Home Schooling and Sacraments For Children
When I was a college student in the mid-1990s, I was blessed to become friends with several faculty members who shared a common interest and involvement in the pro-life and pro-family movements. Two of these professors had large families and home schooled their children. This was my first encounter with Catholic home schoolers. It seemed strange to me at first. I could not imagine how, with five or six children, they and their wives could find the time to educate the children at home. Growing up, I had not even heard of home schooling, so the idea was foreign to me. After visiting with them, I realized that more and more couples today are choosing to home school their children.
Several years ago, during my final year in the seminary, a good friend once again brought the issue of home schooling to my mind. She herself is the mother of seven children. Her eldest son, Frank, is married and has six children. 1 Frank and his wife, Mary, home school their children, and incorporate religious instruction as part of their children's curriculum. Because of this, they decided not to enroll their children in the parish catechetical program. One of their children was fast approaching the age of receiving the sacraments of Penance and First Eucharist. Their pastor had recently told Frank and Mary that they must enroll their child into the parish religious education program in order for their child to receive these sacraments. The pastor was concerned that the child receive proper formation and education before receiving the sacraments. This is a concern that every pastor should have. Yet Frank and Mary were confident that they were preparing their child well to receive the sacraments; in fact, they were willing to have the pastor or parish catechist give the child an exam to ensure that he was properly prepared. Both the parents and the pastor were holding fast to their respective positions. Frank and Mary asked their mother for advice. She then turned to me. This article is a response to the issues they raised.
Certainly, this is not an isolated case. For starters, home schooling in general is clearly on the increase. Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute of Oregon, was quoted recently as saying that there were between 1.1 to 1.5 million students in grades K-12 home schooled during the 1997-98 school year. This compares with only 200,000 to 300,000 students just ten years ago. 2 Bruce Clark, a writer for Seton Home Study in Front Royal, VA, estimates the total number of home schooled children at 1.75 million, with 500,000 of them being Catholic. Seton Home Study claims to be the largest producer of Catholic textbooks in the world, and has grown from two employees serving two families in 1976 to over 160 employees serving over 16,000 children in 1999. 3
With so many Catholic children already being home schooled, and likely more on the way, it is no surprise that conflicts arise between parents and pastors regarding sacramental preparation. An article by Vivian Dudro in the Catholic World Report detailed rising tensions between parents and pastors across the country on this very issue. Because of these growing concerns, several dioceses have formal policies established to address the question of Catholic home schooling; other dioceses have them in the works. 4 Often, however, such policies are themselves the point of conflict.
How should a pastor respond to parishioners who want to home school their children and not utilize the parish religious education program? How is he to ensure that the children are well prepared? What are the rights and duties of parents in the catechetical formation of their children, and what are the pastor's? In seeking an answer to these questions, the following theological areas will be explored and applied to the present situation: doctrinal, pastoral and canonical. Consideration will also be given to ways to draw home schooling families deeper into the life of the parish. This final point is essential, as the community element of every parish is integral to our identity as Catholics.
In addressing the question of parents teaching their children at home, it is necessary to begin with a theological exploration of the nature of marriage itself. According to the Second Vatican Council, marriage is a sacred covenant, a lifelong bond between a man and a woman of which "God himself is the author." 5 This "intimate partnership of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws." 6 Established by the irrevocable consent of the two partners, the institution of marriage and married love is "by its very nature ... ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory." 7 Marriage by its very nature is fruitful; married couples "should regard it as their proper mission to transmit human life and to educate their children," realizing that "they are thereby cooperating with the love of the Creator." 8
Vatican II also spoke of marriage as a microcosm of the Church, the Ecclesia domestica: "In what might be regarded as the domestic Church, the parents, by word and example, are the first heralds of faith to their children." 9 In other words, the "home is the first school of Christian life." 10 So as heads of the domestic Church, parents are the first ones to fulfill for their children the Church's role as teacher and herald of the Good News of Jesus Christ. St. Thomas Aquinas even likens the role of parents begetting children and raising them in the faith to that of the ordained priesthood:
For some propagate and conserve the spiritual life in a spiritual ministry only, and this belongs to the sacrament of orders; and some belong to the bodily and spiritual life simultaneously, which takes place in the sacrament of matrimony where a man and woman come together to beget offspring and to rear them in divine worship. 11
The Church's teaching is clear: parents are the first ones to transmit the faith to their children, and this divine mandate is of the highest dignity.
