Why is Faith & Life banned in my Archdiocese?

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graceandglory

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I have been a Catholic school teacher for several years. I am very evangelical with my faith, and love to teach it. I especially love the Faith and Life series published by Ignatius Press. I requested in a different archdiocese to use the Faith and Life books Press in my classroom, and the archdiocese told me that it was not permitted. I am now teaching in a different Archdiocese and using Faith and Life. We have been told that we have to choose another curriculum, that the Ignatius Press series is not permitted in the Archdiocese.

I am hoping someone might have an answer as to why some archdioceses ban a very faithful, popular Catholic religious education program.

The Archdiocese won’t say why. The other books are, well, kind of Catholic-lite… a dumbed down version of the faith for kids. My students will recognize a strong downshift in their religious education if we switched.

I want to be faithful to the Archdiocese, Well, I will have to when we pick a different curriculum, out of obedience. It is hard to be obedient when I don’t understand.
 
The** Faith***** and Life*** series, now available in German as well as English, has attracted commendations from people everywhere. From parents to teachers to priests to cardinals, Faith and Life has proved not only popular, but also incredibly effective.
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Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) has mentioned that* Faith and Life* is “the best technical series in the German language.”
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And he’s not the only one praising this series!
Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn (Archbishop of Vienna & co-editor of Catechism Of the Catholic Church) has this to say:

“The appearance of the reworked German edition, Glaube und Leben, of the American Faith and Life catechism is a cause of great joy. For the past two decades, Faith and Life has proven to be an excellent series for religious instruction in schools and family catechesis in the home. I know families who use this faith series and bear witness to the excellent fruit it has brought forth. To all who wish to transmit the faith to children in schools or in the home, I recommend the*** Faith and Life*** series as a textbook of refreshing and high quality. Pray God this catechism series will give a strong impetus to the transmission of the faith and of Christian life in the German-speaking world.”
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ignatius.com/promotions/FaithAndLife/endorse.htm

[also…there are many endorsements from bishops on the bottom of the page link]

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You need to get an official diocesan policy answer…in the final analysis…it’s the bishop’s choice/decision…but you can and should get the policy reason.

Pax Christi
 
Lancer said:
[/INDENT]You need to get an official diocesan policy answer…in the final analysis…it’s the bishop’s choice/decision…but you can and should get the policy reason.

Pax Christi
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Wow! thanks for those words of confirmation!

I’m obviously not teaching the German version, and when I asked at the Archdiocese, they only said, “It isn’t on the approved list.”

And this is the 2nd Archdiocese that gives the same answer. We are not given a reason. We only cross our fingers and hope.

I am trying to have a heart of obedience, but when they don’t approve something that the Pope says is the best, it’s hard.
 
graceandglory said:
Wow! thanks for those words of confirmation!

I’m obviously not teaching the German version, and when I asked at the Archdiocese, they only said, “It isn’t on the approved list.”

And this is the 2nd Archdiocese that gives the same answer. We are not given a reason. We only cross our fingers and hope.

I am trying to have a heart of obedience, but when they don’t approve something that the Pope says is the best, it’s hard.
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I have a hard in obeying someone who disobeys the holy father.
 
Hard to understand this one either from my perspective. I guess one has to obey the Bishops but when you see things like this it does make it difficult. If there is something else on the approved list that is deep and faithful to the Catechism, I guess it is a wash but it is still a bit odd.

I am at the point that if I had kids we would likely consider homeschooling and would probably go with the Ignatius series to teach our kids the faith. Even if we didn’t home school, we might use it. I haven’t really heard anything bad about it at all.

I hope you get some answers and find something that you are comfortable with so that you believe that you are teaching the faith properly and faithfully.

Pax,
 
wisdomseeker said:
I have a hard in obeying someone who disobeys the holy father.
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As a point of reference, I see no evidence that anyone is disobeying the Pope. If the Holy See came out and mandated the use of this teaching resource and the Bishops did not, that would be disobedience. The Holy Father has expressed positive sentiments for this series, but has not stated that it is to be used. Big difference there…
 
I understand the feelings about the dumbing down of religious education in catholic parishes. In fact my time as a religious ed. teacher in my diocese’s cathedral parish was one of the key factors in my spending nearly 4 year away from the church. Thank God i am back and until there are some changes i wouldn’t teach at a parish again.
 
lewevanhoop said:
I understand the feelings about the dumbing down of religious education in catholic parishes. In fact my time as a religious ed. teacher in my diocese’s cathedral parish was one of the key factors in my spending **nearly 4 year away from the church. Thank God i am back **and until there are some changes i wouldn’t teach at a parish again.
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4 years? I was away 20!!! You really ought to consider teaching, they need teachers who are faithful to the Magisterium. what is the saying, “don’t leave Peter because of a Judas…” ?
 
