Posted on 06/27/2005 1:42:52 PM PDT by Coleus
| Parents miss Mass, kids get ax |
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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. |
Should this be considered "mass expulsion"? :)
The parents need to be called out on their disregard of the Third Commandment, but at the same time the kids need to be instructed no matter how slack their folks are.
It's a tough call.
That works for Protestants but not Catholics. Mass happens all the time.
What do they do to the non-Catholic pupils?
In our school, the non-Catholic and non-regularly attending (Mass) families pay extra tuition every month. (a substantial amount, imo)
Expelling the kids is going too far, I think.
Technically, that just means they didn't turn in an envelope. They could have been there.
I think this is utterly ridiculous, anyway. What are they going to do, use bouncers to keep out the unwashed?
We never attended mass.
Of course, we weren't Catholic, either.
Exactly. I'm all for this. (Extenuating circumstances may apply...) But there's no sense in sending a kid to a Catholic school/CCD program if the parents don't want to take the time to set the kind of example the kids should follow. Go to Mass, or send your kids elsewhere. As a private entity, the parish school has the right to expect the parents to fulfil the requirements. One hour a week...hmmm...decisions, decisions.
Don't punish the kids because the parents cannot show.
In our parish, they use the envelopes to track attendance, and those who don't make enough Masses lose the tuition discount at the local parochial school.
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'm sure everyone can come up with one excuse not to attend Mass but there is always time in one's life to fit God in. Where there is a will there is a way. To Catholics, attending Mass should be of the utmost importance.
It looks more like a case of the parents not going to Mass than not donating. Obviously, they have paid the tuition or their kids wouldn't be in the school.
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.
I teach Sunday School volunatarily, kids and adults come when they can. We don't force them to. Or kick them out if the parents don't show up for church. I don't understand the reasoning behind that.
Wow. Imagine that. Biased reporting, giving christians a bad name.
If I ever saw good reports from the MSM on anything christian, I'd look for something amiss, or wait for the other shoe to drop.
It shouldn't be a tough call. You don't punish the children for the mistakes of their parents.
This is regarding religious education of Catholics. Why would non-Catholics be affected by this?
As far as I can see, this is only about CCD classes, and CCD isn't going to do your kid a lick of good if you can't get them to Mass at least once a month. Good on the priest.
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