{"id":47231,"date":"2015-08-31T13:16:44","date_gmt":"2015-08-31T17:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=47231"},"modified":"2015-08-31T13:16:44","modified_gmt":"2015-08-31T17:16:44","slug":"we-do-not-target-non-catholics-nor-do-we-seek-to-exclude-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2015\/08\/we-do-not-target-non-catholics-nor-do-we-seek-to-exclude-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"“We do not ‘target non-Catholics,’ nor do we seek to exclude anyone…”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

You may remember the story from several days back, regarding a new policy for schools in Springfield, Illinois<\/strong>.<\/a> Over the weekend, the diocese posted a response<\/a> <\/strong>to the article in question, published in the Springfield newspaper:<\/p>\n

First, it is important to state that the Catholic Church invites all people to an encounter\u00a0with Jesus Christ and the truths he teaches about our identity as children of God and the\u00a0moral standards living this identity demands. We do not \u201ctarget non-Catholics,\u201d nor do we seek\u00a0to exclude anyone. This is true of our parishes, as well as our schools.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Indeed, many of\u00a0these teachings are difficult, but the church did not invent them \u2014 Jesus revealed them.\u00a0They are found clearly in sacred scripture, and the church is the servant to these truths, not\u00a0the author.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Secondly, our school policy merely states openly and clearly that our schools will teach\u00a0the fullness of revealed truth about God and the demands of Christian life. We believe\u00a0that parents are the first teachers of faith to their children. When we partner with a parent\u00a0in the education and formation of their child it is only fair that parents understand they\u00a0are engaging in an education inclusive of this teaching.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The heart of the Family School Agreement is in this paragraph:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cAs parents we ask parish to help us provide our child(ren) with a\u00a0Catholic education. We understand and agree that our child(ren) will be taught the\u00a0teachings of the Catholic Church in their fullness even if we are living a way of life\u00a0that is contrary to those teachings. We also understand that if we do not live in\u00a0accord with Church teaching, we are expected to discuss with the pastor of our\u00a0Catholic parish ways in which we could. We further accept a commitment to the\u00a0stewardship way of life as practiced in our parish. We pledge our full cooperation\u00a0with the school and parish to prepare our child(ren) to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.\u00a0We will make every effort to supervise our child(ren)\u2019s commitment to this\u00a0agreement.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The policy does not, as was suggested, demand that school parents live these teachings\u00a0perfectly. We are all imperfect, and the role of our parishes and schools is to help adults\u00a0and children alike grow in virtue and enjoy the grace of the sacraments as an aid to strive\u00a0for perfect living.\u00a0Jesus himself said, \u201cI did not come to call the righteous but sinners\u201d\u00a0(Mark 2:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read it all.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may remember the story from several days back, regarding a new policy for schools in Springfield, Illinois. Over the weekend, the diocese posted a response to the article in question, published in the Springfield newspaper: First, it is important to state that the Catholic Church invites all people to an encounter\u00a0with Jesus Christ and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":47053,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n"We do not 'target non-Catholics,' nor do we seek to exclude anyone..."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You may remember the story from several days back, regarding a new policy for schools in Springfield, Illinois. 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