That link that jwinch2 posted…

Maybe that’s the reason? There is a new edition of the Faith and Life series and it hasn’t been reviewed and approved by the USCCB yet?
 
at the time it was first published it had not been read and approved by the USCCB committee charged with reviewing texts (which were all reworked at that time) for compliance with the CCC, same with Ignatius’ earlier series “Image of God”. So it still remains on the “banned” list in many dioceses, not because it actually was ever “banned” but because it simply is not on a list of approved texts.

Sadly many dioceses fail to update those lists, even through mergers of publishers and entirely new editions. To my knowledge F&L has never been redone because it does not have to be, except for when workbooks were introduced. Time for DRE’s and pastors to get together and ask the Diocesan Office of Catechetics to review all texts particularly this series and the Didache series again.

When it came out F&L was among the most expensive (although the workbooks now make it much more competetive) but they still do not have a Spanish language edition. Quite frankly as much as I like it, we did try at one time but it is above the reading grade level of most of our students, and even of many catechists. it is my first choice for home-schoolers, and they for the most part can use it successfully.

there are more general discussion of RE texts on the evangelization forum.

to clarify above, the first editions of both Ignatius Press series were published before the English translation of the CCC came out and the US bishops established their textbook review standards based on in and preo-1996 text were automatically dropped from the list. It took a long time for a second edition, and as I say I don’t know if dioceses have caught up with them yet.
 
We had a weak religion text when my children were in parochial schools. I used Faith and Life myself to supplement. I tried to get the parish to use it, but they would not.
Always respect local Church authorities. On the other hand, higher Church authorities have not only endorsed this series, but the current and previous pope have identified the watering down of catechesis as a serious problem.
My experience is that it is usually not the pastor or (arch)bishop himself who rules out good materials. It is usually an entrenched mid manager downtown, who may be a holdover from a previous archbishop. Sometimes the archbishop is not easily able to “interfere” in a manager’s decision until some respectful person, like you, presents information to show that a manager’s decision was unreasonable or arbitrary. I suggest you contact Catholics United for the Faith for suggestions, since this is their series. Whether you use the process of Canon Law, or address it in another way, prepare everything in prayer, and respect those who disagree with you. “Obedience” does not mean you ignore what recent popes have taught about doctrinal content.
 
lewevanhoop said:
I understand the feelings about the dumbing down of religious education in catholic parishes. In fact my time as a religious ed. teacher in my diocese’s cathedral parish was one of the key factors in my spending nearly 4 year away from the church. Thank God i am back and until there are some changes i wouldn’t teach at a parish again.
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I always find it interesting when someone claims it was the “dumbing down” of others that caused them to* leave the church*… it sounds to me like*** you ***had the more significant problems with your catholic faith, since you were the one who abandoned it. Though, it must be said, perhaps God used this as a means of renewing your faith in time and thank God you have come home.

Nonetheless, graceandglory is right, you’re acknowledging that there is a problem in catholic faith teaching, and then obstinately stating that you won’t be part of the heavy lifting to get the problem solved. Of what use is that to the Body of Christ. What if your bodies white blood cells refused to be part of the immune system until the flu you were suffering was gone? (Answer: you would die because your body wouldn’t be fighting back).

It seems to me that you’re still suffering part of the faith crisis that caused you to leave the church: you’re not standing up to be a pillar of the faith for others. Perhaps now is the time to switch your perspective from “What does God have for me?” to “what does God need to be done that I can help with.”
 
jwinch2 said:
As a point of reference, I see no evidence that anyone is disobeying the Pope. If the Holy See came out and mandated the use of this teaching resource and the Bishops did not, that would be disobedience. The Holy Father has expressed positive sentiments for this series, but has not stated that it is to be used. Big difference there…
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Exactly. If the pope states that cheddar is the best cheese in the world, that does not mean that my pepperjack on roastbeef for lunch makes me disobedient to the pope.

We must be careful not to esteem this series as the only infallible source of catholic faith teaching. It is a GOOD one. It is not the ONLY one… and if oral tradition and catholic faith teaching is so dead that without the presence of one particular series it cannot be accomplished… well, maybe we should give up the ghost now if that’s the case.
 
I have had the same problem with Faith and Life in my Archdiocese. It was not ‘banned,’ but was not on the approved list of books. When I inquired as to why, I was told that the copyright date was too old. I continued to press for a better answer than that, and here is the entire response that I finally received:

**In response to your question about copyright dates, because there are so many wonderful religion series available that are current, the decision was made to limit the recommendations/approval to current series. It doesn’t make sense to encourage a school/PSR to spend a large amount of money for a series that is already old, when there are so many other excellent newer ones. As you know, Ignatius Press’ latest text on the USCCB conformity list has a copyright of 2005.

In addition, several years ago, the Ignatius Press Faith and Life 2003, 2002 series was reviewed by this office. Although in conformity with the C.C.C., it was found to be lacking in many areas crucial to good catechesis. For example, background for catechists was not as complete as desired/needed. How to locate books/verses in the Bible, praying with scripture, applying the message of scripture to life, were not stressed. The Church as the People of God and the Body of Christ was not stressed. Parents, although recognized as the primary religious educators of their children, had no specific aids such as parent pages, notes, bibliography, overview of series, background in theology, prayer suggestions for the home, ways to prepare children for sacraments, ways to celebrate liturgical feasts in the home. Social justice and service are not emphasized or developed.

