Lockers in hallway

Fake News About Brebeuf Jesuit School

According to secular news reports about Brebeuf Jesuit High School in Indianapolis, which Archbishop Charles Thompson declared to be no longer Catholic, you’d think the decision was all about the Church’s eagerness to fire a “gay” teacher.

Likewise, articles about Cathedral High School in northeast Indianapolis, which upheld its Catholic identity by dismissing one of its teachers, also emphasize the teacher’s sexuality.

Such is “fake news”—it’s rooted in some fact, but not in truth. In fact, the Indianapolis situation is primarily about a Catholic school’s obligations to teach the faith clearly and without contradiction.

The Indianapolis Star proclaimed, “Indianapolis Archdiocese Cuts Ties with Jesuit School Over Refusal to Fire Gay Teacher.” FOX News claimed Brebeuf was “Stripped of ‘Catholic’ Label Over Gay Teacher.” Newsweek announced that Cathedral “Fires Gay Teacher,” and the USA Today headline likewise reported that Cathedral “Is Firing a Gay Teacher.”

And now, a New York Times contributor has lectured the bishops on the need to defend our “L.G.B.T.Q. brothers and sisters.” The article is titled, “How to Defy the Catholic Church.”

To be sure, at both Brebeuf and Cathedral the teachers under scrutiny are identified as “gay”—but what caused the controversy is not that directly, but instead their public actions contradicting what they are supposed to be teaching in a Catholic school. Both entered into civilly approved same-sex marriages. Such public scandal makes someone ineligible to teach in a genuinely Catholic school, and this would be true of scandal leading children into any type of grave sin, whether homosexual or otherwise.

Indeed, both teachers had been employed despite apparent awareness of their sexuality, so the claim of discrimination is ludicrous. Public identification as “gay” can be scandalous, if sexuality is touted in such a way as to lead young people into sin. But this is not why the Archdiocese of Indianapolis raised concerns about the teachers at Brebeuf and Cathedral, and apparently no employee’s job was at risk because of private struggles with sexuality.

Still, the secular media and activists like Jesuit Fr. James Martin have deliberately characterized the Archdiocese as targeting people for their “sexual identity.” This falsehood stirs up the crowd to persecute the Body of Christ, with claims of discrimination and attempts to erode religious freedom.

Witnesses to the Faith

Such discrimination claims are wrong. Central to Brebeuf’s tragic loss of Catholic identity are the school’s failure to insist that teachers publicly witness to the Catholic faith, its betrayal of families who rely on Catholic education to uphold Catholic teachings, and the school’s refusal to abide by the rightful authority of Archbishop Thompson to establish expectations for Catholic schools in his diocese.

A Catholic school exists for the purpose of forming young people for the fullness of humanity, all that God intends for them. This includes formation in the Catholic faith, indeed in all truth about God, man and reality.

It is essential, then, that teachers in Catholic schools present the truth clearly in both word and deed. Their witness can powerfully reinforce Christian formation—or it can be dangerously destructive by misleading a child into falsehood.

This can be a real challenge for Catholic schools in a highly secularized and sexualized society, in which even well-intentioned Catholic teachers are confused about moral truth and may be poorly catechized.

“In today’s pluralistic world, the Catholic educator must consciously inspire his or her activity with the Christian concept of the person, in communion with the Magisterium of the Church” (Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith, 1982, 18). An authentic Christian anthropology, of course, recognizes only two sexes and understands sexuality in the context of chastity and matrimony between a man and woman.

While a Catholic school is a Christian community full of mercy and compassion for its members who may struggle to live good and holy lives, it is essential to the work of the school that teachers not publicly challenge or contradict the Catholic faith in which students are being formed.

Canon law is clear: “The instruction and education in a Catholic school must be grounded in the principles of Catholic doctrine; teachers are to be outstanding in correct doctrine and integrity of life” (Canon 803 §2). It is essential that Catholic schools explain to employees precisely what that means, by including “morality clauses” in teacher contracts. The Cardinal Newman Society compiled model language here that can be adopted by individual schools and dioceses.

A lesson for teachers

In his announcement that Brebeuf is no longer Catholic, Archbishop Thompson has reaffirmed what the Church has always expected from Catholic schools. And Brebeuf’s consequence was not caused by the bishop: it was the school leaders’ decision not to comply with the Archbishop’s requirements for all Catholic schools, and they chose to stand with the teacher in public contradiction to the Catholic faith. Cooperating with such public contradiction implies dissent, whether or not the school’s leaders actually agree or disagree with Church teaching.

In the past, Catholic schools were largely staffed by clergy and religious. Although there remain some priests, brothers and sisters — notably the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and the Nashville Dominicans who set such a wonderful example — they make up less than 3 percent of America’s Catholic school teachers.

Therefore, in the last several decades it’s been up to the laity to take up evangelization by Catholic education, serving as ministers of the faith in word and deed. Archbishop Thompson recognizes the influential role that teachers play in the formation of students.

No teacher in a Catholic schools is sinless. But teachers should do everything possible to grow in virtue and avoid scandal, with special attention to persistent, public scandals that are most damaging to students. Catholic schools should ensure that they have qualified teachers who are able to fulfill the job of aiding parents in the formation of young people in the Catholic faith.

Archbishop Thompson provides a good reminder for Catholic school teachers everywhere about the importance of their vocation. Teachers have a crucial role to play in imitating Jesus Christ, the true Teacher, to communicate Truth and sanctify the world.

This article was first published at The National Catholic Register.

School of Athens

The Trouble with Charter Schools

In the last few decades, many alternatives to public schooling have become popular, including charter schools of a “classical” framework. However, despite their impressive results in many important areas, we cannot forget what can only be accomplished at an authentic Catholic school – one that embraces its identity and mission with gusto.

At The Catholic World Report, Dr. Dan Guernsey writes:

As principal of a “classical” Catholic school and a lifelong advocate for the liberal arts, I am excited by the growing classical school movement—which now has reached even many public charter schools. Catholic families are understandably attracted to charter schools’ free tuition and classical schools’ commitment to established curricula, teaching methods and virtue development.

But a secular school can never be a worthy substitute for authentic Catholic education and some parents seem to be either unaware or unconvinced of the Church’s reasons for requiring them to choose Catholic education if it is available.

Continue reading at The Catholic World Report…

Catholics Should Be Wary of ‘Elite’ Colleges

Lately we’ve been hearing about a college admissions scandal and FBI raids of parents’ homes. But Catholic families may be being cheated by an even bigger fraud.

The news is abuzz about indicted celebrities who abused the power of their wealth to get children into prestigious colleges, ahead of deserving students. It’s a classic American scandal, pitting the wealthy against the little guy.

But there’s more to it than that. “If education is what the beast says it is, a mere means to the end of greater wealth and prestige, then what these parents did makes perfect sense,” writes scholar Benjamin Myers at First Things. “…Many of those outraged by the behavior of these celebrity parents share the foundational assumptions that make sense of such actions—that the point of education is not to ‘get wisdom,’ in the words of Proverbs, but to gain prestige. The parents who bribed their kids’ way into college were just feeding the beast, the same as everybody else.”

In other words, Catholic families who aspire for their children to attend college to obtain a ticket to success instead of forming their minds, hearts and spirits are missing the point of college—at least what the Church deems worthy of young Catholic students.

More than the bribery scandal, the greater fraud in American academia is the pretense that “elite” colleges still have the value they had just a lifetime ago, let alone the value that the great universities had centuries ago. For many big-name universities today, their reputations were built in another time and on another sort of education.

Modern secular education

To be sure, elite universities offer many advantages to their students. They are able to hire brilliant professors, sometimes including prominent Catholics like Robert George at Princeton and Mary Ann Glendon at Harvard. They often have vast resources for research, facilities, libraries, etc. And a diploma from an elite institution can be a ticket to wealth, success and distinction.

These are valuable in their own right, and there are many factors in choosing a college that may lead a student to attend a secular institution—or worse, a corrupted and highly secularized Catholic institution. But Catholics need to be aware and highly cautious about the rest of the baggage that comes with most of modern higher education—especially our “prestigious” universities.

Today many are dominated by identity politics and political correctness, instead of rational dialogue and reasoned argument. Studies tend to be either career-centered, with an emphasis on practical training, or narrow and biased distortions of the liberal arts. The campus life is morally toxic and frequently corrupts the souls of students.

Most important, they lack Christianity. In our secular age, it’s understandable that most students don’t value the insights of Christianity on science, history, the arts and humanity. But Catholic families should value them above all.

Newman’s vision

Blessed John Henry Newman, the 19th-century theologian and educator who will be canonized later this year, argued rightly that the only complete college is a faithfully Catholic one. That’s because higher education should be open to all truth and committed to integrating all truth—thus the word “university.”

At a faithfully Catholic college, the knowledge that is revealed to us by Christ and His Church rightly informs every other branch of study, makes it richer, and opens our eyes to greater understanding. A college that rejects and excludes Christian truth is a lesser college.

Higher education should not be focused primarily on accumulating facts and skills, although that’s the emphasis of most college learning today. Newman said he didn’t care much what subjects a student studied, as long as he learned to reason well, organized and prioritized knowledge, solved problems, and acquired wisdom.

And a higher education is not just about academics—it’s about forming young people to fulfill everything that God desires for them, to become more fully human. A faithful Catholic college like those recommended in The Newman Guide teach not only wisdom but also virtue, and they form students in the Faith and the Sacraments. They attend to campus life outside the classroom and lead students on the path to holiness. This is not contrary to learning, but central to it.

Sadly, many of the elite Catholic colleges like those involved in the admissions scandals—Georgetown University and the University of San Diego—have moved away from this sort of valuable education, even while resting their reputations on the excellent education that they once provided.

Even the Ivy League institutions once understood the value of a faithful, integrated education. Did you know that most Ivy League universities began as Christian institutions? For decades now, they have compromised their original mission, yet they retain their prestige in the eyes of the world.

A faithful Catholic college… now that’s an education worth reaching for! But don’t try bribing admissions officials to get in.

This article was originally published at the National Catholic Register.

Are Jesuits Proud of Their Pro-Abortion Alumni?

As the 116th Congress began in January, the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) trumpeted the surprising fact that more than 10 percent of the U.S. Congress—55 of 535 members in the House and Senate—graduated from American Jesuit institutions.

But in their widely reported press release, the Jesuit educators also displayed a callous disregard for the moral formation of these graduates, most of whom actively work against the Church on today’s most important human rights issue: the right to life.

Upon reading news reports about the Jesuit alumni in Congress, my immediate question on Twitter (@NewmanSocPres) was almost reflexive: “Are they pro-life?”

I don’t really expect them to be, given the direction of Jesuit higher education and the many pro-abortion scandals on their campuses, including the recent lecture by an abortionist touting the Christian virtue of his practice at Georgetown University. But of what value is Catholic education if its graduates are not formed well in faith and morals, the most basic of which is respect for life? Could we at least expect that from highly secularized but officially Catholic colleges?

Moreover, it seems strange that even the most faithful Catholic news media didn’t evaluate the voting records of these alumni before touting the 10 percent-in-Congress statistic as—it probably seemed to most readers—good news for Catholics and a reason to attend Jesuit colleges.

It’s not good news! And it’s yet another piece of evidence that these colleges are having a detrimental impact on society instead of advancing Catholic thought and culture.

Pro-abortion voting records

I reviewed the voting records of the 55 Jesuit-educated senators and representatives using the pro-life scorecard published by National Right to Life (NRLC). If we combine NRLC scores for the 115th Congress (2017-2018) and the 114th Congress (2015-2016) for the 47 Jesuit college alumni who voted in one or both of those years, then we find that only eight of them voted pro-life 100 percent of the time. (God bless them!)

On the other hand, 36 of the alumni had NRLC scores of zero. That means that they voted 100 percent of the time against pro-life objectives.

Three others had mixed records:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska managed to get a 44 percent pro-life rating, largely because she voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. But Murkowski voted against the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (prohibiting abortions before 20 weeks of gestation) and supported funding for Planned Parenthood.

Sen. Robert Casey of Pennsylvania scored just 18 percent. He supported the 20-week ban, but he repeatedly voted for Planned Parenthood funding.

Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas had a mixed record of 43 percent. He claims to be pro-life but opposed efforts to reduce funding to Planned Parenthood.

Seven of the alumni are new to the House of Representatives and had no voting record in the last two Congressional sessions. But according to statements made during their campaigns, it appears that five strongly support legalized abortion and only two are pro-life:

Gil Cisneros (California): As a candidate, Cisneros strongly defended “women’s right to choose” and funding for Planned Parenthood.

Greg Pence (Indiana): The Catholic brother of Vice President Mike Pence ran for Congress on a pro-life platform.

Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey): Endorsed by the abortion lobby NARAL, Sherrill said she was “proud to stand with NARAL and the work they do to protect the rights of women.”

Xochitl Torres Small (New Mexico): The former Planned Parenthood employee supports funding for abortion and even opposes limits on late-term abortions.

Greg Stanton (Arizona): While mayor of Phoenix, Stanton urged Congress to fund Planned Parenthood and co-chaired a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.

Bryan Steil (Wisconsin): The pro-life candidate was endorsed by Wisconsin Right to Life.

Lori Trahan (Massachusetts): Candidate Trahan vowed to fight “bans on abortion, bans on private and public insurance coverage of abortion, and the frequent attempts to regulate abortion providers out of existence.”

These campaign positions were upheld last month, when the U.S. House voted to overturn President Trump’s ban on foreign aid to pro-abortion organizations. Only Pence and Steil voted against it, while the other five Jesuit college alumni who are new to Congress voted for it.

Delegate Stacey Plaskett, another of the Jesuit college alumni, is a nonvoting House member from the Virgin Islands and has no voting record. But last year, Plaskett made a commitment to NARAL to fight to keep abortion legal across the United States.

Not ashamed?

The final tally: only 10 of the 55 Jesuit college alumni are clearly pro-life, 42 are strongly pro-abortion, and three have mixed records that are unworthy of anyone who had a Catholic education.

If the Jesuits think that their 10 percent representation in Congress is so significant as to warrant public celebration, then why are they not ashamed that 82 percent of those alumni oppose the Church on such important issues as abortion and taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood?

Or to put it another way: Why does secular prestige appear to be more important to the Jesuit colleges than the slaughter of innocent babies?

