A Synod Slap at Home Schoolers

At the Youth Synod in Rome this week, one of the bishops’ discussion groups made some disappointing and ignorant comments about Catholic homeschoolers.

In one of the English-language discussion groups at the Synod, a summary of the conversation included these disturbing notes:

USA has many home schoolers—bishops in USA are not united, as homeschooling can have an ideological basis—kids may have special needs

Let’s answer that last question first. Yes, parents are qualified to teach their own children. In better times, Catholics could rely on their bishops to support the role of parents as “primary educators.”

Why is it, then, that the “bishops in USA are not united” in support of home schoolers? The note is chilling in its answer to that obvious question; the bishops of English-language Circle C referred to “an ideological basis.” As Patrick Reilly points out, liberal opponents of home schooling regularly use that term to disparage the home-schooling movement. The “ideological” label, Reilly remarks, is “what faithful Catholic home schoolers endure frequently from fellow Catholics, priests and even bishops—the charge that they are too ‘conservative’ and too ‘moralistic.’”

It’s painful enough that home schoolers are portrayed as “ideological” by champions of the public-school system, in which an increasingly toxic ideology reigns supreme. It’s outrageous that bishops, who should be defending loyal Catholics against this sort of unjustified attack, are instead joining forces with the assailants. Particularly outrageous, because many Catholic families would not be home schooling if the bishops had fulfilled their own responsibilities, and ensured the existence of parochial schools where young people could learn without being subject to the influence of.......

It is vital to keep in mind that the Catechism of the Church states clearly that Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. This is an unqualified truism that a note from some politically-stacked Synod of bishops etc cannot change.

The people at this gathering are generally from the liberal wing of the church - a sort of Catholic Church Deep State. These guys have as much standing on these matters as Nancy Pelosi has on foreign policy.

In truth there ARE churches and even archdioceses in the US that are supportive of HSing - Mrs DoodleBob and I encountered this during our HSing adventures. To be sure, there are also plenty of people who don't get it; a priest in the 1990s suggested we get more "contemporary" (read: liberal) educational material (we used the Baltimore Catechism). Nonetheless, context is important: this Synod is a pimple on the face of HSing opposition.

I don't doubt many liberals - religious or otherwise - view HSers as "the enemy" for the same reason Deplorables strike fear into the hearts of statists: we stand as the living embodiment of rebels who Won't Go Quietly Into the Night (and we are usually heavily armed).

Like anything good in life, you have to work at it and you will find all sorts of roadblocks or even enemies along the way. While it's a shame there are so many confused Church bureaucrats on this topic, we always have God and Truth in our side.

Just like our God-given right to keep and bear arms cannot be removed by a Supreme Court opinion, the fundamental right - nay, responsibility - of the parent to the education of their children cannot be eradicated by some new pronouncement. Interpreting these notes as THE OFFICIAL CATHOLIC STANCE ON HOMESCHOOLING is akin to using the Obama Admin's stance on guns as the official US interpretation of the Second Amendment. Caveat emptor.

It has always been known to churches that Sunday is not enough to learn Biblical truths, but the father of the house must be teaching them every day. The first preacher is the head of the household.

This is what a Baptist preacher taught me, that the head of the household is coordinated with the Sunday service message, and that if a child has for role model anyone other than the father, we are failing at teaching about Christ.

These Catholics doubting home schooling are completely wrong, and in light of their light handed way of handling the pedophilia, they can go to hell in my book.

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