Editor's Note: On Friday, Feb. 1, on Register Radio, Dan Burke will interview Nashville Dominican Sister John Mary Fleming, who leads the secretariat of Catholic Education at the U.S. Bishops Conference on the strengths and challenges of Catholic schools during National Catholic Schools Week.
Catholic schools are a celebrated part of life among many Catholic families, parishes and dioceses. During Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 27–Feb. 2, communities across the nation will be acknowledging the schools’ valued place in the Church and society.
More than 2 million students attend one of the 6,841 Catholic schools in the U.S. The number of schools was more than twice that many in the 1960s. That is why so many people celebrate Catholic schools, but also why so many are affected deeply when schools are closed.
In the last 12 years, 1,942 Catholic schools were reported closed or consolidated. The number of students educated in Catholic schools declined by 23.4%. These are some of the statistics released by the National Catholic Education Association’s annual report for 2011-2012. They show the struggle that many Catholic schools face to continue the work of educating the next generations in the faith.
Businessman and entrepreneur Frank Hanna III became involved in education more than 25 years ago as he sought to do his part in "turning the world around."
He served as co-chair of the President George W. Bush Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. His quest to better the world through education eventually led him to focus on Catholic schools.
He has helped establish three new Catholic schools and has become a consultant on many Catholic educational projects in dioceses throughout the country.
Last summer, Hanna, who is the CEO of Hanna Capital, LLC, and has been in venture capital and merchant banking for over two decades, addressed Catholic leaders at the Napa Institute in a talk entitled "Catholic Education in the Next America: Where Do We Go From Here?"
Register editor in chief Jeanette De Melo spoke with Hanna, a board member of EWTN and the Napa Institute, about the state of Catholic education and what Catholics can do about it.
How did you become involved in education?
For many of us, when we are in college, we start thinking about what we want to do with our lives. I’ve always been very interested in what we Catholics would call the public good — the common good. During college, I was very interested in politics, and I still remain interested in politics, but I realized that so many of our issues start way before people get to the ballot box.
The more I looked into the issues of society, the more I became convinced that a lot of our societal failings happen much sooner; so much of the foundation of our failure was happening in our educational system. And that’s what actually got me thinking about education. I was thinking, "If you are going to do your own part in turning the world around, education is the place to start."
I started to examine it in the secular world, and the more I began to study education, the more I became convinced that the very process of educating a child is inherently a religious undertaking.
In other words, when we speak of educating children, what we are really talking about, in common parlance, is the raising of our children. … We are raising them with a specific view of the world, and we can’t escape that reality.
Every school everywhere teaches children in the context of a worldview. And once I realized that, I said, "Well, what’s the best, most accurate worldview in which to raise children?" And my conclusion was that it is within the Catholic faith. That’s what led me to Catholic education.
Were you a practicing Catholic at the time?
I was raised Catholic, and, during college, I continued going to Mass; but I also resolved to myself that just because I was baptized a Catholic as a baby did not necessarily mean I was going to be a Catholic for the rest of my life. So I went through an inquiry.
I read the Quran. I read Confucius. I read of the Hindu religion. I read about Judaism, and I read about a number of the Protestant faiths.
The more I read and the more I began to study, the more I became convinced that the theology of the Catholic Church was the only theology I could find that held together with no contradiction, either with history or reason.
You became involved in education 25 years ago; have you seen a lot of changes in the state of Catholic education in these years?
I have, and, unfortunately, so much of the quantitative news on the part of Catholic education has not been good over the last 25 years. We have continued to educate a smaller and smaller percentage of our baptized Catholic children.
There is a large body of agreement on the benefits that can come from Catholic education. And because of the respect for Catholic education, both within the Church and by so many outside of the Church, we are hesitant to engage in a spirited dialogue of how we might get better.
I think we have to be charitably provocative with one another and rigorously explore the reasons for why we have been declining.
You spoke at the Napa Institute last summer to more than 300 Catholic leaders — business people, educators, ministry leaders, religious and clergy, including some bishops. You gave a talk on Catholic education, which you yourself called "provocative." Why did this group need to hear this message?
