SANTA ROSA, Calif. — School teachers and administrators are not expecting some sort of “Spanish Inquisition” in the Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif., even though the diocese is the epicenter of a media-generated local furor surrounding Bishop Robert Vasa’s decision to mandate that Catholic educators live the Ten Commandments and reject “modern errors” on life and family in their personal and professional lives.
“I think it‘s a little overblown, in some ways,” said principal Graham Rutherford of Cardinal Newman High School. “The bishop said he wanted to clarify his expectations. ... He never said we‘ve been doing things wrong here.”
And, in fact, Bishop Vasa told the Register there has been a massive outpouring of support for the action he has taken to uphold Catholic identity.
The 200 educators who teach more than 3,000 students in Santa Rosa’s 11 Catholic diocesan schools have until mid-April to sign a contract that includes an addendum written by Bishop Vasa himself. Entitled “Bearing Witness,” the document elaborates on the contract’s faith and morals clause that states educators must “be a model of Catholic living and adhere to Catholic teachings in both personal and professional life.”
The language added into the contract explains that teachers are entering into a “covenantal relationship” with the bishop, wherein they become his “ministerial agent” in forming the souls of their students. The document states that they recognize that they are “called by God to a life of holiness,” must live in conformity with the Ten Commandments and must reject “modern errors,” including contraception, abortion, same-sex “marriage” and euthanasia, that are “not consistent with the clear teachings of the Catholic Church.”
But it’s the requirement that teachers live up to the Church’s moral teachings outside the classroom that prompted at least one teacher to leak the contract to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
“Personally, it’s probably something that I can’t sign,” a Cardinal Newman High School teacher told the Press Democrat on condition of anonymity. The teacher said he objects to “the whole idea that they want me to live their morals when it’s my personal life what I do outside of work.”
When asked by the Register, however, Rutherford said only one teacher has decided not to sign the new contract and will pursue teaching elsewhere. He said he expected the rest of the faculty would have little problem with signing it.
Bishop Vasa
Far from a public backlash, Bishop Vasa told the Register that Catholics inside and outside the diocese have greeted his decision with great enthusiasm.
“I‘ve received a positive outpouring of support saying that it is good and refreshing to see this kind of clarity,” he said.
John Collins, superintendent of schools for the Santa Rosa Diocese, said the new contract doesn’t mean that the diocese will be launching an “inquisition” into the personal lives of its school employees.
“We’re not sending out a checklist or anything like that,” Collins said. “We don’t have bad teachers, and the addendum shouldn’t be seen as a corrective to bad teachers.”
Collins said that the diocese holds a “very high regard” for its teachers and has “high expectations for them.” Bishop Vasa placed the addendum in the contract, Collins said, in order to help teachers better understand their role in helping the bishop both to form students and witness to the Gospel.
“Young people listen to their teachers, who are also witnesses by their life example,” he said.
According to Bishop Vasa, Benedict XVI’s proclamation of the Year of Faith had a big influence in guiding bishops to clarify the role of teachers in evangelization.
“It was a call to make more explicit the faith, which underlies our apostolic mission,” Bishop Vasa said.
Bishop Vasa told the Register that his reflection on Benedict’s Year of Faith apostolic exhortation in Porta Fidei (The Door of Faith) inspired him to communicate to the diocese’s educators that they were “ministerial agents” in a covenant with him to form young people.
“If the purpose [of a Catholic school] is evangelization, introducing people to the message of Christ and the Church, then those people in some way are ministers of evangelization and apostles,” he said.
Other Dioceses
While most of the 194 U.S. dioceses have a “faith and morals” clause in their contracts, Catholic education expert Father Ron Nuzzi said only a handful have made their expectations as explicit as Bishop Vasa has done.
“The 'faith and morals' clause is meant to be a guarantor that a person in the classroom is not doing harm and is providing a compelling witness to the Church’s teaching,” said Father Nuzzi, director of Catholic leadership programs at the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE).
Still, more dioceses have taken recent action to clarify in their contracts with teachers that the Church looks on them as partners in ministry.
