Dioceses navigate tensions, opportunities with Catholic homeschooling families

(OSV News) -- Weeks ahead of Advent, Shabda Sanchez is already looking forward to "Las Posadas" -- the reenactment of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem that is traditional among Hispanic Catholics in Latin America and the U.S. in the days before Christmas.

And as a Catholic homeschooling parent, she's eager to ensure her five children, ages 5 to 14, experience that custom and other kid-friendly events with their peers.

"It's a very rich and fulfilling Catholic homeschool community that we have here in San Diego," Sanchez told OSV News. "We have families that get together to go to Eucharistic adoration before we start our school days. We're going to daily Mass together. We're seeing each other on Sundays. ... We try to provide our kids with fun holiday activities; we get them together so that we can celebrate (for example) All Saints Day in a Catholic way, as Catholics."

But, she admitted, "we typically have a hard time finding a parish hall that will allow us to rent and use their space."

Now, Sanchez and her husband, Alfonso, along with Catholic homeschooling families throughout the Diocese of San Diego, will have an even harder time, due to a new policy -- overwhelmingly passed in September by the diocese's presbyteral council and approved by Cardinal Robert W. McElroy -- that substantially limits the use of parish facilities for homeschooling groups and programs. The policy also applies to charter and non-diocesan private schools.

In a statement posted to the diocesan website, the cardinal said the policy was based on "four principles" that -- while affirming church teaching that parents are their children's primary educators, and as such have the right to homeschool -- ultimately added up to diocesan Catholic schools taking precedence, with parish religious education programs, rather than home catechesis, as the norm for students not attending Catholic schools.

"The Diocese supports the decision of a growing number of parents to choose home-schooling for their children," Cardinal McElroy's statement said. "At the same time this support does not include a right for basing integral elements of home-schooling programs in parish settings. Home schooling is not inherently a ministry of the parish."

Among the concerns cited by the cardinal were "that the movement toward housing home school related activities in the parish will inevitably create the impression that the Church is endorsing a parallel educational model without the in-depth educational oversight that the Church carries out in its parochial school program." Instead, the cardinal said that Catholic students should attend their parish's faith formation program, which includes sacramental preparation, "together as a sign of the integrity of the community of faith."

Shabda Sanchez said hearing the new policy left her "shocked ... disappointed (and) ... heartbroken.

"It hurt my feelings more than anything else, because we just love our faith," she told OSV News. "At the heart of our homeschool is our Catholic faith."

Alfonso Sanchez told OSV News the decision to homeschool for the past 10 years had been a matter of "wanting to spend as much time as possible with our kids," as well as basic practical concerns.

"We had three kids under age 5 (at once)," he said. "The logistics of getting everybody in the car, with a baby, a newborn nursing, drop-off, pickup, parking, all that stuff. We said, 'You know what? We can simplify our lives a lot more if we just did this at home.'"

While the couple considered parish schools, "unfortunately, at the time, financially it was going to be pretty challenging," he said.

A sampling of the San Diego Diocese's 43 elementary schools indicates that tuition for one child during the 2024-25 academic year can be at least $6,000 or more. Diocesan schools generally offer tuition assistance as well as discounts for multiple children. But a family with four children -- on the basis of per-child discounts -- might have to pay between $15,000 to more than $23,000 for a year of tuition, depending on the school, without additional aid factored in.

Alfonso Sanchez said that while his career is now at a point where those costs would be manageable, "we are just so in love with homeschooling." The family plans to continue as Shabda Sanchez begins high school-level instruction for their 14-year-old son.

At the same time, the Sanchezes stressed that they have relied upon their parish's religious education program for their children.

"We feel that is something that is more appropriate and much better managed by our parish," Alfonso Sanchez said.

The San Diego Diocese referred OSV News to the cardinal's statement in response to OSV News' follow-up questions about the new policy, which contrasts with some of the strategic approaches taken by other Catholic dioceses in the U.S. in accompanying and engaging Catholic homeschooling families.

The Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, and the Chaldean Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle in Southfield, Michigan, are among those that have actively extended various levels of pastoral support for Catholic homeschool families.

The Chaldean Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle notes on its website that its "Our Lady of Wisdom Homeschooling Program" offers two options -- a parent-led cooperative format, and a hybrid "enrichment" style that blends homeschooling and traditional classroom learning -- "with the full support of Bishop Francis Kalabat."

In 2021, the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, created a "Homeschool Families" organization with the blessing of Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney, who has celebrated graduation liturgies for homeschooled students and met with homeschooling parents.

The Diocese of Allentown currently has "a team of over 10 staff members" working to assist dozens of homeschooling families, at least 30 of which attended a May 22 Homeschooling Mass of Thanksgiving that Bishop Alfred A. Schlert celebrated, the diocesan Office of Education told OSV News. In addition, the office said that more than 200 members have subscribed to the diocese's Flocknote email group to receive updates on homeschooling information and events.
"Catholic homeschooling is one of the methods that empowers parents to engage in their children's education while incorporating the teachings of the church into daily life," Bishop Schlert told OSV News.

He added that parents "dedicating time and effort to educate their children on the truths of the faith ... can work alongside the church to guide youth in discovering their God-given vocations -- whether that be in holy marriage, the priesthood, or religious life."

The Diocese of Allentown's education office recommends that pastors, clergy, principals and parish directors of religious education work to engage homeschooling families by getting to know them and inviting them to participate in a number of parish-based events, such as youth groups, vocation awareness activities, Catholic school Masses and other religious activities.

Bishop Schlert said such outreach, along with the appointment of Father Kevin J. Bobbin as chaplain to the diocesan homeschooling community helps "families in navigating the challenges of homeschooling," while ensuring "their education aligns with the church's teachings."

Father Bobbin -- who also serves as pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish and chaplain of Nativity B.V.M. Catholic High School, both in Pottsville, Pennsylvania -- told OSV News that Bishop Schlert felt it was important that the homeschool chaplaincy be part of the diocese's Office of Education.

"He didn't want it to be seen as something separate," said Father Bobbin, who noted that the first task in his newly developing homeschool chaplaincy has been to simply "find out who's out there" among homeschooling families, and "get to know them, and get them to know each other."

At the same time, said Bishop Schlert, the choice to homeschool requires careful discernment by parents, who "should consider several important factors, with the most crucial being whether this is God's will for their family."

He also recommended that parents assess "their ability to balance parenting and teaching," along with their financial resources and "appropriate curriculum materials," while making sure they understand their state's accreditation and registration requirements for homeschooling.

"They should also consider their connection with their parish and pastor, as well as the importance of forming a community with other families in their parish," Bishop Schlert said.

A greater sense of integration with parishes and their schools would be a win for both the San Diego Diocese and its homeschooling and Catholic school families, said Shabda Sanchez.

"It would be amazing if the diocese could encourage the Catholic schools to open up certain activities," she said. "It doesn't have to be a lot of activities or every activity. ... Maybe a talent show, or a night at Bethlehem. Let's bring the homeschool students together with the Catholic school students."

Alfonso Sanchez agreed, adding that the diocese's Catholic schools themselves can benefit from the presence of homeschoolers, who could be a "pipeline of potential new students if the relationship was nurtured toward that end."

"The diocese makes a point, and I totally agree, that it wants to celebrate the Good News and serve the needs of the Catholic community," he said. "And so with that being the aim, there should be more Catholic homeschool support."