Many times when things are not going well, we resolve, with fully good intention, that we just need to work harder and apply ourselves more diligently.
I think it is great to work harder, but sometimes we need to ask ourselves if maybe we need to do things differently. Maybe we need to push the envelope of innovation and experiment more than we have been, because, at some point, no matter how hard you have worked, if the environment in a landscape has changed, merely working harder won’t necessarily get a different result.
I fear that because we don’t want to be critical of Catholic education we’ve been primarily in a mode of "we just need to work harder," and I don’t think that is going to get the job done.
Now, I want to interject: There are many places around the country where good, healthy experiments are taking place and there is openness to innovation, but there isn’t nearly enough of it, and the system itself continues to decline.
Can you elaborate more on what isn’t working and what you think we need to do differently?
Just as an example, we cannot continue to finance Catholic education as we have in the past. Traditionally, Catholic education was free or close to free, and there was a hesitancy to charge what it actually cost, even to those who could afford it.
We built so many of our Catholic schools at a time when we were primarily a Catholic population of poor immigrants. We had free labor, in the form of religious who would dedicate their time and energy; and so the labor was much less expensive. We have got to develop a different model that takes into account that our labor costs are much higher and the costs of our physical facilities are much higher.
Traditionally, schools would be subsidized by the parish or by the diocese.
I think it is worth exploring whether parents should receive the subsidy from the parish or the diocese, rather than the school. In other words, parents who are tithing or who are parish members would receive something of a voucher that they can use at any Catholic school, thereby putting more control into the hands of the parents. Rather than subsidizing schools, we would instead be giving financial help to those parents who need it, and reconsidering whether parents who actually don’t need financial help should still be paying tuition that is subsidized. This is one example of the kind of financial modeling that we might reform.
But we also have to seriously address the collective obligation of the entire Church, not just those with school-age children, to make financial sacrifices.
We truly need a concerted effort to explain to folks in the pews, the parishes and the dioceses what we’re doing with their money and then encourage a much more sacrificial model of tithing than what we have in most dioceses.
In your Napa talk, you suggested another reform that needs to happen — a reform of mission.
At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves: Are we really committed to this project of the Catholic formation of our children?
We know that, in the past, the Church here in the United States was indeed committed to that mission, and while it had far fewer resources, it built an incredible system of schools. So, with the fact that we are failing, I think we have to look inward and say, "As a Church, how committed are we to this?"
As with any organization, if you are really committed, there are a few things you must do.
First, you define your mission very clearly. In the case of Catholic education in the Church, we say: Our mission as the Church is to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ and to raise our children in the faith so that they can spread the Good News.
It is a biological necessity of any species that it raises its young to learn what they need to know to then be adults. We are not teaching our faith to most of our young baptized Catholics, and so there is no way they can spread the Good News to future generations if we don’t teach it to them.
Once the mission is defined, we have to make it a very high priority.
If we indeed start to focus, we would conclude that, after the providing of the sacraments, Catholic education is the most important priority we have, and until we are fulfilling our duty in this regard, otherwise well-intentioned priorities must be set aside. As long as we are not feeding our children the faith, we are failing in our most fundamental duty.
We then move on to continually measure our results; we have to look at how we are doing with an honest, realistic appraisal.
Whenever a Catholic school does not have as its pre-eminent objective leading children to Christ, and whenever it’s not doing a good job of it, it brings down the reputation of all Catholic schools. And that, too, is a difficult thing for us to face, but it’s a reality. …
Finally, the need for education in the faith must be marketed. We must continually inform and encourage parents to have their children educated in the faith.
What are the roles in renewing Catholic education — the role of clergy and bishops and the roles of the laity?
The Church teaches us that the parents are the primary educators of their children. Every baptized parent has an obligation to raise his or her children in the faith.
However, the years spent as a young parent are among the most stressful, busy times of a person’s life. And so, while Catholic education is indeed the responsibility of young parents, the leadership for how we provide it to them needs to come from people who are the age of grandparents, because they’re the ones who actually have the time to devote to these kinds of institutions.
