I can see deferring the sacraments but not kicking kids out of class. Jesus didn't put any conditions on allowing the children to come to him and children shouldn't be denied formation for the shortcoming of their parents.

I just wanted to share a little anecdote. When my son received First Holy Communion, a couple of years ago, the pastor asked all the kids if they could tell why Jesus chose to give Himself to us in the Eucharist. A lot of the other children raised their hands and gave their answers. My son was the last to raise his hand. The pastor called his name and asked the question again, and my son answered, "So we wouldn't be lonely." That's given me pause to stop and ponder ever since then.

In our parish, the question "Is there a grandparent attending Mass, who will take responsibility for the child's attendance and participation?" is also a relevant question.

Also, in our parish, the faith formation is on Sunday morning between the 2 Masses, which makes Mass attendance, at least for the children, a bit easier to arrange.

Then there are always children whose parents are divorced, who spend every other weekend with the parent they do not live with, and often those parents do not value Mass attendance.

How much good will be accomplished by pressuring these parents to attend Mass for a year? My hunch is, not much. How much long term damage will be done? Perhaps a good deal.

I sympathize with anyone working in faith formation, there is a problem, but is this the solution?

In my last parish, the pastor taught the classes in the church himself; he rotated age groups throughout the year.

Every child was required to bring an adult (over 18, I believe) relative, who would sit next to the child during the class.

I think that this was modeled on programs in Mexico.