Children should be told about mortal sin, Hell and the need to save their souls when they receive the first sacraments. They were told this prior to the 1970s and at least 75% of Catholics practised the faith when they left school. Today only 3% to 5% practise the faith. The reason for the success prior to the 1970s was that what they were taught gave them a compelling reason to practise their faith. No one wants to take the chance of spending an eternity in Hell.
Today children are not told of these things in the sacramental programs. They are told of mortal sin in Catholic schools when they are 13 years of age. This is far to late and it is a “watered down” version of mortal sin. Children in state schools are not told about mortal sin at all. Catholic religious education needs to change back to what it once was!
7 Responses
The traditional practice of teaching children about mortal sin, Hell and the need to save their souls seemed to work in the past, and no child was traumatised. Since this practice seems to have been the reason for the Church’s success in the past, let’s incorporate this in our sacramental programs once again and see if we cannot get the same success.
There are two positions taking hold in the Church: one believes in the old doctrine of mortal sin, the other effectively does not. They represent two different religions. We need to have that division better recognised. At present the preoccupation with unity is a strategy to disguise this major fault line running through the Church. It is irreparable: the two positions cannot constitute the same religion just by holding hands and dialoguing.
Even if permitted by public primary school principals, teaching about mortal sin and hell is an exercise in futility. At school，catechists may make an ostensible impression on the children but this is completely obliterated once they get home and see their parents committing the mortal sin of deliberately missing Mass on the sabbath.
To whom should lessons on mortal sins and hell be taught? Certainly not to children.
Unfortunately, our pastors are reluctant to remind adult Catholics of their obligation to attend mass on the Sabbath. They are too engrossed with “being popular and not to offend”. This attitude is particularly noticeable with and most acute among， our missionary priests from Kerala. Are our shepherds, home-grown and imported, guilty of the sin of omission to teach and remind their flock of the obligation to (1) attend mass on the Sabbath and holy days of obligation (2) go to the sacrament of reconciliation at least once a year and thus (3) receive the Eucharist in a state of grace?
What is the incentive for children to attend mass (and avoid incurring a mortal sin) when they see their parents deliberately practising “Catholic laxity” on the Sabbath?
黄志威.
The 06/06/24 contributor states that one of the positions in the Catholic Church is NOT to believe in mortal sin’
From an authentic Catholic religion perspective, this is ridiculous and totally wrong.
Bishops, priests and lay Cathoilcs have a responsibility to call this out.
For bishops and priests not to do this is a grave omission. They are breaching canon law and “gutting” Catholicism of essential content.
Yes it must be done with sensitivity and in the context of loving God and saving our souls.
The pope has recently set the scene for the new way of teaching religion by saying that he “hopes hell is empty”. While this is a worthwhile thought that one would like to see the best for everyone, it is not realistic, and promotes the idea that we can most likely miss out on hell despite sinning.
Bishop Baron on YouTube says quite often that he thinks most souls will not go to hell, again giving us the confidence that we can sin without consequence.
I cannot remember the last time that I heard any discussion about hell from the pulpit yet hell and metaphors for it are many in the bible. So why did Jesus bother to mention it if it wasn’t a consequence for sinners.
In my youth, the parish priest would once a year give us a rousing sermon on hell and its consequences to the point that I was shaking when I left the church and the memory of these sermons has lasted for all these years.
Mind you, there are not many children or youth attending mass, so the likelihood of them learning this from the pulpit is scarce. In my son’s case he learned about hell in secondary school, in my daughter’s case she missed because she did not attend a catholic secondary school. On attending the preliminary discussion group that both had to attend together with parents prior to receiving first communion and again confirmation, I don’t remember any discussion about hell, which I thought would be necessary before they could receive their first communion.
The common theme that you hear is that god loves us and so we are not going to hell, straight to heaven. While this would be nice, it is not what Jesus said in the bible.
Can we please return to teaching religion to all children and new converts to the faith according to the teachings of Jesus? I think that he knew better than any of our present-day discerners of the faith. We have all those children in catholic schools who leave without any desire to practice their taught faith. This is a failure of our missionary work. The teaching system is there but it does not seem to be in working order.
Synod Sceptic
The contributor on 6th June, 2024 is correct.
To be Catholic, one has to believe all that the Catholic Church teaches.
And, it has very clear teachings on mortal sin. It is delusional and absurd to leave mortal sin
out of the Catholic religion.
In additional of course, our bishops and priests are obliged to teach mortal sin.
See CCC 1855-1861.
Our purpose, our aim, our intention is always important.
So, why are we here on earth? What is our purpose?
Well, the Catholic Church teaches we are here to:
–give glory to God
–to save our own souls
–to help others to save their souls
There is an abundance of evidence that some souls have been lost; they have not saved their souls.
To an informed Catholic, this is a kind of no brainer.
Why have they lost their souls?
Because they have died in the state of mortal sin.
This has been a teaching of the Catholic Church for many hundreds of years.
Clearly therefore, since we all seek happiness, Catholics must know about mortal sin, how to avoid it,
how to have it forgiven etc.
ipso facto, mortal sin and how it relates to our salvation must be clearly, persuasively and often taught by our bishops and priests.
I attend Mass in different suburban churches in the A/Diocese of Sydney and I find mortal sin and its consequences are seldom, if ever, mentioned.
To my mind, this is a serious omission.
I do find lay people who agree with me, yet in most cases, our priests and bishops do not mention it.
The collapse in Mass attendance in Australia over recent years has been catastrophic. In my opinion, one of the causal factors — among several others — in this collapse has been the failure to teach the whole Faith, especially how to achieve salvation, how to avoid mortal sin and how to have it forgiven.