So I think this is primarily a role for the laity, working in conjunction with the clergy, to reinvigorate Catholic schools and to not wait for their priests or bishops to figure out solutions. It’s incumbent upon our priests and bishops to be very encouraging of the laity, promoting and supporting new and innovative efforts. They must also constantly encourage parents to seek to educate their children in the faith and, in the case of bishops, ensure that schools calling themselves Catholic are indeed maintaining the mission as they ought.
In your experience, what are you seeing that is working?
First of all, I am seeing the fruit of Vatican II and of Pope John Paul II. I see the fruit of laity who have been energized and motivated by their faith to provide Catholic education. Much of that has been encouraged by Vatican II’s call to the laity to live their lives in holiness.
I think we are also seeing the fruit of the John Paul II generation. These are people who were inspired by a man who spoke of Jesus Christ to more people than anybody in history. They heard him challenge them. And they also were raised in this digital age, and so they are seeking new ways to bring about a renewal of Catholic education.
I think of it in terms of renewal rather than reform. It needs to be renewed, but renewed with innovation.
I think this new generation is one of the most optimistic aspects of the Church — and particularly in Catholic education.
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“Why did God make you? God made me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”
Perhaps not many remember this question and answer from the Baltimore Catechism, but these few lines say so much. Having asked Catholic school students this question, they “danced” all over searching for a satisfactory response. Telling them the answer and they not only understood, but committed it to memory and were able to write a short essay on its meaning. How thousands of children once learned their Faith is now a thing of the past (and generally a taboo subject among administrators).
Likewise are the sheer numbers of school-age students who know little of Catholicism, because some 80% of them do not/cannot attend Catholic school.
Historically, the Plenary Councils of Baltimore set forth the manner in which our Faith was to be accorded to Catholics. The 19th Century councils recognized that public schools were generally detrimental to Catholics and set forth certain guidelines for bishops and their clergy that are certainly applicable today, among which are:
A Catholic school in every parish (where rudimentary Gregorian chant should be taught);
Textbooks should not contain items contrary to the Faith; and
It was desired that parochial schools be free.
Instead of building cathedrals (most new ones are monstrosities anyway), buying real-estate and other expenditures, how about committing these monies to Catholic education?
This “New Evangelization” must start on a firm basis – bishops already don’t pay teachers what their public school counterparts receive and they don’t allow unions to exist within their (arch-) dioceses (though every pope in the modern era has said it is the right of every worker to organize) and many non-Catholics attend our schools (and some teachers are not Catholic either).
How does one explain that ¾ of all students are at the elementary school level, while the remaining ¼ are in high school, where the attendant costs double - what happens to those thousands who can’t go to a Catholic high school? We’ve all seen “scholarships” given to the Protestant quarterback from a public high school – you see it at Catholic colleges for that matter. Is this fair? The charge that Catholic schools are only for the rich seems increasingly true.
Many clerics have said the Church is under siege from a government that sees no value in what our Church (and its schools) provide. Perhaps it is time to relearn from our past and set our priorities anew.
This was very interesting. I wonder if the people who are on the boards for catholic schools have ever struggled financially or had a special needs child who can never be educated in a catholic school.
I hear mom after mom say they wish they could but can not afford it. Wives of lawyers and successful business men. So who is filling up catholic schools…fewer devoted catholic families and far more families who look for private education with or without faith.
We, as Catholics, have lost our identity. Who are we and what is our place in the world? Like the previous poster look to the past, to our rich history and see.
I have watched problem of declining enrollment for some time.. We as Catholics save this government 20+ billion dollars a year in education costs. A major part of the problem is the expense of parochial education…My family is not poor, and my son Greivin goes to Catholic school that has a tuition cost of $3600 a year ( that $3600 cost me really $4500, as its post taxable income.) The money we save the government has political capital, and we should start spending some of this political currency getting private tuition placed as a dollar for dollar tax right credit. We should be taking advantage to the fact that public schools have gotten so poor and violent (not that this is a good thing) Even at the low tuition cost I am currently paying, I have four children and $3600 hurts.. There is no way a poor family can afford parochial education, not without putting their family economically under.. What makes the problem even more egregious is that I am paying already for a spot for my child in public school that he is not filling. ( through property tax..) We should not be closing schools, we should be opening them and I believe getting a tuition tax credit is an excellent way to fill those Catholic schools and our Catholic base..
