Doesnt this just further divide the parish? How are these children ever supppsed to meet and go through this process together? Im sorry but i agree completely with the previous poster and am happy about this rule change
Doesnt this just further divide the parish? How are these children ever supppsed to meet and go through this process together? Im sorry but i agree completely with the previous poster and am happy about this rule change
How is this different than students in a diocesan school also not participating in parish-based religious Ed? Same sword cutting the opposite direction. Together
ought mean actually together. Otherwise it is skirting punitive action against particular groups.
Catholic school families are the preferred group. They're - on average - everything the bishop is hoping for. They tend have lots of money - at least as a group. They go along with the Catholic mainstream (whether good or bad). They fund one of the bishop's priorities - schools. Catholic schools are like a feather in the bishop's cap so he can show something he's in charge is important in the context of his territory.
Homeschoolers are something different. They're seen as creating a parallel structure to the bishop's priorities. They tend to be more traditional. They have no problem bucking mainstream trends - Catholic or otherwise. This makes them unruly for better or worse. They also tend to have less money as a group.
So when the Catholic school parents come to the bishop and ask him if they can do catechesis and sacrament prep in the context of their Catholic school education (which makes perfect sense), the bishop is more likely to be sympathetic. When the homeschoolers come and ask the same, they're more often seen as rebels who don't want to be part of the community.
None of this says there aren't many great families in Catholic schools - there are! Nor does it mean there aren't problems in homeschool communities (believe me - there are). But it's just the way the Catholic world works right now. There are in groups and out groups in our time of "synodality"
Why does the requirement that all children must go through the parish CCD program necessitate the banning of homeschooling families (presumably parishioners) from using any parish facilities to meet up?
Yes. I think this is part and parcel with a lot of what I see in my own diocese- the requirement stays at the lowest common denominator, and those families and parishioners who are faithful and practicing bear the brunt of the requirements and structures- e.g. mandatory baptism classes even if this is your 3rd, 4th, 5th child and the family is active and engaged at the parish, and raising their kids in the faith.
The article made me cringe just a tad bit. I don't like it when our Church gets controlling of families. But I did want to reply to your comment on CCD being a place for children to meet eachother. Yes, that is a fundamental part of theological education. Theology is "reality" and in that sense it is also a "lived experience" ...the more Christians get to know one another and their experiences in the world, the closer we grow to a deeper conversion and understanding of theology. It needs to start at a young age.
In my parish, the public, private, and homeschool kids meet each other after Mass and run around in the woods with sticks (or wander around and talk to each other, or take over picnic tables and eat together). I don't think they're missing out on that part. I suspect that kids that only see each other in CCD classes are, since they're in class, not socializing.
You simply can't teach all of life in an hour a week - and you're not supposed to. You're supposed to teach catechism for an hour a week and let them learn the rest of life by doing life.
My children are homeschooled and play for a long time after mass with the children they just finished worshipping with. They certainly have a community. When we are leaving Mass, we see the faith formation kiddos being dropped off by their parents to go into class while the parents donтАЩt attend the mass before class or the one going on during their childтАЩs class. How is that group of people their community if they arenтАЩt worshipping with them?
If the classes were equally good, it would not be divisive. There's nothing stopping the kids from socializing together after Mass or in other activities, and discussing the Faith at the same level - if they were actually getting it at the same level. They probably aren't. Parish catechesis has been dreadful for decades. Homeschool catechesis is typically substantially better. There's a reason priests are coming from homeschool families at a disproportionate rate.
There isn't an advantage for an adult to go through a bad or mediocre class teaching things he already knows just because there are other people around when he does it. It isn't an advantage for the other students either, because they learn by getting taught at their level, not by osmosis. We recognize this, and don't put college students in remedial English for fellowship's sake. There isn't an advantage for kids either.
Doesnt this just further divide the parish? How are these children ever supppsed to meet and go through this process together? Im sorry but i agree completely with the previous poster and am happy about this rule change
How is this different than students in a diocesan school also not participating in parish-based religious Ed? Same sword cutting the opposite direction. Together
ought mean actually together. Otherwise it is skirting punitive action against particular groups.
Catholic school families are the preferred group. They're - on average - everything the bishop is hoping for. They tend have lots of money - at least as a group. They go along with the Catholic mainstream (whether good or bad). They fund one of the bishop's priorities - schools. Catholic schools are like a feather in the bishop's cap so he can show something he's in charge is important in the context of his territory.
Homeschoolers are something different. They're seen as creating a parallel structure to the bishop's priorities. They tend to be more traditional. They have no problem bucking mainstream trends - Catholic or otherwise. This makes them unruly for better or worse. They also tend to have less money as a group.
So when the Catholic school parents come to the bishop and ask him if they can do catechesis and sacrament prep in the context of their Catholic school education (which makes perfect sense), the bishop is more likely to be sympathetic. When the homeschoolers come and ask the same, they're more often seen as rebels who don't want to be part of the community.
None of this says there aren't many great families in Catholic schools - there are! Nor does it mean there aren't problems in homeschool communities (believe me - there are). But it's just the way the Catholic world works right now. There are in groups and out groups in our time of "synodality"
Why does the requirement that all children must go through the parish CCD program necessitate the banning of homeschooling families (presumably parishioners) from using any parish facilities to meet up?
Why would the latter make you happy?
I don't think the point of CCD is for children to meet each other. The point is to come to know, love and serve God better.
The quality of CCD teachers is varied at best.
I think your average home school family will do a far superior job teaching the faith and integrating it into a child's daily life.
Yes. I think this is part and parcel with a lot of what I see in my own diocese- the requirement stays at the lowest common denominator, and those families and parishioners who are faithful and practicing bear the brunt of the requirements and structures- e.g. mandatory baptism classes even if this is your 3rd, 4th, 5th child and the family is active and engaged at the parish, and raising their kids in the faith.
The article made me cringe just a tad bit. I don't like it when our Church gets controlling of families. But I did want to reply to your comment on CCD being a place for children to meet eachother. Yes, that is a fundamental part of theological education. Theology is "reality" and in that sense it is also a "lived experience" ...the more Christians get to know one another and their experiences in the world, the closer we grow to a deeper conversion and understanding of theology. It needs to start at a young age.
In my parish, the public, private, and homeschool kids meet each other after Mass and run around in the woods with sticks (or wander around and talk to each other, or take over picnic tables and eat together). I don't think they're missing out on that part. I suspect that kids that only see each other in CCD classes are, since they're in class, not socializing.
You simply can't teach all of life in an hour a week - and you're not supposed to. You're supposed to teach catechism for an hour a week and let them learn the rest of life by doing life.
My children are homeschooled and play for a long time after mass with the children they just finished worshipping with. They certainly have a community. When we are leaving Mass, we see the faith formation kiddos being dropped off by their parents to go into class while the parents donтАЩt attend the mass before class or the one going on during their childтАЩs class. How is that group of people their community if they arenтАЩt worshipping with them?
If the classes were equally good, it would not be divisive. There's nothing stopping the kids from socializing together after Mass or in other activities, and discussing the Faith at the same level - if they were actually getting it at the same level. They probably aren't. Parish catechesis has been dreadful for decades. Homeschool catechesis is typically substantially better. There's a reason priests are coming from homeschool families at a disproportionate rate.
There isn't an advantage for an adult to go through a bad or mediocre class teaching things he already knows just because there are other people around when he does it. It isn't an advantage for the other students either, because they learn by getting taught at their level, not by osmosis. We recognize this, and don't put college students in remedial English for fellowship's sake. There isn't an advantage for kids either.