Below is the tally for the Jesuit college alumni, with details from the AJCU:

Sen. John Barrasso (WY) – NRLC rating 100
B.A. Georgetown U. (1974), M.D. Georgetown U. (1978)

Sen. Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA) – NRLC rating 18
B.A. Coll. of the Holy Cross (1982)

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (IL) – NRLC rating 0
B.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1966), J.D. Georgetown U. (1969)

Sen. Mazie Hirono (HI) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1978)

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (VT) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1964)

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Gonzaga U. (1990)

Sen. Edward J. Markey (MA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Boston Coll. (1968), J.D. Boston Coll. (1972)

Sen. Robert Menendez (NJ) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Saint Peter’s U. (1976)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK) – NRLC rating 44
B.A. Georgetown U. (1980)

Sen. Gary Peters (MI) – NRLC rating 0
M.B.A. U. of Detroit Mercy (1984)

Sen. Dan Sullivan (AK) – NRLC rating 100
J.D.-M.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1993)

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Jr. (MD) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1990)

Rep. Vern Buchanan (FL) – NRLC rating 100
M.B.A. U. of Detroit Mercy (1986)

Rep. David Cicilline (RI) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1986)

Rep. Gil Cisneros (CA) – elected 2018
M.B.A. Regis U. (2002)

Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX) – NRLC rating 43
B.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1978)

Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (CT) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Marymount Coll. (now part of Fordham U.) (1964)

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Coll. of the Holy Cross (1974)

Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI) – NRLC rating 0
B.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1975), M.A.L.S. Georgetown U. (1998)

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (NE) – NRLC rating 100
M.P.P. Georgetown U. (1986)

Rep. Lois Frankel (FL) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1973)

Rep. Mike Gallagher (WI) – NRLC rating 100
M.A. Georgetown U. (2012 & 2013), Ph.D. Georgetown U. (2015)

Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ) – NRLC rating 100
B.S. Creighton U. (1981), D.D.S. Creighton U. (1985)

Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (IN) – NRLC rating 100
M.P.P. Georgetown U. (2014)

Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (MD) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1966)

Rep. Jared Huffman (CA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Boston Coll. (1990)

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Georgetown U. (1986)

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) – NRLC rating 0
M.P.P. Georgetown U. (1994)

Rep. William Keating (MA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Boston Coll. (1974), M.B.A. Boston Coll. (1982)

Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (NH) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1984)

Rep. Ted Lieu (CA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Georgetown U. (1994)

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Santa Clara U. (1975)

Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Boston Coll. (1991)

Rep. Gwen Moore (WI) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Marquette U. (1978)

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (FL) – NRLC rating 0
M.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (2004)

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Fordham U. (1978)

Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Santa Clara U. (1996)

Rep. William J. Pascrell, Jr. (NJ) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Fordham U. (1959), M.A. Fordham U. (1961)

Rep. Greg Pence (IN) – elected 2018
B.A. Loyola U. Chicago (1979), M.B.A. Loyola U. Chicago (1983)

Delegate Stacey Plaskett (VI) – nonvoting member
B.S.F.S. Georgetown U. (1988)

Rep. Michael Quigley (IL) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Loyola U. Chicago (1989)

Rep. Francis Rooney (FL) – NRLC rating 100
B.A. Georgetown U. (1975) , J.D. Georgetown U. (1978)

Rep. Robert C. Scott (VA) – NRLC rating 0
J.D. Boston Coll. (1973)

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ) – elected 2018
J.D. Georgetown U. (2007)

Rep. Albio Sires (NJ) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Saint Peter’s U. (1974)

Rep. Xochitl Torres Small (NM) – elected 2018
B.A. Georgetown U. (2007)

Rep. Adam Smith (WA) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Fordham U. (1987)

Rep. Greg Stanton (AZ) – elected 2018
B.A. Marquette U. (1992)

Rep. Bryan Steil (WI) – elected 2018
B.S. Georgetown U. (2003)

Rep. Tom Suozzi (NY) – NRLC rating 0
B.S. Boston Coll. (1984), J.D. Fordham U. (1989)

Rep. Lori Trahan (MA) – elected 2018
B.A. Georgetown U. (1995)

Rep. Juan C. Vargas (CA) – NRLC rating 0
M.A. Fordham U. (1987)

Rep. Filemon Vela (TX) – NRLC rating 0
B.A. Georgetown U. (1985)

Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (IN) – NRLC rating 0
L.L.M. Georgetown U. (1982)

Rep. Peter Welch (VT) – NRLC rating 0
A.B. Coll. of the Holy Cross (1969)

This article was first published at the National Catholic Register.

Homeschooling mom and child

Synod Report Displays Ignorance About Homeschooling

At the Youth Synod in Rome this week, one of the bishops’ discussion groups made some disappointing and ignorant comments about Catholic homeschoolers.

It’s a sad reminder that, while homeschooling seems to be gaining support from many bishops in the United States, other bishops here and abroad have yet to embrace one of the most promising developments in the Church today. Earnest and faithful homeschooling parents deserve encouragement and not derision from their shepherds.

The report from the English-language Group C bishops—whose names have not been published—reads:

  • USA has many home schoolers – bishops in USA are not united, as homeschooling can have an ideological basis – kids may have special needs
  • are parents qualified to homeschool them?

It is certainly true that the American bishops are not united in supporting homeschooling, and that is a shame. But what’s the “ideological basis” for homeschooling? Do the bishops perceive some absolute opposition to organized education? It’s not true; many homeschooled students have, at one time or another, attended schools or participated in collaborative programs.

More likely, Group C’s “ideological” comment means something else. It’s what faithful Catholic homeschoolers endure frequently from fellow Catholics, priests and even bishops—the charge that they are too “conservative” and too “moralistic.”

In my experience, those are code words for simply being faithful—for practicing the “old” ways of prayer, sacrament and moral discipline.

As a father of five homeschooled children, teacher at a weekly hybrid Catholic program for homeschoolers that is directed by my wife, and full-time advocate of faithful Catholic education, I have come to know hundreds of Catholic homeschooling families. They are trying to be faithfully Catholic in all that they do. And a key reason for not attending local Catholic schools, aside from the cost, is that too many of the schools lack strong moral and religious formation.

That’s not ideological. It’s responsible Catholic parenting.

In my homeschool community—and in the growing number of parochial, diocesan and lay-run, independent Catholic schools that have embraced the Church’s vision for Catholic education—I see primarily parents who are deeply concerned for the Christian formation of their children. They make great sacrifices to provide the education that their children deserve. And they do so, despite the often demoralizing sneers and snickers of too many in the Church.

As for the Synod bishops’ question whether parents are “qualified to homeschool” their children, it’s not clear whether the question refers to all children or only those with “special needs.” Regardless, the question shows disrespect toward parents. Every parent who is faithfully Catholic and truly loves their child is “qualified” to homeschool by the grace of God. If they lack certain skills or expertise, a loving parent will get the help their child needs, without yielding parental authority and oversight.

Trusting parents to form and care for their children is Catholic teaching! It is inherent to matrimony, reinforced during child baptism, and follows from the Fourth Commandment. And it can be made easier if parishes and dioceses actively support—not control or direct, but support—parents who choose to homeschool.

God has clearly blessed Catholic homeschooling with extraordinary results for children, families and the Church. The academic, financial, and social benefits of homeschooling have been well-documented in many studies. Moreover, homeschooled families are often represented at daily Mass, regular Sunday Mass, Confession, Eucharistic adoration and many parish activities. One recent study found that homeschooled students account for about 10 percent of priestly vocations today.

This isn’t a well-kept secret! But some of the Synod bishops have some learning to do.

Meanwhile, if America’s bishops and other Catholics are truly divided over homeschooling, then they ought to get over their discomfort. The Church should embrace faithful Catholic education in whatever form successfully leads young people to Christ and helps them become fully human—whether at home, online or in a brick-and-mortar school.

Support for homeschooling and for lay-run schools may be new to dioceses that have historically relied on schools owned and directed by priests and bishops. But we can’t confuse method for mission, which is amply served by the growing alternatives in Catholic education. All we need is to trust parents to do the job that God has already entrusted to them.

This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.

Youth Synod Needs Good News from Faithful Catholic Colleges

October’s Synod on Young People comes amid growing awareness of the Catholic Church’s many failures to teach, inspire, and even protect its young. But if the synod fathers are looking for good news, there’s plenty to be found at America’s most faithful Catholic colleges—and these can be examples for the entire Church.

Papal biographer and columnist George Weigel recently urged that “Success stories in youth ministry should be persistently, even relentlessly, lifted up” at the synod. He specifically noted the “intellectual and spiritual achievements of orthodox, academically vibrant Catholic liberal arts colleges and universities in the United States.”

As editor of The Newman Guide, I couldn’t agree more! The faithful Catholic colleges recommended by The Cardinal Newman Society are accomplishing much, for the good of their students and for the Church. And since the mission of the Church is evangelization, and Catholic education is a key means of evangelization, it would only make sense that faithful Catholic colleges would be held up as examples for the Synod on Young People.

Just recently, the U.S. News and World Report rankings were released, and many Newman Guide colleges earned high marks in various categories. But more important than secular rankings, faithful education help provide the formation that young Catholics deserve and which is lacking across much of the Church today.

This formation is offered through faithful theology courses, strong liberal arts core curricula, the witness of faithful leaders on campus, the focus on reverent liturgy and prayer, a healthy campus culture, athletic programs that encourage virtue, and so much more.

Dr. John Grabowski, associate professor of moral theology and ethics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., explains that studying philosophy and theology “enables the young adult to ‘own’ the faith which their parents, priests, and other teachers had passed on to them.” He recalls, “One of the most rewarding and humbling things that has occurred in my years of teaching is to have students enter the Church or come back to the faith after taking a class and tell me that the course helped them to make that decision.”

That’s a far cry from the scandal and confusion sown by wayward Catholic colleges, such as those that hosted seminars earlier this year on Amoris Laetitia with theologians who are well-known for their attempts to change the Church’s teaching and traditions.

The core curriculum and faculty at a faithful Catholic college are focused on a student’s formation in the light of faith, not in opposition to it. “All students, Catholic and non-Catholic, deserve an education that awakens wonder and is oriented to an integrated wisdom, both theoretical and practical,” says Dr. Josh Hochschild, professor of philosophy at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. A strong curriculum is “crucial to help students experience the unity of truth,” he says, but just as important is “the character of the faculty.”

“In any discipline, faculty can help embody confidence and humility of the pursuit of truth, and the example of Christian witness in faculty is a profound grace to students,” Hochschild explains. “The whole campus culture has a role in supporting this vision.”

The faithful colleges held up for example in The Newman Guide often go above and beyond to ensure that students have good role models on campus. Steve Minnis, president of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, told us: “I interview every job applicant on campus, and I ask them to explain to me how they see themselves contributing to our mission—not just accept that we have a mission, but how they will support it. I want every man or woman who works for Benedictine College to be someone I hope our students will aspire to be like.”

Another thing that is at the heart of a faithful Catholic college is the liturgy, which is something that George Harne, president of Northeast Catholic College in Warner, New Hampshire, has often emphasized. And when asked how the College is forming young people in the truth of our faith, several students noted the liturgical life on campus.

Sophomore Rose Phelps says, “Most importantly, the way the liturgy is celebrated at NCC has truly helped me deepen my relationship with God. The reverence of the priests and altar servers along with the beautiful chant and polyphony music make it so easy to lift ones heart to God.”

Senior Rebecca Stolarski agrees. “The spiritual resources available to students [on campus]—daily Mass, Rosary, Adoration, Confession—should not be underestimated: there are few things more spiritual restorative than an evening before the Blessed Sacrament, and nothing more strengthening to faith than convenient access to daily Mass.”

Faithful colleges attend to the entire campus culture. Some great examples are the wholesome activities offered through the outdoor adventures program at Wyoming Catholic College, the Rome campus program offered through the University of Dallas, and the “household” systems at Ave Maria University and Franciscan University of Steubenville that invite groups of students to live and pray together. Benedictine College’s Minnis says the key is to make it “contagious to live the good life” and to let the “good things run wild.”

Formation extends into the realm of athletics. At Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, North Carolina, President Bill Thierfelder is a former Olympian who stresses virtue in all athletic programs. It’s no surprise that student athletes have helped the College earn the sportsmanship award from its Division II athletics conference in four of the last seven years.

All areas on campus should help form students, according to Michael McMahon, vice president for enrollment management at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota “Through academics, residence life, and even athletics—all seeking truth, students understand that truth is not disjointed or that our lives can be compartmentalized,” he says. “If it is true in the theology course, it needs to also be true in the residence life halls. If the faculty and administration of a university are not faithful to the Church’s teachings why would our students be inspired to be?”

Joseph Nemec, a junior at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, says, “I am grateful to God for the opportunity to study at an institution that values the very things young people want and need.”

Often when parents and students think of college, they think of education. But an education at a faithful Catholic college is about so much more: it’s about formation. This formation shapes a student’s body, mind, and soul and prepares a student for his or her vocation, as well as a career.

The impact of faithful Catholic colleges is impressive! In just 40 years with an enrollment of 500 students, Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, has helped foster 158 religious vocations. Additionally, there have been 419 alumna-to-alumnus marriages. Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, was once asked by the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education to give an account for why so many priestly and religious vocations come from the College.

Maybe it’s time for the Synod on Young People to ask Newman Guide colleges to give an account for their success in youth formation. These joyfully Catholic institutions provide an example of fidelity and success that can be a shining light to anyone who is trying to bring Christ to new generations.

This article was originally published by National Catholic Register.

Principles of Catholic Identity Overview

Catholic Identity in Education: Principles articulates elements the Church expects to find in all Catholic schools and which distinguish them from other schools. The principles are derived from Church documents related to education, including the documents of Vatican II, documents from the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education, and the writings of various Popes. The five principles are: Inspired by Divine Mission; Models Christian Communion; Encounters Christ in Prayer, Scripture, and Sacraments; Integrally Forms the Human Person and Imparts a Christian Understanding of the World. Each principle includes a summary which is comprehensive, yet concise, and reflects the language found in the Church documents.

Intention for Use

The Cardinal Newman Society is dedicated to promoting and defending faithful Catholic education. These principles act as a framework to guide Cardinal Newman’s K-12 efforts and to ensure they are aligned with the Church’s guidance.

