Jefferson City School Guidelines Spark Debate Over ‘Nontraditional’ Families [Catholic Caucus]

National Catholic Register ^ | June 12, 2017 | Joan Frawley Desmond

[ebb tide]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Four years after Pope Francis presented his vision of the Church as a “field hospital” for sinners, and urged pastors to go to the “peripheries,” an increasing number of Catholic schools are moving into previously uncharted territory: enrolling students raised by same-sex couples and applicants with gender-identity issues.

Much of this activity has occurred at the local level, with pastors and principals quietly making decisions on a case-by-case basis.

But that changed last month, when a document recently developed by the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri — “A Pastoral Process of Accompaniment and Dialogue: Addressing Children and Youth in Relation to Gender Concerns and Nontraditional Families” — was posted on a website that attacked the guidelines as a betrayal of Catholic education, for failing to clearly lay out Church teaching on human sexuality while appearing to promote the enrollment of children who consider themselves “transgendered” or whose parents are in open conflict with Church teaching.

[rey]

I hate this redefining of terms. What is a “nontraditional family”? Either it is a family or not. they need to come up with another term. If not, I’m a nontraditional lesbian.

[ResponseAbility]

They mean anything other than a Biblically God based family. You are right, they need to quit adopting the language of the left.

[Dilbert San Diego]

Non traditional is a family other than a married mother and father, from how the term is used.

There are different types of family. They want to use the word to apply to anyone who lives in the same household apparently.

But, I think we all would say, that there is a difference between a family with children being raised by grandparents, for example, than one with a “lesbian” couple as heads of household. Ditto, different if an single uncle or aunt is raising a sibling’s child. Ditto, if there is a married couple aunt and uncle taking in sibling’s children. Ditto, if there are step-parents involved.

And then there are the single parent households, usually single mother.