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Father Peter Fonseca hosts a Catholicism 101 session
each week for anyone in the Queen of All Saints Parish.
The event, which is focused on adult faith formation, is
timed to the PSR sessions so that parents can attend.
Father Peter Fonseca hosts a Catholicism 101 session each week for anyone in the Queen of All Saints Parish. The event, which is focused on adult faith formation, is timed to the PSR sessions so that parents can attend.
Photo Credit: Lisa Johnston

Catholicism 101

Program at Queen of All Saints Parish offers faith formation to parents during their children's PSR classes

Father Peter Fonseca was going a mile a minute as he laid out the path of apostolic succession to a group of adults huddled in the church basement at Queen of All Saints on a Wednesday evening. He had a lot to cover in just one hour.

Catholicism 101 has been growing in popularity at the Oakville parish. Each week, the associate pastor presents a different topic on the faith. It’s open to anyone at the parish, but it’s timed during Parish School of Religion, so parents can attend while their children are also receiving catechesis.

In explaining the primacy of St. Peter, the first pope, and the succession of popes through our current Pope Francis, Father Fonseca told them, “where does our unity come from — from being Roman Catholic. We can trace that back through all of his successors.”

The topics covered are broad — ranging anywhere from papal infallibility to the role of Mary in the Church — and are meant to be a refresher for adults. “We were hoping parents recognize, ‘I don’t have anything to do tonight and I’ve got my kid over at PSR — let me come over and see if I can learn something,’” Father Fonseca said.

Sara Rushing, a regular attendee who has three children in the parish school, said, “I feel like I’m learning something new every time. And sometimes in your faith you go through these kicks where you question certain things. Right now I’m trying to better understand the whole aspect of Mary and how she fits into the Church.”

Amy Herrick, a mother of two in PSR who went to Catholic grade school and public high school, sees the class as a convenient opportunity to be refreshed in her understanding of the faith.

“When you’re younger, you sometimes don’t really understand it as well,” she said. “And I can tell my kids I’m going to school, too. They see it’s important for us as adults as well.”

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