Suggestions for Use

Because these principles are directly formulated from Church teaching, anyone involved in Catholic education may find them of use in providing direction, inspiration, guidance, or evaluation of their educational efforts.[1] 

Principle I: Inspired by Divine Mission

Catholic education is an expression of the Church’s mission of salvation and an instrument of evangelization:1 to make disciples of Christ and to teach them to observe all that He has commanded.2 Through Catholic education, students encounter God, “who in Jesus Christ reveals His transforming love and truth.”3  Christ is the foundation of Catholic education;4 He journeys with students through school and life as “genuine Teacher” and “perfect Man.”5 As a faith community in unity with the Church and in fidelity to the Magisterium, students, parents, and educators give witness to Christ’s loving communion in the Holy Trinity.6  With this Christian vision, Catholic education fulfills its purpose of “critical, systematic transmission of culture in the light of faith”7 and the integral formation of the human person by developing each student’s physical, moral, intellectual, and spiritual gifts in harmony, teaching responsibility and right use of freedom, and preparing students to fulfill God’s calling in this world and to attain the eternal kingdom for which they were created.8 Catholic education is sustained by the frequent experience of prayer, Sacred Scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition.9

Principle II: Models Christian Communion and Identity

Catholic education teaches communion with Christ, by living communion with Christ and imitating the love and freedom of the Trinity.10 This communion begins in the home—with the divinely ordered right and responsibility of parents to educate their children—and extends to the school community in support and service to the needs of the family.11 It unites families and educators with a shared educational philosophy to form students for a relationship with God and with others.12 The educational community is united to the universal Church in fidelity to the Magisterium, to the local Church, and to other schools and community organizations.13

The school community is a place of ecclesial experience, in which the members model confident and joyful public witness in both word and action and teach students to live the Catholic faith in their daily lives.14 In an environment “humanly and spiritually rich,” everyone is aware of the living presence of Jesus evidenced by a Christian way of thought and life, expressed in “Word and Sacrament, in individual behaviour, [and] in friendly and harmonious interpersonal relationships.”15 The school climate reproduces, as far as possible, the “warm and intimate atmosphere of family life.”16 As members of the Church community, students experience what it means to live a life of prayer, personal responsibility, and freedom reflective of Gospel values. This, in turn, leads them to grow in their commitment to serve God, one another, the Church, and society.17

All teachers and leaders possess adequate skills, preparation, and religious formation and possess special qualities of mind and heart as well as the sensitivity necessary for authentic witness to the gospel and the task of human formation.18 Teachers and leaders of the educational community should be “practicing Catholics, who can understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the Gospel, and who can contribute to the achievement of the school’s Catholic identity and apostolic goals.”19

Principle III: Encounters Christ in Prayer, Scripture & Sacrament

Rooted in Christ, Catholic education is continually fed and stimulated by Him in the frequent experience of prayer, Sacred Scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition.20 The transmission of faith, catechesis, is intrinsically linked to these living encounters with Christ, by which He nurtures and educates souls in the divine life of grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.21 By their witness and sharing in these encounters, educators help students grow in understanding of what it means to be a member of the Church.22 Students discover the real value of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation, in accompanying the Christian in the journey through life. They learn “to open their hearts in confidence to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through personal and liturgical prayer”, which makes the mystery of Christ present to students.23

Principle IV: Integrally Forms the Human Person

A complex task of Catholic education is the integral formation of students as physical, intellectual, and spiritual beings called to perfect humanity in the fullness of Christ.24 The human person is “created in ‘the image and likeness’ of God; elevated by God to the dignity of a child of God; unfaithful to God in original sin, but redeemed by Christ; a temple of the Holy Spirit; a member of the Church; destined to eternal life.”25 Catholic education assists students to become aware of the gift of Faith, worship God the Father, develop into mature adults who bear witness to the Mystical Body of Christ, respect the dignity of the human person, provide service, lead apostolic lives, and build the Kingdom of God.26

Catholic education forms the conscience through commitment to authentic Catholic doctrine.  It develops the virtues and characteristics associated with what it means to be Christian so as to resist relativism, overcome individualism, and discover vocations to serve God and others.27 “Intellectual development and growth as a Christian go forward hand in hand” where faith, culture, and life are integrated throughout the school’s program to provide students a personal closeness to Christ enriched by virtues, values, and supernatural gifts.28 As a child of God, made in his image, human formation includes the development of personal Christian ethics and respect for the body by promoting healthy development, physical activity, and chastity.29

In Catholic education, “There is no separation between time for learning and time for formation, between acquiring notions and growing in wisdom”; education and pedagogy, inspired by Gospel values and distinguished by the “illumination of all knowledge with the light of faith” allows formation to become living, conscious and active.30 The atmosphere is characterized by discovery and awareness that enkindles a love for truth and a desire to know the universe as God’s creation. The Christian educational program facilitates critical thinking that is ordered, precise, and responsible as it builds strength and perseverance in pursuit of the truth. 31

Principle V: Imparts a Christian Understanding of the World

In the light of faith, Catholic education critically and systematically transmits the secular and religious “cultural patrimony handed down from previous generations,” especially that which makes a person more human and contributes to the integral formation of students.32 Both educator and student are called to participate in the dialogue of culture and to pursue “the integration of culture with faith and of faith with living.”33 Catholic education imparts “a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture, and of history,” ordering “the whole of human culture to the news of salvation.”34 This hallmark of Catholic education, to “bring human wisdom into an encounter with divine wisdom,”35 cultivates “in students the intellectual, creative, and aesthetic faculties of the human person,” introduces a cultural heritage, and prepares them for professional life and to take on the responsibilities and duties of society and the Church.36 Students are prepared to work for the evangelization of culture and for the common good of society.37

 

[1]  The Cardinal Newman Society has developed various resources in its Catholic Identity Series to expand upon the principles or to use them in specific evaluative exercises. Among them are: Catholic Identity in Education: Principles and Sources in Church Teaching; Catholic Identity in Education: Church Documents for Reflection; Catholic Identity in Education: Questions for Reflection and Assessment; Catholic Identity in Education: Faculty and Staff In-Service; Catholic Identity in Education: Board Reflection and The Catholic Education Honor Roll.

 

 

 

Principles Questions for Reflection and Assessment

Catholic Identity in Education: Questions for Reflection and Assessment helps Catholic school leaders facilitate reflection upon those elements the Church expects to be present in all Catholic schools and which distinguish them from other schools. The questions are structured upon five principles of Catholic identity derived from Church documents related to education. The five principles are: Inspired by Divine Mission; Models Christian Communion; Encounters Christ in Prayer, Scripture, and Sacraments; Integrally Forms the Human Person and Imparts a Christian Understanding of the World. Each principle includes a summary which is comprehensive, yet concise and is followed by a series of questions intended to serve as a general resource to guide Catholic school leaders in their efforts to enhance and assess their school’s Catholic identity.

The first four questions of each principle follow a general pattern. The remaining questions address specific sub-topics grouped according to content.

Intention for Use

Catholic Identity in Education: Questions for Reflection and Assessment is intended to help Catholic school leaders create or inform internal self-assessments of their school’s Catholic identity. It is not structured as a stand-alone or ready- to – use evaluation tool, but may be adapted to fulfill such a purpose.

Suggestions for Use

School leaders can use the resource to begin a global analysis of the school as they begin to gain a sense of direction for school improvement. Not every question needs to be asked or answered. The purpose of the document is to open up potential lines of inquiry and spark internal conversations leading eventually to targeted areas for school improvement.

Some schools may choose to adapt elements of Catholic Identity in Education: Questions for Reflection and Assessment into a series of faculty in-service programs tailored to their school’s needs. Such an exercise might involve choosing an area of focus and then dividing the faculty into small groups for discussion and then bringing them back together for group processing. Some schools may want to assign small groups to different topics and then have them present their findings leading the entire gathering in a discussion of the target area. Whatever dynamic is selected, school administrators should be present at group discussions to answer questions as they arise and to add additional information if needed.  All individuals involved in the learning environment should be involved in process that is open, safe, and positive. A process that is slow and deliberate will allow for fruitful, honest, and nuanced discussions. These discussions might then provide the opportunity for recording strengths and weaknesses, brainstorming ideas to enhance Catholic identity, and making specific plans for growth.

Principle I: Inspired by Divine Mission

Catholic education is an expression of the Church’s mission of salvation and an instrument of evangelization:1 to make disciples of Christ and to teach them to observe all that He has commanded.2 Through Catholic education, students encounter God, “who in Jesus Christ reveals His transforming love and truth.”3 Christ is the foundation of Catholic education;4 He journeys with students through school and life as “genuine Teacher” and “perfect Man.”5 As a faith community in unity with the Church and in fidelity to the Magisterium, students, parents, and educators give witness to Christ’s loving communion in the Holy Trinity.6 With this Christian vision, Catholic education fulfills its purpose of “critical, systematic transmission of culture in the light of faith”7 and the integral formation of the human person by developing each student’s physical, moral, intellectual, and spiritual gifts in harmony, teaching responsibility and right use of freedom, and preparing students to fulfill God’s calling in this world and to attain the eternal kingdom for which they were created.8 Catholic education is sustained by the frequent experience of prayer, Sacred Scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition.9

Questions to Aid Reflection or Assessment

  •  How does the school, through the mission statement, governing documents, policies, and publications, express institutional commitment to the Church’s teaching on the divine mission of Catholic education?
  •  How does the school ensure members of the community (board, administration, faculty, staff, volunteers, students and parents) are committed to the Church’s teaching on the divine mission of Catholic education?
  • How does the school ensure employees and volunteers have the necessary knowledge, skills, dispositions and ongoing training to fulfill the Church’s teaching on the divine mission of Catholic education?
  • How does the school evaluate programs and personnel to ensure institutional commitment to the Church’s teaching on the divine mission of Catholic education?
  • How does the school ensure institutional commitment to the Church’s teaching on the divine mission of Catholic education, including…
    • the school is a place of encountering God and His love and truth?
    • the school has Christ as its foundation?
    • the school is a community united with the Church?
    • the school is faithful to the Magisterium?
    • the school provides frequent opportunities for prayer, reading of scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental traditions?
    • the school engages in the integral formation of the human person—spiritual, intellectual, and physical?
    • the school presents a Christian worldview of humanity and the dignity of the person?
    • the school transmits culture in the light of faith?
    • the school prepares students to be instruments of evangelization?
  • How does the school’s mission statement demonstrate a commitment to Catholic identity?
  • How does the school review its mission statement to ensure fidelity to the divine mission of Catholic education?
  • How does the school review fidelity to its mission?
  • How does the school ensure each member of the governing body is informed of and committed to the responsibility to respect, promote, strengthen, and defend the Catholic identity of the school?
  • How does the school ensure each member of the governing body is a practicing Catholic?
  • How does the governing body of the school advance the school’s Catholic mission?
  • How does the governing body ensure policies, programs, and strategic planning, are guided by the Church’s mission for Catholic education?
  • How are members of the school community informed of the school’s Catholic mission and educational philosophy to ensure understanding and commitment?
  • How does the school ensure that the educational philosophy is in harmony with the Church’s teaching on the divine mission of Catholic education?
  • How aware is the broader community of the school’s Catholic mission?
  • How does the school protect the mission of Catholic education in light of new educational paradigms, consumerist demands, government interference, threats to religious freedom, secular curricular standards, and societal expectations?

Principle II: Models Christian Communion and Identity

Catholic education teaches communion with Christ, by living communion with Christ and imitating the love and freedom of the Trinity.10 This communion begins in the home—with the divinely ordered right and responsibility of parents to educate their children—and extends to the school community in support and service to the needs of the family.11 It unites families and educators with a shared educational philosophy to form students for a relationship with God and with others.12 The educational community is united to the universal Church in fidelity to the Magisterium, to the local Church, and to other schools and community organizations.13

The school community is a place of ecclesial experience, in which the members model confident and joyful public witness in both word and action and teach students to live the Catholic faith in their daily lives.14 In an environment “humanly and spiritually rich,” everyone is aware of the living presence of Jesus evidenced by a Christian way of thought and life, expressed in “Word and Sacrament, in individual behaviour, [and] in friendly and harmonious interpersonal relationships.”15 The school climate reproduces, as far as possible, the “warm and intimate atmosphere of family life.”16 As members of the Church community, students experience what it means to live a life of prayer, personal responsibility, and freedom reflective of Gospel values. This, in turn, leads them to grow in their commitment to serve God, one another, the Church, and society.17

All teachers and leaders possess adequate skills, preparation, and religious formation and possess special qualities of mind and heart as well as the sensitivity necessary for authentic witness to the gospel and the task of human formation.18 Teachers and leaders of the educational community should be “practicing Catholics, who can understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the Gospel, and who can contribute to the achievement of the school’s Catholic identity and apostolic goals.”19

Questions to Aid Reflection or Assessment

  • How does the school ensure that members of the community (board, administration, faculty, staff, volunteers, students and parents) are committed to modeling and teaching Christian communion?
  • How does the school ensure that employees and volunteers have the necessary knowledge skills, dispositions, and ongoing training to model and teach Christian communion?
  • How does the school ensure consistency and harmony between home and school, meaningful involvement of parents, and responsiveness to the needs of parents in teaching and living Christian communion?
  • How does the school evaluate programs and personnel to ensure that they model Christian communion?
  • How does the school ensure that formation of students is in communion with the Catholic Church?
  • How does the school instill in students a responsibility to respect, promote, strengthen, and protect the Catholic identity of the school?
  • How does the school ensure that students understand expectations for learning and behavior that reflect Catholic teaching and practice?
  • How does the school ensure that formation of students is in and for communion with others?
  • How does the school assist students to develop and nurture harmonious relationships with each other, with parents, and with employees and volunteers?
  • How does the school assist students to develop respect, kindness, mercy, and forgiveness when interacting with each other, parents, school employees, and volunteers?
  • How does the school assist students in developing virtuous ways to heal hurting or broken relationships?
  • How does the school ensure that the community is united in faith to the Catholic Church and to the Magisterium?
  • How do school leaders communicate with and support the needs of local Catholic pastors, priests, and religious?
  • How does the school community serve, support, and participate in the activities of local parishes and Catholic apostolates?
  • How does the school demonstrate respect and faithfulness to the teaching authority of the local and universal Church?
  • How does the school ensure that operations are consistent with the Code of Canon LawCatechism of the Catholic Church, and other magisterial teachings of the Church?
  • How does the school protect Catholic moral norms in the selection of outside service providers and organizations?
  • How does the school protect Catholic moral norms in the approval of student and faculty organizations, associations, or activities?
  • How does the school ensure that the community is united in service to others?
  • How does the school support and serve the local community in fulfilling the mission of Catholic education?
  • How does the school support and collaborate with other schools and community organizations in fulfilling the mission of Catholic education?
  • How does the school ensure communion with parents?
  • How are parents invited to participate in a meaningful partnership with the school and community?
  • How does the school assist Catholic and non-Catholic parents to integrate into the Catholic community and, if appropriate, formally transition into the Catholic Church?
  • How does the school ensure that non-Catholic families feel part of the community, and, if appropriate, create opportunities to further explore and understand the teachings of the Catholic Church?
  • How does the community, in a supportive role with the school, assist families who are struggling with personal challenges, difficulties, and crises?
  • How does the school make Catholic education accessible to large or economically disadvantaged families?
  • How does the school ensure that employees and volunteers live in communion?
  • How does the school assist employees and volunteers to develop and nurture harmonious relationships with each other, students, and families?
  • How does the school assist employees and volunteers to develop respect, kindness, mercy, and forgiveness when interacting with each other, parents, and members of the school community?
  • How does the school’s environment evidence a Christian way of life that reflects an extension of the warmth of family life?
  • How does the school ensure that employees and volunteers live in communion with the Catholic Church?
  • How does the school express to all employees and volunteers the expectation to respect, promote, strengthen, and protect the Catholic identity of the school?
  • How does the school ensure that employees and volunteers are practicing Catholics who understand and respect the teachings of the Catholic Church, the moral demands of the Gospel, and are committed to public witness of the Church’s teachings in both word and action?
  • How does the school monitor, assist, and hold accountable employees and volunteers to ensure a commitment to Catholic ideals, teachings and principles?
  • How does the school ensure that employees and volunteers are committed to, and participate in, the religious formation of students and catechetical ministry of the school?
  • How does the school ensure that organizations and associations to which employees and volunteers belong conform to Catholic ideals, principles, and teachings?
  • How does the school, in the rare instance when only a non-Catholic is available to fill a teaching position other than a theology class, ensure that the teacher is aware, supportive, and respectful of the school’s Catholic mission and identity?
  • How does the school ensure that only Catholic faculty are assigned to teaching positions where formal catechesis occurs?
  • How does the school ensure that employees receive ongoing professional development and formation in moral and religious principles, the social teachings of the Catholic Church, and critical issues in society today?

