Vatican approves homeschooling – a boon for Catholic homeschooling parents.

This week, the Vatican’s delegation to the United Nations called for the world to respect parents’ rights to direct the upbringing of their children.  But even more specifically, they actually used the word, “homeschooling!”

Vatican Tells UN to Respect Parental Rights and Homeschooling

The Catholic school assists parents who have the right and duty to choose schools inclusive of homeschooling, and they must possess the freedom to do so, which in turn, must be respected and facilitated by the State. Parents must cooperate closely with teachers, who, on their part, must collaborate with parents.

Actual document here. 

This importance of the Vatican support on this did not go unnoticed by the largely non-Catholic but Christian Homeschool Legal Defense Association. 

That’s huge,” media relations director Jeremiah Lorrig with the U.S.-based Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) toldLifeSiteNews.com. “Having the support of the Vatican ambassador would invaluable to the homeschool movement.” 

For Catholic homeschooling parents in this country, this is a great benefit, particularly since some authoritarian Catholic priests have argued that it is sinful and even “Protestant” to homeschool instead of enrolling kids in the local Catholic School. Father Peter Stravinskas immediately comes to mind.  He started bashing homeschooling back in 2003 and did it again last year.  You can read more on that here. 

Of course Father Stravinskas has been rebutted several times by actual canon lawyers, which apparently he  either didn’t read or didn’t accept.  Maybe with the UN Delegation’s declaration for homeschooling, he’ll be more inclined to re-examine his view on this.