Christian Doctrine Threatens ‘Psychological Harm’ to Child, According to Maine Judge’s Ruling
Maine judge ruled that certain Christian teachings can cause psychological harm to children. The decision arose from a lawsuit involving religious instruction in a school setting. The judge emphasized protecting children's mental well-being over unrestricted religious expression. The ruling may influence future policies on religious education in public institutions. The case illustrates the tension between religious freedom and child protection laws.
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A Maine federal judge ruled that an 11‑year‑old girl should be shielded from attending a church that teaches directly from the Bible, citing a “compelling state interest” to protect her from “immediate and substantial psychological harm.” The decision centers on a custody dispute between the child’s parents and the involvement of Calvary Chapel in Portland, Maine 1.
The dispute involves Ava (now 12), whose mother, Emily Bickford, began attending Calvary Chapel after separating from her father, Matthew Bradeen. Bradeen objected to Ava’s participation in the church’s services and activities 1.
District Court Judge Jennifer Nofsinger concluded that the church’s sermons—covering topics such as warfare, fallen angels, and eternal suffering—posed a risk of psychological harm to Ava. The order granted Bradeen authority over whether Ava could attend any church services, view church material, or communicate with church members, except for her mother 1.
Liberty Counsel’s founder and attorney Mat Staver argued that both parents have a presumption of acting in the child’s best interest and a right to raise her in their respective faiths. He emphasized the lack of evidence of actual harm and warned that the order effectively gives one parent a veto over the other’s religious upbringing 1.
Staver appealed the ruling to the Maine Supreme Court in November 2024; a decision is still pending 1.
Does Catholic doctrine permit religious instruction that risks child psychological harm?
Catholic doctrine does not permit religious instruction that foreseeably risks psychological harm to children. On the contrary, the Church teaches that minors must be educated in a way that respects their dignity and helps them reach the appropriate psychological and emotional maturity, and that communities must create and maintain safe environments for them.
The Church explicitly presents the protection of minors as an integral part of the Gospel message and places a duty on the Church and all its members to provide care and protection, including creating a safe environment where minors’ interests are prioritized.
Pope Leo XIV likewise emphasizes that “prevention” is not optional and calls for building a culture where minors and vulnerable persons are respected, listened to, and valued—i.e., a setting oriented toward prevention rather than harm.
Catholic teaching on education does not treat “religious instruction” as merely informational. Parents and teachers are said to have the duty to lead young people through a complete education toward the psychological, emotional and moral maturity befitting their age, while prudently giving information suited to their age and protecting the young from many dangers of which they are unaware.
Similarly, the Church’s guidance for Catholic schools requires that religious education be conducted with awareness of developments in child psychology and related fields (child psychology, pedagogy, catechetics), and with the requirement to keep abreast of directives from competent ecclesiastical authorities.
If instruction creates a foreseeable risk of psychological harm, it conflicts with these requirements of prudence, age-suitability, and protective care.
In the context of education and youth formation, John Paul II warns specifically that a critical attitude is necessary so that one does not favor “the manipulation of youth psychology” in service of ideologies that do not correspond to the truth about the human person.
While this statement addresses manipulation, it also gives a broader moral criterion relevant to your question: teaching methods or content that treat children’s minds as instruments—rather than as persons who must be protected—are contrary to Catholic educational responsibility.
Catholic education documents discuss how modern communication tools can act with “intrusiveness and suggestion,” creating streams of information that condition youth—especially “in the field of sex education,” but the principle reflects a broader concern about the psychological effects of educational media on youth.
This supports the idea that Catholic religious instruction is not only about what is taught, but also about how it is delivered, with care taken to avoid conditioning practices that could harm the vulnerable.
Putting these teachings together:
Therefore, religious instruction that risks causing psychological harm—especially if the risk is foreseeable—cannot be regarded as legitimate “catechesis” under Catholic principles. Instead, Catholic doctrine points toward modifying, correcting, or discontinuing approaches that undermine safety or prudently protect children.
Catholic doctrine requires religious instruction to be safe, prudent, age-appropriate, and protective of minors’ psychological wellbeing. Instruction that foreseeably risks child psychological harm is contrary to the Church’s educational and protective obligations.