Principle III: Encounters Christ in Prayer, Scripture & Sacraments

Rooted in Christ, Catholic education is continually fed and stimulated by Him in the frequent experience of prayer, Sacred Scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition.20 The transmission of faith, catechesis, is intrinsically linked to these living encounters with Christ, by which He nurtures and educates souls in the divine life of grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.21 By their witness and sharing in these encounters, educators help students grow in understanding of what it means to be a member of the Church.22 Students discover the real value of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation, in accompanying the Christian in the journey through life. They learn “to open their hearts in confidence to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through personal and liturgical prayer”, which makes the mystery of Christ present to students.23

Questions to Aid Reflection or Assessment

  • How does the school ensure that members of the community (board, administration, faculty, staff, volunteers, students, and parents) are committed to providing opportunities for living encounters with Christ?
  • How does the school ensure that employees and volunteers have the necessary knowledge, skills, dispositions, and ongoing training to provide opportunities for living encounters with Christ?
  • How does the school ensure consistency and harmony between home and school, meaningful involvement of parents, and responsiveness to the needs of parents in providing opportunities for living encounters with Christ?
  • How does the school evaluate programs and personnel to ensure opportunities to encounter Christ in prayer, scripture, and the Sacraments?
  • How does the school ensure opportunities for prayer, liturgy, and the Sacraments are prioritized on the school calendar and daily schedule?
  • How does the school ensure opportunities for students to encounter Christ in:
    • personal prayer?
    • community prayer?
    • essential traditional Catholic prayers?
    • Eucharistic adoration, benediction, and procession?
    • Marian devotions?
    • days of reflection?
    • prayers for particular devotions or charisms of the school?
    • prayer in the classroom?
    • prayer during extracurricular activities and programs?
    • prayers of the liturgical season and feast days?
    • prayers for spiritual direction?
    • prayers for vocational discernment?
  • How does the school ensure that prayer is meaningful, respectful, and assists students in   deepening their relationship with God?
  • How does the school ensure opportunities for students to encounter Christ in scripture through:
    • individual reading and contemplation?
    • community reading and contemplation?
    • frequent reference to Scripture in classroom instruction?
    • instruction in authentic interpretation of Scripture through courses focused on catechesis and exegesis?
  • How does the school ensure opportunities for students to encounter Christ in the Sacraments?
  • How often does the school provide opportunities for participation in the Mass and reception of the Eucharist?
  • How does the school form students in the meaning, value, and proper participation in the Mass?
  • How does the school form students in the meaning, value, and proper reception of the Eucharist?
  • How often does the school provide students the opportunity for participation in the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
  • How does the school form students in the meaning, value, and proper reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation?
  • How does the school form students in the meaning, value, and preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation?
  • How does the school ensure that liturgies and Reconciliation follow Church norms?
  • How does the school reflect on the experience of students in these encounters of prayer, scripture, and the Sacraments to ensure that they are personal and meaningful?
  • How does the school ensure that spiritual direction is available and administered by qualified and faithful priests, religious, or trained laity?
  • How does the school ensure that there is an active program to promote vocations and vocational discernment to religious life?
  • How does the school support parents, students, faculty, and parishes in sacramental preparation for Baptism, first Reconciliation, first Holy Communion, and Confirmation?
  • How often are retreats provided for students, employees, and parents?
  • How does the school ensure that opportunities for spiritual retreats are formational and effective in deepening a relationship with God?
  • How does the school ensure opportunities for employees and volunteers to encounter Christ in prayer, scripture and the Sacraments?
  • How does the school provide formation for employees and volunteers in the meaning and value of the liturgy, the Eucharist, prayer, and the Sacraments, to effectively share these “living encounters with Christ”?
  • How does the school encourage participation by employees in prayer, retreats, liturgies, and the Sacraments?
  • How does the school ensure employees and volunteer are witnesses to Gospel values?
  • How does the school provide professional development for employees to aid in the integration of scripture according to their particular duties?
  • How do school employees and volunteers assist and encourage, students and families to participate in the prayer and sacramental life of the school?
  • How frequently does the school provide opportunities for parents to encounter Christ through prayer, liturgies, and the Sacraments?
  • How does the school inform students and families about the use of sacramentals to ensure an understanding of their purpose in faith and devotion?
  • How does the school ensure that spiritual direction is available and administered by qualified and faithful priests, religious, or trained laity?
  • How does the school ensure that sacred images, icons, artwork, furnishings, and spaces are present and facilitate opportunities for living encounters with God?

Principle IV: Integrally Forms the Human Person

A complex task of Catholic education is the integral formation of students as physical, intellectual, and spiritual beings called to perfect humanity in the fullness of Christ.24 The human person is “created in ‘the image and likeness’ of God; elevated by God to the dignity of a child of God; unfaithful to God in original sin, but redeemed by Christ; a temple of the Holy Spirit; a member of the Church; destined to eternal life.”25 Catholic education assists students to become aware of the gift of Faith, worship God the Father, develop into mature adults who bear witness to the Mystical Body of Christ, respect the dignity of the human person, provide service, lead apostolic lives, and build the Kingdom of God.26

Catholic education forms the conscience through commitment to authentic Catholic doctrine.  It develops the virtues and characteristics associated with what it means to be Christian so as to resist relativism, overcome individualism, and discover vocations to serve God and others.27 “Intellectual development and growth as a Christian go forward hand in hand” where faith, culture, and life are integrated throughout the school’s program to provide students a personal closeness to Christ enriched by virtues, values, and supernatural gifts.28 As a child of God, made in his image, human formation includes the development of personal Christian ethics and respect for the body by promoting healthy development, physical activity, and chastity.29

In Catholic education, “There is no separation between time for learning and time for formation, between acquiring notions and growing in wisdom”; education and pedagogy, inspired by Gospel values and distinguished by the “illumination of all knowledge with the light of faith” allows formation to become living, conscious and active.30 The atmosphere is characterized by discovery and awareness that enkindles a love for truth and a desire to know the universe as God’s creation. The Christian educational program facilitates critical thinking that is ordered, precise, and responsible as it builds strength and perseverance in pursuit of the truth.31

Questions to Aid Reflection or Assessment

  • How does the school ensure that members of the community (board, administration faculty, staff, volunteers, students, and parents) are committed to the integral formation of students?
  • How does the school ensure that employees and volunteers have the necessary knowledge, skills, dispositions and ongoing training for the integral formation of students?
  • How does the school ensure consistency and harmony between the home and school, meaningful involvement of parents, and responsiveness to the needs of parents in the integral formation of students?
  • How does the school evaluate programs and personnel to ensure the integral formation of students?
  • How does the school ensure a strong foundation in catechesis for students to understand and appreciate the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church?
  • How is the Catholic faith integrated into academic, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs?
  • How does the school’s catechetical program engage both the intellect and will of students?
  • How does the school’s program provide students with an understanding of the history of the Catholic Church?
  • How does the school integrate the teachings of the Church when addressing ecumenical and interreligious issues?
  • How does the school ensure students’ moral formation is faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church?
  • How does the school instill in students a desire to live the truth and practice holiness in their daily lives?
  • How does the school teach students that authentic freedom is the ability to do what God desires for them and not just what one wants to do?
  • How does the school instill in students a respect for religious freedom and a sense of responsibility for its protection and use?
  • How does the school instill in students the virtue and wisdom needed to avoid sin, the near occasion of sin, and the loss of a sense of sin?
  • How do the school’s disciplinary policies reflect a commitment to teach virtue?
  • How does the school express the reality of God’s mercy and forgiveness so students, in turn, will model mercy and forgiveness for others?
  • How does the school instill in students the Christian obligation to live lives of love and service, seek justice, and minister to the poor, marginalized, and outcast?
  • How does the school instill in students an understanding and appreciation for the moral and social teachings of the Church?
  • How does the school acknowledge and encourage virtuous behavior throughout the school community?
  • How does the school ensure a commitment to the integration of Catholic intellectual traditions throughout the academic program?
  • How does the school’s educational philosophy, standards, and pedagogy embrace knowledge for its own sake and move beyond an accumulation of knowledge for utilitarian ends?
  • How does the school provide for learning opportunities that develop creativity, reflection, critical thinking, and moral decision-making?
  • How does the school assist students to integrate faith and life?
  • How does the school provide for interdisciplinary instruction to expose underlying relationships between subject matters?
  • How does the school promote dialogue between faith and reason?
  • How does the school foster in students a love for truth and a desire for knowledge about God and His creation?
  • How does the school introduce students to the transcendentals of truth, beauty, and goodness?
  • How does the school teach students to confront materialism and relativism?
  • How does the school ensure that academic disciplines and instruction instill in students ethical and religious principles faithful to Catholic teaching?
  • How does the school ensure that students understand and appreciate man’s integral nature as both a spiritual and physical being?
  • How does the school instill in students an understanding that man is created by God, made in His image and likeness, and destined for eternal life with Him?
  • How does the school instill in students a respect for the dignity and sanctity of human life?
  • How does the school monitor human sexuality programs and teaching about other sensitive topics to ensure fidelity to teachings of the Church?
  • How does the school partner with and respect the role of parents as primary educators when introducing topics of a sensitive nature into the curriculum?
  • How does the school instill and promote in students the virtue of chastity?
  • How do the school’s expectations for decency and modesty in speech, action, and dress encourage respect for one’s body and the dignity of others?
  • How does the school prepare students to resist the temptations associated with misuse of technology and the negative influences of secular media?
  • How does the school instill in students a Christian view of family life and the vocation of marriage as an expression of Trinitarian love?
  • How does the school assist students to understand the relationship between mind, body, and soul and the importance of caring for one’s spiritual, physical, and mental well-being?
  • How does the school provide for the unique needs of students who have educational, developmental, or physical exceptionalities?
  • How does the school ensure that co-curricular and extracurricular programs provide for the integral formation of students in mind, body, and spirit?
  • How does the school ensure that students understand and appreciate the integral formation of mind, body, and soul in co-curricular and extracurricular activities?
  • How does the school approve clubs, co-curricular, and extracurricular activities that are faithful to the Church’s teaching and allow for the intellectual, physical, and spiritual formation of students?
  • How does the school’s athletic program contribute to the spiritual development of students and allow them to grow in Christian virtue?
  • How do the visual and performing arts foster the integral formation of students and aid in the development of Christian virtue?
  • How often does the school create opportunities for extracurricular service projects to allow students to build the Kingdom of God through ministry to the poor, marginalized, and outcast?
  • How do field trips enhance the intellectual, spiritual, or physical formation of students?
  • How do school dances and music selections foster the integral formation of students and aid in the development of Christian virtue?

Principle V: Imparts a Christian Understanding of the World

In the light of faith, Catholic education critically and systematically transmits the secular and religious “cultural patrimony handed down from previous generations,” especially that which makes a person more human and contributes to the integral formation of students.32 Both educator and student are called to participate in the dialogue of culture and to pursue “the integration of culture with faith and of faith with living.”33 Catholic education imparts “a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture, and of history,” ordering “the whole of human culture to the news of salvation.”34 This hallmark of Catholic education, to “bring human wisdom into an encounter with divine wisdom,”35 cultivates “in students the intellectual, creative, and aesthetic faculties of the human person,” introduces a cultural heritage, and prepares them for professional life and to take on the responsibilities and duties of society and the Church.36 Students are prepared to work for the evangelization of culture and for the common good of society.37

Questions to Aid in Reflection or Assessment

  • How does the school ensure that members of the community (board, administration, faculty, staff, volunteers, students and parents) are committed to imparting a Christian understanding of the world?
  • How does the school ensure that employees and volunteers have the necessary knowledge, skills, dispositions and ongoing training to impart a Christian understanding of the world?
  • How does the school ensure consistency and harmony between home and school, meaningful involvement of parents, and responsiveness to the needs of the parents in imparting a Christian understanding of the world?
  • How does the school evaluate programs and personnel to ensure that they impart a Christian understanding of the world?
  • How does the school ensure the transmission of Catholic culture to allow for a Christian understanding of the world?
  • How does the school emphasize Catholic contributions to theology, philosophy, ethics, literature, science, mathematics, and the visual and performing arts?
  • How does the school ensure that students understand the impact of a Catholic worldview on language, idioms, intellectual tradition, and stories of western culture?
  • How does the school ensure that students gain cultural literacy and fluency in language, idioms, stories, civics, and knowledge that forms the American experience?
  • How does the school ensure that students gain cultural literacy and fluency in language, idioms, stories, philosophy, civics, and knowledge that forms the Western experience?
  • How does the school foster appreciation for the good and beautiful, when it can be found in a culture’s accomplishments, traditions, and arts?
  • How does the school ensure that Catholic culture is transmitted with attention to its religious dimension?
  • How does the school present a Christian anthropology of man (e.g., who man is, especially in his relationship with God and creation; man’s bodily integrity and human dignity)?
  • How does the school instill Catholic values?
  • How does the school ensure that curriculum standards, guides, texts, and pedagogy integrate truths of the Catholic faith?
  • How does the school instill in students analytical reasoning and ethics to critically evaluate culture according to Catholic moral and social teachings?
  • How does the school engage students in dialogue comparing culture and the Catholic faith?
  • How does the school encourage students to pursue an integration of culture with faith and faith with living?
  • How does the school ensure that students are prepared to evangelize culture and their fellow man?
  • How does the school form students’ intellectual, creative, and aesthetic faculties to assist in ordering culture to God’s will and truth?
  • How does the school instill in students the desire to serve the common good and promote human rights, human dignity, and religious freedom?
  • How does the school prepare students for professional life to fulfill responsibilities and duties to society and the Church?
  • How does the school explicitly encourage students to bring others to Christ and grow the Church?

 

 

 

Principles Parent Guide

Principles of Catholic Identity in Education: Parent Guide is designed to help current and prospective parents reflect upon those elements the Church expects to be present in all Catholic schools and which distinguish them from other schools.