I deeply appreciate Maria’s comments, especially about “special needs,” as I have one who falls near that category (mild dyslexia) and one who really falls there (severe dyslexia that appears to be impacting conigitive function as well). A local Catholic family is very supportive of public schools, to the point of publicly promoting tax increases,
largely, I think, because the Catholic schools here turned away their special needs child. Mild to moderate dyslexia is something that every Catholic school ought to be able to manage. The teaching methods needed are not that difficult to learn and implement.
As to the proposed subsidy for families: what about the homeschoolers? Are they to get one too? Why or why not? Also what about allowing homeschoolers to take one class at the schools. Two of our children go to a Protestant school part time because they allow part time enrollment. The local Catholic schools don’t.
One last thought: I am not entirely sure I understand Mr.Hanna’s statement:
“The Church teaches us that the parents are the primary educators of their children. Every baptized parent has an obligation to raise his or her children in the faith.
However, the years spent as a young parent are among the most stressful, busy times of a person’s life. And so, while Catholic education is indeed the responsibility of young parents, the leadership for how we provide it to them needs to come from people who are the age of grandparents, because they’re the ones who actually have the time to devote to these kinds of institutions.”
Umm…is he saying that parents (especially those with larger families) don’t have time to really do a good job at “educating” their children? Isn’t “education” really just part of being a parent anyway? And it seems to me that if people who are the age of grandparents have the time to teach reading and math and art, they have time to do the laundry, cooking, and cleaning (and “taxing”!) for those young parents who would like to teach their own children to read, add/subtract, make art projects, etc.
When families send their children to Catholic Schools, they expect to hear pro-life issues throughout the year(these are many—-abortion, euthansia, gay marriage, HHS mandate, contraception, cloning, sterilization, embryonic stem cell and fetal research, murder and suicide, capital punishment, unjust wars) These are the issues that much of society here in U. S. and in other countries are embracing and we need to educate our children besides the 3 R’s to stand firm in their Catholic teachings. Children need to learn the catechetical basics, memorize and be helped in school and especially in the home on how to live the catechetical questions and answers.
The curriculum for catechetics needs to involve the parents as they are the primary teachers of their children. While not in the parents supervision, the purpose of Catholic education is to live and learn the moral principles for living a God-centered life and then can be reinforced in the neighborhoods.
Those students attending Religion classes on Sunday mornings, only receive an average of 30 hours a year in catechetical studies. Is that enough to be well grounded in the faith when we used to have nuns who not only taught but lived accordingly and the same faith life was found at home. For the amount of $ spent in Catholic education in schools, for Religious Ed programs, it’s our children who are suffering. We must do a better job in teaching first of all the Catholic faith in our Catholic schools.
The first and primary religious education of children is with the Parents (CCC 2223 & 2252). -This is rarely taught.
The parents can not teach what they do not know,
and many US Diocese Bishops and their Parish Priests do not actively and openly promote the reading of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition”.
Most Catholic Seminaries, Universities, Colleges, and High Schools (-Seniors only) do NOT use the CCC as a REQUIRED text to PREPARE everyone to know, teach and evangelize.
Pope Benedict in his Motu Proprio on the ‘Year of Faith’, has asked each of us to study the CCC (paragraphs 11).
For more info on the CCC on the net go to: “What Catholic REALLY Believe SOURCE”. http://whatcatholicsreallybelieve.com
“the leadership for how we provide it to them needs to come from people who are the age of grandparents,” er um would these be the same grandparents who didn’t foster enough vocations from their sibling pool to keep the schools flourishing? The same grandparents who flinched when it came to the fight for vouchers for poor kids in failing Catholic schools? The same grandparents who fled the urban decay to build new parishes and new schools in suburbia which their grandchildren now don’t attend because they can’t afford it?
