(AP) — The bishop of the Lincoln Catholic Diocese has issued a letter reminding the diocese’s nearly 98,000 members that the church stance has not changed over the millennia: The use of contraceptives is forbidden.

Bishop James Conley said he chose to issue the letter during Lent because of its theme of love and sacrifice being the language of love.

Conley told the newspaper that “we really live in a wounded world when it comes to the family.”

In his letter issued Tuesday, Conley says marriage was created “to be unifying and procreative” and that the church “has always taught that rejecting the gift of children erodes the love between husband and wife.”