My parish has denied downs syndrome boy first communion! Please help!

[mummybiz]

I am posting this in the hope of getting some support for a mum of a catholic child who has been denied participating in first communion classes and making his first communion - the news story is here tinyurl.com/7qkqz9a. I used to be a part of this parish as a catholic mum but left due to my child being bullied and the school denying it was happening - but that's another issue. I am incensed that this child who has been apart of the school parish community is being denied the chance to join in with first communion preparation and have his special day like any other child. To me this is blatant discrimination - I have a severely disabled cousin who made his First Communion in the 1980's with no issues and went on to do so and still does today - to claim lack of understanding as a reason for denying is ridiculous. Has anyone got any opinions/ideas about this - the parents have got a 400 signature petition but given my experiences of this parish/school I doubt they will be swayed - surely it is also a legal matter?

im also part of this parish and anyone in the local area with half a brain knows that this story is utter bollocks. The mother couldnt be bothered to go to ANY preperation classes despite numerous reminders and still expected her son to be allowed to make his first holy communion. When she realised they werent making any exceptions she threw in the discrimination card.

Hopefully with the story now being featured in the daily mail people will realise its all rubbish

But this does not appear to be an issue of disability and religious participation.

You just want it to be.

TushyFace - you exemplify just why I feel these parents would feel uncomfortable going to church after being treated in this way. My issues with the parish/school could be construed as having muddied the waters but the overwhelming reaction online via Twitter, The Daily Mail and the TES, has been support for the parents. At the very least the parish priest should have taken care to address the issue with the parents in a way which did not come across as discriminatory.

Presumably all the other 7 year olds who have been accepted to take communion have amazing depth of understanding regarding their faith, the impact of it on their lives and the world at large. Probably studying philosophy next term...NOT

Its discriminatory and that the end of it. They should feel ashamed.

Sneezecakesmum - you sum it up perfectly

One thing I don't really get. The church is saying they will take him for preparation classes later on when they consider he is ready (and I do agree there are probably a lot of other seven year olds in his class just going through the motions without any real understanding who will have just been accepted), but what if Denum never has a level of understanding that the church thinks appropriate?
Does this effectively mean that anyone with a learning difficulty is not really welcome in the catholic church?

Communion is very tricky really, its a very important Sacrament yet it really needs to be understood and if a child is unable to attend Mass and/or does not understand what Communion is, disability or no disability, then I think its prudent to delay it.

Our DD is 4 and likes going to Mass and we try to talk about Jesus etc with her but we fully accept it may take her longer to understand about Communion and we don't expect her to have it at age 7 really.

BTW my nieces had their Holy Communion's at age 8 and they understood exactly what they were doing, the meaning of it, transubstantiation, etc. I would want our DD to understand this as well.

i got the impression from reading the article that the boy was denied First Communion as he and his parents don't go to church.

I go to an Anglican church so it is a bit different, but our parish lets children take communion before being confirmed IF they are attending the church communion services (as opposed to family services with no communion) regularly, they have to attend a course, and they have to have some understanding of what they are doing.
DS had his first communion just under a year ago, aged nearly 9 - that is when both I and the vicar thought he was ready. Before that he wasn't really engaging in the services.
DS2 at the rate he is going is going to be a lot older, sitting still and quiet isn't happening and he only attends messy church. I don't see this as a problem, he can take communion when he is ready and that includes being mentally ready, as well as being a certain age.