Why Does The Catholic Church Do Such A Poor Job Teaching Its Members?

[MHT32]

I think its not that the Church is doing a bad job, I think its more of the fact that some people just arent interested in learning about the faith, especially the young church. If, somehow, a majority of the young church would be willing to learn and live the faith, then the Church would be excellent at educating its members of the faith. In K-8 at a Catholic school, I learned very little about the faith (I learned the sacraments, commandments, beatitudes, etc.) but didnt really learn anything in depth (Why something is a sin and where in scripture it shows it is a sin, evidence for certain doctrines in the bible, etc.) I had to learn that on my own. Everyone else I knew (whose parents weren’t devout) didn’t really care for learning about the faith. Blame the younger members, not the institution.

 

[Diana_Catherine]

as one waiting for RCIA to begin, i am OVERWHELMED with how much there is to learn about Catholicism!

it’s like trying to sip water from a fire hose

i am having a blast reading everything i can get my hands on and bothering my priests with questions…

wish i had more hours in the day to study:shrug:

Welcome. Glad you are here. You are right, there is a lot to learn.

 

[Diana_Catherine]

I am 60 years old. A cradle Catholic. Went to Catholic grammer school for eight years (first through eighth grade) and even went to a Catholic university for four years. And up to about two years ago I had just a rudimentry knowledge of Catholic teachings. It was discussions with Protestant friends that got me to learn more about The Church’s teachings. But I had to do it on my own! Why does The Church neglect the education of It’s members? I have called about 80% of the parished in my town asking if they offer a course on the Church teachings. Their reponse was they had RCIA classed and a Catholics Coming Home program but no other adult classes. Well, I am already a Catholic and I am already home but I want more in depth knowledge. A 20 minute homily on Sunday is not going to hack it when it comes to learning the Faith.

I have to agree with others, most churches offer classes, lectures and more but few show up. Today we have books and internet and EWTN on the radio and tv and a lot of ways to learn the faith.

 

[1ke]

I am 60 years old. A cradle Catholic. Went to Catholic grammer school for eight years (first through eighth grade) and even went to a Catholic university for four years. And up to about two years ago I had just a rudimentry knowledge of Catholic teachings. It was discussions with Protestant friends that got me to learn more about The Church’s teachings. But I had to do it on my own! Why does The Church neglect the education of It’s members?

News flash.

The Church’s teaching is, and always has been, that PARENTS are the primary educators of their children in the faith.

Don’t like the fact that your religious education was neglected, go tell your parents how disappointed you are in them.

Really. This is and was your parents’ responsibility. The Church is there as a help to parents, not a replacement.

 

[asia53]

News flash.

The Church’s teaching is, and always has been, that PARENTS are the primary educators of their children in the faith.

Don’t like the fact that your religious education was neglected, go tell your parents how disappointed you are in them.

Really. This is and was your parents’ responsibility. The Church is there as a help to parents, not a replacement.

You’re right. There are some Catholic parents at fault. However, my parents weren’t Catholic. So I definitely won’t be telling my parents how disappointed I am in them. How could they teach me something they don’t know???

 

[Phemie]

News flash.

The Church’s teaching is, and always has been, that PARENTS are the primary educators of their children in the faith.

Don’t like the fact that your religious education was neglected, go tell your parents how disappointed you are in them.

Really. This is and was your parents’ responsibility. The Church is there as a help to parents, not a replacement.

While this may be true, we have to remember that only a generation ago there was no resource for that like there are today. My parents learned catechism the same way I learned mine and the same way the teachers I had learned theirs: question and answers. There was no explanation, no discussion, you memorized and spit back the answers. Asking for an explanation got me ‘that’s what the Catechism says’ and nothing more. They couldn’t explain, they’d never learned beyond that. My parents taught me my prayers, the commandments and they took me to Church. I honestly don’t think they cold have done more with what they had.

My mother told of the days when one of the questions in their catechism was about the sin of going to the cabaret. Now to you and me that would mean going to the nightclub, we’re familiar with that word. As children, she and her siblings didn’t know the word and neither did my grandmother. They didn’t own a dictionary (I suspect the catechism might have been one of the few books in their house) and in Acadian French in those days ‘cabaret’ was used to mean ‘tray’. She said every time they were told to go get ‘the tray’ (le cabaret) they thought they were sinning.

Today, most of us are literate, we have access to internet with everything that entails and we are much better qualified to teach our children.

 

[1ke]

You’re right. There are some Catholic parents at fault. However, my parents weren’t Catholic. So I definitely won’t be telling my parents how disappointed I am in them. How could they teach me something they don’t know???

With all due respecct, I wasn’t speaking to you or about you.

The OP clearly indicated that they are a cradle Catholic.

 

[iloveangels]

With all due respecct, I wasn’t speaking to you or about you.

