S
sdean
Guest
I would like some advice for my next step in dealing with a question my wife and I have about a teaching of the Church and the teaching of our community Priest and CCD Confirmation Class. (We posted the One Adam or Many string) A little background: We are assigned to Budapest, Hungary for the US Military and there are no English speaking Catholic parishes. A Jesuit priest who manages a local architecture firm and teaches at a university performs Mass and the community gets volunteers for the parish council, CCD class, altar server programs, etc. The community has the appearance of a parish, but is not.
During CCD Confirmation class our daughter thought she understood the instructors to state that Adam was just symbolic and that there could have been more than one Adam/couple. Our daughter asked us about this after class and with research we found a great document on the www.catholic.com website (“Adam, Eve, and Evolution”) and the encyclical Humani Generis (specifically para 37).
Before the next class, my daughter asked for a clarification from one of the CCD teachers that they were teaching that Adam was just symbolic and that he might not have existed. The teacher confirmed this. My daughter showed the instructor the Humani Generis paragraph 37 from “Adam, Eve, and Evolution”, but was told to keep the information to herself.
The priest quickly became involved and stated to me (alone - no witnesses) that the Church did not have a teaching on polygenism or Adam. He also stated that the CCD teachers were teaching accurate doctrine. I realized that these two positions contradicted each other, but the priest was pretty upset and I felt it wiser to just listen at that point.
My wife and I sent an email to the priest and the CCD teachers asking for a clarification on their statements and teaching on polygenism and existence of Adam. We asked for a meeting (members of the parish council agreed to be at this meeting) to get a face-to-face clarification which would allow each to present his or her position in a safe and supportive environment.
I am the altar server leader and am obviously in close proximity to the priest. At today’s mass (only one each week), the priest asked to speak with me. He again stated that the teaching of polygenism was ok and that Adam may not have existed. I attempted to discuss Humani Generis, but the priest was not interested in what Pope Pius XII had to say on the issue. The priest then added (he said this very quickly so I am not certain that I am getting this exactly correct) that the Church’s only requirement was that there was a single source of original sin, but that these two people did not have to be “Adam” or even “Eve”. As this seemed to again contradict his earlier statements, and he was becoming agitated, I felt it prudent to let him talk. The priest also added that he would not be part of a meeting to discuss these issues.
My wife and I really wanted to have a meeting with impartial witnesses to keep the priest’s temper in check and to get other sets of ears & logic filters on the seemingly contradictory answers from the priest and CCD teachers.
What are our options? I am in the military and have a US Military Arch Diocese. We are very much interested in a definitive description of the Church’s official teaching.
During CCD Confirmation class our daughter thought she understood the instructors to state that Adam was just symbolic and that there could have been more than one Adam/couple. Our daughter asked us about this after class and with research we found a great document on the www.catholic.com website (“Adam, Eve, and Evolution”) and the encyclical Humani Generis (specifically para 37).
Before the next class, my daughter asked for a clarification from one of the CCD teachers that they were teaching that Adam was just symbolic and that he might not have existed. The teacher confirmed this. My daughter showed the instructor the Humani Generis paragraph 37 from “Adam, Eve, and Evolution”, but was told to keep the information to herself.
The priest quickly became involved and stated to me (alone - no witnesses) that the Church did not have a teaching on polygenism or Adam. He also stated that the CCD teachers were teaching accurate doctrine. I realized that these two positions contradicted each other, but the priest was pretty upset and I felt it wiser to just listen at that point.
My wife and I sent an email to the priest and the CCD teachers asking for a clarification on their statements and teaching on polygenism and existence of Adam. We asked for a meeting (members of the parish council agreed to be at this meeting) to get a face-to-face clarification which would allow each to present his or her position in a safe and supportive environment.
I am the altar server leader and am obviously in close proximity to the priest. At today’s mass (only one each week), the priest asked to speak with me. He again stated that the teaching of polygenism was ok and that Adam may not have existed. I attempted to discuss Humani Generis, but the priest was not interested in what Pope Pius XII had to say on the issue. The priest then added (he said this very quickly so I am not certain that I am getting this exactly correct) that the Church’s only requirement was that there was a single source of original sin, but that these two people did not have to be “Adam” or even “Eve”. As this seemed to again contradict his earlier statements, and he was becoming agitated, I felt it prudent to let him talk. The priest also added that he would not be part of a meeting to discuss these issues.
My wife and I really wanted to have a meeting with impartial witnesses to keep the priest’s temper in check and to get other sets of ears & logic filters on the seemingly contradictory answers from the priest and CCD teachers.
What are our options? I am in the military and have a US Military Arch Diocese. We are very much interested in a definitive description of the Church’s official teaching.
