I think around age seven, is that right, guys?
A five year old child will not be penalized, so to speak, for disobeying her "parent".
But if McGreevy is deliberately using her as a pawn to get back at his wife, and undermining the child's Catholic education to do so, he might want to consider the possibility that he may be fitted for a millstone by St. Peter . . . Matthew 18:6/Mark 9:42/Luke 17:2
Seven is the age of reason. God will not punish the child but He WILL zap the dad if McSleazy goes against what the mom wants.
Speaking as the mother of young children - the youngest being 5 and 10, I find it hard to believe that God would hold a 7 y.o. in any way accountable for this.
At seven, most children’s religious understanding consists of what their parents tell them and no more. They want to please their parents and have their love - to keep the commandment. The child could be in the middle of a nasty parental tug-of-war; the parents could be total compromisers; religious education classes at this age are not at all rigorous. A child simply doesn’t have the intellectual sophistication to understand the issue at stake.
If there’s any argument the child’s going to go through “Your father’s church is a false church.” “Your mother’s church is a hive of intolerant bigots.”
Mrs VS