdays.

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The Rev. Marc Calegari, SJ, Memorial Library and Conference Room

The Institute's conference room also houses the Fr. Marc Calegari library, one of the largest and finest collections of resources and documents on the natural regulation of human fertility and other related materials (only part of it is housed here).

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Documents

NaProTechnology and the Theology of the Body (Hilgers, June 18, 2001) Audience with Holy Father.
To Catholic Doctors: Be Pro-Life, Not Manipulators of Life (Pope John Paul II, June 18, 2001).

"Casti Connubi" (Pope Pius XI).

Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI, July 25, 1968) Vatican | Daughters of St. Paul | Dr. Janet Smith.

• Paragraph 24: To Men of Science
  We wish now to express our encouragement to men of science, who "can considerably advance the welfare of marriage and the family, along with peace of conscience, if by pooling their efforts they labor to explain more thoroughly the various conditions favoring a proper regulation of births." It is particularly desirable that, according to the wish already expressed by Pope Pius XII, medical science succeed in providing a sufficiently secure basis for a regulation of birth, founded on the observance of natural rhythms. In this way, scientists and especially Catholic scientists will contribute to demonstrate in actual fact that, as the Church teaches, "a true contradiction cannot exist between the divine laws pertaining to the transmission of life and those pertaining to the fostering of authentic conjugal love."

• Paragraph 27: To Doctors and Medical Personnel
  We hold those physicians and medical personnel in the highest esteem who, in the exercise of their profession, value above every human interest the superior demands of their Christian vocation. Let them persevere, therefore, in promoting on every occasion the discovery of solutions inspired by faith and right reason, let them strive to arouse this conviction and this respect in their associates. Let them also consider as their proper professional duty the task of acquiring all of the knowledge needed in this delicate sector, so as to be able to give to those married persons who consult them wise counsel and healthy direction, such as they have a right to expect.

Donum Vitae (Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, March 10, 1987).

• Paragraph III: Anthropology and Procedures in the Biomedical Field
  The natural moral law expresses and lays down the purposes, rights and duties which are based upon the bodily and spiritual nature of the human person. Therefore, this law cannot be thought of as simply a set of norms on the biological level; rather it must be defined as the rationale order whereby man is called by the Creator to direct and regulate his life and actions and in particular make use of his own body.
  
  Applied biology and medicine work together for the integral good of human life when they come to the aid of a person stricken by illness and infirmity and when they respect his or her dignity as a creature of God. No biologist or doctor can reasonably claim, by virtue of his scientific competence, to be able to decide on people's origin and destiny. This norm must be applied in a particular way in the field of sexuality and procreation, in which man and woman actualizes the fundamental views of love and life.
  
  God, who is love and life, has inscribed in man and woman the vocation to share in a special way in His mystery of personal communion and in His work as Creator and Father. For this reason, marriage possesses specific goods and values in its union and in procreation which cannot be likened to those existing in lower forms of life. Such values and meanings are of the personal order and determine from the moral point of view the meaning and limits of artificial interventions on procreation and on the origin of human life. These interventions are not to be rejected on the grounds that they are artificial. As such, they bear witness to the possibilities of the art of medicine. But they must be given a moral evaluation in reference to the dignity of the human person, who is called to realize his vocation from God to the gift of love and the gift of life.

• Paragraph IIB, VIII: The Suffering Caused by Infertility in Marriage
  Many researchers are engaged in the fight against sterility. While fully safeguarding the dignity of human procreation, some have achieved results which previously seemed unattainable. Scientists therefore are to be encouraged to continue the research with the aim of preventing the causes of sterility and of being able to remedy them so that sterile couples will be able to procreate in full respect for their own personal dignity and that of the child to be born.

Evangelium Vitae (Pope John Paul II, March 25, 1995).

• Paragraph 88: For a New Culture of Human Life
  Many are the means towards this end which need to be developed with skill and serious commitment. At the first stage of life, centres for natural methods of regulating fertility should be promoted as a valuable help to responsible parenthood, in which all individuals, and in the first place the child, are recognized and respected in their own right, and where every decision is guided by the ideal of the sincere gift of self.

• Paragraph 89: For a New Culture of Human Life
  A unique responsibility belongs to health care personnel: doctors, pharmacists, nurses, chaplains, men and women religious, administrators and volunteers. Their profession calls for them to be guardians and servants of human life. In today's cultural and social context, in which science and the practice of medicine risk losing sight of their inherent ethical dimension, health care professionals can be strongly tempted at times to become manipulators of life, or even agents of death. In the fact of this temptation their responsibility today is greatly increased. Its deepest inspiration and strongest support lie in the intrinsic and undeniable ethical dimension of the health care profession, something already recognized by the ancient and still relevant Hippocratic Oath which requires every doctor to commit himself to absolute respect for human life and its sacredness.

• Paragraph 89: For a New Culture of Human Life
  Agencies and centres of service to life, and all other initiatives of support and solidarity which circumstances may from time to time suggest, need to be directed by people who are generous in their involvement and fully aware of the importance of the Gospel of life for the good of individuals and society.

• Paragraph 97: For a New Culture of Human Life
  The work of educating in the service of life involves the training of married couples in responsible procreation. In its true meaning, responsible procreation requires couples to be obedient to the Lord's call and to act as faithful interpreters of His plan. This happens when the family is generously open to new lives, and when couples maintain an attitude of openness and service to life, even if, for serious reasons and respect for the moral law, they choose to avoid a new birth for the time being or indefinitely. The moral law obliges them in every case to control the impulse of instinct and passion, and to respect the biological laws inscribed in their person. It is precisely this respect that makes legitimate, at the service of responsible procreation, the use of natural methods of regulating fertility. From the scientific point of view, these methods are becoming more and more accurate and make it possible in practice to make choices in harmony with moral values. An honest appraisal of their effectiveness should dispel certain prejudices which are still widely held, and should convince married couples, as well as health care and social workers, of the importance of proper training in this area. The Church is grateful to those who, with personal sacrifice and often unacknowledged dedication, devote themselves to the study and spread of these methods, as well as to the promotion of education and the moral values which they presuppose.

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