Pastor does not approve of Seton Religion

[mcurran6]

In the Diocese of Charlotte
in the Winston-Salem Vicerate

the Pastor must approve the books of religion for young people.
If its A Catholic High-School, Youth Group, Faith Formation, or Home-schooled student.
every young catholic ( teen ) Catholic must have a religion education

I get my Religion Seton books approved every year by my pastor.
But I was thinking

what if the Pastor does not approve of Seton religion books?
and I am fully enrolled

is there a way I can do Faith Formation and not Seton religion? and just count Faith Formation grades on my Seton Transcript. or would I just have to do both?

Just Wondering

Thanks

For Life,
Matt C.Curran
www.triadstudentsforlife.webs.com

[Deacon Gene]

It is true that every Catholic child should be given a Catholic education. The purpose in life is to get to Heaven, by knowing, loving and serving God. So every Catholic child must be taught how to do that through a Catholic education. Pope Leo XIII in the encyclical Militantis Ecclesiae, or the Church Militant, said that if a student's curriculum does not have the aura of the Faith completely through it, damage will be done to the student. Pope Pius XI wrote an encyclical called the Christian Education of Youth which also specifies the importance of the entire curriculum, not just a religion class, being presented in a faith filled atmosphere.

However, It is not true that the pastor must approve of the books used for the religious training of children. The 1983 Code of Canon Law specifically acknowledges both the duty and the right of the parents to choose the schools and materials for the “catholic education” of their children.

Can. 793 §1 Parents, and those who take their place, have both the obligation and the right to educate their children. Catholic parents have also the duty and the right to choose those means and institutes which, in their local circumstances, can best promote the catholic education of their children.

Canon 793 specifies that parents have the right and the duty, so they MUST choose the “means and institutes,” to educate their children in the Faith (“catholic education”). The ‘institutes’ would be the schools, and the ‘means’ would be the books used for this Catholic education. So parents have the right to use Seton Home Study School, which has been declared to be a Catholic school by the bishop of the Diocese of Arlington, where Seton is headquartered, under the conditions set in Canon 803. They also have the right to use the books in Seton’s curriculum.

Canon Law also provides for bishops to approve the Catholic content of books by the granting of an Imprimatur. All of Seton’s religion books have such formal approval by a bishop, so they can be chosen by parents for the formal Catholic education of their children, without anyone else’s secondary approval.

If a D.R.E. or pastor should claim otherwise, concerned parents can point out Canon 793 to him. E.W.T.N. has a letter posted on its web site, (http://www.ewtn.com/LIBRARY/CURIA/CDWCONF.HTM), to a U.S. bishop directing him to Confirm a young girl on the basis of Canon Law having precedence over his local rules. In this letter, Rome pointed to Canon 843 which states that bishops and priests “may not deny the sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them ... and are not prohibited by (Canon) law from receiving them.” The end condition, of not being prohibited by law, does not refer to the local diocesan or parish rules about age or use of the CCD program, but to Canon Law’s restrictions. For example, a married man is prohibited by Canon Law from being ordained a priest, or from a second marriage. In the case sited, the girl was 10 or 11 and the bishop had a rule that one could not be Confirmed until at least 15. Rome overturned his local rule.

This applies to the current question. If a parent chooses to enroll at Seton, and use Seton’s books, the pastor, by Canon Law, may not deny First Communion or Confirmation on the basis that the family did not use his CCD program, or his ‘approved’ books.
Can. 843 ß1 Sacred ministers may not deny the sacraments to those who opportunely ask for them, are properly disposed and are not prohibited by law from receiving them.

In conclusion, a pastor really does not have the authority to deny the use of Seton's books which have the Imprimatur granted to them.

Deacon Gene

[Poblacht na hÉireann]

the books have to be approved by the diocese???

[Rose of the dance]

I had no idea they had to be either.

[Poblacht na hÉireann]

And what if the pastor doesn't approve?

[Rose of the dance]

If they don't, I assume you can't do it. I'm not sure.

[Poblacht na hÉireann]

So, what would the next course of action be?

[~Songwriter_at_Heart~]

But theoretically that won't happen.

In conclusion, a pastor really does not have the authority to deny the use of Seton's books which have the Imprimatur granted to them.

[Poblacht na hÉireann]

Yeah, just wondering... cuz I'll be doing them anyway. lol. hbu?

[~Songwriter_at_Heart~]

Yeah, just wondering... cuz I'll be doing them anyway. lol. hbu?

Yeah, I'm doing Seton (kinda like a no brainer ) but this is turning into spam again.