In his Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio, Pope John Paul II addresses at length the role of parents as teachers of their children:
The task of giving education is rooted in the primary vocation of married couples to participate in God's creative activity: by begetting in love and for love a new person who has within himself or herself the vocation to growth and development, parents by that very fact take on the task of helping that person effectively to live a fully human life. As the Second Vatican Council recalled, "since parents have conferred life on their children, they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring. Hence, parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it. For it devolves on parents to create a family atmosphere so animated with love and reverence for God and others that a well-founded personal and social development will be fostered among the children. Hence, the family is the first school of those social virtues which every society needs." 12
The Holy Father effectively summarizes the Church's teaching on this point when he states:
The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others. 13
Parents are the primary educators of their children. Vatican II and the writings of John Paul II have been explicitly clear on this point, for their role as educator flows from the very nature of marriage itself.
The education of children is without doubt a most important task that is primarily entrusted to parents. But what is meant by the term "education of children"? This is a broad term, which covers many distinct units. Formal education, whether it is at home or in school, is just one part. Children also learn from informal contact with friends and family, from the mass media, from museums and libraries, and even when participating in sports. An especially important part is a child's catechetical formation. As the education of children is a huge task that encompasses a variety of parts, many have a role to play. John Paul II acknowledges this when he writes, "the family is the primary but not the only and exclusive educating community." 14
As part of the Church, young people are the newest members of the People of God. They are an integral element of the mystical Body of Christ, which contains many members united under one head, Jesus Christ. Because of this, there is a necessary ecclesial element in the education and formation of children. Vatican II states that the Church is concerned with the education of children, "not only because the Church must be recognized as a human society capable of imparting education, but especially [because] it has the duty of proclaiming the way of salvation to all men, of revealing the life of Christ to those who believe, and of assisting them with unremitting care so that they may be able to attain to the fullness of that life." 15 Here the Church emphasizes her competence in proclaiming the Good News of salvation, and wants to be certain that the faith is transmitted to her youngest members. In fact, it cannot be denied that the Church received her mandate to teach the faith to all people, young and old alike, from Christ himself. Before Christ ascended to the Father in heaven, he gave one final command to the apostles: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (Matt. 28:19-20). 16
This process of imparting the faith is called catechesis. John Paul II defines catechesis in his Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi Tradendae as "an education of children, young people and adults in the faith, which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating hearers into the fullness of Christian life." 17 Catechesis is a task "for which the whole Church must feel responsible and must wish to be responsible." 18 Using even stronger language, the Holy Father states:
The Church has always looked on catechesis as a sacred duty and inalienable right. On the one hand, it is certainly a duty springing from a command given by the Lord and resting above all on those who in the new covenant receive the call to the ministry of being pastors. On the other hand, one can likewise speak of a right: from the theological point of view every baptized person, precisely by reason of being baptized, has the right to receive from the Church instruction and education enabling him or her to enter on a truly Christian life. 19
Catechesis is conducted on many different levels in varied ways throughout one's life. 20 Accordingly, catechesis is to be conducted by many persons, including bishops, priests, religious and lay catechists. This catechesis is accomplished in many different settings, including in the parish, at home in the family, and in school. 21
How does the role of the family in catechesis relate to that of the institutional Church? Should parents participate in parish religious education programs? Are they bound to do so? In examining these questions, two distinct institutions emerge: the institutional Church and the domestic, or "little" Church, the Ecclesia domestica. It is noteworthy that John Paul II uses the title Ecclesia domestica when he refers to family catechesis: "’The church of the home' remains the one place where children and young people can receive an authentic catechesis." 22 The theology of the domestic Church has already been explored, so the aim here is to consider the pastoral relationship between these two distinct institutions, both of which belong to the one Body of Christ, the Church.
