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Parents miss Mass, kids get ax
NY Daily News ^ | 06.27.05 | NANCY DILLON

Posted on 06/27/2005 1:42:52 PM PDT by Coleus

Parents miss Mass, kids get ax

The pastor of a Staten Island Catholic church is playing holy hardball - kicking hundreds of kids out of religious ed classes because their families aren't showing up at Mass.

The Rev. Michael Cichon, pastor of St. Joseph/St. Thomas in Pleasant Plains, used each family's bar-coded donation envelope to track attendance.

He's tossed about 300 kids from classes and told them not to reapply until next April.

Without the classes, children cannot receive the sacraments, meaning some youngsters who thought they'd be making their First Communion next year will have to wait.

The suspensions, legal under church doctrine, were a shock to many parents with kids enrolled in the 1,400-child program, which caters to kids who don't attend Catholic schools.

"It's hurtful," said Joseph LoPizzo, 38, whose 6-year-old son was booted. "I've been a parishioner at that church for 23 years - longer than he's been the reverend."

LoPizzo said he paid the $150 for his son's Thursday afternoon classes last year, but his father-in-law's illness hampered the family's church attendance.

"I've just never heard of a church kicking you out," complained Lisa Nicol, 36, who got a letter saying her 7-year-old twin daughters had been barred from classes. "They should be more welcoming and sensitive."

The pastor said he suspended kids from the 2005-2006 after-school program because Mass is an "essential" component of the Catholic faith.

The affected families were attending church less than once a month, he said.

Cichon insisted that the move has nothing to do with the lack of a donation.

"There are many families who put absolutely nothing inside the envelopes they submit," he said.

Originally published on June 27, 2005



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; US: New York
KEYWORDS: canonlaw; catholiclist; ccd; children; church; churchattendance; lapsed; mass; nyc; parents; statenisland; whiners
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To: Palladin

I agree. This priest doesn't get it. The kids should stay in the classess. This is where they learn about the obligation to attend mass. I am not making excuses for the parents, but to penalize the children and to prevent them from religious education just doesn't make sense.

We had a priest near us that would not verify parish membership for admission to Catholic Schools unless the parents were contributing large amounts of money. He actually sent out letters telling the parents that they have no business paying for their kids to go to Catholic school if they do not contribute enough. People just changed to another parish.


61 posted on 06/27/2005 2:03:16 PM PDT by ga medic
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To: FoxInSocks

I was personally just creeped out by the bar-coded donation cards.

I recall distinctly the passage in Matthew(?) that states that donations/charity should be anonomous.

One church I went to tracked people's donations if they used a check -- I had special checks printed up with no name --- just because the issue was tacky.


62 posted on 06/27/2005 2:03:17 PM PDT by MeanWestTexan
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To: TalonDJ
"I've been a parishioner at that church for 23 years - longer than he's been the reverend."

I noticed that quotation, too. I've not been Catholic for long, but I don't think that "reverend" is a term used in The Church.
I know you folks will correct me if I'm wrong.
63 posted on 06/27/2005 2:03:19 PM PDT by Rio (Don't make me come over there....)
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To: Coleus
used each family's bar-coded donation envelope to track attendance.

That's a pretty inaccurate attendance-tracking method on which to base such a serious punishment. Methinks the priest did not think this one through.

64 posted on 06/27/2005 2:03:49 PM PDT by antiRepublicrat
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To: Coleus

Isn't this really explusing the kids who's parents don't put cash in the collection plate?


65 posted on 06/27/2005 2:03:53 PM PDT by kharaku (G3)
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To: Luddite Patent Counsel
Some of these families may have similar issues with this parish, and are voting with their feet.

Could be, but why would they have their children in RE (and preparing for First Communion) at a parish where they won't attend Mass?

66 posted on 06/27/2005 2:04:59 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Working Class Zero with wall-to-wall carpeting.)
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To: FoxInSocks
I think this is utterly ridiculous, anyway. What are they going to do, use bouncers to keep out the unwashed?

No one is being prevented from going to church. What the priest is trying to do, is force the parents to live up to the very principals the parents are trying to have taught to their kids.

If you're a pastor or priest who is only concerned with numbers and dollars, then you'll just view kids in your school as more revenue.

But if you're a pastor or priest that is more concerned with the quality of your flock than the quantity, then you'll do things, like this, that will inspire others to be more devout, but the less devout might leave. Which would be a good thing, as the less serious delute the richness of the entire flock.

Sort of like the RINO's in the RNC.

67 posted on 06/27/2005 2:06:36 PM PDT by mountn man (Everyone brings joy into a room. Some when they enter. Others when they leave)
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To: Proudly Republican
What happens if the family was on vacation and attended Mass where they were at that time?

If you read the article, the targets were people who attended Mass less than once a month for an extended period of time.

Due to vacation, visits, etc. I probably attend Mass at a different parish than my home parish 10 times a year.

Not 40 times a year.

68 posted on 06/27/2005 2:07:01 PM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave troops and their Commander-in-Chief)
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To: Dinsdale; frogjerk
Dinsdale

Catholic basher alert.

