RCIA questions

[ChildofGod1]

1. What is the church teaching on hell? Does it exist?
2. What is the church teaching on evil? Does it exist?

Some members of our team were tellling the catechists that they don’t believe in hell because God is so loving that He would never punish that way. They also were saying that evil does not exist because everyone does what they believe to be right, therefore, even if it is bad by the “standards” of others it is not to them. I reallly need to be able to counter this because I believe that hell does exist–it is the free choice of man to renounce or deny God/Christ/Holy Spirit. I also believe that evil exists in the form of the devil and that one has the free choice to do that which is not good for ANYONE or that which harms others or most importantly harms God. Please set me straight!!

 

[jmcrae]

1. What is the church teaching on hell? Does it exist?

Yes.

1. What is the church teaching on evil? Does it exist?

Technically, “evil” is an absence of good - but, yes, evil certainly exists.

Some members of our team were tellling the catechists that they don’t believe in hell because God is so loving that He would never punish that way. They also were saying that evil does not exist because everyone does what they believe to be right, therefore, even if it is bad by the “standards” of others it is not to them. I reallly need to be able to counter this because I believe that hell does exist–it is the free choice of man to renounce or deny God/Christ/Holy Spirit. I also believe that evil exists in the form of the devil and that one has the free choice to do that which is not good for ANYONE or that which harms others or most importantly harms God. Please set me straight!!

Since when are the students teaching the Catechists (teachers)?

But if it was the teachers saying this to the students, then you need to mention it to your priest, that the teachers are saying things that don’t seem to be quite right, and tell him what they are saying.

 

[JCPhoenix]

It sounds to me that some of your “catechists” are actually moral relativists.

Consider purchasing a Catechism for them, along with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s “Truth and Tolerance”.

More importantly, if you don’t already have one, purchase a Catechism for yourself. If you are ever in doubt about what some alleged “teacher” says about the faith, you can check it in the yardstick we call the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It references scripture and gives reasons for what we believe and why we believe it…and different topics are found in the index.

If you can’t find something, defintely continue to post here. I found I had to get the “hang” of reading the Catechism because the index refers to paragraph numbers…it’s pretty specific.

Definitely speak to your priest…and if you’ve found yourself in a heterodox program…can you switch to another?

 

[itsjustdave1988]

1. What is the church teaching on hell? Does it exist?

Yes. The Catechism defines Hell as, “The state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed” (Glossary)

See more here, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church…Hell
the Church’s teaching on, 1036
as the consequence of the continual rejection of God, 1034
definition of, 1033-34
eternal separation from God as hell’s chief punishment, 1035
as the free and willful turning away from God, 1037
mortal sin as the cause of eternal death, 1861

 

[itsjustdave1988]

1. What is the church teaching on evil? Does it exist?

Properly defined, yes. Evil is defined in the Catechism as: “The opposition or absence of good… The entire revelation of God’s goodness in Christ is a response to the existence of evil” (Glossary)

See more here, from the *Catechism of the Catholic Church:
*Evil
aids to avoiding, 1806, 1889, 1950, 1962, 2527
attack of evil after the first sin, 401, 1707
choice between good and, 1732-33
Christ frees man from, 549, 1505
Christian faith as a response to, 309, 385
in the doctrines of Dualism and Manichaeism, 285
God’s power to bring good from the consequences of, 312-13, 412
God’s reign still under attack by, 671
God’s victory over, 272, 410, 677
ignorance and imputability of evil committed, 1791, 1793, 1860
immorality of doing evil for the sake of obtaining the good, 1789
Last Judgment for those who have committed, 1039
leading another to, 1869, 2284
moral, 311-12
and morality of human actions, 1749-56
not wishing evil on one’s neighbor, 2303, 2539
original sin as the origin of, 403, 407, 1607, 1707
physical, 310
prayer of delivery from, 2846, 2850-54 (see also “Our Father,” the prayer)
providence and the scandal of, 309-14
question of the origin of, 385
reason and the discernment of good and, 1954
in the religious behavior of men, 844
repetition of evil and its consequences, 1865
resurrection of judgment, 998
sin as the gravest, 1488
turning away from, 1427, 1431, 1706, 1776
universality of evil in the history of man, 401
See also Good

 

[itsjustdave1988]

Some members of our team were tellling the catechists that they don’t believe in hell because God is so loving that He would never punish that way.

When you say “our team” do you mean the RCIA team? If so, they ought to be correct by the pastor, because they are failing to teach in accord with Catholic doctrine. Every Catholic, including catechists and RCIA team members are bound by canon law to “avoid whatever does not accord with [Catholic] doctrine.” (Code of Canon Law, canon 752).