The family, the Ecclesia domestica, is the basic building block of society, the "original cell of social life." 23 A most important principle to follow when balancing the rights and duties of two legitimate institutions is the principle of subsidiarity. In his encyclical letter Centesimus Annus, John Paul II defines this principle as follows: "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good." 24 Thus the smaller community, the Ecclesia domestica, takes a primary role in education, and the larger community, the institutional Church, should support and aid the parents in their divine mission.
In his Letter to Families written for the 1994 International Year of the Family, John Paul II explains the relationship between the family and the institutional Church utilizing the principle of subsidiarity:
Parents are the first and most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area: They are educators because they are parents. They share their educational mission with other individuals or institutions such as the church and the state. But the mission of education must always be carried out in accordance with a proper application of the principle of subsidiarity. This implies the legitimacy and indeed the need of giving assistance to the parents, but finds intrinsic and absolute limit in their prevailing right and their actual capabilities. The principle of subsidiarity is thus at the service of parental love, meeting the good of the family unit. For parents by themselves are not capable of satisfying every requirement of the whole process of raising children, especially in matters concerning their schooling and the entire gamut of socialization. Subsidiarity thus complements paternal and maternal love, and confirms its fundamental nature, inasmuch as all other participants in the process of education are only able to carry out their responsibilities in the name of the parents, with their consent and, to a certain degree, with their authorization. 25
This is consistent with all that has been already set forth. Considering religious education and catechesis as a subset of education in general, several conclusions follow, First, parents, as the head of the Ecclesia domestica, are the primary educators of their children. This right and duty flows from the nature of the sacrament of marriage. Other institutions, including the Church, participate in the process of education "in the name of the parents, with their consent and, to a certain degree, with their authorization." 26 The Holy Father has confirmed this relationship elsewhere when he states that the Church "has the obligation to give families all possible aid to enable them to perform their educational role properly." 27 Ultimately, "the right of parents to choose an education in conformity with their religious faith must be absolutely guaranteed." 28
One of the blessings of having a code of law to govern the Church is that the rights and duties of various members of the Church are made clear. John Paul II clearly states in his Apostolic Constitution Sacrae disciplinae leges that the norms of the Code of Canon Law ensure that "the mutual relations of the faithful may be regulated according to justice based upon charity, with the rights of individuals guaranteed and well defined." 29 As such, the Code is most helpful in seeking a solution to the present situation: regarding the sacramental preparation for children, can and should such preparation be done at home? Are parents bound to enroll their children in the parish catechetical program? If parents refuse to participate in the parish catechetical program, for whatever reason, can the pastor refuse to admit the child to the sacraments until he or she has completed the designated program? In addressing these questions, I will focus in particular on the reception of Eucharist, as I believe it serves as an apt paradigm for the reception of other sacraments, namely, Penance and Confirmation. 30
For centuries the Church has provided various means of Catholic education for the faithful. The Church sees this as both a right and a duty in the Code:
1. The duty and right of education belongs in a unique way to the Church, which has been divinely entrusted with the mission to assist men and women so that they can arrive at the fullness of the Christian life.
2. Pastors of souls have the duty to arrange all things so that all the faithful may enjoy a Catholic education (c. 794).
Indeed, there is an entire section of the Code dedicated to "Catholic Education." Catholic education is part and parcel of our faith. For this reason, the Church has set up and operates schools or other catechetical programs in every parish and diocese. The Church has a serious obligation in this regard:
There is a proper and serious duty, especially on the part of pastors of souls, to provide for the catechesis of the Christian people so that the faith of the faithful becomes living, explicit and productive through formation in doctrine and the experience in Christian living (c. 773).
