November 4, 2026

By Stephen Tartaglia
Diocesan Family Life Director

I would like to extend a profound thank you and congratulations to Angelo and Suzanne Pietropaoli, the recently retired directors of Natural Family Planning for the Diocese of Ogdensburg. Their ministry extends back for over 40 years, teaching, exhorting and mentoring couples to live chastely according to God’s plan for marriage and responsible parenting. Indeed, their ministry was not just limited to married couples, but rather, included audiences of seminarians, ordained clergy, religious men and women, catechetical leaders, teachers and anyone responsible for the preparation of engaged couples for marriage. At a time when the teaching of the Catholic Church regarding Natural Family Planning was often met with hostility due to society’s widespread acceptance of contraception, they continued steadfastly in their ministry.

The Pietropaolis made a presentation at Wadhams Hall in the mid 1990s when I was in attendance. Their presentation was life-changing for me and engendered in my heart a love not just for Natural Family Planning but for all Catholic teaching on marriage and family life. This love has remained with me and shaped my marriage and career for the past 25 years. Now, as their successors, my wife Christina and I have the opportunity to continue the ministry of sharing the good, true and beautiful teachings of the Church on marriage and family life.

The baton has been passed to us at a very curious time indeed. A time marked with low confidence in the permanence of marriage; increasing financial and economic pressures as young people struggle with soaring rent, home prices and student loan debt; and a reduced ability for youth to communicate in face-to-face, offline interactions, further hindering their efforts to enter into the type of relationships that lead to marriage.

But hinderances and hurdles don’t make marriage impossible. Men and women are still finding each other and getting married. I believe that the difficulties they face are helping couples to bond because they understand that they need one another and need God.

While we are certainly seeing fewer couples in Pre Cana, the marriage preparation program, the couples that are showing up are not just jumping through the hoops, so to speak. They are noticeably committed to the teachings of the Catholic Church and wanting to live their faith actively in and through their marriage. They correctly see their marriage as a way to grow closer to God and to lead other people closer to God, which is the purpose of every vocation.

Our efforts in the Family Life Office begin with helping men and women discern and build grace filled marriages and families. We understand that couples need support both before and after the marriage ceremony. The support that unmarried men and women need is mentoring in the dating and marriage preparation process. The support that newlywed couples need is mentoring from more experienced married couples. Both forms of mentoring depend on building a relationship with the couple. If you are interested in more information about mentoring or being mentored, please call the Family Life Office at 315-393-2920.

The Family Life Office and Natural Family Planning Offices are made possible by the Bishop’s Fund. Your donations to the Bishop’s Fund are so appreciated and critical for our ongoing ministry.