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. |
It's also useful to remember that newspaper stories usually have an 'agenda.'
Finally, the parish priest cannot disclose ALL the information he may have regarding the parents....
You would grant Confirmation in the Faith to those who DO NOT PRACTICE IT?
C'mon, maryz, you're sharper than that...
But the children aren't being punished. Children who do not make it to Mass on Sunday are NOT prepared to receive their First Holy Communion. It really is that simple.
The Christian always gives the benefit of the doubt.
I have to say I disagree. If it has to be explained to the child as to why he is no longer welcomed as CCD, their parents are going to have to admit their own hypocrisy. I know it stinks, but honestly, with the decline in attendance these days, vast measures have to be taken. Children are not going to go to church as adults if they were not brought up to do so. I'd rather someone just not bother with the Sacraments at all then only showing up for a Baptism, Confirmation, a wedding and a Funeral and then complain about how much time, effort and money that all takes from them. I attend and put in money EVERY week because I am obligated to, plus the cost of a donation for the Baptism of my kids etc. It just doesn't seem morally right and seems rather hypocritical for non church go-ers to act like the Sacraments are oh so important when they can't be bother with the church for the rest of the year, decade, etc.
I'm sure this will help the church grow.
Surely, this priest has offended families who will be lost to the Church for a good long time, if they weren't lost already. However, future families will understand that they need to attend Mass for their children to receive the sacraments and that will almost certainly bring people back into the fold.
By the way, there are parishes by me that require parishioners to use their envelopes or they will be forced to pay out of parish tuition for their children at the school.
Agreed. And not. What of someone who is away from the church and yet comes back?
Instructing such people is utterly useless, as the habit of faith in them is dead. They possess neither grace nor faith.
But we reach out to the kids, signed up by parents, who may indeed be pretending to be Catholics, and the kids are eager to pray and learn.
You cannot "instruct" people into becoming practicing Christians. They must be practicing the faith prior to their ability to learn the faith.
Perhaps I used 'instruct' in an ambiguous way. We focus on prayer and the Mass. For our 2nd grade group, our 'lessons' are about Jesus and on the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which we help prepare the kids to receive.
I think if you're addressing a letter to a priest, you use "Reverend," and "Right Reverend" for a monsignor. I've never heard either used in speaking to or about a priest. (Doesn't mean it's not another new-fangled innovation; I also recall when the priest who said a Mass was the celebrant, not the presider.)
Yes, I know--but at least in THIS area, it's rarely used in 'common parlance' as opposed to formal documentation.
Wow! Are these diocesan and parish tuition rates? They really seem way out of line. Up here (Philly area) those are the rates of the fancy (but not the fanciest)private Catholic schools.
Does the parish/diocese assist at all with expenses?
It may be a regional thing.
In Milwaukee, we were taught(!!!) to avoid the use of the term "reverend" when speaking of priests, who were to be called "Father."
The idea was to distinguish between the Prot 'reverends' and the Catholic 'Fathers.'
So make them repeat a year until they get it. Throwing them out of religious instruction would seem to ensure that they never do.
The concept of "tough love" was all the rage only 15 years ago...whereby the adult sets and ENFORCES the rules.
That concept was not wrong.
Granted that the perfection of mercy and the perfection of justice (being a unity) is difficult for humans to understand, one cannot ignore justice to be "merciful;" it's a mockery of mercy to do that.
Dear old and tired,
In the Archdiocese of Washington, $10K for high school isn't out of line. My alma mater is near to the bottom in terms of tuition for Catholic high schools in the region, and is nearly $8K per year.
It isn't cheap.
Nonetheless, it's significantly less than any local public school system is costing at the high school level.
sitetest
Obviously, if you don't live near one of these schools, it can be a burden. But I'm a firm believer in the best way to nurture a child's soul is to do what is best for the whole family. So in some instances that may mean public school and homeschooling CCD. I know a family whose child has Cerebral Palsy who is doing just that. He is allowed to participate in the parochial school's Christmas show and other events. The pastor has said he'll always be welcome at his school.
But the discussion is not really about "them" (the children) getting it--it's about their PARENTS 'getting it.'
Having said that, I think your suggestion has a good deal of merit--but evidently was not feasible for the parish in question, for whatever reason.
Again, bear in mind that the priest most likely did NOT divulge all the information he has on the families to the newspaper...
Well, what do I know. I'm an Anglican.
We're Protestant, lower-case "c" catholic and apostolic, and call our married priests "Father."
But, hey, the Celts have been trouble since St. Augustine tried to usher them into the fold in 338 or whatever that synod was.
LOL! I hope you posted this to everyone else posting on this thread (including yourself!)
I can't be the only one on this thread who doesn't know the whole story! ;-)
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