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	Parish Leaders to Catechists: No More outside Ccd Classes By Patrick Anderson Gloucester Daily Times June 11, 2009 http://www.gloucestertimes.com/punews/local_story_162223706.html?keyword=topstory Margaret Sullivan of Rockport converted to Catholicism five years ago, immersed herself in the faith and became one of the most popular catechists on Cape Ann by teaching religion from the kitchen table instead of the classroom. With Hail Mary Freeze Tag, Lord's Prayer Capture the Flag and spiritual wilderness hikes, Sullivan and a group of Rockport residents cultivated a faith-based community in backyards instead of church property. But now those classes are in jeopardy because of liability concerns among the leaders of Holy Family Parish and new rules banning group classes in private homes that are considered unsafe. Starting at the end of May, all officially sanctioned group Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, or CCD classes outside of parish property — which last year taught around 100 local students — have been suspended indefinitely. "I have been told to suspend everything," Sullivan said yesterday. "There was nothing that hinted at this." A precise description of the rationale behind the move has not been offered to the public and leaders of Holy Family Parish, including the Revs. Ronald Gariboldi and Timothy Harrison, have declined to discuss the matter or any aspect of its impact with the Times. But the move appears to grow out of the continuing aftermath of the priest sexual abuse scandal that tore through the church several years ago. In a meeting at St. Ann last week, representatives of the parish and Archdiocese of Boston told a group of parents and children objecting to the change that "children's safety" and compliance with state regulations necessitated the move. An e-mail to parents from the parish acquired by the Times independent of the catechists says "we all know that sexual abuse or harm to our children can take place anywhere and any time. Now more than ever we must take heed..." In addition to their religious training, all of the volunteer catechists teaching children on behalf of Holy Family are required to undergo criminal record, or CORI checks, but parents helping in the classes, picking up their kids or just observing do not. Implied in the new policy is that while those teaching the classes may be safe, some parents and visitors to the classes may not be, causing some parishioners to suggest that they are being cast under suspicion based on past acts of priests. Sullivan said she has a rotation of parent helpers who come in and lend a hand each week that are not CORI checked, but have agreed to fill out the paperwork and become checked if the parish requires it. The parish has not responded to her suggestion or request for another meeting, she said yesterday. A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston responding to questions including whether the decision had been made locally, what Archdiocese policy was toward home-school CCD and whether similar moves had been made in other parishes yesterday released this statement by e-mail: "No decisions have been made. Consideration is being given by catechetical and pastoral leaders at Holy Family with regards to what is in the best interest of the parish community as a whole." Generally speaking, the Archdiocese has for many years recommended that Faith Formation classes are normally held on parish property," the statement added. The home-taught CCD classes in Cape Ann sprung up in the wake of the consolidation of St. Joachim, St. Peter, Sacred Heart and St. Ann parishes into Holy Family in 2005. In Rockport, religious education classes that had been held at the parish hall, which was closed, were transferred to St. Ann on Pleasant Street in Gloucester. For many parishioners, taking their children into downtown Gloucester on Sundays, often at the same time as church services in Rockport, proved difficult and spurred the idea of catechists teaching classes in their homes. Sullivan started teaching in 2006 and developed a creative, hands-on, interactive pedagogical style far removed from students sitting in desks reciting facts from a blackboard. In Sullivan's classes, church doctrine is passed between student and teacher through games, creative activities in an informal setting that often resembles a neighborhood gathering. To learn the Rosary prayer, the 25 children in Sullivan's class were asked to memorize and recite part of the text, sign it and pass it on to one of their classmates to do the same. At the successful completion of the project, which had students passing the card around at soccer games and in the supermarket, there was a pizza party. Other home catechists have different techniques. Jill Adels described the atmosphere in her Rockport classes as "very focused" and "courteous." "In my house we light candles and sit around a table like Talmudic scholars," said Adels, whose older students tackled the often intimidating Book of Revelation. For parents whose children have been resistant to traditional classroom settings but relish the opportunity to come to one of the home-taught classes, the suspension of those classes has hit hard. "They absolutely love it here; Never have they said they didn't want to go," said Sue Warde of Rockport about her two children that attend Sullivan's classes. On why the church has shut down the classes, Warde said the parish fathers "just don't get it." Jean Randazza brings her children from her home in East Gloucester to the Rockport classes because they react better to the interactive format than the traditional classroom. "My kids all started in a traditional class, but this is never a fight to get them to go," Randazza said. Both Randazza and Warde said they agree with parents at the meeting at St. Ann last Monday who said the decision on how best to protect their children should be made by parents. In a message to parents, Sullivan said there should be less concern about safety in her classes, which encourage parents to drop in and participate, than closed classes. "It is through the practice of removing barriers to parental access to the children that the safety of the children, in mind, body, and spirit, are protected," Sullivan's message said. "If parents had been allowed, or had taken a more active role in the church's interactions with their children over the last century, the abuses might have been more difficult to carry out." Ultimately, Sullivan said she worries that the decision to shut down the classes will result in a shrinking Catholic community on Cape Ann and weakening of the connection her students share feel because of their faith. Asked what will be lost if the classes shut down, Adels said the home-school classes had healed some of the pain from church closures and consolidation. "This is a healing thing that has sprung up — don't kill it for something like liability," Adels said. Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com
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