The reflection is structured upon five principles of Catholic identity derived from Church documents related to education. The five principles that help structure this guide and questions are: Inspired by Divine MissionModels Christian Communion and IdentityEncounters Christ in PrayerScripture, and SacramentIntegrally Forms the Human Person and Imparts a Christian Understanding of the World.

Part I includes a comprehensive and concise summary of each principle[1] and is followed by a series of suggested questions intended to serve as a tool for parents, as well as community members, to consider a school’s Catholic identity.

Part II provides additional quotes from Church documents for individuals who might be interested in learning more about what the Church teaches in the areas covered by the principles.

Intention for Use

Principles of Catholic Identity in Education: Parent Guide helps current and prospective parents consider the Catholic identity of a school.[2] Although essential, Catholic identity is only one of many facets which comprise a school’s operations.

Suggestions for Use

Prospective parents can use the guide while initially reviewing a school’s website and marketing literature to see if the school might be a good fit for their family. When touring the school, parents can ask a few of the most important questions from the guide which they feel are essential to their decision-making.

Current parents can use the guide to help aid the school in maintaining or improving its Catholic identity.

Part II of the guide offers additional quotes from Church documents to help parents attain a deeper understanding of what the Church teaches about her schools.

Principle I: Inspired by Divine Mission

Catholic education is an expression of the Church’s mission of salvation and an instrument of evangelization:1 to make disciples of Christ and to teach them to observe all that He has commanded.2  Through Catholic education, students encounter God, “who in Jesus Christ reveals His transforming love and truth.”3 Christ is the foundation of Catholic education;4 He journeys with students through school and life as “genuine Teacher” and “perfect Man.”5 As a faith community in unity with the Church and in fidelity to the Magisterium, students, parents, and educators give witness to Christ’s loving communion in the Holy Trinity.6 With this Christian vision, Catholic education fulfills its purpose of “critical, systematic transmission of culture in the light of faith”7 and the integral formation of the human person by developing each student’s physical, moral, spiritual, and intellectual gifts in harmony, teaching responsibility and right use of freedom, and preparing students to fulfill God’s calling in this world and to attain the eternal kingdom for which they were created.8 Catholic education is sustained by the frequent experience of prayer, Sacred Scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition.9

Questions to Aid Discernment and Review

Mission and Educational Philosophy

  • Does the school’s mission statement and/or educational philosophy (typically found on the school website or beginning pages of the student handbook) reflect the mission of Catholic education to form students as disciples of Christ?
  • Does the school’s mission statement indicate and explain any of the following areas? If so, how?
    • The school is a place of encountering God and his love and truth.
    • The school has Christ as its foundation.
    • The school is a community united with the Church.
    • The school is faithful to the Magisterium.
    • The school provides frequent opportunities for prayer, sacred scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental traditions.
    • The school engages in the integral formation of the human person – spiritual, intellectual, and physical.
    • The school presents a Christian worldview of humanity emphasizing the dignity of the human person.
    • The school transmits culture in the light of faith.
    • The school prepares students to be instruments of evangelization.
  • Is the school proudly and strongly Catholic in its identity? How is this evident?

Principle II: Models Christian Communion and Identity

Catholic education teaches communion with Christ, by living communion with Christ and imitating the love and freedom of the Trinity.10 This communion begins in the home—with the divinely ordered right and responsibility of parents to educate their children—and extends to the school community in support and service to the needs of the family.11 It unites families and educators with a shared educational philosophy to form students for a relationship with God and with others.12 The educational community is united to the universal Church in fidelity to the magisterium, to the local Church, and to other schools and community organizations.13

The school community is a place of ecclesial experience, in which the members model confident and joyful public witness in both word and action and teach students to live the Catholic faith in their daily lives.14 In an environment “humanly and spiritually rich,” everyone is aware of the living presence of Jesus evidenced by a Christian way of life, expressed in “Word and Sacrament, in individual behaviour, [and] in friendly and harmonious relationships.”15 The school climate reproduces, as far as possible, the “warm and intimate atmosphere of family life.”16 As members of the Church community, students experience what it means to live a life of prayer, personal responsibility, and freedom reflective of Gospel values. This, in turn, leads them to grow in their commitment to serve God, one another, the Church, and the society.17

All teachers and leaders possess adequate skills, preparation, and religious formation and possess special qualities of mind and heart as well as the sensitivity necessary for authentic witness to the gospel and the task of human formation.18 Teachers and leaders of the educational community should be “practicing Catholics, who can understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the Gospel and who can contribute to the achievement of the school’s Catholic identity and apostolic goals.”19

Questions to Aid Discernment and Review

Communion in General

  • Does the school environment evidence a Christian way of life that reproduces, as far as possible, the warm and intimate atmosphere of family life? How so?
  • Does the school community appear open and inviting or overly exclusive? How so?

Communion with Parents

  • Is the school community welcoming and appreciative of parents? How so?
  • Are parents recognized as the primary educators of their children? How so?

Communion among Students

  • Do students appear to treat each other with respect and kindness? Do students engage openly and freely with each other? Do there appear to be social cliques or other restrictive groupings? If so, how is this evident?
  • Do students appear to help each other grow and flourish? Is there evidence of students showing each other compassion and acceptance? How so?
  • How has the school addressed any bullying, detraction, or belittling? Is there a Gospel-based plan to address these types of conflicts?

Communion with the Broader Community

  • Do students actively and joyfully defend the rights of the most vulnerable: the unborn, the elderly, the disabled, the homeless and shut-in, the handicapped and marginalized? How so?
  • Are students active in service programs for the school and for the community? Do they perform voluntary service? How does the school assist students in developing a concern for others and the common good?
  • How are students able to experience the universality of the Catholic Church beyond the school walls? Do students appear to feel at home in the Catholic Church and embrace it outside of the school experience?
  • Does the school interact positively with other area Catholic schools, parishes, the diocesan school office, and auxiliary efforts of the universal Church?

Christian Atmosphere

  • Does the faculty appear to enjoy their call to the apostolate of education? How is this evident?
  • Do faculty members spend non-classroom time with students? When?
  • Do faculty members interact and socialize with students in ways that are both appropriate and joyful? How?
  • Do faculty members understand and offer mercy and forgiveness to students when they fall? To parents? Examples.

Christian Vocation

  • Do teachers appear to naturally relate subject material to aspects of the Catholic faith?
  • Do all faculty members frequently, openly, and naturally pray with students in both formal and informal ways? Do all faculty joyfully attend Mass and other prayer activities of the school?

Christian Witness

  • In what ways does the faculty witness the Gospel message? Do they live the Gospel with integrity in the entirety of their lives? Are their personal witness and living consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church?
  • How does the school assist faculty and staff with opportunities to grow in faith and in virtue?
  • Since the Catholic mission of the school depends almost entirely on the faculty, does there appear to be fellowship among the faculty and unity in mission? How so?

Principle III: Encounters Christ in Prayer, Scripture, and Sacrament

Rooted in Christ, Catholic education is continually fed and stimulated by Him in the frequent experience of prayer, scripture, and the Church’s liturgical and sacramental tradition.20 The transmission of faith, catechesis, is intrinsically linked to these living encounters with Christ, by which He nurtures and educates souls in the divine life of grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.21 By their witness and sharing in these encounters, educators help students grow in understanding of what it means to be a member of the Church.22 Students discover the real value of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Reconciliation, in accompanying the Christian in the journey through life. They learn “to open their hearts in confidence to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through personal and liturgical prayer,” which makes the mystery of Christ present to students.23

Questions to Aid Discernment and Review

Below are a series of questions to facilitate reflection and to begin a discussion of how one encounters Christ in the school. Choose areas for discussion as time allows.

Prayer

  • Is prayer a norm in the school? How do you know?
  • Do students pray:
    • at the start and end of school?
    • before meals?
    •  before classes?
    • before athletic events?
    • at assemblies and events?
  • Are students required to know traditional Catholic prayers and practices?
  • Is quiet time and space provided for a peaceful encounter with Christ?
  • Are retreats available? How many? Are they appropriate and effective? Do students enjoy and attend them and grow in faith? Are they spiritually substantial and well-organized? What evidence is there for these?

Sacraments

  • How frequently do students attend Mass as a school? Is it required or voluntary? If voluntary, how many students attend?
  • Are there opportunities for Eucharistic adoration, benediction, and/or processions?
  • How often is confession available for students?
  • Is quality spiritual direction available to students? Vocational discernment opportunities?

Spiritual Life of the School

  • Does the faculty participate in the school’s spiritual life?
  • Are non-Catholic students invited to participated in the spiritual life of the school as much as they are able? Is there a program for students inquiring about joining the Catholic Church?
  • Are parents involved in the spiritual and sacramental life of the school? How?
  • How does the school celebrate the liturgical year, Holy Days of Obligation, Saints, and feast days?
  • Is the Rosary prayed and special devotion given to our Blessed Mother?
  • Is there a particular religious charism of the school that students know, understand, and practice?

Sacred Environment

  • Upon entering the school, does one experience a sense of hospitality and sacredness?
  • Are sacred works of art (paintings, statues, crucifixes, and other symbols) used to enhance the sense of transcendence and Catholic identity throughout the school?

Principle IV: Integrally Forms the Human Person

The complex task of Catholic education is the integral formation of students as physical, intellectual, and spiritual beings called to perfect humanity in the fullness of Christ, which is their right by Baptism.24 The human person is “created in ‘the image and likeness’ of God; elevated by God to the dignity of a child of God; unfaithful to God in original sin, but redeemed by Christ; a temple of the Holy Spirit, a member of the Church; destined to eternal life.”25 Catholic education assists students to become aware of the gift of Faith, worship God the Father, develop into mature adults who bear witness to the Mystical Body of Christ, respect the dignity of the human person, provide service, lead apostolic lives, and build the Kingdom of God.26

Catholic education forms the conscience through commitment to authentic Catholic doctrine. It develops the virtues and characteristics associated with what it means to be Christian so as to resist relativism, overcome individualism, and discover vocations to serve God and others.27 “Intellectual development and growth as a Christian go forward hand in hand” where faith, culture, and life are integrated throughout the school’s program to provide students a personal closeness to Christ enriched by virtues, values, and supernatural gifts.28 As a child of God, made in his image, human formation includes the development of personal Christian ethics and respect for the body by promoting healthy development, physical activity, and chastity.29

In Catholic education, “There is no separation between time for learning and time for formation, between acquiring notions and growing in wisdom”; education and pedagogy inspired by Gospel values and distinguished by the “illumination of all knowledge with the light of faith” allows formation to become living, conscious and active.30 The atmosphere is characterized by discovery and awareness that enkindles a love for truth, and a desire to know the universe as God’s creation. The Christian educational program facilitates critical thinking that is ordered, precise, and responsible as it builds strength and perseverance in pursuit of the truth.31

Questions to Aid Discernment and Review:

Philosophy

  • Is knowledge and learning celebrated for its own sake and worth, or is knowledge viewed as a means to an end, a necessary commodity to get to the next level of high school, college, or career?
  • Where and how are students formed in wisdom as opposed to simply knowledge? (Wisdom is the knowledge of ultimate causes, explanations, and principles. It addresses the big picture questions of life, such as “What is the purpose of life?” “What is a good life?” “Is there a God and how do I know He exists?”)
  • Does a Christian understanding of the human person, as an integrated body and soul created in the image and likeness of God, form the basis for a balanced approach to student formation, especially in curricular and extra-curricular course selections and opportunities? How is this evident?
  • Where and how are students exposed to concepts inherent to all of humanity, such as truth, beauty, and goodness?

Pedagogy

  • Are faculty versatile in the areas of both academic content and catechesis? Do they enrich discussions in any discipline or on any topic with a spiritual and faith-based perspective naturally and with ease? How is this evident?
  • Are different academic disciplines explicitly related to reflect the unity of truth and the interrelationships among topics?
  • Are students challenged to seek the Truth? Are there courses or programs to train students to see beyond public opinion and contemporary culture?
  • Are adequate counseling and professional services available to students with special needs or circumstances?

Spiritual Development

  • Does the school’s catechetical effort appear well thought out and focused on the development of a fully integrated faith life which engages the students’ intellect and will and finds expression in their day-to-day lives?
  • Is religion class required each year for all students?
  • Are students required to know the basics of the Catholic faith and doctrine appropriate to their grade level?
  • Where and how are foundational principles of Catholic Social Teaching explicitly taught?
  • Are all Catholic materials presented in catechetical coursework without any doctrinal error and completely faithful to Catholic teaching as presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
  • Is the Catechism of the Catholic Church listed as a textbook for religion classes? Other classes?
  • Are there mixed signals that “some” Church doctrine is in error, can be ignored, or is not as important as others? How is this evident?
  • Is Sacred Scripture an integral part of students’ school life? How is this evident?

Moral Development

  • Does the school teach and emphasize living a life of virtue? How and where?
  • Is the discipline/formation program virtue based? Is the program developmentally sensitive and focused on human dignity and the flourishing of the person?
  • Does the school incorporate the Catechism of the Catholic Church into all programs of moral development?
  • Does the school have a program (separate or integrated into its theology program) advocating purity of life and chastity in all relationships?
  • Are parents informed of and involved in all human sexuality programs administered by the school?
  • Are parents allowed to opt out their students from these programs or other sensitive programs or initiatives of the school?
  • Does the school address contemporary moral issues (such as gender identity and homosexuality) from a faithful Catholic perspective or do they give in to societal pressures?
  • How does the school address the possible misuse of technology by students?
  • Does the school make it a point to address the moral and ethical flashpoints between Catholicism and the common culture? Is instruction and personal witness by adults clear on the issues of the dignity of all human life and the particular evils of abortion and euthanasia; the sanctity of natural marriage as the in-dissolvable lifelong union of one man and one woman; the beauty and fullness of human sexuality which can only be properly exercised by married couples in the service of both love and life? Where and how is this evident?
  • Where does the school discuss issues of objective truth and moral relativism?

Physical Development and Expression

  • Are there sufficient programs in place to address the physical development and expression of students?
  • Do these programs support the integral formation of students by bringing in spirituality, intellectual growth, and maturing discernment? How so?
  • Do extra-curricular programs assist students in developing into the fullness of their humanity in Christ? How so?
  • Is there a protocol in place for the evaluation of new programs, or additional components to existing programs, to ensure they further the mission of Catholic education?
  • Does the school offer dances or other social gatherings where students are instructed in aspects of appropriate social behavior, showing respect and dignity for members of the opposite sex, their peers, and adults?
  • Is the school known for its sportsmanship and Christian witness both on and off the court or field?
  • Are sports programs balanced with other curricular and extra-curricular activities of the school?
  • Does the school have a pro-active, formative outlet to assist students who may be found struggling with drug, alcohol, or mental addictions?
  • How does the school support at-risk students: those students living in poverty or with single parents or guardians?