...You do realize not everybody understands (as evidenced by the question) what these classes were....

and what do you know? How are you an authority to teach freepers anything about Catholicism?
69 posted on 06/27/2005 2:07:32 PM PDT by Coleus ("Woe unto him that call evil good and good evil"-- Isaiah 5:20-21)
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To: Rio

Now that you mention it, you're right. I wonder if the gentleman quoted is not Catholic (which might explain why the family doesn't go to Mass.)


70 posted on 06/27/2005 2:07:42 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Working Class Zero with wall-to-wall carpeting.)
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To: Luddite Patent Counsel
My "home" parish conducts very heterodox services, and I haven't darkened their door for over a year.

I had the same problem, so I formally joined another parish. Takes about five minutes by phone.

71 posted on 06/27/2005 2:08:27 PM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave troops and their Commander-in-Chief)
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To: Dinsdale
This is'nt regular Catholic school. This is eat the cracker prep. Only Catholics. >>>

Einstein, Catholics don't eat crackers.
72 posted on 06/27/2005 2:08:50 PM PDT by Coleus ("Woe unto him that call evil good and good evil"-- Isaiah 5:20-21)
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To: God-n-GeorgeW
There are many Churches (including mine) which would be happy to teach Sunday School to any and all, not only those who donate. It's biased reporting like this that gives us Christians a bad name.

Did you read the article?

Cichon insisted that the move has nothing to do with the lack of a donation.

"There are many families who put absolutely nothing inside the envelopes they submit," he said.

73 posted on 06/27/2005 2:09:04 PM PDT by It's me
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To: Coleus

And....they attended together as a family.

However, I DO NOT agree with the arrogance of the leader of this parish to DARE to punish children and keep them from making Holy Communion becuase their parents do not attend church. Who does he think he is? Perhaps the pedophile priests should have been dealt with as severely as these families are being dealt with and then maybe children would not have been assaulted.

Personally, I would find me another Catholic Church with a real leader and not this pompous you know what!


74 posted on 06/27/2005 2:09:10 PM PDT by cubreporter (I trust Rush. He has done more for this country than any of us will ever know! :))
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To: frogjerk; vrwcagent0498; Dinsdale
Clearly, the are referring to the religious education classes that are part of the Roman Catholic curriculum. The article isn't written very well so it's quite easy to confuse the details because they aren't presented very well.

Usually, non-Catholic students can opt-in for these classes but they cannot actually receive the sacraments at Mass as those are reserved for Catholic believers only.

The Catholic students apparently are being removed from the classes because they are being held to a higher standard as they will be receiving the sacraments and the combination of the classes and attendance at Mass are both required. In short, they're flunking out and are being held back in that arena.
75 posted on 06/27/2005 2:10:13 PM PDT by FormerLib (Kosova: "land stolen from Serbs and given to terrorist killers in a futile attempt to appease them.")
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To: Eepsy
I had to read the article a second time to catch that it was only the after school (CCD-type) classes. The headline and the way the article is written makes it seem like he booted the kids of the school entirely.

"I've just never heard of a church kicking you out," complained Lisa Nicol, 36, who got a letter saying her 7-year-old twin daughters had been barred from classes. "They should be more welcoming and sensitive."

And this lady should be getting her butt to church! She sounds like a hippie, and we all know hippies suck, even those that claim to be Catholic. These kind of "don't hurt my self-esteem" people are ruining just about every decent institution in the world. Good for the pastor.
76 posted on 06/27/2005 2:10:15 PM PDT by fr_freak
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To: Tax-chick
Could be, but why would they have their children in RE (and preparing for First Communion) at a parish where they won't attend Mass?

At the parishes here, the RE director runs the program, with little to no input from the pastor (the "liturgical committees" probably work the same way, but that's a different problem). At another local parish, the RE director is very conservative, while the pastor is, well... less so, to put it kindly. I would never attend mass there, but I would probably let my kids go to RE. The cafeteria is far from closed here in the trenches.

77 posted on 06/27/2005 2:10:52 PM PDT by Luddite Patent Counsel (Theyre digging through all of your files, stealing back your best ideas.)
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To: Former Fetus
I pushed him

That's despicable. You should ashamed of yourself.

78 posted on 06/27/2005 2:10:56 PM PDT by wideawake (God bless our brave troops and their Commander-in-Chief)
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To: vrwcagent0498
Why would any non-Catholic send their child to a Catholic religious ed class?

Goodness sake! You guys gotta read the article!

The suspensions, legal under church doctrine, were a shock to many parents with kids enrolled in the 1,400-child program, which caters to kids who don't attend Catholic schools.

79 posted on 06/27/2005 2:11:03 PM PDT by It's me
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To: cubreporter

If the parents are not attending Mass, and these are children about 7, 8,9 years, how are they going to fulfill their obligation to attend Mass? They can't exactly borrow the car and drive to Mass.


80 posted on 06/27/2005 2:11:06 PM PDT by LWalk18
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