The handout was distributed at mass this week to those preparing for reconciliation, something commonly undertaken by students in Year 2.

Under the heading of ‘you shall not kill’ the reader was asked “Have I engaged, in any way, in sins against human life such as artificial insemination or invitro fertilization?”

The claim that IVF is a sin was slammed by the Griffith community, with some residents saying it was another example of how out of touch the church was with the local parish.

In a statement released by the Diocese of Wagga Wagga the church said the incident was a priest’s message to adults who were about to undertake the sacrament of reconciliation - confession - for the first time.

The church insisted that at no point in the message had the priest made derogatory statements about children conceived through IVF and Bishop of Wagga Wagga Gerard Hanna apologised to any students and families who were offended or made to feel unwelcome as a result of the media coverage the story had received.

“It’s not the media coverage we are upset about,” one woman, who for years had attended the local church, and now refused to said. “It’s the message itself.

“The message is that the parents have sinned and the child is born in sin, that’s the implication.

“Why judge kids, an innocent child having a judgement made on them that they are sinful, it doesn’t add up.

“The worry is that this is being preached to children here who are impressionable and literal, if you are teaching that sort of thing to children it leads to huge confusions in their lives which can be damaging.”

As a mother and devout Catholic another woman, who also did not wish to be named in fear of repercussions from the church, said it worried her that her children were receiving this message.

“It’s very upsetting for me as a mother – the children who see this and feel persecuted, it’s sad,” she said.

Both women pointed out the struggle many couples faced when trying to conceive and how unjust it was that their struggle could not end with the birth of a child but instead continued to include persecution from the local church.

“I know a woman who couldn’t have any children, she was so upset and today she is just a wonderful mum, to think that judgement is being made that her children are created through sin is just horrible,” one said.

“I think that the attitude of this church is why the parish is losing so many people, I have seen fourth generation families leaving the church.

The women said they no longer felt welcome in the local church and instead felt constantly judged.