For a venture capitalist Mr Hanna seems to have lost the plot on the primary responsibility of parents. The vast transfer of wealth from the middle class to government, property speculators, and too-big-to-fail banks has not happened in a vacuum. Too many “grandparents” valued personal material advancement higher than protecting the spiritual patrimony of their forefathers. The tone of too many of today’s grasping school fundraisers is predominantly commercial: marketing, investing, when it should be pastorial: planting, watering, weeding, reaping.
If the bishops had only been half as serious with their qualms on financing of a faithful education as they now are on financing of faithful healthcare (HHS) then a good catholic with 5 or 6 kids would still be able to afford to keep their high school open. Instead a school built only 50 years ago (to educate the grandparents’ generation) is shuttered:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_Dougherty_High_School
No, color me unimpressed. The fiduciary responsibility of our stewards has been highly warped by modern debt-derivative fiscal engineering. The collapse in education has only just begun, the collapse in healthcare is looming. Catholics better get acquainted with detachment (and evangelical poverty) and begin volunteering in ernest: look to the UK for signs of how such expropriation may play out (the fictional Downton Abbey was an ecclesial institution before it was “gentrified”)
What entrepreneurial innovation did Mr Hanna develop to “create” his “wealth”? well “After studying at the University of Georgia, where he earned BBA and JD degrees, Hanna and his younger brother David funded a project that tested a method he had devised for helping companies rid themselves of bad loans.” (package ‘em up as “mortgage-backed securities” and sell them on to unsuspecting pension funds or other investors with even deeper pockets, an elaborate modern version of the Ponzi scheme) and then branched out to smaller fry:
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/1999/09/13/focus3.html?page=all (Article on Atlanta’s wealthiest)
“CompuCredit Corp. sells credit cards to people whom traditional card issuers may deem too risky.”
In other words he is not a businessman, he is a sharp middleman, who trades on the misery of those too poor to afford to send their kids to Catholic schools… oh irony of ironies… for more on money as credit-media see http://www.moneyasdebt.net/
Education is a work of mercy.
Charity is gift.
What we need is Adult Faith Formation. For 1800 years the Catholic faith was handed on from adults to adults, who would then pass it on to their children as well as other adults. Parents were the primary catechists of their own children. (‘Primary’ here means not only ‘first’, but ‘most important and authoritative’.) Sacramental preparation was a duty of the parents. Parents should still be the primary catechists and totally involved with the sacramental preparation of their children. Unfortunately, most Catholic adults, even those who attended Catholic schools, have had very little faith formation because it is not a priority in many Catholic parishes. For a well-researched book with lots of insight on the issue of Catholic education, read “Designed to Fail”, by Steve Kellmeyer. It answers a lot of questions.
Candy we are on the same page. Adult catechesis at each parish must be offered.
But due to paying baby sitters and all the other obligations of parents and adults - Bishops and their Priests must publically and continually beat the drum from the pulput, on Diocese and Parish web sites, in parish bulletins, Diocese newspapers, etc - that we all have an obligation to read the CCC.
Reading the CCC at home can take the place of being on the internet, watching TV, etc. No babysitters needed. No excuses for those who can read.
We have an obligation to tell others to read the CCC, but to succeed it must come from our Diocese Bishops and Priests.
Both Pope JPII had and now Pope Benedict keeps saying - catechesis, catechesis, catechesis, yet it seems to fall on deaf ears.
Catechesis should not just be for those who are able to attend a weekly class at the Parish.
I was the last of 4 children. When the oldest graduated from catholic school (during the depression)we were all transferred to a public school. I never made my first communion. When I was 17 I told my mother I would like to take communion. I was then taken to classes for converts. I remember none of those. However I was the only child of the 4 who stayed with the church. WHY? I think somebody prayed for me -maybe my God parents!
I read recently that the Vatican is now going to be taxed on all non religious entities - they have 130,000 commercial bldgs. residences etc..Why should we be putting money in the envelope and some sent to the vatican when schools and parishes are being shut down here? I haven’t given in an envelope for many years. I give money for the electric bill, funds for tuition for kids, etc..I also don’t give to the Bishop’s appeal. When we heard that over the course of 30 yrs, 7ML was given to ACORN and many parishes were shut down???!!! Keep your money at home!