The OP clearly indicated that they are a cradle Catholic.

This conversation always jumps back to catechesis as a child too, probably because of the way things have been done in the past. Which, um, hasn’t worked out so well.

Think about this: You’re a kid til you’re about 18. The rest of your life is about 50 years of adulthood. What about that? People also need ongoing catechesis as adults. In fact, they may need it just as much or more as children.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

as one waiting for RCIA to begin, i am OVERWHELMED with how much there is to learn about Catholicism!

it’s like trying to sip water from a fire hose

i am having a blast reading everything i can get my hands on and bothering my priests with questions…

wish i had more hours in the day to study:shrug:

:clapping::extrahappy:

God bless you in your journey home! Love your attitude!

 

[TheRealJuliane]

“I am just happy and excited that God lit a fire inside of me to really learn the Word of God and follow him more closely.”

Me, too…why it’s like being born again or something!

Heh, it is indeed!

:yup:

 

[guanophore]

I can relate to this. In my experience it is easy to blame the Church for a lack of education or options provided, but with a liitle effort and talking to the priest, you can find many resources (I know, because I recently started getting off my rear and started to actively seek the Word of God). Realistically, the Bible is the most owned book in the world and the least read book in the world. My wife and I are currently in The Great Adventure bible study course, and it has been wonderful.

That said, I grew up in a Catholic family and went to Catholic grade school and high school and am embarassed at how little I learned or retained. About a month or two ago some family members were discussing Fatima, and I (horrifyingly embarassed) hadn’t even heard of this. I admit, I was not much of a practicing Catholic prior to about a month and a half ago where I have really come back to the faith and just have a real hunger to learn more about my faith and am just so invigorated.

So I can see both sides of this argument. I think the Catholic school system could do a better job of teaching our youth, especially at the higher grade levels where more mature Catholic themes can be discussed. This is just my opinion, but I also can’t blame (and am not blaming) the Catholic church for my ignorance and laziness… I am just happy and excited that God lit a fire inside of me to really learn the Word of God and follow him more closely.

May God richly bless this fire!

As a catechist for confirmation preparation, I can certainly attest to the lack of parental involvement in religious education. I have seen many youth grudginly go through both the preparatin and the sacrament just to “get it over with”. Parents, wittingly or unwittingly, communicate to their offspring that Confirmation is the completion of CCD and they seem to believe that their Catholic duty to raise their children in the faith will be accomplished when they are confirmed. Rarely are the youth taught that Confirmation, being one of the Rites of Initiation, is the BEGINNING of them taking responsiblity for growing in the faith.

 

[gigi4747]

“You don’t know that you’re missing something if you don’t know those things exist.”

Ditto this.

I’m surprised at the negative feedback the OP is getting for asking her very valid and important question. imo it’s the question we all should be asking ourselves if we want to meet our obligation to transmit the Faith to the generations that come after us. What HAS produced the legions of baptized and confirmed Catholics who are almost illiterate in what the Church teaches? Why are so many lifelong Catholics and even Catholics who have been through 12 years of Catholic school and/or Catholic university seem either to have outright hostility to Church teachings, or are at best just kind of lukewarm towards them? Why are so many Catholics leaving in the Church for either no practice or evangelicalism? I don’t claim to have the answers to these questions, but we should all be wondering about them, and I don’t think it’s all simply due to a lack of adult learning.

I realize there are actually a couple of phenomena here that we’re dealing with. Simply put, one is poor catechesis. Another is adult Catholics’ failing to practice their Faith in a meaningful way. We have to figure out why these two phenomena are happening and how much interplay there is between them.

There are no simple answers, but one issue is that of children’s formation. Was anyone under 60 or so taught from the Baltimore Catechism? I am eternally grateful that I learned Catholic prayers, esp the Rosary, in my 5 years in Catholic grammar school, but I guess I feel that very little of my Catholic education or experience at Mass listening to homilies etc gave me a reason for being Catholic. The emphasis seemed to be on God in a generic sense and being nice to people. And sure enough, how many times have we heard that, “It’s more important just to be a good person,” than to go to church or to be religious? (And I realize that alot of the rhetoric we hear in the modern world sets up false choices. Here it’s “either go to church or be a nice person.” Obviously, the ideal is that we will do/be both.)

It seems like we need to give people a reason for being Catholic, not just a nice person. I realize that all the great modern Catholic evangelists like the people at Catholic Answers and EWTN and even just the faithful in our local parishes are doing critical work, but the OP’s question is still worth considering.

