Excerpts from an article by Kathryn Hennessy, an Oxford graduate and a home educating mother of seven, which appeared in Dowry (N°5, Winter 2010)
http://www.fssp.org/en/liens.htm
It is all too easy to forget in this age in which the care and education of children has been largely taken away from the hands of the parents (often, it has to be said, with their full consent) that parents remain the primary educators of their children even if they choose to delegate part of that responsibility to a school or other institution or person. Even a cursory glance at Church teaching on this subject should be enough to remind us of this reality.
Sapientiæ Christianæ, Pope Leo XIII's Encyclical of 1890, states:
http://www.fssp.org/en/liens.htm
It is all too easy to forget in this age in which the care and education of children has been largely taken away from the hands of the parents (often, it has to be said, with their full consent) that parents remain the primary educators of their children even if they choose to delegate part of that responsibility to a school or other institution or person. Even a cursory glance at Church teaching on this subject should be enough to remind us of this reality.
Sapientiæ Christianæ, Pope Leo XIII's Encyclical of 1890, states:
“Let everyone be firmly convinced, first of all, that the minds of children are best trained above all by the teaching they receive at home [...]. By nature, parents have a right to the training of their children, but with the added duty that the education and instruction of the child be in accord with the end for which by God's blessing it was begotten. Therefore, it is the duty of parents to make every effort to prevent any invasion of their rights in this matter, and to make absolutely sure that the education of their children remains under their own control in keeping with their Christian duty [...]. The obligation of the family to bring up children includes not only religious and moral education but physical and civic education as well [...]”.
Note that these words are addressed equally to parents who send their children to Catholic schools: sending one's children to school does not obviate parental responsibilities regarding education.
In Casti Connubii Pope Pius XI commented:
Note that these words are addressed equally to parents who send their children to Catholic schools: sending one's children to school does not obviate parental responsibilities regarding education.
In Casti Connubii Pope Pius XI commented:
“[God] has given to those to whom He entrusted the power and right to beget (children), the power and also the right to educate them. Now it is certain that both by the law of nature and of God, this right and duty of educating their offspring belongs in the first place to those who began the work of nature by giving them birth, and they are indeed forbidden to leave unfinished this work […]. In matrimony, provision has been made in the best possible way for this education of children”.
In Pope Pius XI's great encyclical on education 'Christian Education of Youth' published in 1929, adds
In Pope Pius XI's great encyclical on education 'Christian Education of Youth' published in 1929, adds
“We wish to call attention to the present day lamentable decline in family education […] for the fundamental duty and obligation of educating their children, many parents have little or no preparation, immersed as they are in temporal cares. ”
Regarding the rights of parents versus the rights of the State, this Encyclical states: “In the first place comes the family, instituted directly by God for its particular purpose, the procreation and the formation of offspring; for this reason it has priority of nature, and therefore of rights, over civil society.” Furthermore: “The family holds directly from the Creator the mission, and hence the right, to educate the young, a right inalienable because inseparably joined to a strict obligation, a right anterior to any right whatever of civil society and the State, and therefore inviolable on the part of any power on earth.” …….
Even common sense would oppose the notion that children belong to the State before they belong to the family and that the State has no absolute right over their education. Finally, and of great significance in the present debate: “In the matter of education it is the duty of the State to protect by means of its legislation, the prior rights of the family as regards the Christian education of its offspring […]”.
The Declaration on Christian Education of the Second Vatican Council more recently restated all this in even stronger terms: “Since parents have given life to their children, they are bound by a grave obligation to educate their offspring, and so must be regarded as their primary and principal educators. Their role in education is of such importance that where it is missing, its place can scarcely be supplied.”
The apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio (1981) of Pope John Paul II proclaims that: “The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others. […] it is irreplaceable and inalienable and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others.”
Again, in his Charter of the Rights of the family (1983), written mainly to support parents in their right to oppose sex education in the schools, John Paul II states that:
“Parents have the original, primary right to educate their children and must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children....Parents have the right to educate their children in conformity with their moral and religious convictions.”
John Paul II's Encyclical Catechesæ Trandendæ re-iterates perennial Church teaching on these matters.
As can be seen from all these quotations, the mind of the Church remains consistent regarding both parental obligations and the powers of the state regarding the education of youth.
Regarding the rights of parents versus the rights of the State, this Encyclical states: “In the first place comes the family, instituted directly by God for its particular purpose, the procreation and the formation of offspring; for this reason it has priority of nature, and therefore of rights, over civil society.” Furthermore: “The family holds directly from the Creator the mission, and hence the right, to educate the young, a right inalienable because inseparably joined to a strict obligation, a right anterior to any right whatever of civil society and the State, and therefore inviolable on the part of any power on earth.” …….
Even common sense would oppose the notion that children belong to the State before they belong to the family and that the State has no absolute right over their education. Finally, and of great significance in the present debate: “In the matter of education it is the duty of the State to protect by means of its legislation, the prior rights of the family as regards the Christian education of its offspring […]”.
The Declaration on Christian Education of the Second Vatican Council more recently restated all this in even stronger terms: “Since parents have given life to their children, they are bound by a grave obligation to educate their offspring, and so must be regarded as their primary and principal educators. Their role in education is of such importance that where it is missing, its place can scarcely be supplied.”
The apostolic exhortation Familiaris Consortio (1981) of Pope John Paul II proclaims that: “The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others. […] it is irreplaceable and inalienable and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others.”
Again, in his Charter of the Rights of the family (1983), written mainly to support parents in their right to oppose sex education in the schools, John Paul II states that:
“Parents have the original, primary right to educate their children and must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children....Parents have the right to educate their children in conformity with their moral and religious convictions.”
John Paul II's Encyclical Catechesæ Trandendæ re-iterates perennial Church teaching on these matters.
As can be seen from all these quotations, the mind of the Church remains consistent regarding both parental obligations and the powers of the state regarding the education of youth.
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