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Arlington Diocese Rejects Secular Sex Ed. Programme for Child Protection

ARLINGTON February 18, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The diocese of Arlington has rejected the anti-Christian sex-ed program that was to be installed as a child protection measure after strong protests from parents and a scathing report from Crisis magazine's Deal Hudson. Opponents of the secular programme, "Good Touch/Bad Touch" said it was sex-ed for kindergarteners and alleged that it shifted the responsibility of protecting children away from clergy and onto children. The diocese has replaced the offensive curriculum with a less controversial, Catholic program, Protecting God's Children.

Parents asserted that the now rejected program introduces sexual concepts to children and threatens their innocence. Protests flooded the Arlington diocesan chancery in critical e-mails, letters and faxes in the past month. In the February 12th edition of the Arlington Catholic Herald, the diocesan newspaper, Bishop Paul S. Loverde announced that he would consider only Catholic programs, which excludes the secular Good Touch/Bad Touch curriculum.

In an effort to distance his diocese from statements of former diocesan director of child protection and safety, Catherine Nolan, the bishop wrote that "cooperation with parents in addressing this sensitive issue is crucial." The bishop reiterated the Catholic teaching that parents are the primary teachers of children. "Families are the 'domestic church' in which their children first encounter the faith."

Nolan had outraged Catholic parents by her assertion that the reason they had been excluded from the selection process for programmes was "that parents themselves might be predators", suggesting that she felt it was the diocese's duty to separate children from their parents' protection. Nolan has resigned her position after a six-month tenure.

In an effort to allay parents' fears, the bishop stated that the priorities of any program adopted by the diocese would be to "respect the irreplaceable role of parents, who 'have the first responsibility for the education of their children,'; be fully in accord with our Catholic teachings on the dignity of the human person and morality; be age-appropriate, effective, and not place the burden of protection on children."

To read Bishop Loverde's statement: http://www.catholicherald.com/loverde/2004homilies/loverde-safe.htm

Previous LifeSite coverage: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/feb/04020605.html

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