Either they are ignorant of Catholic doctrine or they are simply defiant. Either way, I’d say they lack the skills necessary to be RCIA team members and/or catechists.

They also were saying that evil does not exist because everyone does what they believe to be right, therefore, even if it is bad by the “standards” of others it is not to them.

This is called “relativism.” Pope Benedict XVI called relativism "the central problem for faith in our time" *Truth and Tolerance, by *Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004), p. 117]. Contrary to the opinions expressed by “the team,” Pope Bendict XVI has affirmed “there are things that are wrong and can never become right…there are things that are right and can never become wrong” (ibid., 117-118).

You might want to read and show your catechists John Paul II’s exhortation Catechesi Tradendae, where he describes the responsibility of the catechist in the Church:

Whatever be the level of his responsibility in the Church, every catechist must constantly endeavor to transmit by his teaching and behavior the teaching and life of Jesus. He will not seek to keep directed towards himself and his personal opinions … he will not try to inculcate his personal opinions and options as if they expressed Christ’s teaching and the lessons of His life. Every catechist should be able to apply to himself the mysterious words of Jesus: “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.”(Cf. Jn. 14:6) [no. 6]

I would bring this problem to the attention of the pastor, and if the problem is met with disinterest by him, then bring it to the attention of the bishop.

 

[ChildofGod1]

Thank you for the confirmation of my beliefs, and of course the Church’s teachings. I will be meeting tomorrow with the team and will express my concerns and have the CC with me. God bless

 

[Traditional_Ang]

Thank you for the confirmation of my beliefs, and of course the Church’s teachings. I will be meeting tomorrow with the team and will express my concerns and have the CC with me. God bless

Childof God:

I would suggest you have a brief conversation with your pastor (showing him a printout of this thread and the sheets from the CCC if necessary) and allow him to do the correcting. The Catechumens (people taking the RCIA Class) supposedly want to become Catholics, and what they are denying are the Teachings of the Church, not your personal opinions. The teachers of the RCIA class should know the doctrines of the Church, and should not be substituting their own personal opinions in their place. And, It’s the Pastor’s job to correct and admonish and establish standards in the parish’s RCIA program.

I’ve never been officially accepted as a Catholic, and I once taught a Confirmation Class at a parish which had NO Catechists (this was 25 years ago, before I left the Church). So, after looking at the textbooks and realizing they taught what your classmates want to belive, I threw them back in the box and taught from the Baltimore Catechism (That was the official Catechism of the Catholic Church for over 300 years, and having the parish buy sufficient copies of that, along with sufficient copies of the NAB to give each student a copy of each insured I had "textbooks) and the New American Bible. The students read the readings from the next Sunday’s readings, along with a section of the Baltimore Catechism, which they had to be able to describe the next week.

These kids learned about the Trinity, how Jesus is Truly God and Truly Man, the Sacraments and what they are and convey, the Teaching Authority of the Church, the Inerrancy of Sacred Scripture, the Infallibility of the Pope, and the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of the BVM.

I think I did pretty well for those 12-year olds.

Your Brother in Christ, Michael

 

[onmywayagain]

There are alot of good advice given. If the RCIA team is saying things like this, it should not go directly to the priest right away. Does your team have a Director/team leader? If they do take your concerns to the dir./team leader first. Then it should be taken to the Director of Religious Education (DRE). If the director and DRE cannot fix the problem then and only then should the parish priest get involved. The DRE should be able to handle a situation like this, that is why the parish priest put that person in charge.

I don’t know what it is like at your parish but, if they don’t have a DRE and/or team leader then by all means go to the priest. But if there is any of what I mentioned then follow the chain of command.

 

[ChildofGod1]

Thank you. Unfortunately the problem is with the RCIA directors and at this moment our parish has no DRE and to make matters worse the priest we have just said his first mass with us on Sunday!!! I am confident that the Holy Spirit will be working overtime with me and that I shall be still and listen. Prayers are deeply appreciated.

 

[milimac]

Thank you. Unfortunately the problem is with the RCIA directors and at this moment our parish has no DRE and to make matters worse the priest we have just said his first mass with us on Sunday!!! I am confident that the Holy Spirit will be working overtime with me and that I shall be still and listen. Prayers are deeply appreciated.

You would do the pastor (not to mention fellow candidates and future RCIA candidates in your parish) a huge favor by letting him know his house needs some cleaning. I’ll pray for you. Sounds like it might be good for you to do some studying on your own. Smart move on your part coming to www.catholic.com. I believe www.catechismclass.com has some supplemental RCIA classes that you can take as well, where you could be certain you’re getting orthodox Catholic teaching. Unfortunately you’ll probably still need to continue with your existing RCIA classes.