“We regard our teachers as ministerial employees and Catholic role models, both inside and outside the classroom,” said Dan Andriacco, communications director for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. “If we become aware of them not living up to that, then we have to act.”
Under Archbishop Dennis Schnurr’s leadership, the archdiocese has fired two teachers and an administrator over the past two years for breaches of contract on the "faith and morals" clause. The two unmarried teachers — one became pregnant by artificial insemination, the other by extra-marital sex — have sued the archdiocese. The archdiocese also fired a vice principal in February after he made public on a blog his support for same-sex “marriage.”
“Our schoolteachers are ministerial employees because our schools are ministries,” Andriacco said. “We don’t operate our schools to give our kids just a good education and discipline. We open our doors every day to form them in the faith; even in cases where the students may not be primarily Catholic.” Andriacco said the archdiocese “beefed up” language in the teachers’ contract to make more explicit its expectations that teachers live in conformity with the moral teachings of the Church.
“No one presented with the contract should later be surprised,” Andriacco said. “If anybody doesn’t think they can live up to that, then they shouldn’t sign it.”
Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington, Va., also came under fire recently in the local Washington-area media for requiring catechists, youth ministers and religious-education teachers to make a public "Profession of Faith" under oath to the Church’s teachings. Besides belief in the Nicene Creed, the profession required teachers to “firmly accept and hold” all the Church’s teachings on faith and morals and to submit “in will and intellect” to the teachings of the pope and the College of Bishops.
“The bishop is the chief catechist of the diocese, but he can’t be everywhere,” said Mike Donohue, communications director for the Arlington Diocese. Bishop Loverde had reflected on the then-upcoming Year of Faith and made the decision to require the profession of faith, Donohue said, because he believed the profession would give parents confidence that their children were receiving genuine instruction in the Catholic faith.
Positive Response
Both Andriacco and Donohue noted that their respective dioceses have garnered positive encouragement and praise from Catholics for promoting Catholic identity in Catholic education. Andriacco said fundraising and enrollment at the school of the fired administrator has continued to go up. Donohue said that Bishop Loverde’s action had a “very positive response” in the diocese and among religious educators and said he would not be surprised if more bishops trend in this direction.
“I would imagine you would see more of this as bishops refocus their efforts on catechesis and evangelization,” he said.
Father Nuzzi said that fidelity oaths, while useful and “effective at creating dialogue and interest,” are really only the short-term part of an overall strategy for raising Catholic school standards. The long-term strategy, he said, depends on forming better Catholic educators with “compelling instruction” in the Church’s teaching and mission.
Superintendent Collins told the Register that such ongoing instruction is at work in Santa Rosa. Officials there are rolling out a new instructional video this week for diocesan educators that better explains their role in helping the bishop form students spiritually.
“I went at length to explain that their ‘Yes’ to Jesus is the same ‘Yes’ to the Church,” Collins said about the video.
Father Nuzzi suggested better instruction eventually will make the need for oaths of fidelity moot. He pointed to Notre Dame’s ACE program, which graduates a few dozen principals and about 200 teachers every year.
“You would know within 10 minutes of meeting them that they were strong, faith-filled Catholics,” he said. “It would be clear they were not only competent educators, but also faith-filled witnesses.”
“Their oath is their lives,” Father Nuzzi added. “The paper is beside the point.”
Peter Jesserer Smith writes from Rochester, New York.
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“The faith and morals clause is meant to be a guarantor that a person in the classroom is not doing harm, and is providing a compelling witness to the Church’s teaching,” said Father Nuzzi, director of Catholic leadership programs at the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE).”
Now if only our Catholic colleges would do the same…
PRAISE BE TO GOD for the courage of Bishop Vasa and Andriacco. Maybe this is a first step in cleaning up the Catholic School System - eliminate bad teachers and the children of parents who support them. If my children were still in school, I would want them to have GOOD ROLE MODELS in school. Where else in society are they going to see examples of clean living?
