Catholic schools: Partners in faith with parents
by Archbishop Charles Chaput
Denver news media have reported in recent days on the case of two children of a lesbian couple in Boulder. The couple was informed by Sacred Heart of Jesus parish school that the older child, whom they were enrolling in kindergarten for next year, would be allowed to attend kindergarten but would not be able to continue into first grade the year after. Their younger child would be welcome to finish preschool, but not continue into kindergarten. Many have wondered why. Sacred Heart of Jesus parish has borne the difficult publicity surrounding this issue, but archdiocesan policy was followed faithfully in this matter, and the policy applies to all Archdiocese of Denver schools. (Read complete column....)
Showing posts with label lesbian couple at Sacred Heart in Boulder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lesbian couple at Sacred Heart in Boulder. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Kudos to the Archdiocese of Denver...
...for their decision not to readmit the child of a lesbian couple to Sacred Heart School in Boulder.
Many cafeteria Catholics will scream bloody murder about the school being______ (Fill in the blank: judgmental, self-righteous, intolerant, mean-spirited, etc.), but it's actually a mercy to the child. What kind of conflict is set up for a child when the school is teaching about the ten commandments and the child's "parents" are living in homosexual fornication, a mortal sin against the sixth commandment. The child is in pre-school now. Can you imagine the future including the expectation of the parents that the school should water down Church teaching to accommodate their lifestyle?
I had that problem when I was teaching fourth grade at a parochial school. One of my student's mothers was living with her boyfriend. The child's dad to whom she was married abandoned the family a few years earlier. That poor child turned from a happy, well-adjusted second grader to a fourth grader who was so filled with anger and so out of control that he tried to strangle a classmate and threw his desk over one afternoon.
I used to urge my students to be little evangelists in their own homes (without criticizing their parents, of course). When one of the children said they never went to Mass when they were on vacation I urged the class to ask their parents to take them to Mass when they were at the beach or travelling and to ask to go to Mass every Sunday. There are Catholic churches everywhere and I emphasized the great opportunity to visit other churches and see how the Catholic family is everywhere.
One of my own children was a second grader at the time and I attended first confession preparation for parents. The priest, who was a young, recently-ordained priest, told the parents that children frequently confessed missing Mass. He told the parents that he stressed to the children that it wasn't THEIR sin. They should ask their parents to take them to Mass, but if they didn't, the parents were the ones committing the sin. He urged parents not to put their children into that kind of moral conflict. If you want a Catholic education, live a Catholic life. I thanked that young priest after the meeting.
So a big public thank-you to Archbishop Charles Chaput and the administrators of Sacred Heart. Spend a minute to say a prayer for all involved in the decision and send the Archdiocese of Denver a big thank-you for upholding Catholic truth.
Address: 1300 South Steele Street, Denver, CO 80210
Phone: 303-722-4687
Email: info@archden.org
Many cafeteria Catholics will scream bloody murder about the school being______ (Fill in the blank: judgmental, self-righteous, intolerant, mean-spirited, etc.), but it's actually a mercy to the child. What kind of conflict is set up for a child when the school is teaching about the ten commandments and the child's "parents" are living in homosexual fornication, a mortal sin against the sixth commandment. The child is in pre-school now. Can you imagine the future including the expectation of the parents that the school should water down Church teaching to accommodate their lifestyle?
I had that problem when I was teaching fourth grade at a parochial school. One of my student's mothers was living with her boyfriend. The child's dad to whom she was married abandoned the family a few years earlier. That poor child turned from a happy, well-adjusted second grader to a fourth grader who was so filled with anger and so out of control that he tried to strangle a classmate and threw his desk over one afternoon.
I used to urge my students to be little evangelists in their own homes (without criticizing their parents, of course). When one of the children said they never went to Mass when they were on vacation I urged the class to ask their parents to take them to Mass when they were at the beach or travelling and to ask to go to Mass every Sunday. There are Catholic churches everywhere and I emphasized the great opportunity to visit other churches and see how the Catholic family is everywhere.
One of my own children was a second grader at the time and I attended first confession preparation for parents. The priest, who was a young, recently-ordained priest, told the parents that children frequently confessed missing Mass. He told the parents that he stressed to the children that it wasn't THEIR sin. They should ask their parents to take them to Mass, but if they didn't, the parents were the ones committing the sin. He urged parents not to put their children into that kind of moral conflict. If you want a Catholic education, live a Catholic life. I thanked that young priest after the meeting.
So a big public thank-you to Archbishop Charles Chaput and the administrators of Sacred Heart. Spend a minute to say a prayer for all involved in the decision and send the Archdiocese of Denver a big thank-you for upholding Catholic truth.
Address: 1300 South Steele Street, Denver, CO 80210
Phone: 303-722-4687
Email: info@archden.org
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)