Principle V: Imparts a Christian Understanding of the World

In the light of faith, Catholic education critically and systematically transmits the secular and religious “cultural patrimony handed down from previous generations,” especially that which makes a person more human and contributes to the integral formation of students.32 Both educator and student are called to participate in the dialogue with culture and to pursue “the integration of culture with faith and faith with living.”33 Catholic education imparts a “Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture, and of history,” ordering “the whole of human culture to the news of salvation.”34 This hallmark of Catholic education, to “bring human wisdom into an encounter with divine wisdom,”35 cultivates “in students the intellectual, creative, and aesthetic faculties of the human person,” introduces a cultural heritage, and prepares them for professional life and to take on the responsibilities and duties of society and the Church.36 Students are prepared to work for the evangelization of culture and for the common good of society.37

Questions to Aid Discernment and Review – Traditions, Values, and Evangelization:

Catholic Culture

  • Does the school exude a Catholic culture? How? (For example emphasis on Catholic traditions, stories, symbols, language, music, artwork.)
  • Do students appear comfortable within this Catholic culture?

Common Culture

  • Do students have opportunities to interact with the best of common human culture? Are they exposed to the best of contemporary culture’s music, drama, art, and dance? Are students exposed and formed in the best of culture’s social etiquette (e.g., manners, politeness, and other social graces)?
  • Are students challenged, equipped, and supported to stand strong against harmful elements of popular culture?
  • Does there appear to be harmony between the school’s culture and the Catholic faith, between faith and everyday living? Does the school “walk the walk” and not just “talk the talk”?

Culture and Curriculum

  • Does the school attempt to integrate disciplines or concepts between one academic discipline and another?
  • Has the school conformed to any educational paradigms or societal norms which jeopardize or dilute its mission of Catholic education?
  • Do secular school standards (such as the Common Core, International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, etc.), in whole or in part, inform the curriculum? What particular Catholic standards are offered instead of, or in addition to, secular standards in each discipline so as to further Catholic culture and a rich intellectual life?

Evangelization

  • Does the school address interreligious issues in theology classes, religious instruction, and throughout academic disciplines in a way that remains faithful to the evangelistic mission of the Church?
  • Is emphasis placed on equipping students to transform and evangelize the common culture?
  • Are teachers, through their personal daily witness, capable of providing an attractive example of faithful Christian living for students?

Questions to Aid Discernment and Review – History, Literature, & the Arts:

Literature Curriculum

  • Is literature selected that teaches by positive or negative example what it means to be genuinely and fully human and ethical as understood by the Catholic Church and as modeled by the one perfect man, Jesus?
  • Is literature used to develop a general awareness of a lived Catholic worldview and approach to life? Does the literature we use accurately portray Catholics and the Catholic experience?
  • Is literature selected to assist students to move beyond the “self”? Are sufficient examples of nobility, imagination, and healthy adventure presented to students for their inspiration and emulation?
  • Are literature selections appropriate for the development and sensibilities or growth in virtue for students?
  • Is literature selected to develop a general cultural literacy and familiarity with the great works of the world? Where, and how, do students gain cultural literacy of the great books which have influenced western thought?
  • Is literature and reading promoted for the sheer joy and creativity of the experience? Are the imaginations of students properly feed with excellent works letting them grow in wonder and delight?
  • Is there a written process explained within the parent/student handbook or website allowing for parental concerns to literature selections?

History Curriculum

  • Does the school present history from a Catholic worldview? If secular textbooks are used, how are they supplemented to achieve this?
  • Does the school’s program include an account of the history of the Catholic Church and its impact in human events? How and where does the program include the stories of important Catholic figures and saints in the development of human history?
  • How are students challenged to evaluate history in light of Catholic moral norms so as to improve their own moral life and decision-making?
  • How is history used to discover the motivating values that have informed particular societies and how these motivating values correlate with Catholic teaching?
  • Does the social studies curriculum help students understand and commit to the common good, particularly the needs of the poor, injustices, human rights and dignity, and threats to religious freedom?

Music and Arts Curriculum

  • Does the school have a robust music and visual arts program? How active is it?
  • In what ways does the school help students develop a discriminating taste for art or music?
  • Does the school’s program nurture healthy creativity, mirroring that part of humanity that makes us in the image and likeness of God?

Questions to Aid Discernment and Review – Science and Math:

Science Curriculum

  • Is it evident that the Catholic faith is integrated into the science curriculum?
  • Does the science curriculum promote the unity of faith and reason, instilling confidence there exists no contradiction between the God of nature and the God of faith? How? Where?
  • Does the science curriculum develop in students a deep sense of wonder about the natural universe and the beauty and goodness of God? How is this evident?
  • Does the science program use any additional faith-based materials, or does the school provide a separate scientific topics course or class time, to discuss complex issues of creation, evolution, care for the environment, and respect for the human person (and the human body) from a Catholic perspective?
  • Does the science program present the significant contributions of the Catholic Church and Catholic scientists such as Mendel, Lavoisier, Pasteur, Galileo, Gregor, Volta, and Copernicus?

Mathematics Curriculum

  • Does the mathematics program assist students to see beauty within the academic discipline?
  • Does the school use mathematics as a tool to develop intellectual discipline and a love of order?
  • Is mathematics seen as a tool to open the mind to the wonders of creation? Is a sense of wonder developed about mathematical relationships and the glory and dignity of human reason as both a gift from God and a reflection of Him?
  • Are students guided in developing their reason for precise, determined, and accurate questioning and inquiry in the pursuit of infinite and ultimate knowledge and Truth?

Part II

Further Reflection on What the Church Teaches About Principle I – Inspired by Divine Mission

Vatican II describes a Catholic school’s mission as one of leading all students to salvation by helping them become prayerful, moral, and Christ-like individuals to build the Church on earth, evangelize the world, and contribute to the common good.

A Christian education does not merely strive for the maturing of a human person as just now described, but has as its principal purpose this goal: that the baptized, while they are gradually introduced the knowledge of the mystery of salvation, become ever more aware of the gift of Faith they have received, and that they learn in addition how to worship God the Father in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23) especially in liturgical action, and be conformed in their personal lives according to the new man created in justice and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:22-24); also that they develop into perfect manhood, to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13) and strive for the growth of the Mystical Body; moreover, that aware of their calling, they learn not only how to bear witness to the hope that is in them (cf. Peter 3:15) but also how to help in the Christian formation of the world that takes place when natural powers viewed in the full consideration of man redeemed by Christ contribute to the good of the whole society.38

This notion is carried forth in subsequent documents which again emphasize the evangelizing mission of Catholic education for personal sanctification and social reform.

Catholic education is an expression of the mission entrusted by Jesus to the Church He founded. Through education, the Church seeks to prepare its members to proclaim the Good News and to translate this proclamation into action. Since the Christian vocation is a call to transform oneself and society with God’s help, the educational efforts of the Church must encompass the twin purposes of personal sanctification and the social reform in light of Christian values.39

How a school accomplishes this mission includes many elements, but chief among them are a focus on Christ, especially his life and his teachings. Church documents on education consistently emphasize a Christocentric dimension for the school’s existence.

Christ is the foundation of the whole educational enterprise in a Catholic school. His revelation gives new meaning to life and helps man to direct his thought, action and will according to the Gospel, making the beatitudes his norm of life. The fact that in their own individual ways all members of the school community share this Christian vision makes the school “Catholic”; principles of the Gospel in this manner become the educational norms since the school then has them as its internal motivation and final goal.40

In a Catholic school, everyone should be aware of the living presence of Jesus the “Master” who, today as always, is with us in our journey through life as the one genuine “Teacher,” the perfect Man in whom all human values find their fullest perfection. The inspiration of Jesus must be translated from the ideal into the real. The gospel spirit should be evident in a Christian way of thought and life which permeates all facets of the educational climate.41

We also need to ensure our students encounter His presence in Scripture, in the Sacraments, in prayer, in each other, and in their studies. As Pope Benedict XVI noted:

First and foremost every Catholic educational institution is a place to encounter the living God who in Jesus Christ reveals his transforming love and truth (cf. Spe Salvi, 4). This relationship elicits a desire to grow in the knowledge and understanding of Christ and his teaching. In this way those who meet him are drawn by the very power of the Gospel to lead a new life characterized by all that is beautiful, good, and true; a life of Christian witness nurtured and strengthened within the community of our Lord’s disciples, the Church.42

This helps create a distinctive Catholic school experience in culture, climate, and community.

The Catholic school pursues cultural goals and the natural development of youth to the same degree as any other school. What makes the Catholic school distinctive is its attempt to generate a community climate in the school that is permeated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and love…The Council, therefore, declared that what makes the Catholic school distinctive is its religious dimension, and that this is to be found in a) the educational climate, b) the personal development of each student, c) the relationship established between culture and the Gospel, d) the illumination of all knowledge with the light of faith.43

A further distinctive element to the mission and experience of a Catholic school is its dedication to integral formation. This integral formation is the unique way the Church responds to the complex and real crisis of the age facing her children and facing the world as a whole.

Education today is a complex task, which is made more difficult by rapid social, economic, and cultural changes. Its specific mission remains the integral formation of the human person. Children and young people must be guaranteed the possibility of developing harmoniously their own physical, moral, intellectual and spiritual gifts, and they must also be helped to develop their sense of responsibility, learn the correct use of freedom, and participate actively in social life (cf. c. 795 Code of Canon Law [Law]; c. 629 Code of Canons for the Eastern Churches [CCEO]). A form of education that ignores or marginalises the moral and religious dimension of the person is a hindrance to full education, because “children and young people have a right to be motivated to appraise moral values with a right conscience, to embrace them with a personal adherence, together with a deeper knowledge and love of God.44

In summary, Catholic education is part of the saving mission of the Church.

She establishes her own schools because she considers them as a privileged means of promoting the formation of the whole man, since the school is a center in which a specific concept of the world, of man, and of history is developed and conveyed. The Catholic school forms part of the saving mission of the Church, especially for education in the faith. Remembering that, “the simultaneous development of man’s psychological and moral consciousness is demanded by Christ almost as a pre-condition for the reception of the befitting divine gifts of truth and grace”. The Church fulfills her obligation to foster in her children a full awareness of their rebirth to a new life. It is precisely in the Gospel of Christ, taking root in the minds and lives of the faithful, that the Catholic school finds its definition as it comes to terms with the cultural conditions of the times.45

It must never be forgotten that the purpose of instruction at school is education, that is, the development of man from within, freeing him from that conditioning which would prevent him from becoming a fully integrated human being. The school must begin from the principle that its educational program is intentionally directed to the growth of the whole person.46

Further Reflection on What the Church Teaches About Principle II – Models Christian Communion and Identity

Part 1 – Encourages and Participates in Christian Communion

The Church teaches that education cannot be accomplished in isolation but finds success when all those responsible for the education of the child work together.

Because its aim is to make man more man, education can be carried out authentically only in a relational and community context. It is not by chance that the first and original educational environment is that of the natural community of the family. Schools, in their turn, take their place beside the family as an educational space that is communitarian, organic and intentional and they sustain their educational commitment, according to a logic of assistance.47

Through the building up of interpersonal relationships between colleagues, students, and families as well as between the school community and universal Church and

By giving witness of communion, the Catholic educational community is able to educate for communion, which, as a gift that comes from above, animates the project of formation for living together in harmony and being welcoming. Not only does it cultivate in the students the cultural values that derive from the Christian vision of reality, but it also involves each one of them in the life of the community, where values are mediated by authentic interpersonal relationships among the various members that form it, and by the individual and community acceptance of them. In this way, the life of communion of the educational community assumes the value of an educational principle, of a paradigm that directs its formational action as a service for the achievement of a culture of communion.48

This community facilitates openness for the sharing of values and must not remain an ideal but become a lived and felt reality.

The school must be a community whose values are communicated through the interpersonal and sincere relationships of its members and through both individual and corporative adherence to the outlook on life that permeates the school.49

How is this done?

Some of the conditions for creating a positive and supportive climate are the following: that everyone agree with the educational goals and cooperate in achieving them; that interpersonal relationships be based on love and Christian freedom; that each individual, in daily life, be a witness to Gospel values; that every student be challenged to strive for the highest possible level of formation, both human and Christian. In addition, the climate must be one in which families are welcomed, the local Church is an active participant, and civil society—local, national, and international—is included. If all share a common faith, this can be an added advantage.50

So while the community of the school builds on the family and is lived and nurtured within its walls, the students should also experience a sense of belonging to the community of the universal Church.

Concretely, the educational goals of the school include a concern for the life and the problems of the Church, both local and universal. These goals are attentive to the Magisterium, and include cooperation with Church authorities. Catholic students are helped to become active members of the parish and diocesan communities. They have opportunities to join Church associations and Church youth groups, and they are taught to collaborate in local Church projects.51

Finally, this ecclesial community is destined not for itself but to be of service to the common good of the world through evangelization and service.

More than any other program of education sponsored by the Church, the Catholic school has the opportunity and obligation to be unique, contemporary, and oriented to Christian service; unique because it is distinguished by its commitment to the threefold purpose of Christian education and by its total design and operation which foster the integration of religion with the rest of learning and living; contemporary because it enables students to address with Christian insight the multiple problems which face individuals and society today; oriented to Christian service because it helps students acquire skills, virtues, and habits of heart and mind required for effective service to others.52

Part 2 – Models Communion in Christ

The community of a Catholic school begins with its faculty and staff and is fostered by its board. Teachers play a special role in creating an enriching atmosphere throughout the school.

In the Catholic school, “prime responsibility for creating this unique Christian school climate rests with the teachers, as individuals and as a community”. Teaching has an extraordinary moral depth and is one of man’s most excellent and creative activities, for the teacher does not write on inanimate material, but on the very spirits of human beings. The personal relations between the teacher and the students, therefore, assume an enormous importance and are not limited simply to giving and taking. Moreover, we must remember that teachers and educators fulfill a specific Christian vocation and share an equally specific participation in the mission of the Church, to the extent that “it depends chiefly on them whether the Catholic school achieves its purpose.”53

For this reason, Catholic educators need a “formation of the heart”: they need to be led to that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others, so that their educational commitment becomes «a consequence deriving from their faith, a faith which becomes active through love. In fact, even care for instruction means loving. It is only in this way that they can make their teaching a school of faith, that is to say, a transmission of the Gospel, as required by the educational project of the Catholic school.54

The success of the faculty and staff in creating a community that assists in leading students to communion with Christ and His Church depends upon their authentic witness and faithfulness in both word and action.