We will continue to review series that are found in conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. When Ignatius Press has a new series on that conformity list, it will fall into the cycle of texts that we review.
**

I looked at the 7th grade text our school is going to use this fall and compared it to Faith and Life. There was no comparison. Faith and Life was solid and meaty. What we will be using will be Catholic Lite. It’s very sad.
 
I am not sure which Archdiocese you belong to, but it is likely that the series is not allowed not because of its orthodoxy, but because of its methodology. The Faith and Life series certainly is orthodox, but it fails in how it seeks to share the faith with the young people. My son is in first grade at a school using this series and I must say I was appalled when I saw his book. The reading level is in no way appropriate for that grade level.
Catechesis must be age appropriate, it is not mearly the transmission of theological facts and dogma, it is by its nature an evangelizing sharing of faith. A catechetical series must have solid theology and dogma, but it must also have solid methods for the transmission of that info that engages the learner and urges him or her to a deeper relationship with Christ.
I hold a masters degree from a Pontifical institution and I saw words in this series that I used in scholarly papers. Some may think this is a plus, but they are meaningless to a 1st grader. Again, if the material is not engaging, it will not make an impression.
I have looked at the materials on the Ad Hoc list and have noticed thay are all theologically sound, but that is all that list is concerned about. I have also used their insturments for deciding conformity. Methods are never considered, only the theology. I applaud the committee for this stand. This means any program on the list is going to have solid dogma all the catechetical leader must do is determine which program transmits that info in the best way.
In my opinion Faith and Life fails in this regard. I don’t know if this is the reason your Archdiocese has rejected it, but I think it is likely.

Peace
 
Sorry I’m late to this discussion. In my Texas diocese, F&L is also “NOT” approved. I was never given a clear reason. I finally heard that F&L teaches at a higher level than most kids can comprehend, and 2) it wasn’t friendly to once-a-week lessons for the parish RE classes, but more conducive towards Catholic schools that teach religion all week long. That being said, I told my DRE if she wanted me to continue teaching (20+ years) that I would take the grade book that was being ordered for our parish (Silver Burditt) and I would use it strictly for the purpose of setting an outline and use it as a guide for my sacramental class. However, I was going to use the F&L Grade 2 as my supplemental for all things relating to confession and Holy Communion. I said it wasn’t necessary to order workbooks for the children since I was not going to have them use them. I saved the church some money there, I made my own worksheets, and every year I have parents requesting me as their children’s Sacrament formation teacher because they know I will teach solid Catholicism to their children. (I also have the more progressive parents asking that their child NOT to be placed in my class. And that’s ok.)

My students are asked each year if they want me to teach them as more mature students who I think are capable of hearing big words (transubstantiation, incarnation, resurrection, transgressions…) and to be given harder homework to learn their faith or for me to teach them like Kindergarteners and 1st graders (which is where I think a majority of RE books are geared towards.) and teach them the easy, babyish lessons. Second graders aren’t fooled, they are tired of being told they’re too young to hear the hard stuff. My kids are loving the F&L lessons, and they are learning sooo much.
 
lubamachuba said:
Sorry I’m late to this discussion. In my Texas diocese, F&L is also “NOT” approved. I was never given a clear reason. I finally heard that F&L teaches at a higher level than most kids can comprehend, and 2) it wasn’t friendly to once-a-week lessons for the parish RE classes, but more conducive towards Catholic schools that teach religion all week long. That being said, I told my DRE if she wanted me to continue teaching (20+ years) that I would take the grade book that was being ordered for our parish (Silver Burditt) and I would use it strictly for the purpose of setting an outline and use it as a guide for my sacramental class. However, I was going to use the F&L Grade 2 as my supplemental for all things relating to confession and Holy Communion. I said it wasn’t necessary to order workbooks for the children since I was not going to have them use them. I saved the church some money there, I made my own worksheets, and every year I have parents requesting me as their children’s Sacrament formation teacher because they know I will teach solid Catholicism to their children. (I also have the more progressive parents asking that their child NOT to be placed in my class. And that’s ok.)

My students are asked each year if they want me to teach them as more mature students who I think are capable of hearing big words (transubstantiation, incarnation, resurrection, transgressions…) and to be given harder homework to learn their faith or for me to teach them like Kindergarteners and 1st graders (which is where I think a majority of RE books are geared towards.) and teach them the easy, babyish lessons. Second graders aren’t fooled, they are tired of being told they’re too young to hear the hard stuff. My kids are loving the F&L lessons, and they are learning sooo much.
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Faith & Life is a beautiful reader and religion book, but it is not conducive for classroom teaching, and grading. The tests are poorly written to be used as a grading instrument.
It is at a much higher comprehension level than the majority of children. I really struggled teaching Thomas Aquinas’s Five Proofs of the Existence of God to 6th graders.
 
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