I only wish this could be extended to priests. In my four years as a Catholic, I have found only one priest in four churches that, in my opinion, could serve Persona-Christi.
We are the “one-true-church” in name only because the examples are few and far between.
“We don’t operate our schools to give our kids just a good education and discipline. We open our doors every day to form them in the faith; even in cases where the students may not be primarily Catholic.” Amen! God bless these bishops for being strong shepherds!
Children of all ages learn from example, as well as words.
This should be done in all Diocese across the USA.
In fact all USCCB and DIOCESE employees should be required to sign such an agreement.
- Living in accord with the “Catechism of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” in entirety.
God bless Bishop Vasa.
I salute Bishop Vasa standing up on this!! Catholic schools should be serious in their identity as Catholic schools. Teachers and employees should understand that. What would be the difference then if they will just give good education? Some parents choose the schools because they want their children to be guided on Catholic doctrines, principles and beliefs. If not, then they will just choose other good private schools. This is great news!!Hope other diocese will follow…
SCHOOLS are tools for the NEW EVANGELIZATION.
Thanks.
emillie
Yes! This is the only way to insure students are not receiving conflicting and confusing information regarding doctrines of faith. Bravo, Bishop Vasa! Pax et Bonum…
I admire Bishop Vasa. Bishops should also start with teachers (priests, nuns, and lay teachers) in seminaries in their dioceses.
Bishop Vasa, in my opinion, is separating the wheat from the chaff…....teacher-wise.
Jim Dooher
Wonderful, those who object are most likely in favor of the freedom to determine their own consciences in the matter of faith and morals. They are most likely at odds with the Church on the issue of sexual teachings and believe that the church should determine such moral truth by polls and votes of Catholics. I am not convinced that the Church spends any time making it clear that he Church is the Body of Christ and Christ is the unchanging manifestation of truth.
The reality of who we are as Catholics is probably the most important truth of all - we are the Body of Christ!
Wonderful to see a bishop stand for Catholic morality before our secular world!
Exellent. I hope this becomes the standard for all Catholic Schools. Parents need to know that those teaching their children are teaching them the faith right along with it.
Bishop Vasa is the bishop who locked the church doors when Mass began - no latecomers allowed. He recently stopped locking the doors. He is the man who wanted parishioners to pay for a GOLD chalice for a church to have when he visited it. He is the man who demands that the parents of children preparing for First Holy Communion attend Mass every Sunday, or if they are out of town or attend another church, they must take Vasa a bulletin from that church SIGNED by the pastor. He ignores women parishioners and women in general. He seems obsessed with sex and its evils even when sex is nowhere in a discussion. Some think he is a very sick man with a very sick mind. No wonder when he left his previous diocese there was dancing in the streets! Santa Rosa had a very vibrant spiritual life before Vasa arrived. Now, Catholics there are very unhappy with this bishop. He should be moved elsewhere…and sooner rather than later.
At our MN Catholic school, teachers do this every year at a mass in front of all students and parents. They take an oath of fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and vow to teach accordingly. Teachers who are not comfortable with this wouldn’t teach at the school. As a parent, this gives me great comfort in knowing our kids are in great spiritual care an won’t be taught incorrectly or insincerely. All Catholic Schools should do this!!
This is a wonderful idea. Wish all our bishops and archbishops would follow suit. It’s time for Catholic schools to boldly proclaim their authentic Catholic identity and truly have an impact on our culture. Teachers have an enormous impact on the actions and development of morals in our children, thus it is entirely fitting to expect that Catholic teachers give faithful witness in all aspects of their lives.
Makes me want to move to Bishop Vasa’s diocese and enter my high school sophomore in their schools. Hooray for Bishop Vasa and God Bless him! I will pray for his continued strength to stand and uphold Catholic teachings.
I believe that teaching in the Catholic School Systems is not a job. It is a vocation.
With that said we should keep in mind that all teachers need our prayers.