This canon uses the general term "pastors of souls," which refers not only to canonical pastors, but anyone charged with a specific pastoral care. 31 Such persons have a duty to provide for catechesis, to make sure that those under their care are being formed in the faith. Does this charge apply to parents? Can the parents themselves fulfill this duty for their children?
The next canon addresses this question. It states that the "concern for catechesis pertains to all the members of the Church in proportion to each one's role" (c. 774.1). Part one of the canon clearly delineates different roles. Part two of the canon prioritizes those roles: "Parents above others are obliged to form their children in the faith and practice of the Christian life by word and example; godparents and those who take the place of parents are bound by an equivalent obligation" (c. 774.2). The parental role is given primacy in this canon; they "above others" are to form their children in the faith. The parents' primacy is further emphasized by the fact that this canon precedes other canons that address the duties of the bishop, pastor, religious, and other catechists. 32 From this canon it follows that parents can certainly fulfill the role as catechist for their children, presuming, of course, sufficient faith and knowledge to meet the task.
The Code also speaks of Catholic education in general. As explained in the pastoral section of this paper, it is reasonable to consider religious education or catechesis as a subset under the larger umbrella of "education." Once again, the Church states that parents have both the right and duty to educate their children:
Parents as well as those who take their place are obliged and enjoy the right to educate their offspring; Catholic parents also have the right to select those means and institutions through which they can provide more suitably for the Catholic education of children according to local circumstances (c. 793.1).
This canon is absolutely consistent with the Church's teaching that parents are the primary educators of their children, as explained earlier in the doctrinal section of this paper. 33
While these texts address the question of Catholic education in a broad sense, the Code also addresses the specific question of sacramental preparation of children before receiving Holy Communion. The Code first states that, "any baptized person who is not prohibited by law can and must be admitted to Holy Communion" (c. 912). Such prohibitions would include those who have been excommunicated or persist in manifest grave sin (c. 915), and baptized non-Catholics (c. 844.1). Clearly neither of these applies to the situation at hand. However, the right of children to receive Holy Communion is modified in the next canon:
For the administration of the Most Holy Eucharist to children, it is required that they have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation so as to understand the mystery of Christ according to their capacity, and can receive the Body and Blood of the Lord with faith and devotion (c. 913.1).
Therefore, children do not have an absolute right to receive Holy Communion, but must have sufficient knowledge and careful preparation. Who is to offer such preparation? The Code offers this answer:
It is the responsibility, in the first place, of parents and those who take the place of parents as well as of the pastor to see that children who have reached the use of the age of reason are correctly prepared and are nourished by the divine food as early as possible, preceded by sacramental confession; it is also for the pastor to be vigilant lest any children come to the Holy Banquet who have not reached the sufficient use of reason or whom he judges are not sufficiently disposed (c. 914).
Once again we see that the primary duty of this preparation belongs to the parents; however, the pastor clearly has an important role. It is his responsibility to ensure that children who come to receive the Eucharist must have the use of reason and be properly disposed. This duty of the pastor is also noted earlier in Book III of the Code, the Teaching Office of the Church, under Title 1, Chapter 2, "Catechetical Instruction." It states:
In accord with the norms established by the diocesan bishop, the pastor is to make particular provision:
1. that suitable catechesis is given for the celebration of the sacraments;
2. that children are properly prepared for the first reception of the sacraments of penance and Most Holy Eucharist and the sacrament of confirmation by means of a catechetical formation given over an appropriate period of time (c. 777).
One should note that the Code does not say who must give this formation, but simply states that the pastor must see that children are properly prepared.
The Code clearly identifies rights and duties of both parents and pastors regarding religious education and the sacramental preparation of children, and all of these rights and duties must be respected. In general, it seems that parents ought normally to participate in the parish sacramental preparation programs. That is the very reason why these programs exist. However, parents clearly have the right to educate their children and to prepare them to receive the sacraments. This right cannot be taken away. No child should be denied reception of the sacraments merely because they did not participate in a particular formation program. Yet parents must realize that they are not at liberty to prepare their children at home, and then to expect that their children be immediately admitted to the sacraments. The pastor has a duty to ensure that the formation the child received at home is adequate, and that the child be able to receive the Eucharist with faith and devotion. The pastor could request, therefore, that he or a person he designates be allowed to give the child an exam, or simply to ask the child some questions to determine the level of his or her faith knowledge before admittance to the sacraments.