The more completely an educator can give concrete witness to the model of the ideal person [Christ] that is being presented to the students, the more this ideal will be believed and imitated.55

In light of this, the Church insists

Instruction and education in a Catholic school must be based on the principles of Catholic doctrine, and the teachers must be outstanding in true doctrine and uprightness of life.56

Because authentic and lived teaching and living in communion is so critical to a Catholic school’s mission, the board needs to hire a faithful and practicing Catholic principal who in turn is capable of identifying and hiring Catholic teachers willing to participate in the mission of Catholic education to the fullest extent possible.

Under the direction of the pastor or the duly elected or appointed school board, the principal of the Catholic school plays a crucial role in achieving the catechetical objectives of the parish…Therefore, the principal of a Catholic school must be a practicing Catholic in good standing who understands and accepts the teachings of the Church and the moral demands of the Gospel.57

As a catechetical leader in the Catholic School, the principal is called to recruit teachers who are practicing Catholics, who can understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the gospel, and who can contribute to the achievement of the school’s Catholic identity and apostolic goals…As a catechetical leader in the Catholic school, the principal is called to provide opportunities for ongoing catechesis for faculty members…The distinctive Catholic identity and mission of the Catholic school also depend on the efforts and example of the whole faculty…All teachers in Catholic schools share in the catechetical ministry… While some situations might entail compelling reasons for members of another faith tradition to teach in a Catholic school, as much as possible, all teachers in a Catholic school should be practicing Catholics.58

Further Reflection on What the Church Teaches About Principle III – Encounters Christ in Prayer, Scripture, and Sacrament

The community comprising the Catholic school finds its source of nourishment in the Word, in the Sacraments, and in the traditions of the Church.

No Catholic school can adequately fulfill its educational role on its own. It must continually be fed and stimulated by its Source of life, the Saving Word of Christ as it is expressed in Sacred Scripture, in Tradition, especially liturgical and sacramental tradition, and in the lives of people, past and present, who bear witness to that Word.59

In a Catholic school, prayer and Gospel values facilitate harmony and a desire for service.

Within such communities, teachers and pupils experience together what it means to live a life of prayer, personal responsibility and freedom reflective of Gospel values.  Their fellowship helps them grow in their commitment to service God, one another, the Church and the general community.60

This ardent and vibrantly lived life of prayer and faith must not be hidden but freely and naturally expressed.

From the first moment that a student sets foot in a Catholic school, he or she ought to have the impression of entering a new environment, one illumined by the light of faith, and having its own unique characteristics.61

Moreover, the Catholic school is well aware that the community that it forms must be constantly nourished and compared with the sources from which the reason for its existence derives: the saving word of God in Sacred Scripture, in Tradition, above all liturgical and sacramental Tradition, enlightened by the Magisterium of the Church.62

The characteristics of a rich faith life include easily identifiable representations of the spiritual life such as crucifixes, statues, or pictures of saints, and a place set aside for prayer. It also involves introducing students to traditional Catholic prayers, traditions of the Church, and spiritual devotions, especially Marian devotions.

An awareness of Mary’s presence can be a great help toward making the school into a “home”. Mary, Mother and Teacher of the Church, accompanied her Son as he grew in wisdom and grace; from its earliest days, she has accompanied the Church in its mission of salvation.63

As important as these Catholic devotions are, an essential element to any Catholic school is a rich and faithful sacramental life.

An understanding of the sacramental journey has profound educational implications. Students become aware that being a member of the Church is something dynamic, responding to every person’s need to continue growing all through life. When we meet the Lord in the Sacraments, we are never left unchanged. Through the Spirit, he causes us to grow in the Church, offering us “grace upon grace”; the only thing he asks is our cooperation. The educational consequences of this touch on our relationship with God, our witness as a Christian, and our choice of a personal vocation.64

Especially important in the Church documents is a rich Eucharistic component.

The essential point for students to understand is that Jesus Christ is always truly present in the Sacraments which he has instituted, and his presence makes them efficacious means of grace. The moment of closest encounter with the Lord Jesus occurs in the Eucharist, which is both Sacrifice and Sacrament. In the Eucharist, two supreme acts of love are united: Our Lord renews his sacrifice of salvation for us, and he truly gives himself to us.65

In the life of a Catholic school, the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation become frequent, lived, and loving encounters with God.

The teacher will assist students to open their hearts in confidence to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through personal and liturgical prayer. The latter is not just another way of praying; it is the official prayer of the Church, which makes the mystery of Christ present in our lives—especially through the Eucharist, Sacrifice and Sacrament, and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Religious experiences are then seen, not as something externally imposed, but as a free and loving response to the God who first loved us. The virtues of faith and religion, thus rooted and cultivated, are enabled to develop during childhood, youth, and in all the years that follow.66

As with all elements of the integral formation of its students, the authentic and lived example of the faculty and staff play a critical role in the success of the school’s mission.

As a visible manifestation of the faith they profess and the life witness they are supposed to manifest, it is important that lay Catholics who work in a Catholic school participate simply and actively in the liturgical and sacramental life of the school. Students will share in this life more readily when they have concrete examples: when they see the importance that this life has for believers. In today’s secularized world, students will see many lay people who call themselves Catholics, but who never take part in liturgy or sacraments. It is very important that they also have the example of lay adults who take such things seriously, who find in them a source and nourishment for Christian living.67

Further Reflection on What the Church Teaches About Principle IV –  Integrally Forms the Human Person

 Part 1- Integral Formation Focused on Intellectual Development

The Catholic intellectual tradition is about more than simply maximizing intellectual skills; it is about ensuring the intellect is authentically human, integrated, and oriented toward wisdom.

Catholic schools are encouraged to promote a wisdom-based society, to go beyond knowledge and educate people to think, evaluating facts in the light of values.68

This intellectual work unites all three elements of truth, beauty, and goodness in a pursuit of wisdom, but especially a virtuous and rigorous search for truth.

Within the overall process of education, special mention must be made of the intellectual work done by students. Although Christian life consists in loving God and doing his will, intellectual work is intimately involved. The light of Christian faith stimulates a desire to know the universe as God’s creation. It enkindles a love for the truth that will not be satisfied with superficiality in knowledge or judgment. It awakens a critical sense which examines statements rather than accepting them blindly. It impels the mind to learn with careful order and precise methods, and to work with a sense of responsibility. It provides the strength needed to accept the sacrifices and the perseverance required by intellectual labor.69

We do not just seek knowledge for the sake of power and utility, but rather for complete human flourishing and complete human formation.

In the Catholic school’s educational project there is no separation between time for learning and time for formation, between acquiring notions and growing in wisdom. The various school subjects do not present only knowledge to be attained, but also values to be acquired and truths to be discovered.70

The Church does not shy away from a bold claim to know and teach the truth in a modern relativistic culture. St. John Paul II encouraged American educators to realize,

The greatest challenge to Catholic education in the United States today, and the greatest contribution that authentically Catholic education can make to American culture, is to restore to that culture the conviction that human beings can grasp the truth of things, and in grasping that truth can know their duties to God, to themselves and their neighbors. The contemporary world urgently needs the service of educational institutions which uphold and teach that truth is “that fundamental value without which freedom, justice and human dignity are extinguished.71

Part 2 – Integral Formation Focused on Spiritual Development

All schools focus on developing the intellect, but Catholic schools have a long history of particularly excelling in this academic enterprise. We have the added advantage of being able to actively form all aspects of the human person, especially the spiritual dimension. The spiritual life we model and the spiritual truths we teach must be completely faithful to the Church and should permeate and sit proudly alongside all academic disciplines of a school’s program.

The integration of religious truth and values with life distinguishes the Catholic school from other schools. This is a matter of crucial importance today in view of contemporary trends and pressures to compartmentalize life and learning and to isolate the religious dimension of existence from other areas of human life.72

One component of this integral development is the teaching of Catholic doctrine.

Educational programs for the young must strive to teach doctrine, to do so within the experience of Christian community, and to prepare individuals for effective Christian witness and service to others.  In doing this they help foster the student’s growth in personal holiness and his relationship with Christ.73

The presentation of Catholic doctrine via religious instruction is not the whole of the school’s efforts; a catechetical component is also involved.

Religious instruction is appropriate in every school, for the purpose of the school is human formation in all of its fundamental dimensions, and the religious dimension is an integral part of this formation. Religious education is actually a right—with the corresponding duties—of the student and of the parents. It is also, at least in the case of the Catholic religion, an extremely important instrument for attaining the adequate synthesis of faith and culture that has been insisted on so often.  Therefore, the teaching of the Catholic religion, distinct from and at the same time complementary to catechesis properly so called, ought to form a part of the curriculum of every school.74

An result of this process is a religious formation that leads to an active and lived life of faith and worship.

The life of faith is expressed in acts of religion. The teacher will assist students to open their hearts in confidence to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through personal and liturgical prayer. The latter is not just another way of praying; it is the official prayer of the Church, which makes the mystery of Christ present in our lives—especially through the Eucharist, Sacrifice and Sacrament, and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Religious experiences are then seen, not as something externally imposed, but as a free and loving response to the God who first loved us. The virtues of faith and religion, thus rooted and cultivated, are enabled to develop during childhood, youth, and in all the years that follow.75

Part 3 – Integral Formation Focused on Moral Development

The intellectual and spiritual formation we provide our students assists them in living a life of virtue guided by a well-formed Catholic conscience and a consistent moral ethic.

…the Catholic school tries to create within its walls a climate in which the pupil’s faith will gradually mature and enable him to assume the responsibility placed on him by Baptism. It will give pride of place in the education it provides through Christian Doctrine to the gradual formation of conscience in fundamental, permanent virtues—above all the theological virtues, and charity in particular, which is, so to speak, the life-giving spirit which transforms a man of virtue into a man of Christ. Christ, therefore, is the teaching-centre, the Model on Whom the Christian shapes his life. In Him the Catholic school differs from all others which limit themselves to forming men. Its task is to form Christian men, and, by its teaching and witness, show non-Christians something of the mystery of Christ Who surpasses all human understanding.76

In an age of pluralism and relativism, the Catholic school holds out fundamental goods and teaches clearly about what is right and what is wrong.

Cultural pluralism, therefore, leads the Church to reaffirm her mission of education to insure strong character formation. Her children, then, will be capable both of resisting the debilitating influence of relativism and of living up to the demands made on them by their Baptism. It also stimulates her to foster truly Christian living and apostolic communities, equipped to make their own positive contribution, in a spirit of cooperation, to the building up of the secular society. For this reason the Church is prompted to mobilize her educational resources in the face of the materialism, pragmatism and technocracy of contemporary society.77

In forming the moral compass of our students based on Catholic truths, the school works closely with the student’s primary educators, the parents.

Partnership between a Catholic school and the families of the students must continue and be strengthened: not simply to be able to deal with academic problems that may arise, but rather so that the educational goals of the school can be achieved. Close cooperation with the family is especially important when treating sensitive issues such as religious, moral, or sexual education, orientation toward a profession, or a choice of one’s vocation in life. It is not a question of convenience, but a partnership based on faith. Catholic tradition teaches that God has bestowed on the family its own specific and unique educational mission.78

Part 4 – Integral Formation Focused on Physical Development and Expression

The Catholic Church teaches there is an intimate unity between body and soul. We are incarnate beings whose physical lives and bodily expression should be in deep and natural accord with our souls and our spiritual life and dispositions. The Catholic school seeks to develop all these facets of the human person.

Since true education must strive for complete formation of the human person that looks to his or her final end as well as to the common good of societies, children and youth are to be nurtured in such a way that they are able to develop their physical, moral, and intellectual talents harmoniously, acquire a more perfect sense of responsibility and right use of freedom, and are formed to participate actively in social life.79

This understanding of the human person is based on a Christian anthropology which acknowledges our complete human nature, including our dignity and our brokenness:

Students should be helped to see the human person as a living creature having both a physical and a spiritual nature; each of us has an immortal soul, and we are in need of redemption. The older students can gradually come to a more mature understanding of all that is implied in the concept of “person”: intelligence and will, freedom and feelings, the capacity to be an active and creative agent; a being endowed with both rights and duties, capable of interpersonal relationships, called to a specific mission in the world.80

The human person is present in all the truths of faith: created in “the image and likeness” of God; elevated by God to the dignity of a child of God; unfaithful to God in original sin, but redeemed by Christ; a temple of the Holy Spirit; a member of the Church; destined to eternal life.81

It also means the cultivation of intellectual and spiritual gifts in a spirit of respect for oneself and others includes physical health and a life lived chastely.

Not a few young people, unable to find any meaning in life or trying to find an escape from loneliness, turn to alcohol, drugs, the erotic, the exotic etc. Christian education is faced with the huge challenge of helping these young people discover something of value in their lives…We must cultivate intelligence and the other spiritual gifts, especially through scholastic work. We must learn to care for our body and its health, and this includes physical activity and sports. And we must be careful of our sexual integrity through the virtue of chastity, because sexual energies are also a gift of God, contributing to the perfection of the person and having a providential function for the life of society and of the Church. Thus, gradually, the teacher will guide students to the idea, and then to the realization, of a process of total formation.82

Further Reflection on What the Church Teaches About Principle V – Imparts a Christian Understanding of the World

Part 1- Traditions, Values, and Evangelization

The Church teaches that the task of a school is to provide,

fundamentally a synthesis of culture and faith, and a synthesis of faith and life: the first is reached by integrating all the different aspects of human knowledge through the subjects taught, in the light of the Gospel; the second in the growth of the virtues characteristic of the Christian.83

Both the current common culture and aspects of cultural history giving rise to it are to be explored and critically analyzed in the light of the Catholic faith. Positive elements that can be brought into harmony with the faith are to be celebrated and expanded. Elements appearing in contradiction to the faith are to be challenged and critically analyzed. This is a role to which Catholic schools are particularly suited.

A school uses its own specific means for the integral formation of the human person: the communication of culture…if the communication of culture is to be a genuine educational activity, it must not only be organic, but also critical and evaluative, historical and dynamic. Faith will provide Catholic educators with some essential principles for critique and evaluation; faith will help them to see all of human history as a history of salvation which culminates in the fullness of the Kingdom. This puts culture into a creative context, constantly being perfected.84

In addition to critically examining and transmitting those best elements of human culture in general, the school also embodies and imparts a specific Catholic culture: that has an integrated pattern of knowledge, values, beliefs, behaviors, and traditions that celebrate and pass on to a new generation the unique contributions of the Church in the arts and the intellectual life, enriching the social and faith lives of our students with the great patrimony of the Catholic Church.

Catholic schools provide young people with sound Church teaching through a broad-based curriculum, where faith and culture are intertwined in all areas of a school’s life. By equipping our young people with a sound education, rooted in the Gospel message, the Person of Jesus Christ, and rich in the cherished traditions and liturgical practices of our faith, we ensure that they have the foundation to live morally and uprightly in our complex modern world. This unique Catholic identity makes our Catholic elementary and secondary schools “schools for the human person” and allows them to fill a critical role in the future life of our Church, our country, and our world.85

Through this transmission of culture, students become Christ for others and work to evangelize others both inside and outside the school community.