 

[john78]

I am 60 years old. A cradle Catholic. Went to Catholic grammer school for eight years (first through eighth grade) and even went to a Catholic university for four years. And up to about two years ago I had just a rudimentry knowledge of Catholic teachings. It was discussions with Protestant friends that got me to learn more about The Church’s teachings. But I had to do it on my own! Why does The Church neglect the education of It’s members? I have called about 80% of the parished in my town asking if they offer a course on the Church teachings. Their reponse was they had RCIA classed and a Catholics Coming Home program but no other adult classes. Well, I am already a Catholic and I am already home but I want more in depth knowledge. A 20 minute homily on Sunday is not going to hack it when it comes to learning the Faith.

with the internet as advanced as it is now, one should be able to find out as much information they want on Catholic teachings pending of course they can navigate the internet and know how to use search engines.

but i notice that if there is not a need then there is no demand for it, i emailed my diocese in regards to why i always here about marrage retreats, and outings for single men, prayer groups, youth groups, but nothing for actual single young adults who want to meet other singles with in the catholic faith but not at a bar, or online but in our own community.

I had a fairly generic response come back to me, but not long after I happen to look in the church bulletin and there is a blurb about an up coming singles event at the church hall for exactly what i had talked about.

point being, try contacting your local diocese website, send an email to the bishops office in regards to what is concerning you; but for quick answers to your questions, I find this forum very helpful, people are ready and willing to help out when possible.

Plus if you are knowledgeable and have the time, and want to of course / you might be able to form your own class or to have a group function with those in your parish to talk about church teachings, and see how it goes from there.

plenty of options out there for what you are looking for.

 

[Joe_5859]

I think there are more and more parishes out there that are offering and promoting Adult Faith Formation opportunities. But many parishes do not have such a thing. Some have tried and discovered that no one came. Others have never tried because it’s not how “we’ve always done things.”

Remember who makes up the Church: we do. If we notice an area that needs more attention, maybe that’s God calling us to step up to the plate. I think too often we approach our clergy with our hands held out asking them to constantly give us more and more. A better approach is to go to them with what we can do to help them. We can go up to our pastor and tell them we are interested in starting up an adult Bible study for which we are more than willing to do the legwork. Then ask for his blessing and support and ideas if he has any. There are lots of great out-of-the-box programs (like the Great Adventure Bible Timeline) which do not require the organizer to have a degree in theology in order to be able to put together for their parish.

 

[Bix]

News flash.

The Church’s teaching is, and always has been, that PARENTS are the primary educators of their children in the faith.

Don’t like the fact that your religious education was neglected, go tell your parents how disappointed you are in them.

Really. This is and was your parents’ responsibility. The Church is there as a help to parents, not a replacement.

With all due respect, what about converts? What about those who convert from another Religion as an adult? RCIA is good, but it certainly can’t replace years of growing up with two Catholic parents.

What about those adults who weren’t raised by religious parents who are coming into the Church? Do we simply say, sorry you drew the bad parent card…?

 

[kkollwitz]

An adult Catholic who doesn’t feel adequately catechized should check Amazon, the local Catholic bookstore, the library, the Internet, and Catholic adult classes in his area; and start learning on his own.

 

[guanophore]

An adult Catholic who doesn’t feel adequately catechized should check Amazon, the local Catholic bookstore, the library, the Internet, and Catholic adult classes in his area; and start learning on his own.

I have learned more about my faith since I joined here than I did in my whole lifetime before.

The Mass can be accessed online through EWTN and you can also find a Catholic radio station near you that will bring you Catholic programming 24/7 and will answer a lot of your questions.

I also recommend having the daily mass readings delivered to your email. I like the Veritas

You can also get them from the US Bishops. If you use iTunes you can download the readings and a reflection, which will help you understand the way Catholics interpret scripture.

there is a free correspondence course on the Catholic faith. This is especially designed to be low profile for persons in your situation.

There is also a more extensive Catholic homestudy series.

 

[Viola_Incognita]

Thank you for the resources, guanophore!

 

[iloveangels]

With all due respect, what about converts? What about those who convert from another Religion as an adult? RCIA is good, but it certainly can’t replace years of growing up with two Catholic parents.

What about those adults who weren’t raised by religious parents who are coming into the Church? Do we simply say, sorry you drew the bad parent card…?

It is true that we have a bit of a revolving door when it comes to converts. Some of them come in, look around at our craziness and then leave again because of all the situations in the Church. Some of them are just passing through in order to snag a mate too.

Nevertheless, the converts that stick around usually end up knowing the Catholic faith significantly better than cradle Catholics. And they usually don’t take it for granted either. They’ve had to work to get here and don’t just stop working at the door.

 

[Drechev]

I am 55, a cradle Catholic who has learned most of her Catholic faith in the JPII years, and love it! I am about to take on a post as director of religious education at a local parish. How can I be sure to A) not make the mistakes of the past generation regarding handing down our Catholic faith and heritage, while B) not alienate a staff and parish I need?
All suggestions welcome
DRE