Adopting Older Child, not Catholic

I don't see any reason why you couldn't just take him to church with you (that's how our Msgr. looks at it, anyway!) Of course he can't partake of the sacrament, but he can walk up and get blessed. I would talk with him over time about being baptized and what that means and see if he wants to do it. My sister and I were cradle Catholics, and though neither she nor her husband practice, my nephew was in Catholic school for k-5th. At 7, he decided on his own that he wanted to be baptized when the rest of his class started preparation for first communion. The priest agreed, baptized him and he went through first communion w/ the rest of his class. Now, at 12, he goes to church w/ me and dh every week. I actually think it has been a good thing for him to work through some of this on his own and make a conscious choice about being Catholic.

If you were married in the Church, part of your vows is to raise any children Catholic. You might want to talk to your priest about your situation with your soon to be child. Maybe he can suggest ways to go about getting everything done. I know you usually baptize infants, so there might be different guidelines since your child is older. Definately bring him to church with you though. Since he doesn't go to church now, you might want to ask your priest or your religious education coordinator if there are any books geared towards people his age that explain what the Church is all about. I teach 9th and 10th grade religion at my church, so I'm more familiar with stuff for high schoolers as opposed to elementary school students.

We were married in the church and did agree to raise our kids Catholic, you are right. I guess my biggest thing is that it will be different and new for him...he may decide he does not want to go through everything. I am going to ask our priest about any books. Anneo, you said that you teach older kids, but do you have any suggestions as to where we could start book-wise? Thanks!

Until the adoption is finalized you cannot have him baptized. That being said, you can start gently teaching him about Christ as soon as he is living under your roof. I am not Catholic, I am Lutheran, but I do understand where you are coming from. Our youngest adopted child's birth mother listed her religion as Pagan. he knew nothing about Christ, or even God when he came to us at the age of five. Now his goal is to find his birth mom when he is older (he isn't even eight yet) so he can tell her all about Jesus, so that she too can go to heaven. Our 11 yr old daughter had gone to church some off and on with her grandmother, but really didn't know much. Now she is in confirmation classes with our 11 yr old bio son. We had both children baptized last February, since both adoptions were finalized. I am not sure at what age Catgholics start confirmation classes. but if he wants to attend them there is no reason why he cannot attend prior to adoption. The important thing is that you are not forcing your religion on him. But you can sure give him options!

i am a Catholic foster parent. My foster childen can't even take CCD class unless their parents sign off on it.

I really don't know of any good books for younger children because I don't deal with that age group. I would suggest going to your local Catholic bookstore or even looking into some of the Catholic home school programs for age appropriate books. My youngest brother was home schooled for high school, and my parents used Kolbe Academy. I know there is also the St. Elizabeth Seton home school program. These two give a grade by grade breakdown of books, so maybe you could look into what religion books they use. From my parents' experience with Kolbe, the people at the main office are very helpful, and maybe they can offer some advice as well. I tried using the old Baltimore Catechism books with my high schoolers, and that didn't go over too well. The format of questions and answers was just boring for them. There is a book called Catholicism for Dummies that is really good at giving the basics, so maybe if you read it with your child he'd get something out of it. I hope this helps.