Am I crazy or catholic church wrong to deny First Communion to Downs Syndrome child?!

[mummybiz]

My ex parish and the ex school of my children - which we left after my son was bullied- another story) has gone a step to far this time in my opinion see tinyurl.com/7qkqz9a denying a Downs Syndrome child the chance to take his first communion. I can't think of this as anything other than blatant and horrible discrimination - what do you all think?

My non catholic husband who has regularly been to mass with myself and my 5 catholic kids says faith is not about how many times you have been to church and whether or not you sit on the front bench and nod at the sermon - how right he is ! He has supported my kids through their first communion classes and was very close to converting at one point. This has changed his mind completely. He is appalled at the lack of compassion inthe way this has been handled

That particular church has been under threat of closure due to falling attendance. - no doubt this story will only exacerbate that situation but as the bible says "you reap what you sow" I will continue to teach my children about the love of God without the help of the catholic church - I wish all the best to Denum and his family - I'll leave you to debate

I have little time for the Catholic church TBH but for anyone disabled or not to take communion they have to understand it and come freely.

I baptised both my children in to the Church of England, Eldest DS took his communion, ask us to arrange it, DS2 says he does not want to and as much as that makes me sad it is his choice.

However to turn away a child is wrong. What about suffer little children come unto me?

So basically, no one agreed with you, you accused people of calling you a troll (even though you were the only one to say troll), promoted you blog and are now leaving thinking you have the moral highground. Brilliant.

I made my confirmation at 11. It was standard in that area at that time. Some do it even younger. They know the longer the wait, the smaller the % of children who will do it.

DD and DS1 are at an integrated primary school (NI.) They are segregated for RE (mine are withdrawn and do PSHE instead.) The entire RE curriculum for the RC kids is preparation for sacraments. I find it repulsive and appalling that schools are used in this way. And yes, the little girls who are not making their first communion are green with envy at the pretty dresses etc.

It is just a big party for most of them, and for their parents.

But it isn't supposed to be.

The church probably could do more, if the parents asked. For example, lots of the adults with PMLD I worked with were unable to attend Mass - we had a tame nun and the priest came out to see them regularly. I bet, if the parents asked for help in preparing the child for the sacraments, they's get it. Bums on seats is what it's all about.

I would like to know if any other child has been excluded on the grounds of poor preparation.

It's not a question of rights, but of understanding. Pius X said that any child who could understand the difference between the Eucharist and ordinary bread should be allowed to receive communion. You don;t have to understand shedloads of theology, but obviously some children might need slightly longer to grasp that one point, and probably the child the OP mentions will understand soon and then be allowed to receive the eucharist. Regardless of disability issues, children vary. But I've never ever hear of a child being refused First Communion because of naughtiness.

This would not happen in my parish. Welcome one welcome all is the motto here. It's not all about bums on seats either. It's because it really is hard to discern what is in someone's heart.

< "we had a tame nun" now imagining what a wild nun is like >

The wild ones are dying out now. Generally headmistresses, handy with a slipper, put the fear of god into you at 100 paces. I wasn't even at the RC school and I was terrified of Sister Adrian!

YABU OP

In our parish, there is big age difference in the people taking FHC. The DC are any age from Y4 to about Y9/10. They all have to attend classes. Not every single person in Y3 takes it. Sometimes the family wants them to wait so that their cousins or siblings all take it at the same time, especially if their family lives abroad. There's no shame. They do all have to understand the course. DC have been stopped from taking it for non-attendance of classes/mass. There is no discrimination here.

I'm trying to work out if the OP was actually typing with her tongue or something?

I mean she's put both her fingers in her ears and shouted 'LA LA LA LA' over almost every single post....

At the Catholic Church which my dh attends regularly (and me sometimes as I am not RC) there is a teenager with DS who regularly serves at Mass. She also represents GB in the Special Olympics-the whole parish is very proud of her. It is one church at fault not the whole institution.

Personally, I wouldn't join a film club none of whose members were interested in films.

For the Catholic church to remain the Catholic church it has to have Catholics predominantly. It can't really welcome one and all as that would be pointless. If you're interested in Catholicism fine, but you can't become one without instruction and without making a strong commitment.

I think that any catholic child takes it far too young and they should be at least 14yrs. At 7yrs they are doing because the parents want them too-maybe they are not going to have a faith- or want to be part of the church-I think they should be free to make up their own minds.

pranma that's lovely to hear but how does it mean this church is at fault?

I would like to think that if the teenager with DS made her FHC at the age of 7, she did in fact have the same amount of understanding as her peers.

I am not catholic myself but a lot of relies are.My mum did communion at 14,but that was many yrs ago.Afew years back priests decided there was more competition over dresses than thinking of the religious aspect so they made it school uniform only,that went down like a lead balloon but was fairer to parents who couln't afford the full miniature wedding gear.Here you aleways see some older children doing communion for all sorts of reasons,Dh sister with S.P.was ten when ready nobody thought any worse of her.

Where we live it seems to be the norm to start attending preparation classes in year 3 so aged 7-8. That is certainly a lot younger than in our local CofE church and as I'm not a Catholic I'm not sure why the age difference.

Ds is 7 and spends a lot of time at church. His belief is very literal and non-questioning. I will give him the choice on whether he wants to do confirmation classes when he is older, not before 11 and more likely 13 or so (or church does confirmation classes for ages 13-15). At that age he will have an understanding of the commitment he is making.

Sorry I was just making the point that the RC Church didn't discriminate. I actually think that 7 is too young for any child to understand the significance of HC and prefer the CoE way of Confirmation preceding HC is perhaps better as it is usually done in early teens.

I was baptised Catholic, but not raised as a Catholic because I was in care. I've since started going to RC church and I'm currently receiving instruction each week in order to be able to take Communion. There is a lot of preparation involved and the RC Church don't take this lightly. They cannot admit someone who doesn't attend regularly and show a good level of committment. First Communion is not some nice day out with your friends, it's an important thing and needs to be understood and taken seriously.

Personally, I have found the RC Church to be far more welcoming than the CofE church (where I was chucked out of because ds1 (adhd) was being a bit noisy one morning during the so called Family Service )