News Item: : Suffer Little Children - The Betrayal of Catholic Families
(Category: Torch of The Faith News)
Posted by admin
Thursday 02 March 2017 - 16:26:24

UPDATED!

Two shocking things happened in the UK on, of all days, Ash Wednesday.

Firstly, the BBC reported the government's decision to make ''relationships and sex education'' (RSE) compulsory in all schools in England for four year olds and upwards.

Then, on the very same day, Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, in his capacity as Chairman of the Catholic Education Service (CES), issued a warm and breezy press release to officially welcome this news on behalf of the Catholic Church in England and Wales!

For those Catholics who were watching closely enough, this recalled the grim days of 2009, when the CES was working very closely indeed with the, then, Labour Government to bring in a radical model of sex-education; against the wishes of thousands of parents, priests and teachers who signed a petition to resist it.

We must have reached a new religious and societal low when we hear of a Catholic archbishop giving a warm welcome to compulsory ''relationships and sex-education'' for young minors. That fact is made even more serious by the seeming silence from all the other UK bishops and most of the faithful.

It must be said that His Grace's approach certainly represents a radical departure from the orthodox teaching of the Catholic Church: as it is found so clearly and unambiguously presented in Magisterial documents such as Gravissimum Educationis, Divini illius magistri and Familiaris consortio (FC); as well as the careful guidelines set forth in the Pontifical Council for the Family's, The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality (TMHS).

It would appear that Archbishop McMahon's cheerful acceptance of this dire news is gravely wrong on a number of levels.

In the first instance, the Church has consistently, and strongly, affirmed that parents are the primary educators of their own children. They have inviolable rights in this regard. Indeed, as both FC 36 and TMHS 41 confirm, the right and duty of parents to educate their own children is, ''irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others.''

Related to this is the important law of subsidiarity.

As TMHS 23 acknowledges: ''This implies the legitimacy and indeed the need of giving assistance to the parents, but finds its intrinsic and absolute limit in their prevailing right and their actual capabilities. The principle of subsidiarity is thus at the service of parental love, meeting the good of the family unit.''

So fundamental is the law of subsidiarity, that FC 36 and TMHS 43 insist that schools are bound to observe it in relation to sex-education.

An essential thread which runs through all the Magisterial teaching in this area, is the fact that each child is unique and develops at his or her own rate.

Furthermore, due to Original Sin and Concupiscence, matters of education in human sexuality should be dealt with in a chaste manner, aiming at education in mature love and morality, within the privacy of the family.

Divini illius magistri deals with this by providing a clear warning that even parental education in chastity needs great delicacy to avoid unwittingly stirring or kindling the heart of the child to an undue interest in sexual matters. As TMHS 41 concludes: ''No one is capable of giving moral education in this delicate area better than duly prepared parents.''

Another essential issue which particularly relates to this latest news is the fact that FC 37 and TMHS 78 both describe the ages from ''about 5 to puberty'' as the ''years of innocence''. Furthermore: ''This period of tranquility and serenity must never be disturbed by unneccesary information about sex''.

I can foresee two areas where some will attempt to defend Archbishop McMahon, and even the British Government itself.

Firstly, they have both spoken about the right of parents to withdraw their children from lessons they are not happy with.

Notice, however, what Archbishop McMahon does, in terms of giving with one hand whilst taking away with the other, in his official CES press release. He states: ''We additionally welcome the Government's commitment to protect parental right of withdrawal and involve parents in all stages of the development and delivery of SRE in all schools. It is essential that parents fully support the school's approach to these sensitive matters. The experience of Catholic schools is that parental involvement is the basis for providing consistent and high quality RSE at home and at school.''

Incidentally, one of our good friends tried to pull her daughters out of inappropriate classes in her local ''Catholic'' primary school. She came under enormous pressure from the headteacher; who claimed that she could be reported to the local authority for removing her children, because the bishops had already given their approval. Even when schools are more co-operative with parents in allowing students to withdraw from classes, this causes the children involved immense psychological and social pressure from their peer group. Instead of being allowed to just enjoy being a kid, they find themselves at the centre of attention over a sensitive issue. This in itself can have long-term impacts on their development. 

Actually, this also relates to the second defence that I can foresee some people making of the Archbishop.

