Need advice on errors in children's religious ed at parish

[CatholicSwede]

My husband and I have 3 children who are in faith formation at our parish. We teach them the faith and home as well as daily family rosary. I KNOW that we are primary catechists for our children. We do place them in our parish rel. ed. to reinforce this teaching and to allow for a stronger connection to parish life and Catholic friends. Here’s the problem:

Our youth minister who runs the faith formation for 7th-12th grade is showing our students a movie over 3 weeks. The movie is “Entertaining Angels - The Dorothy Day Story” I have not seen the movie but read several reviews (we are VERY careful about what movies our children are allowed to watch) It is PG13 for sensuality. The focus of the film is her life PRIOR to her conversion during which she had an abortion and became an unwed mother. This is a Hollywood movie and they tend to glamorize all that is vice and minimize all that is virtue. We did not allow the kids to watch it and kept them home that night. The second installment is tonight.

My husband already talked with the pastor and he’s all for the movie, saying the worse the sinner the stronger the conversion. That’s great, but we feel the line’s been crossed into giving scandal now…the education provided has been very minimal. If my kids only learned their Catechism at church, I’m very sure they’d learn nothing at all.

Do any of you do home religion? I have one who’d be confirmed next year and I don’t know if we can get her confirmed if we take her out of class. But I don’t want her in class is there she’ll be scandalized. Have any of you seen this movie? Is it as bad as the reviews? Are we over reacting? My guts tell me to take them out, more damage is being done than good. Have any of you had similar experiences that could help us make a good decision?

 

[MargieOh]

I am a former parish DRE for grades K-6. After leaving my position, I refused to send my daughter for confirmation prep due to the total inadequacy of the program. Because the confirmation director was a former co-worker (and also my husband’s niece) I was able to have her confirmed without going to classes.

My friend alos wanted to do the same for her daughter several years after my experience. She was told “NO WAY” and believe me, this family is on its way to sainthood - family rosary daily, pilgrimages, pro-life, the whole thing. But the pastor insisted they enroll their children in order to receive sacraments.

Thanks be to God, they have a goo d priest friend who allowed the daughter to be confirmed in his parish without any classes.

So the bottom line is, it is up to the whims of the pastor. He is ultimately responsible for being sure that children and adults are properly prepared to receive the sacraments.

My advice - make an appointment with him and be frank about your concerns about inadequate catechesis. Prepare a plan for home catechisis that does the job. Present this to him. If he refuses, ask him to put into writing his reasons so you can petition the bishop. If he refuses agian, go straight to the bishop.

I honestly believe more harm than good comes from inadequate catechesis and we need to protect our children by giving them the truth. No one has the right to feed our children falsehood.

I’ll pray for you.

 

[rpp]

My husband and I have 3 children who are in faith formation at our parish. We teach them the faith and home as well as daily family rosary. I KNOW that we are primary catechists for our children. We do place them in our parish rel. ed. to reinforce this teaching and to allow for a stronger connection to parish life and Catholic friends. Here’s the problem:

Our youth minister who runs the faith formation for 7th-12th grade is showing our students a movie over 3 weeks. The movie is “Entertaining Angels - The Dorothy Day Story” I have not seen the movie but read several reviews (we are VERY careful about what movies our children are allowed to watch) It is PG13 for sensuality. The focus of the film is her life PRIOR to her conversion during which she had an abortion and became an unwed mother. This is a Hollywood movie and they tend to glamorize all that is vice and minimize all that is virtue. We did not allow the kids to watch it and kept them home that night. The second installment is tonight.

My husband already talked with the pastor and he’s all for the movie, saying the worse the sinner the stronger the conversion. That’s great, but we feel the line’s been crossed into giving scandal now…the education provided has been very minimal. If my kids only learned their Catechism at church, I’m very sure they’d learn nothing at all.

Do any of you do home religion? I have one who’d be confirmed next year and I don’t know if we can get her confirmed if we take her out of class. But I don’t want her in class is there she’ll be scandalized. Have any of you seen this movie? Is it as bad as the reviews? Are we over reacting? My guts tell me to take them out, more damage is being done than good. Have any of you had similar experiences that could help us make a good decision?

Hey, I am an adult and, for the sake of my own soul, I do not watch PG-13 movies which get the rating for “sensual” content. In fact, I have pretty much given up on Hollywood movies.

I would object strongly and not let your children be exposed to Hollywood’s idea saintliness. Priests can be wrong.

 

[Elzee]

You did right to voice your concerns first to your priest. I would tell him that you still have strong concerns about this being used as a catechetical tool and hope he understands that you feel an obligation to pass your concerns on to the bishop. Then I would write the bishop and cc your priest.

 

[kage_ar]

Check your diocisean guidelines - ours are VERY specific. A PG-13 movie cannot be shown if there is any child under age 13 in attendance - no exceptions, this applies to youth groups and RE.

My suggestion, watch the movie yourself first - then, if you do not want the older kids to see it, keep them home. You could even ask for a parent’s screening to be provided for all of the parents, then parents could decide FOR the kids.

As a CCD instructor and a youth group volunteer, I’d advise getting involved with these groups yourself instead of pulling the teens out. You will be a great help to your Parish!

 

[puzzleannie]

My Our youth minister who runs the faith formation for 7th-12th grade is showing our students a movie over 3 weeks. The movie is “Entertaining Angels - The Dorothy Day Story” I have not seen the movie but read several reviews (we are VERY careful about what movies our children are allowed to watch) It is PG13 for sensuality. The focus of the film is her life PRIOR to her conversion during which she had an abortion and became an unwed mother. n?

the easy answer there is to see the movie before you comment, it is excellent and definitely does not glamorize her life. it is the story of someone who may very well be a saint in the making.

the second question is, is using movies, or videos, any movies even religious ones, the best way to impart catechetical instruction. That is a pedagogical question and it depends on the content you are trying to teach, the group, the purpose for using the video, the follow-up and how the content will be used to impart the message of the lesson.

for that you should be discussing this with the DRE, youth catechist or whoever is in charge. There is usually a parent meeting at the beginning of the year where the curriculum is described and so forth. there is nothing wrong with showing a PG 13 movie to kids who are 13 and over, an R rated movie should of course never be shown. but it depends on the nature of the movie, and the DRE would have to come up with a very strong case for using any video in place of standard means of instruction. Entertaining Angels has a lot less disturbing content than, say Shrek 2 for instance. See the movie, find out why they showed it, then complain.

It is much the simplest and most satisfying thing for you to ask for an appointment to discuss this with the person in charge, who usually is not the pastor.