LOCAL FEATURES
Original article date: Friday, December 06, 2002
Guidelines on religious ed homeschooling are issued
By Susan K. Virgalitte
Diocesan parishes and families in the diocese who choose to homeschool their children in religious education now have guidelines outlining their mutual rights and responsibilities.
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has issued a letter to all parish priests and religious education staff members, asking them to support families who choose to homeschool their children's religious education. A new brochure, "Guidelines for Home-Based Catechesis," is the joint project of the diocesan Offices of Catholic Schools and Religious Education and is now available to all parishes and families. The bishop asked diocesan staff to develop the guidelines for such families.
The new diocesan guidelines are intended to help homeschooling families, whether those families homeschool in all subjects or only in religion. "The right and responsibility to provide home-based catechesis [religious education] should be respected and supported in our Catholic Church," Bishop Tobin wrote in a recent letter to all parishes. The bishop asked pastors and parish religious education personnel to "make every effort to continue to support all parents as the primary catechists of their children, and in a special way, to affirm and respect parents who have chosen homeschooling."
Bishop Tobin asked parents who homeschool their children in religious education to participate fully in the life of their parish through weekly Mass, devotions, and apostolic works of the parish. He also advised them to stay in regular communication with parish staff and participate in opportunities for adult faith formation and sacramental preparation of their children.
The new brochure sets out the responsibilities of parents and guardians, as well as those of pastors and catechetical leaders at the parish. It also sets forth guidelines for preparing children to celebrate the sacraments of First Reconciliation, First Communion and Confirmation, and includes quotations from various Catholic documents which affirm parents as the first teachers of their children.
Barbara Walko, director of the diocesan Office of Religious Education, said that the diocese has always supported families who choose to homeschool their children in religion, and all previous guidelines regarding elementary religious education have included those parents who choose to homeschool. "This brochure is new," she said, "but its content is a reflection of current practices and gives priority to recognizing the important role that parents play in the faith development of their children."
Parents who choose to homeschool their children in religion are asked to contact their parish and tell their pastor or his staff of their decision. Parents are also encouraged to implement the diocesan Curriculum for Catechesis in their home lessons and to choose religion texts and other resources from those approved by the diocesan Office of Religious Education. Finally, homeschooled children and their parents are required to participate in parish preparations for the reception of sacraments.
Pastors and parish staffs are encouraged to identify and communicate regularly with homeschooling families, provide them with resources, and invite them to participate in adult education and other parish functions. Of particular importance is the celebration of sacraments. The guidelines state explicitly that the immediate preparation for reception of the sacraments "is the responsibility of the parish community, directed by the pastor and his delegates," and that the sacraments are to be celebrated with the entire parish community present. Therefore, even those children who are normally homeschooled in religion would participate in sacramental preparation and in the actual celebration of sacraments with their peers in the parish.
"All parents catechize their children, whether they do it well or poorly, whether they do it with the support of the parish catechesis program or the Catholic school, or choose to be the only catechists of the children," Ms. Walko said. "All parents, by their very lives, witness to the importance of God in their families, homes and lives. We wanted to affirm the parents' role and their rights and responsibilities, and encourage mutual collaboration between the parishes and the homes."
The original article is at the website for the Diocese of Youngstown, OH.