They might suggest that the ''relationships-education'' in primary school will not be actual ''sex-education'' until secondary school.

However, this presupposes that it is alright to give such education in the context of a group setting; where both boys and girls of mixed maturity and faith background will be taught by an adult who is not their parent. As we have seen above, this contradicts the Church's time-honoured teaching.

Then again, it is well known that the great majority of high schools, even those under the auspices of the CES, are allowing in school nurses who give out contraceptives and abortifacients, such as the so-called ''morning-after-pill''. Again, such schools are imparting graphic sex-education and permitting the spread of LGBT ideology. How will the newly compulsory ''relationships'' education in primary schools be anything other than a preparation for all of that?

This has a particular resonance in Archbishop McMahon's own Archdiocese of Liverpool. Indeed, the following case demonstrates the problems that even primary schools will face now that ''relationships and sex-education'' is to become compulsory in all of England's schools.

Regular readers will recall the disturbing case from Sacred Heart Primary School in Atherton, which we reported on extensively in March 2016.

Whilst over 2,000 of the faithful signed an on-line Citizen-Go petition to complain against her actions, Archbishop McMahon and school chaplain Fr. Paul Seddon maintained a strange silence in the wake of news that Ms. Carrie Morrow, Headteacher of Sacred Heart Primary School in Atherton, had been promoting LGBT ideology to the young primary-aged children in her care.

This included: allowing an adult drama group to perform a play about two princes who ''fall in love'' with each other; giving a lesson on when ''gay'' is an acceptable word; getting the children to design logos for the local Wigan ''Gay Pride'' march; and encouraging them to write creative reflections about being ''proud'' of who you are and supporting friends who ''come out'' as ''gay''.

In terms of parental rights, local parents only found out about this abuse after the event.

Whilst one parent, Mr. Julian Marsh, received a visit from local police responding to complaints of ''hate crime'' after he had posted his strong reactions on social media, Ms. Morrow was instead awarded a ''Rainbow Flag'' award from the LGBT Proud Trust.

This large flag was duly posted alongside the young childrens' artwork, some of which appeared to depict same-sex pairings, prior to being featured with the teacher and her young class in a photograph and article in the local Wigan Today newspaper. 

As far as I know, neither the parental complaints nor the Citizen-Go petition were ever dealt with by Archbishop McMahon. Certainly, the scandal that had been given was left to linger.  

Conclusion

This is all of a piece with Archbishop McMahon's appointment of the former MP Mr. Greg Pope to a highly-paid leadership role in the CES; even though this man had a parliamentary track record of voting in an anti-life and anti-family manner; and had signed parliamentary motions in support of international and domestic abortion providers, and in praise of condom manufacturers who had helped with ''National Condom Week'' in UK schools...

We heartily agree with Antonia Tully of SPUC's Safe at School team, when she writes about this handover of the nation's Catholic primary school children: ''Parents will be absolutely powerless to protect their children from presentations of sexual activity which we know is part of many sex-education teaching resources for primary school children.''

One can only wonder why Archbishop Malcolm McMahon would be working so closely with the British government to betray Catholic families in this grave manner. I keep thinking of the words of that great English martyr-bishop St. John Fisher who lamented: ''The fort is betrayed even of them that should have defended it!''

The other Bishops in England and Wales should remember that they have each received from Christ the authority, rights and duties to govern in their own dioceses. At the end of their lives, they shall have to give an account of their tenure to Him. It is not up to Archbishop McMahon, the CES, or the British government to dictate to them, the parents or the youngsters in their care, on matters of sexual morality. Each bishop should also be reminded that parental rights in this area are sacrosanct. Let no-one forget, either, that Catholic parents are tax-payers with rights too.

This situation highlights the benefits of homeschooling and the Catholic homeschool networks that we have encountered in England during the last decade.

Make no mistake: How bishops, priests, school governors, parents and children respond to this will have a huge impact on their eternal salvation. Please pray for those good parents who are struggling to raise their children in the Faith; they deserved better than this from their shepherds.

Acts 5:29: We must obey God rather than men.

Our Lady of Fatima - Pray for us!

St. Joseph - Pray for us!

St. Maria Goretti - Pray for us!

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This news item is from Torch of The Faith
( http://www.torchofthefaith.com/news.php?extend.1569 )