Many Catholics in Mexico aren't fussy about bookkeeping when they see churches rising. They view Mexican priests like Figueroa as Robin Hood figures who raid relatively wealthy parishes in the U.S. to build up their impoverished churches.
Fr. Raymundo Figueroa is a Mexican priest who has built a large and popular church in Rosarito Beach, Baja California. But he has done so through simony, the selling of Sacraments. It seems he and other Mexican priests make their way into the United States and - for a price - offer "fast track" Sacraments of Baptisms, First Communions, and Confirmations. I did not see mention of it in the article, but I will assume that also means marriages as well.
But that statement above has me torqued. They "raid relatively wealthy parishes?" Right, I'd like to know who at these "relatively wealthy parishes" are looking to buy Sacraments. I really doubt that some lily white parishioner at Our Lady Queen of Angels in Newport Beach is looking for a First Communion. Instead, he's robbing the poor to build a church for himself.
Martha Gonzalez, 47, of Chula Vista said a fast-track first Communion for her son appealed to her. As a working single mother, she didn't have time to shuttle her then-10-year-old to catechism classes and church for two years.
The classes, held in a garage, were supposed to last six months, she said. After a month and half she got a call from the teacher saying her son was ready for Communion. The classes were $160 and it would cost $20 more for flowers and chairs for the ceremony.
I am amazed when I see the number of parents dropping off and picking up their kids from my parish's RCIA classes on Sunday . . . and never walking down one block to attend Mass. I am glad that their children are being instructed in the faith, but saddened because really it is all about hitting certain markers so their kids can have a "church wedding" later on.
2 comments:
I saw that a bit, too, when I taught religious ed at my parish.
I really tried to emphasize the fact I wasn't the singular source of the kids' faith formation: the parents and family were. I said explicitly in my letter that they should attend Mass together, pray at home and work on the assignments given them together.
I knew which parents did and which didn't. It was sad, and edifying because now I know how not to be a parent.
And there are those "freelance" priests who do First Communions in garages, complete with tape-recorded music. Ask Fr. Brendan i La Habra.
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