Is it the Church's fault if you aren't properly catechized?

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The Church can certainly help, and we all become responsible for our own catechesis after a certain age, but without a solid foundation established in childhood, most normally through the parents, there’s going to be a lot of difficulty. In modern society, parents need to take a much larger role in educating their children. We’re not all Biblical or philosophy scholars, nor should we be. But we should be making examples of putting God first, family prayer, doing good, and reading scriptures. That used to be enough. If we don’t know how to answer a child’s inevitable query on points of theology or scripture, we should know at least how to get them to answers.
 
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Hey I left out ‘old’! A young person can be a geezer if they have the wisdom of the aged lol. No dice huh? Okay I apologize.
 
The parents are the principle catechists and exemplars of what it means to live a Christian life as they live the life of the domestic church. The Church universal assists them in their mission, including but not limited to formal Faith Formation. As we grow up we become more and more responsible for our own knowledge of the faith.

At this point, if we’re mature enough to be on these forums, we’re mature enough to be fully responsible for seeking out the Truth, again with the assistance of the Universal Church.
 
Oneofthewomen said:
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1neophyte:
80% parent’s fault, 20% the Church’s fault. The sad thing is that there are many, many parents who sincerely believe they are fulfilling their responsibility by sending their kids to religious education, without ever realizing how abysmal and feckless the catechesis is.
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As a Catechist, I find this attitude insulting.
I spend hours each week planning lesson/activities. I get my students for 1.5 hours twice a month. I can only do so much.
Parents need to realize that they also need to reinforce what their child is being taught, and if they don’t know, then it is their responsibility to educate themselves.

In my parish, and in most parishes in my area, Faith formation is the last thing to get any money, and rarely do we ever get enough to even cover the cost of necessary materials. And parents who have no problem buying $150 hockey sticks or a $400 phone for their kiddos pitch a fit when we ask them to contribute to book/material costs.
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I am a catechist as well, and everything you just said reaffirms my “attitude”. When the 9th graders walk into my class for the first time, they typically know nothing about anything, after 8 years of religious education. I was not insulting YOU, I was insulting “the system” for all of the reasons (and more) that you just described. I know all about the hours of preparation every week, and how futile the effort is.

At our parish, we have 25 classes per year. Last year, one of the students showed up for six of them. Six. We’ve had two classes so far this year, and he has been absent for both. If there was a wager involved, I would bet a fairly hefty sum that when the end of this year rolls around, his parents will expect him to be confirmed. Do I have the authority to say “no, he’s not ready”? No, I do not. That is where the Church’s 20% of responsibility comes in: total indifference to the problem. But I agree with you. The primary responsibility lies with the parents.
 
1ke said:
The Church is not a business. That you think in those terms is troubling.
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Uh, I beg to differ. Do you know what a parable is? The Church is most certainly a business. The “business” is not to generate a financial profit, but rather to save souls. And I assure you, if we take an honest hard look, we would see that our “profits” would make the “shareholders” quite upset. Yet we all just go about our business as if nothing is wrong, while the walls continue to collapse all around us.
 
I’d say it was the fault, collectively, of the Churchmen responsible for taking us from a point where we were well catechized by default to the point we’re at today where one needs to look far and wide to find a parish/school where the faith is actually taught. While all of this may have been done with the greatest of intentions, the results speak for themselves.
 
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Joe_5859 said:
I heard a troubling statistic recently that only 5% of Catholic children who do not go to Catholic school will maintain the practice of their faith into adulthood…
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You may have addressed it, but I didn’t see it, so I’ll ask. Do you blame any one particular group for that statistic?
 
I think the Church should try to catechize adults a little more, and though they do make an effort in many parishes, doctrine almost as often gets the ‘mercy’ treatment - watered down.

If you grew up in the Church and you don’t know the catechism, then it is the Church’s fault and your parents’ as well. If you converted or re-entered later, and you don’t know what is going on , that is half your fault and half the Church’s.

These days I would say learning the catechism is quite do it yourself. And in the era of dueling doctrines/lack thereof, this responsibility will only intensify. I personally would be wary of both ‘wings’ as a newcomer. (liberal / traditional whatever the current phrases are) Listen to both sides, then make up your own mind.
 
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I knew an unmarried couple who had their children baptized when the kids were ages 4 and 8, because the mother wanted to provide the benefits of baptism. But the parents, though raised Catholic, did not practice the faith or attend church, nor did that change after the children’s baptism. The kids will only vaguely recall being baptized, nothing else. I don’t think they can be blamed if they don’t practice their faith.
 
1neophyte said:
Sooo you’re both giant babies. Congratulations. Stop being “offended” over nonsense.
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It sounds as though you’re offended. Or else, why are you calling us “babies”? If you’re not offended, then simply answer the question and move on.

As for me, I simply made my point. And I’ll make it again. Take responsibility for your actions. Blaming the Church or anyone else for that matter, doesn’t make you look good. It makes you sound like a whiner.
 
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