PLEASE GOD ENLIGHTEN YOUR “SHEEP”!
Phyllis - this is yet another reason everyone needs to read the CCC.
COMMUTATIVE JUSTICE “without which no other form of justice is possible” is also in the CCC - this includes individuals, as well as companies, and governments not overspending so they can pay their bills.
When was the last time any of us heard the USCCB or Bishops or Priests tell people (and governments) not to overspend so they can pay their bills ? ? ?
- - - - - CCC: ” 2411 Contracts are subject to commutative justice which regulates exchanges between persons and between institutions in accordance with a strict respect for their rights.
Commutative justice obliges strictly;
it requires safeguarding property rights, paying debts, and fulfilling obligations freely contracted.
Without commutative justice, no other form of justice is possible.
One distinguishes commutative justice from legal justice which concerns what the citizen owes in fairness to the community, and from distributive justice which regulates what the community owes its citizens in proportion to their contributions and needs.”
I was brought up on the Baltimore Catchesim by Sisters of Charity. They drumned the fundamentals of Catholicism into our minds & hearts for eight years. Their demands were merciless, yet for some reason we knew how dedicated they were in their love for God and for us. They were strict but could always be gentle & loving. They set an example to us through their own spirituality and were an inspiration to us enkindling our close relationship to God. Little things like drawing a cross with the letters JMJ surrounding it on every paper we wrote on. They also stressed our praying or talking to our Lord as the closest friend we could ever have. Drawing the sign of the cross on our pillow each night and thanking our Lord for our day is still with me. Offering our day in all we do, think and say and praying for others was a regular routine. Even though the teaching us the fundamentals of our faith throuh the Baltimore Cathechism was done by memorizating the questions and answers, it all stuck in our memories throughout life. As we matured we understood our faith more and then had the ability to investigate further, all because we knew the fundamentals. We learned dicipline. We learned to love our Lord and all His precepts. We learned the Mass and all its beauty & devotion and how much better we could face life having had the wonderful gift of receiving our Lord’s body & blood in Holy Communion. We were so fortunate to have such an experience before Vatican-2 came along. It seemed everyone was influenced by the devil. The Church was bent on change, so much so that there was much confusion. Our children suffered the brunt of it. I tried teaching religion the old way but was criticized as being “old fashioned”. Yet the lesson plans had no substance. Youngsters were taught concepts. They missed out on the fundamentals, the beauty of the rosary and how it was given to us, faith in miracles, the works of mercy and sin,the Bible. Religious teachers were not allowed to even mention the Devil or temptation or how we were here to be instruments of God. So many good aspects of our Catholic faith were left out. Sin was out along with confession. Spirituality was an embarassment. Parents left all religious teaching up to the Church. The Church left it all up to the parents. Communication was at a stand still and still is. Homilies became explanations of the Gospel readings as if parents were too dumb to understand the readings themselves. Priests never gave sermons on what God expected of us as Catholics. They would never condemn sin from the pulpit or talk of what was happening in the real world. Novenas went by the wayside. Adult education was given very sparcely. I could go on but what I really would like to see is the Catholic Church to become dedicated again in their teaching. Closing schools is not the answer. Catholic grammar school education is more important than any other Catholic schooling, that is, if the “old fashioned” religious teaching is instilled in these young impressionable minds. Bring back the nuns or at least dedicated lay teachers who instill spitituality, know the fundamentals, have a strong faith themselves. After that,the Catholic youngsters will have the tools to live their faith and spread it’s beauty to others throughout their lives. If schools have to be closed, close the high schools if need be. Encourage attending Catholic coleges that our abiding by the teachings of the Church.
Good comments and much to think about. Closing Catholic schools? We should be so lucky in our diocese. Our only local “catholic” high school is a bastion of drugs and gay sex. Why? Because the bishop allows it to continue under the “rector” who brings in lots of money from his parish and “leadership”. He sells the school to the highest bidder and there are many wealthy in town that keep the school afloat. No interest in teaching the Catholic faith whatsoever. They want money and they’ll take it wherever they can get it. As they told me, “most of our students are not even catholic - why would we teach catholicism here?” Our only saving grace would be to shut it down, but this will never happen. The diocese will not lose their investment - in evil.
