Archdiocese of Boston: Will the new policy be in accordance with Canon Law?

While announcing the new policy of the Boston Archdiocese which prohibits "discrimination" against students who come from a homosexual household, Cardinal Sean O'Malley said that, "Catholic schools exist for the good of the children and our admission standards must reflect that...I believe all would agree that the good of the child must always be our primary concern."  See here.

But what exactly does Cardinal O'Malley mean when he refers to "the good of the child"?  Is his idea of "the good" in accordance with Church teaching and Canon Law?  Canon 795 of the Code of Canon Law states quite clearly that, "Since a true education must strive for the integral formation of the human person, a formation which looks toward the person's final end, and at the same time toward the common good of societies, children and young people are to be so reared that they can develop harmoniously their physical, moral and intellectual talents, that they acquire a more perfect sense of responsibility and a correct use of freedom, and that they be educated for active participation in social life."

So "the good of the child," according to Holy Mother Church, must consist of a formation which looks toward a child's final end.  And that education is only true which strives for a child's integral formation and which contributes to the common good.  How then can the Church partner with homosexual parents?  As Father Vincent Miceli once noted, "It is said that 'the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.'  But if the person who rocks the cradle is warped and crippled in personality then the world will not be ruled but ruined." 

And speaking of Catholic schools partnering with parents, Canon 796 says that, "It is incumbent upon parents to cooperate closely with the school teachers to whom they entrust their children to be educated."  But how can such "cooperation" be said to exist if parents are engaging in homosexual relations while their children are being taught by their school teachers that homosexual activity is gravely sinful?

Or will the Archdiocese of Boston simply relegate Church teaching and Canon Law to the trash bin as happened here.

The good of the child Your Eminence?  Please do us a favor and stop insulting our intelligence.  Your new policy has nothing to do with "the good of the child."  It is simply capitulation to the Culture of Death.

I am praying for you Cardinal O'Malley.

Archdiocese of Boston opens schools to children of homosexual couples

In its Declaration on Christian Education (Gravissimum Educationis), No. 3, the Vatican II Fathers explained that parents "must be recognized as the primary and principal educators" of their children and that, "This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking. Parents are the ones who must create a family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered."


But parents who are living in a same-sex relationship cannot create that "family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man" in which "the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered." The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its document entitled Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, has said that adoption of children by homosexuals "would actually mean doing violence to these children," and that their situation of dependence would place them "in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development." (No. 7).

Can Catholic schools partner with homosexual or lesbian parents? In a word, no. Archbishop Charles Chaput has already addressed this fact in a statement issued earlier this year. The Catholic school must strive to ensure that the environment in which a child lives as he or she is being formed as a human being corresponds to the end of Catholic education. And what is that end? Vatican II teaches clearly that, "A Christian education...has as its principal purpose this goal: that the baptized, while they are gradually introduced to the knowledge of the mystery of salvation, become ever more aware of the gift of faith they have received, and that they learn in addition how to worship God the Father in spirit and truth (cf. Jn 4:23) especially in liturgical action, and be conformed in their personal lives according to the new man created in justice and holiness of truth (Eph 4:22-24); also that they develop into perfect manhood, to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (cf. Eph 4:13).."

How important is it that a Catholic school strive to ensure that a child's environment corresponds to the end of a Catholic education? Pope Pius XI provides us with an answer, "In order to obtain perfect education, it is of the utmost importance to see that all those conditions which surround the child during the period of his formation, in other words that the combination of circumstances which we call environment, correspond exactly to the end proposed." (Encyclical Letter Divini Illius Magistri, No. 70).

Pope Pius XI continues, "The first natural and necessary element in this environment, as regards education, is the family, and this precisely because so ordained by the Creator Himself. Accordingly that education, as a rule, will be more effective and lasting which is received in a well-ordered and well-disciplined Christian family; and more efficacious in proportion to the clear and constant good example set, first by parents, and then by other members of the household." (No. 71). The full Encyclical may be found here.

Same-sex parents are not equipped to provide that "well-ordered and well-disciplined Christian family" necessary for the effective reception of Christian education. Not to mention the conditions required for the normal development of the child.  See here for example.

Even though the CDF has said clearly that adoption of children by homosexuals "would actually mean doing violence to these children," the Boston Archdiocese believes it can partner with homosexual parents.  Meanwhile, the archdiocese apparently has nothing but contempt for Catholic Bloggers faithful to the Magisterium.

Related reading: The homosexual agenda.