I agree with Bishop Vasa wholeheartely. I wish all bishops would do this. Too many of our Catholic school teachers are teaching secular ideas and confusing our children
Dear Bishop Vasa,
My husband and I met you at a fundraiser at the Duncan ranch in napa Valley. What a great pleasure to know we have a good shepherd in our mist!
Bless your heart for Being who you promised to be. A protector of the FAith and a teacher. As parents and grand parents we appreciate your concern for the future of the Church .
God bless your continued efforts and be assured of our prayers for your good health and sanctity.
Sincerely,
Jeannine Eason
Grass Valley , Calif.
Bishop Vada represents everything that a believing Catholic would expect from a Good Shepherd! We need more like him, especially where education is concerned.
“I went at length to explain that their ‘Yes’ to Jesus is the same ‘Yes’ to the Church,” Collins said.
Rot! There are many belonging to other religions and to none who have said a more sincere “yes” to Jesus than those clergy who abused our young and those too who covered up this abuse and allowed our children to suffer. A Yes to Jesus , to God, is just that. It does not entail refusing to open our own minds and hearts as we listen to the Holy Spirit within us. An unthinking yes to those in authority is something good educators should be encouraging their students to question.
Praise God for the leadership of Bishop Vasa, for it is the righteous thing for all Catholic schools to do! Now, imagine how glorious it would be if all his fellow bishops throughout the United States would follow his lead. Perhaps God, in his mercy, would relent in his anger toward our country. For this, let us pray….
It sounds as if some teachers have a problem with being Catholic. If that is the case, they should place their efforts at teaching in either a non-Catholic or public school. Catholic teachers are ministers of the Church and, as such, have a responsibility to pass on the Faith through living it in their daily lives, both publically and in private. If they can’t do that, then they are misrepresenting the Church and causing unnecessary scandal.
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God bless our good and faithful Bishops and school teachers! God bless any who aren’t that they may become so!
This is a kind of “Ex Corde Ecclesiae” for teachers in Catholic diocesan schools. To require that Catholic school teachers adhere to certain moral standards in their personal and professional lives?!? Should we ask anything less than this?!?
It’s heartening to see that Catholic grade and high schools are part of the new evangelization; and that parents can have growing confidence that schools which call themselves Catholic truly are Catholic.
I am a parishioner in Bishop Vasa’s diocese. I sent my five children to Catholic schools here,K thru 12. I am quite delighted
with the Bishop’s addendum to the teacher contracts. It makes very clear who we are as Catholics,and that the actual Truths of the Faith will be taught.Thank you,Bishop Vasa!
Finally, a bishop with some guts. We have lost our identity since Vatican II, since Catholics were lumped together with the rest of the Christian denominations. Catholics should be proud that our church was founded by Jesus Christ. The rest of the Christian churches were founded by men.
Am overjoyed to hear Bishop Vasa taking a stand for a Catholic perspective and way of life. This is essential for Catholic school personnel who share in the Church’s mission to educate students not just for college but for Christ. Many public schools coerce teachers into spouting the secular gospel of homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, and promiscuity through the curriculum they teach, the social activities they support and condone, and the services they provide. It is reassuring to know that Catholic teachers no longer have to stand alone in the face of secular agendas.
I’m glad that one teacher had the guts to be honest with herself and her employer.its one thing for a teacher to not view porn,be a stripper,drug dealer, or anything else that will be harmful to the school environment;its another to expect a woman(or anyone else for that matter) to be against contraceptio,abortion, or same-sex marriage.If many teacher did sign that document,it was to keep their jobs and nothing more.If their beliefs are not in conformity to the school/church,it will be kept to themselves or in a small group to the knowledge of only those group members.The teachers are in a career-not a vocation.Obviously,the bishop has yet to learn to mind his business and to be focusing on the welfare and safety of the children from all religious and laity who will use thier positions as teacher,priests, and other positions within the school to harm the children in their care.
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It’s ALWAYS better to be on God’s side than…the"other”...and the “other side” is where promiscuity, contraception, abortion, homosexual behavior, etc. comes from. Unbeknownst to all of Bishop Vasa’s critics, the good Bishop is actually doing everyone a favor by proclaiming the truths that will help get us all to Heaven - if we listen and obey.
