Homeschool group rejects guidelines
By PAT MARRIN
NCR Staff
Guidelines issued recently by the Chicago archdiocese affirm
parents rights to provide catechesis and sacramental preparation for
their children at home, but tie the process closely to the discretion of the
local pastor. The three-page statement has already been rejected outright by
one Chicago-based homeschool organization as intrusive and unnecessary.
Thank you for your help, your initiative, but no thank
you, said Catherine Moran, president of Catholic Homeschool Network of
America, a group formed to safeguard the rights of Catholic
homeschoolers.
A set of guidelines published in August by the Pittsburgh, Pa.,
diocese contains the same provisions as the Chicago policy. But
Pittsburghs more broadly developed, 18-page pastoral document clothes the
policy in rhetorically softer language, encouraging and
inviting homeschoolers to join in parish programs, making
allowances where resistance or difficulty was anticipated.
The authority of parents and pastors has sometimes come into
conflict because of the wide variety of readings of current diocesan policies
for sacramental preparation, says the Pittsburgh document, Faith
Education in the Home.
Homeschooling families should not be unduly burdened in
sacramental years, says the document. In general, if they are
providing their children regular and thorough catechesis, they should not be
required to attend additional parish religious education classes.
The Chicago policy guidelines, issued June 20, were developed by
the Office of Religious Education in wide consultation that included some
homeschooling parents. They affirm the role of parents as primary educators,
but call both parents and pastors to a process of cooperation and dialogue
toward the common goal of catechesis within the parish community.
The policy says that parents may, in extraordinary cases,
choose to provide formal, systematic catechesis for their children at home,
apart from parish programs. This home catechesis is to be in accord with all
applicable archdiocesan policies for catechesis.
Pastors and parents are to enter into dialogue regarding
mutual responsibilities and expectations for catechesis. This dialogue
culminates in a written covenant between pastor, parents and the child.
The pastor is also responsible for providing parameters and
guidance in the selection of texts and other materials to ensure their
conformity with the churchs catechetical documents. Finally, it is
the pastors responsibility to examine and determine the readiness of a
child to receive any sacrament.
Were against these guidelines, said Moran of the
Catholic Homeschool Network. Theyre intrusive, a way of coming in
with restrictions. We know our responsibilities as spelled out by canon law. We
oppose having imposed on us that you have to use this curriculum, this book or
take part in this program or you cant receive the sacrament.
If a diocese wants to impose guidelines, said Moran,
they should impose them on those who need them. Let us continue doing
what we are doing well. Our children are prepared. We are the bulwark of the
faith. We are not the problem. We are the solution. Our children are outscoring
other students academically, and the bulk of vocations are coming from
us, Moran said.
The Chicago guidelines were formulated to help, not intrude on
parents, said Sue Bordenaro, a consultant with the archdiocesan Office of
Religious Education.
We began this two-year process of developing guidelines to
affirm parents as primary educators of their children. We are trying to promote
dialogue and cooperation between parents and pastors. Both, according to canon
law, have their own responsibilities. There is no denying there is some
unresolved tension here.
National Catholic Reporter, September 12,
1997
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