The virtue in pledging fidelity to Catholic teachings

In response to the July 12 front-page article “Parishioners question need for fidelity oaths,” I would like to ask a question: Is it so wrong for an organization to ask its members, especially its leaders, to teach and live according to the standards that the organization holds to be true?

The oath that the Sunday school teachers in the Catholic Diocese of Arlington were asked to sign is mostly the profession of faith that Catholics make every Sunday at Mass.  As a 23-year-old woman who has come to grow in my love for the Catholic faith and all that the Catholic Church teaches through the example of wonderful teachers, priests, bishops and others, I desire nothing more than to pass that faith on to future generations. And I have been blessed to do so as a religious education teacher at St. Ann Church in Arlington and as a teacher at St. Ann School. 

One of the great beauties of the Catholic Church is the fact that our leaders, the bishops, can trace their roots back to the apostles, the 12 men hand-picked by Jesus to lead the church that he came to establish. While these bishops are human and fall to sin just as you and I do, they have been called by Christ to be leaders of the Catholic Church. In faith, I will follow these bishops and the doctrines that have been revealed to them by God. 

While this effort might not always be easy, I am reminded that Jesus did not promise that it would be easy. However, I am hopeful of the heavenly reward that he promises to all who follow him.

Stephanie Hayes, Arlington