Bishop Vasa says there is a massive outpouring of support for his policies? The newspaper has been full of letters to the editor approximately four critical for every one in favor of Bishop Vasa. He amy mean well but he is ruining the diocese. The Churches are starting to empty and he is delusional if he thinks the people of the diocese like what he is doing. This latest deal is just grandstanding to make himself look like some kind of crusader. The provisions of the contract are completely unenforceable and will result in lawsuits if he tries to do anything. Really, a math teacher has to say he is not gay, but we have all kinds of gay priests teaching the Catholic faith every Sunday. They always pick on the laity when it’s the clergy that is the problem.
Ann, I don’t want atheists teaching my kids religion because they don’t believe in God and I don’t want feminists to teach my kids about tolerance because they have none and I don’t want a white supremist to teaching my kids about race relations because they hate non-whites and I don’t want ‘active’ homosexuals to teach my children on sexuality because the bible condemns them and I don’t want people who don’t believe that abortion, contraception, homosexual relationships, IVF, cloning, euthanasia etc. are wrong to teach my children because they will not support or reinforce Catholic condemnation of them and may covertly undermine the Church’s teachings in this regard.
Let’s be clear…...teachers cannot stop their personal beliefs and convictions from bleeding into thier classroom instruction. Maybe they won’t be overt in doing so but they certainly will not pro-actively teach their pupils about things they oppose. So what business do thay have teaching in a Catholic….specifically religious…..school where the Church’s teachings are intertwined in the curriculum as a whole?
Your comment about the bishop minding his own business is remarkably off the mark. This is a Catholic School….operating withing a given diocese….under the authority of the bishop; the spiritual welfare of the children IS HIS BUSINESS!
You comment about ‘harming children’ ignores all the work done by the Church to stop child abuse. So you are either ignorant of current statistics and abuse rates within the Church or are offering this salacious criticism to smear the bishop, the clergy and teachers responsible to teach these children. Please know that the abuse rate in today’s U.S. Catholic Institutions is a fraction of that in society in general. The safest place for a child today is in a Catholic school or other institution (cf. John Jay College of Criminial Justice Study, “The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests, 1950-2010). You might also search for the latest abuse statistics within the Catholic Church and compare them to the statistics offered by the Department of Education’s numbers on the abuse of minors within the Public School System which runs at shocking levels.
Finally, your are entitled to your feminist views. I certainly support equality between men in women in the secular world but….I do not support feminisim within Catholic Church structure as it was established by Jesus Christ Himself.
In short….if a teacher doesn’t hold with Catholic teachings and cannot sign the oath…..they should be dischared.
It was published yesterday, March 22, that the bishop is delaying implemenation of this requirement for TWO years! Wonder what the real story is?
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Bob - excellent post. Thank you!
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Correction - I was saying MIKE MALONE made an excellent post - please correct!
Unfortunately,the Bishop has now ‘relented’,and will not insist on this addendum for two more years. So unfortunate that Catholic school teachers are exempt from teaching and living the Catholic faith. Why are they teaching in a Catholic school if they are against the Church’s teachings?
When my children were in a Catholic high school in bishop Vasa’s diocese,a “religion teacher” threw the Bible to the ground and said there was nothing sacred about it;it was just words. Many parents weiextremely disturbed,and visited the principal. I was willing to pay the high tuitions to send my children to a CATHOLIC school,to support the CATHHOLIC values and beliefs that my husband and I were rearing them with.
I agree with your disappointment but I don’t think we know what is going on in sufficient depth to condemn the bishop. For example, he maybe exercising prudential judgment in order to condition the congregation and his critics to this requirement. That way those who oppose cannot say he did this rashly and without consulting the people in his diocese.
Of course there is also the possibility that he chicken out…..by somehow I don’t think so. What we lay people need do is get in the face of these liberal Catholics and challenge their objections. I think they can be swiftly put down.
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