The mission of the Catholic school is the integral formation of students, so that they may be true to their condition as Christ’s disciples and as such work effectively for the evangelization of culture and for the common good of society.86

Part 2- Literature, History, and the Arts

The school’s curriculum is the vehicle for examining various cultural elements.

From the nature of the Catholic school also stems one of the most significant elements of its educational project: the synthesis between culture and faith. The endeavor to interweave reason and faith, which has become the heart of individual subjects, makes for unity, articulation, and coordination, bringing forth within what is learned in a school a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture, and of history.87

A Catholic school curriculum examines issues of culture, meaning, faith, and value in the light of the Gospel. Literature, history, and the arts lend themselves readily to this enterprise.

Literature and the arts are also, in their own way, of great importance to the life of the Church. They strive to make known the proper nature of man, his problems and his experiences in trying to know and perfect both himself and the world. They have much to do with revealing man’s place in history and in the world; with illustrating the miseries and joys, the needs and strengths of man and with foreshadowing a better life for him. Thus they are able to elevate human life, expressed in multifold forms according to various times and regions.88

Not only is history analyzed for its content and facts but also for its comportment to reality and truth. Catholic schools are free to discuss and unravel the numerous historical circumstances where God’s hand is seen interjecting itself in temporal affairs. These opportunities are vast and plentiful and add an additional dimension to the study of historical timelines.

Teachers should guide the students’ work in such a way that they will be able to discover a religious dimension in the world of human history. As a preliminary, they should be encouraged to develop a taste for historical truth, and therefore to realize the need to look critically at texts and curricula which, at times, are imposed by a government or distorted by the ideology of the author…they will see the development of civilizations, and learn about progress…When they are ready to appreciate it, students can be invited to reflect on the fact that this human struggle takes place within the divine history [of] universal salvation. At this moment, the religious dimension of history begins to shine forth in all its luminous grandeur.89

The study of human historical and social realties in a Catholic school occurs in the context of a permanent philosophical heritage which must be understood.

Every society has its own heritage of accumulated wisdom. Many people find inspiration in these philosophical and religious concepts which have endured for millennia. The systematic genius of classical Greek and European thought has, over the centuries, generated countless different doctrinal systems, but it has also given us a set of truths which we can recognize as a part of our permanent philosophical heritage.90

This heritage includes a rich patrimony of social justice which should also be reflected in the curriculum.

The curriculum must help the students reflect on the great problems of our time, including those where one sees more clearly the difficult situation of a large part of humanity’s living conditions. These would include the unequal distribution of resources, poverty, injustice and human rights denied.91

Especially in the arts, both auditory and visual, Catholic schools have a rich tradition to draw from for discussions of beauty and harmony and that fulfills a human soul.

Literary and artistic works depict the struggles of societies, of families, and of individuals. They spring from the depths of the human heart, revealing its lights and its shadows, its hope and its despair. The Christian perspective goes beyond the merely human, and offers more penetrating criteria for understanding the human struggle and the mysteries of the human spirit. Furthermore, an adequate religious formation has been the starting point for the vocation of a number of Christian artists and art critics. In the upper grades, a teacher can bring students to: an even more profound appreciation of artistic works: as a reflection of the divine beauty in tangible form. Both the Fathers of the Church and the masters of Christian philosophy teach this in their writings on aesthetics—St. Augustine invites us to go beyond the intention of the artists in order to find the eternal order of God in the work of art; St. Thomas sees the presence of the Divine Word in art.92

Part 3 – Science and Mathematics

The school’s science and math curriculum is the vehicle not just for examining standard scientific content found in non-Catholic schools, but also for introducing students to the Catholic intellectual tradition as well as the specific contributions of Catholics to the world of math and science. It can help the students see the limitations of materialism and open them up to the depths of wonder held in God’s creation.

The Catholic school should teach its pupils to discern in the voice of the universe the Creator Whom it reveals and, in the conquests of science, to know God and man better.93

By not ignoring the religious dimension, Catholic schools

…help their students to understand that positive science, and the technology allied to it, is a part of the universe created by God. Understanding this can help encourage an interest in research: the whole of creation, from the distant celestial bodies and the immeasurable cosmic forces down to the infinitesimal particles and waves of matter and energy, all bear the imprint of the Creator’s wisdom and power, The wonder that past ages felt when contemplating this universe, recorded by the Biblical authors, is still valid for the students of today; the only difference is that we have a knowledge that is much more vast and profound. There can be no conflict between faith and true scientific knowledge; both find their source in God. The student who is able to discover the harmony between faith and science will, in future professional life, be better able to put science and technology to the service of men and women, and to the service of God. It is a way of giving back to God what he has first given to us.94

Education in science includes the relationship of science to other disciplines in the life of the intellect.

Furthermore, when man gives himself to the various disciplines of philosophy, history and of mathematical and natural science, and when he cultivates the arts, he can do very much to elevate the human family to a more sublime understanding of truth, goodness, and beauty, and to the formation of considered opinions which have universal value. Thus mankind may be more clearly enlightened by that marvelous Wisdom which was with God from all eternity, composing all things with him, rejoicing in the earth and delighting in the sons of men. In this way, the human spirit, being less subjected to material things, can be more easily drawn to the worship and contemplation of the Creator. Moreover, by the impulse of grace, he is disposed to acknowledge the Word of God, Who before He became flesh in order to save all and to sum up all in Himself was already “in the world” as “the true light which enlightens every man” (John 1:9-10). Indeed today’s progress in science and technology can foster a certain exclusive emphasis on observable data, and agnosticism about everything else. For the methods of investigation which these sciences use can be wrongly considered as the supreme rule of seeking the whole truth. By virtue of their methods these sciences cannot penetrate to the intimate notion of things. Indeed the danger is present that man, confiding too much in the discoveries of today, may think that he is sufficient unto himself and no longer seek the higher things.95

This notion is in line with the Catholic intellectual tradition in which

Catholic schools strive to relate all of the sciences to salvation and sanctification. Students are shown how Jesus illumines all of life—science, mathematics, history, business, biology, and so forth.96

As God is the source of all reality and because all things live, move, and have their being in Him, an understanding of all aspects of creation can assist in understanding and glorifying God in whom all truths converge.

 

[1] A more complete exposition of the principles is available in these resources: Principles of Catholic Identity in Education: Church Documents for Reflection and Principles of Catholic Identity in Education: Principles and Sources in Church Teaching.

[2] The Cardinal Newman Society has also created other assessment tools for schools including: Principles of Catholic Identity in Education: Faculty and Staff In-Service and our Catholic Education Honor Roll.

 

The Land O’ Lakes Statement Has Caused Devastation For 50 Years

In hindsight, what they did was appalling.

But when several Catholic university leaders gathered in the summer of 1967 at a remote retreat in Land O’ Lakes, Wisconsin, did they fully anticipate the consequences of their vision for “modern” Catholic education? Hopefully not.

It was 50 years ago, on July 20-23, when Notre Dame’s Father Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., gathered his peers to draft and sign the “Land O’ Lakes Statement,” a declaration of the independence of Catholic universities from “authority of whatever kind, lay or clerical, external to the academic community itself.”

Over the course of just a few years following the statement, most Catholic colleges and universities in America shed their legal ties to the Church and handed their institutions over to independent boards of trustees. In the quest for secular prestige and government funding, many went so far as to remove the crucifixes from their classroom walls and to represent their Catholic identity in historical terms (such as, “in the Jesuit tradition”).

The wound of secularization deepened over the next few decades: many Catholic colleges and universities weakened their core curricula in favor of the Harvard model of electives and specialization, adopted a radical notion of academic freedom, embraced relativism and political correctness, and largely abandoned the project of forming young people for Christ outside the classroom.

It wasn’t until 1990 that the “Land O’ Lakes Statement” was soundly repudiated by Saint Pope John Paul II in Ex corde Ecclesiae, the apostolic constitution for Catholic universities. Although not yet accepted in its entirety, Ex corde Ecclesiae turned the tide toward renewal of Catholic identity and gave prominence to those faithful institutions that never accepted the Land O’ Lakes mentality. In the meantime, however, Fr. Hesburgh’s declaration did much damage.

It’s for good reason, then, that the “Land O’ Lakes Statement” has become a focal point in American Church history. It’s sometimes described as an explosive, revolutionary act that changed the trajectory of Catholic higher education, which may be an exaggeration. But it certainly was a watershed moment, evidenced by the rapid changes that followed the statement. It was also the culmination of years of unrest in Catholic universities—in many respects, a moral struggle with the temptation to pride and prestige at the expense of Catholic identity.

With the “Land O’ Lakes Statement,” that struggle was momentarily lost. It represented a public, deliberate choice for opportunity over mission, resulting in a voluntary exile from the once-lush gardens of truth and wisdom that had distinguished the world’s Catholic universities.

The allure of prestige

For most Catholic university graduates and educators before the late 1960s, alma mater was still as much Mother Church as her academic institutions. But more than a decade before the “Land O’ Lakes Statement,” influential academics were already expressing disappointment with the public status of Catholic universities in the United States.

This was argued forcefully by Monsignor John Tracy Ellis, a Church history professor at the Catholic University of America, whose lament was published and disseminated by Fordham University:

“…in no western society is the intellectual prestige of Catholicism lower than in the country where, in such respects as wealth, numbers, and strength of organization, it is so powerful. …Admittedly, the weakest aspect of the Church in this country lies in its failure to produce national leaders and to exercise commanding influence in intellectual circles, and this at a time when the numbers of Catholics in the United States… and their material resources are incomparably superior to those of any other branch of the universal Church.”

Note that Msgr. Ellis did not claim that Catholics were intellectually lacking, but only that they lacked academic “influence” and “prestige.” The prior claim would have been astonishing, given that Ellis’ university colleagues included (until 1950) then-Bishop Fulton Sheen—who not only was known for his radio and television preaching, but also was described as a highly gifted philosopher.

The Thomas Reeves biography of the Venerable Sheen reveals a much earlier battle, in which the saintly professor testified to Catholic University’s board of trustees against attempts to make the institution a “Catholic Harvard,” with emphasis on secular prestige. At a 1935 trustees meeting, Sheen called for the “primacy of the spiritual” in Catholic education:

“The task of integrating the supernatural with the natural, of infusing human knowledge with the divine, of complementing our knowledge of things with our knowledge of God, of making all things Theocentric, is the business of a Catholic university.”

He added that the bishops’ national university:

“…is to education what the Catholic Church is to religion, namely, the leaven in the mass. The Church is not one of the sects, it is the unique life of Christ; the Catholic University is not one of the American Universities, it is their soul.”

The deck is stacked

It would be wrong, then, to assume that Catholic identity was suddenly under assault by the participants in the 1967 retreat at Land O’ Lakes. It had endured through many trials. The appeal for academic independence from “all authority” had perhaps found its time, when society itself seemed to have turned against tradition and values.

Two other false notions about the Land O’ Lakes meeting deserve to be corrected. For one thing, the retreat was not an isolated gathering of independent reformers; it was surprisingly “official,” one of several regional meetings around the world to help draft a statement by the Vatican-affiliated International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), of which Fr. Hesburgh was then president. The final Vatican-influenced document, “The Catholic University in the Modern World,” was far more traditional in its understanding of Catholic education, and in fact it is quoted in Ex corde Ecclesiae.

Second, although the Land O’ Lakes meeting was identified as the North American regional delegation to the IFCU, it was never truly intended to represent all of the region’s Catholic colleges and universities. Subsequent histories and Notre Dame’s own description indicate that the participants were focused on large, research institutions—an odd emphasis, since none of the represented universities had truly attained that status, but perhaps they aspired to it.

Moreover, it seems the deck was stacked with Fr. Hesburgh’s allies: only 10 universities were represented, including six from the U.S.: Boston College, Catholic University of America, Fordham, Georgetown, Notre Dame and Saint Louis. (The rector of the Catholic University of America was alone in publicly criticizing the resulting statement.) Of the 26 signers, seven were from Notre Dame and its sponsoring Holy Cross Fathers, and ten were Jesuits or leaders of Jesuit institutions.

Some of the signers were especially notable: Archbishop Paul Hallinan of Atlanta, Father Theodore McCarrick (then president of the Pontifical University of Puerto Rico and later Archbishop of Washington) and Father Vincent O’Keefe, S.J. (later Vicar General of the Society of Jesus).

Also intriguing is the signature by John Cogley, a leftist scholar representing the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. It’s not clear what he was doing at Land O’ Lakes, except that he was a celebrated intellectual in certain circles. He had been religion editor of the New York Times and a principal writer of John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech advocating the separation of church and state. He later dissented from Humanae Vitae and became an Episcopalian.

For a few coins

I leave it to the reader to explore more of the statement itself, but I’ll make one more claim about the motivations behind it. Above I accused the signers of succumbing to the temptation for worldly prestige. But closely tied to secular prestige is the desire for money, which seems also to have been a related factor.

In 1987, Sister Brigid Driscoll, former president of Marymount College in New York, offered a defense of the “Land O’ Lakes” mentality:

“In the 1960s and early 1970s, most Catholic colleges severed even tenuous ties to the Church…

“We became independent and named lay trustees because of accreditation, the increased sophistication of higher education as a major enterprise and because of the demands of growth…

“Those decisions meant a windfall for the schools a few years later when the federal government offered financial aid to independent colleges…

“Any indication that these schools were under ecclesiastical authority could cast doubt on their independence and thus jeopardize that aid…”

The same year, in the New York Times (Jan. 16, 1987), Fr. Hesburgh made a similar claim:

“Catholic colleges and universities receive a large amount of financial help in different forms from the public monies of the state.

“…if there were no academic freedom and institutional autonomy for Catholic higher education, it might very well be that the [U.S. Supreme] Court would rule that public funding for Catholic institutions of higher learning is unconstitutional.”

In fact, however, the Supreme Court has ruled quite differently in support of religious institutions. Today some of the most faithful Catholic colleges like Franciscan University of Steubenville and Thomas Aquinas College participate freely in federal student aid programs, as does the “ecclesiastical” Catholic University of America.

It’s sadly true that, for the Catholic universities that embraced Land O’ Lakes, secularization has been rewarded with large endowments and state aid. But it’s simply not true that federal aid would have been unavailable to universities that maintained formal ties to the Church. Ironically, Notre Dame still is under some legal control by the Holy Cross Fathers; its students receive grants and loans, and it has received numerous federal grants from the Obama administration (albeit after giving the President an honorary degree).

For many smaller Catholic colleges, secularization has not benefited them financially. They struggle to distinguish themselves from state universities that provide the same job training at less cost.

Marymount College in New York is a case in point. Recall that Sr. Driscoll seemed proud of her institution’s choice to sever “tenuous ties to the Church,” bringing a “windfall” of taxpayer funds. The College closed its doors in 2007 for financial reasons.

This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.