Dissent at RCIA?

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maireteresa

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One of the RCIA leaders criticised Pope Paul V1 for not allowing birth control. I was astonished.
I’m a sponsor. What should I do? (besides telling my catechumen that she was wrong).
materesa
 
:eek: talk to the priest or who ever heads the RCIA program …this person and their ANTI-CATHOLIC views are not what the RCIA group needs…
 
maireteresa said:
One of the RCIA leaders criticised Pope Paul VI for not allowing birth control. I was astonished.
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As well you should be. That RCIA “leader” needs to subjected to a coup (bloodless, of course) for several reasons:
  1. No one teaching RCIA can teach dissent.
  2. Pope Paul VI didn’t not allow birth control. The Catholic Church allows birth control. What she doesn’t allow is artificial contraception.
  3. She doesn’t allow artificial contraception because it disorders human sexuality. No pope, not even Pope Paul VI, can wave some sort of magic “pope wand” and make a sin stop being sinful.
If I were you, I’d confront this so-called leader and tell him either to stick to the Catechism or else find some other venue to blather about this lack of faith.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
It is my opinion that when one undertakes to teach RCIA or Catachism in a parish, one takes on an obligation to teach what the Church teaches. They have no right to be teaching their opinions opposing Church teachings. I hope that the Pastor will consider this obligation when you speak with him about this matter. If a person cannot objectively teach, they should not even be trying. I think there are any number of Cathechists out there who are anxious for converts and tend to water down or dispute anything they think a candidate or catechumen might have difficulty accepting. It leads people into the Church under false assumptions that it really isn’t that way or that well it will change soon. What a diservice to those being taught!
 
What brass! It would be interesting to know how many years this person has been teaching this course. Absolutely no basic understanding of who/what the RC church is.
 
Sometimes talent is needed. I would not advise calling someone down publicly as that could easily feed conflict and damage the class for all. What we do is to allow them to finish then we patiently and with out emotion explain the Church teaching, the base under the Church teaching, and the relevance of this teaching to other Church teachings. Usually the Catechumens recognize the coherent overall plan and show increased respect for the Church once this overall teaching is explained. So treat this as an opportunity. If you have to get personally involved prepare the lesson, then next week simply stand up and say" I need to review with the class the church teachings on Marriage, Procreation, NFP, and Contraception" - Then just do it. If they interrupt you stop allow them them to vent and without emotion continue. The best lesson in being humble is to lead by example. Good luck
 
I’d try to address this issue privately with the instructor herself/himself. Perhaps it can be resolved at that level. Otherwise, I’d talk to the pastor, and soon. I wouldn’t recommend taking over instruction within the class without obtaining permission from the pastor.
 
St Paul’s letters to Timothy should have prepared us not to be surprised by this.
 
… I wouldn’t recommend taking over instruction within the class without obtaining permission from the pastor.
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Maybe I should be clearer. I am not recommending you commandeer the class. If you would like the other “RCIA leaders” to perform the correct teaching that is fine. Similarly if the Deacon or Priest is brought in that is fine. The point I am trying to express is no one needs to be confrontational or argumentative. And this can easily be turned into a learning opportunity which gains the respect of the catechumens. Please understand the reverse can be true also which is; allowed to stand alone the catechumens will typically lose respect for the RCIA team.

We do not substitute this for a class, this is done during the Q&A session.
 
Texas;

“Sponsor” is a different role than the Catechist/Facilitator.

A sponsor shouldn’t give a teaching unless invited to by the Coordinator of RCIA, or by the priest in charge.
 
you have the right to sound, complete teaching on Catholic doctrine. You should confront the catechist and ask point blank if this class is going to teach the faith or teach doubt and dissent, because you have no wish to waste your time hearing anything that is not in accord with Catholic belief and practice. You are not required to endure this type of thing. If the answer is not satisfactory make an appointment with the pastor on Monday morning and ask him if this type of teaching has his approval.
 
Texas_Roofer said:
That is a little offensive. :whistle:( sorry I can not find one holding his tongue)
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:confused:

I don’t know what’s offensive about it. One person teaching without the authority of the pastor or RCIA coordinator doesn’t justify someone else doing exactly the same. After all, both are teaching what they “think” the Church “ought to teach.”

And neither has been given permission.

No, the proper order of things is to get the permission of the pastor or the RCIA coordinator to give a teaching. That way, you know that you’re teaching what the Church teaches, and not merely your personal opinion.

It’s possible to fall off the straight and narrow into either ditch. Obedience is the key to staying upright and forward moving. 😉
 
Thank you all for your feedback. I truly appreciate it.
May God bless you all this Sunday at Mass.
Maire
 
maireteresa said:
One of the RCIA leaders criticised Pope Paul V1 for not allowing birth control. I was astonished.
I’m a sponsor. What should I do? (besides telling my catechumen that she was wrong).
materesa
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Why did this person single out Pope Paul VI? I don’t recall any other pope allowing artifical birth control.
 
maireteresa said:
One of the RCIA leaders criticised Pope Paul V1 for not allowing birth control. I was astonished.
I’m a sponsor. What should I do? (besides telling my catechumen that she was wrong).
materesa
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That’s nothing, our priest talked about the “scandal” of the churches pro-life stance in his homily this morning at mass. Many compaints have been registered with the bishop about this sort of thing. Apparently he is in agreement with this priest. What do we do now?
 
LeahInancsi said:
Why did this person single out Pope Paul VI? I don’t recall any other pope allowing artifical birth control.
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This would be because he wrote Humanae Vitae. People tend to focus on it in their minds. It is often quoted in conversations about contraception. Perhaps a person might think he could have changed the teaching, perhaps on account of news reports at the time concerning any advice he might have received from a commission of some sort.

I have seen a focus on PPVI before.
 
jmcrae said:
Texas;

“Sponsor” is a different role than the Catechist/Facilitator.

A sponsor shouldn’t give a teaching unless invited to by the Coordinator of RCIA, or by the priest in charge.
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You should make sure your candidate or catechumen understands to correct teaching of the Church.
 
puzzleannie said:
you have the right to sound, complete teaching on Catholic doctrine. You should confront the catechist and ask point blank if this class is going to teach the faith or teach doubt and dissent, because you have no wish to waste your time hearing anything that is not in accord with Catholic belief and practice. You are not required to endure this type of thing. If the answer is not satisfactory make an appointment with the pastor on Monday morning and ask him if this type of teaching has his approval.
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pure, clean, perfect advice

🙂
 
LeahInancsi said:
You should make sure your candidate or catechumen understands to correct teaching of the Church.
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Yes, exactly.

And you can speak other RCIA participants privately, at coffee time, or whatever. And you could volunteer to give a teaching at a future date, to the priest and/or RCIA coordinator, and wait for their permission to do so.

You could also approach the person who gave the talk privately, and express your concern that they don’t seem to be in agreement with Catholic teachings, and suggest that maybe they try to stick to the Catechism for the sake of those who could become confused and think that the Church is changing its mind on this issue.

But commandeering the question and answer session with an impromptu lecture would be completely inappropriate.
 
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