Motives of parents who request the Catholic sacraments of initiation for their children
Publication Details
Stoyles, G.,
Watson, K.,
&
Bullivant, S.
(2024).
Motives of parents who request the Catholic sacraments of initiation for their children.
Journal of Pastoral Theology, Early View (Online First).
Abstract
Using attachment theory to interrogate findings, a single-case study investigated why parents present their children for the Sacraments of Initiation into the Catholic Church. Twelve parents from the Illawarra region, Australia, participated in the study. Robert K. Yin’s (Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. 6th ed. Sage, 2018) analytic strategy resulted in two research questions (RQ), namely, why do parents present their children for Baptism and secondly, why do they continue with the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation despite having little to no Church contact during the in-between years? Five overarching themes were found for the first RQ, including non-religious incentive, focus on the child, struggle in understanding Baptism, future orientation and cultural expectation. The second RQ revealed four overarching themes, namely, child-focused apprehension, child-focused commitment, expenditure of time and priorities in a busy life. Emphasis on the child’s welfare was evident in all themes. Discussion focuses on the conflict between Church commitment and emphasis on the child’s well-being.
Keywords
Sacraments of initiation, parental motive, church expectations, attachment theory
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