When confronted with home schooling families who desire to undertake sacramental preparation at home, pastors ought to cooperate with the parents in their divine mandate to educate their child and to assist them in whatever way possible. At the same time, pastors must maintain their right and duty to ensure that any child approaching the sacraments be properly formed and well disposed. Since the child is not seen regularly by the parish catechist, this task can be accomplished by means of a special examination or interview.
The home schooling movement in today's Church need not be a source of confusion and friction between pastors and parents. Rather, it can bear much good fruit, provided both parties are willing to work together for the good of our Church's younger members. Our young people deserve no less. For they are the future of the Church: the next generation of laity, religious, and clergy who will lead the Church in the proclamation of the gospel and the transformation of the temporal order.
1 For the sake of anonymity, the names have been changed, but the persons are real.
2 Isabel Lyman, "Not Home Alone," National Review September 14, 1998: 32.
3 Bruce Clark. Telephone interview. February 14,2000.
4 Vivian Dudro, "Parents vs. Pastors," the Catholic World Report Oct. 1995: 40.
5 Catholic Church, Second Vatican Council, "Gaudium et Spes" Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Ed. Austin Flannery (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1984) n. 48.
6 Ibid.
7Ibid.
8 Ibid., n. 50.
9 Catholic Church, Second Vatican Council, "Lumen Gentium," Vatican Council II; The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Ed. Austin Flannery (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1984) n. 11.
10 Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican City: Librerie Editrice Vaticana, 1994) n. 1657.
11 St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, Book Four: Salvation, trans. by Charles J. O'Neil (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975) n. 58.
12 John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio," Vatican Council II: More Post Conciliar Documents. Ed. Austin Flannery (Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1982) n. 36, cf. Gravissimum Educationis n. 3.
13 Ibid., emphasis in original.
14 Ibid., n. 40.
15 Catholic Church, Second Vatican Council, "Gravissimum Educationis," Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. Ed. Austin Flannery (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1984) n. 3.
16 All scripture quotations in this article are taken from the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition. Camden, NJ: Thomas Nelson Publishers for Ignatius Press, 1965 (New Testament) and 1966 (Old Testament & Apocrypha).
17 John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 1979) n. 18.
18 Ibid., n. 16.
19 Ibid., n. 14.
20 Ibid., n. 51.
21 Ibid., n. 62-69.
22 Ibid., n. 68.
23 Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican City: Librerie Editrice Vaticana, 1994) n. 2207.
24 John Paul II, Centesimus Annus (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 1991) n. 48.
25 John Paul II, Letter to Families (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1994) n. 16, emphasis added.
26 Ibid.
27 John Paul II, "Familiaris Consortio," Vatican Council II: More Post Conciliar Documents. Ed. Austin Flannery (Boston: Daughters of St. Paul, 1982) n. 40.
28 Ibid.
29 Ibid.
30 The Code does group these three sacraments together when considering catechetical formation of children; cf. c. 777.2.
31 See Code of Canon Law: A Text and Commentary. Ed. James A. Coriden Thomas J. Green, Donald E. Heintschel. (New York: Paulist Press, 1985) comment under c. 773, p. 555.
32 Ibid., comment under c. 774, p. 556; cf. cc. 775, 776, 778, 780.
33 See Familiaris Consortio 13.
Reverend Joseph C. Taphorn was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Omaha in 1997. He completed his M.A. degree in theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum in 1996. Recently he completed a three-year term as associate pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Norfolk, Nebraska. This fall he will begin graduate studies in Canon Law in Rome. This is his first article for HPR.
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