Does virtual school offer enough?
I read with interest, and increasing dismay, the article on the opening of St. Vincent de Paul Virtual Academy (Catholic Virginian, March 22). There is no doubt that it will be a good fit for a “student with a chronic illness” and other special cases, but for those regular students who may attend, does it offer enough?
Academics are important, but there is another side of education that is equally important —learning how to get along with other people. That is not learned sitting behind a desk at home.
I doubt that any of my four brothers would have grown into the fine, caring men they became if not for the discipline, training and camaraderie of the high school Cadet Corps to which they belonged. The young men with whom they marched became fast and forever friends, and they learned what it meant to work together and to help each other. And my very choice of “for pay” careers was fueled by editing my high school newspaper.
How many youths have kept going to high school and stayed to graduate because they wanted to diagram a sentence or conjugate a verb? Not many. But some have stayed because they wanted to play basketball or a musical instrument, or perhaps even join the chess club. Extra-curricular activities of any kind – sports, music, art and especially social – play an important role in shaping and mentoring high school students.
Let’s not forget that helping students become productive adults is as important as academics. Knowing how to get along with others is crucial. – Mary T. Atkinson, Mechanicsville
Pro-life stance includes ‘through natural death’
The life and dignity of the human person is one theme of Catholic Social Teaching. Our pro-life stance is the heart of it, but nearly all discussion surrounds life at the moment of conception.
Issue after issue of The Catholic Virginian has an extraordinary number of letters supporting this view. Many readers would like President Biden to have a more aggressive approach toward abortion. Others question why he should be able to receive Communion.
What I do not read often is the pro-life stance as it relates to “through natural death.” The life of a human person is valuable throughout her or his lifespan. This is particularly true of those sitting on death row.
It is easier in a sense to take up the cause of the unborn than it is to take up the cause for someone whose behavior has been so egregious that it warrants said penalty. To Gov. Northam signing legislation ending capital punishment in Virginia I say, “Amen.”
Regarding Biden and others, I am looking for another theme of Catholic Social Teaching – that of rights and responsibilities. When it comes to examining conscience, are we recognizing and respecting the economic, social, political and cultural rights of all people?
He was not elected to be the president for just one fifth of the U.S. population, which Catholics represent. He was elected to be the leader for all people with a wide variety of perspectives, even those with which we do not agree.
Speaking to the issue of Communion, even Jesus offered bread as his body to Judas at the Last Supper — despite knowing that Judas would betray him. – Sandy Wittig, North Chesterfield
Question about mortal sin
In the letters to the editor (Catholic Virginian, Feb. 22), Charles Ruhl asked if President Biden would be denied Communion because of his scandalous actions on abortion. The editor’s response was that Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington has already said he will not deny the Eucharist to President Biden.
I thought we were taught that we shouldn’t go to Communion if we had a mortal sin on our soul. Isn’t it a mortal sin to strongly advocate for and promote something that is itself a mortal sin? – Tom Trykowski, Greenville
Editor’s note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent. It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin” (1859).