Dear Catholic Exchange:
I want to know as the Catholic parent if I'm obligated to pay for a Catholic school and send my children there. We do not have much money anymore so I do not really know if we could afford it but I wanted to know what obligation Catholics have. I'm a convert so I don't always know these things.
Kaylan
Dear Kaylan:
The answer to your question comes in three parts: (1) you have the right to send your child to any school; (2) you have the responsibility to provide for your child a Catholic education; and (3) you must determine which elements of a Catholic education the school in consideration will provide, which you will provide at home, and whether the school will also provide unacceptable impediments to a Catholic education.
Article 5 of the Charter of the Rights of the Family (1983 by the Holy See) clearly states that parents have the right to select a school for their child:
“Since they have conferred life on their children, parents have the original, primary and inalienable right to educate them; hence they must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children.
“a) Parents have the right to educate their children in conformity with their moral and religious convictions, taking into account the cultural traditions of the family which favor the good and the dignity of the child; they should also receive from society the necessary aid and assistance to perform their educational role properly.
“b) Parents have the right to choose freely schools or other means necessary to educate their children in keeping with their convictions. Public authorities must ensure that public subsidies are so allocated that parents are truly free to exercise this right without incurring unjust burdens. Parents should not have to sustain, directly or indirectly, extra charges which would deny or unjustly limit the exercise of this freedom.”
The document Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) from Vatican II addresses parental responsibility in educating children according to the teachings of the Church:
“Parents should regard as their proper mission the task of transmitting human life and educating those to whom it has been transmitted. They should realize that they are thereby cooperators with the love of God the Creator, and are, so to speak, the interpreters of that love. Thus they will fulfil their task with human and Christian responsibility, and, with docile reverence toward God, will make decisions by common counsel and effort. Let them thoughtfully take into account both their own welfare and that of their children, those already born and those which the future may bring. For this accounting they need to reckon with both the material and the spiritual conditions of the times as well as of their state in life. Finally, they should consult the interests of the family group, of temporal society, and of the Church herself. The parents themselves and no one else should ultimately make this judgment in the sight of God.” (no. 50).
Finally, our Faith Fact Raising Tomorrow's Saints: The Catholic Education of Youth provides elements necessary for a Catholic education. Given the situation in your locality, you should determine which school (including the option of the home school) is most conducive to the attainment of a Catholic education. If the school is Protestant, you may be compelled by your conscience to enroll your child in that school, and make up for its lack within the home.
United in the Faith,
Kathleen Rohan
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)
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