The state of our Catholic schools has been one of my biggest concerns for a long time, and it makes me very sad. However, I’m talking about Mission, not numbers. I’ve heard that some areas of the country have schools that actually teach the faith, but here in N Calif, with some exceptions, the teaching in the Catholic schools is pretty appalling.
My children have been told that Jesus sinned; we shouldn’t have to go to a priest for Reconciliation; and although the Church teaches that contraception and sex before marriage is wrong—wink, wink—here’s how to use them. This was from an ex nun, married to an ex priest.
Our diocesan superintendent told me that we couldn’t say that homosexual relations were wrong because it might hurt homosexual parent’s feelings. By all means, the schools should practice charity, and all should be welcome, but parents should be told upfront that it is a CATHOLIC school, and Catholic beliefs will be taught. If they find this offensive, they really ought to go where they’ll be more happy. We should not subvert our beliefs in our own schools so that we don’t offend someone.
One religion book told of a Maryknoll nun who offered a child a cookie. He said he would take it home to share with his sister. The nun stated, “To me, that’s the Eucharist.”
Another high school had worse books than the public schools, with almost every one of them directly opposed to Catholic teaching. One of them stated that only the most undesirable girls are still virgins at graduations. Etc, etc.
Can we really wonder why so many of our children leave the Church after Catholic schools, or why so many faithful parents home school their children if they possibly can?
I see many articles about unfaithful Catholic colleges, but, as Mr Hanna says, the problem starts much earlier. I wish we could start seeing some exposes on our elementary and high schools so that parents would know what goes on in our “Catholic” schools. I also wish more of our bishops would start paying attention to the teachers, curriculum, and books that our schools use.
I hate to sound like a grump, but this is vitally important if we are to have believing Catholics in the next generation.
alice, if you have evidence about evil/sinfulness going on in your local “Catholic” school, or lack of appropriate catechesis by their not using YOUCAT or the Compendium Catechism of the Catholic Church, or the CCC for Seniors, you should write to your Diocese Bishop with a copy to the US Papal Nuncio in Washington DC, and a copy to the Vatican. (Note that the Diocese Bishop does have the authority to use other approved local catechisms.)
You really have an obligation to do so.
Under “Obligations and Rights of all the Christian Faithful” - Code of Canon Law (which can be found on the Vatican web site) -Canon “212 §3. According to the knowledge, competence, and prestige which they possess, they have the right and even at times the duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church
and to make their opinion known to the rest of the Christian faithful,
without prejudice to the integrity of faith and morals,
with reverence toward their pastors, and attentive to common advantage and the dignity of persons.”
You can’t assume that the Bishop, and all Parents know everything that goes on at the school. In fact your information may make an improvement at the school and help to Save some Souls. Even if the Bishop does know what is going on, we have an excellent Papal Nuncio.
Bad Bishops can be removed from Ecclisiastical duties per Code of Canon Law.
Any teacher of the Catholic Faith, MUST teach 100% in accord with the: “CATECHISM of the CATHOLIC CHURCH, Second Edition” “revised in accordance with the official Latin text promulgated by Pope John Paul II”.
Every Catholic home must have a copy of the CCC, not only for reading/study but to use as a reference as needed. And to show appropriate paragraphs to those in error.
Report errors to the offender and if not corrected to the Parish Pastor, Diocese Bishop, or US Papal Nuncio and the Vatican.
Help Save Souls. Do not allow errors to stand.
Well the state of Gallup Catholic High School in New Mexico is one of closer after 100 years, because of enrollment. The elementary and middle school will remain open.
Parents please remember that you personally have the FIRST responsibility for teaching the Faith to your children regardless of age or school closings.
Teach yourself by reading the CCC to insure accuracy.
Teach your children a little each day with an approved catechism appropriate to their age/understanding.
When we are judged by Jesus, if and how we teach our children will surely be considered.
Teaching is not only by book learning but by example as well.
Help Save their Souls - for Eternity.
I agree that adult formation is key and part of that formation is the importance of tithing, as Mr. Hanna noted. This is where our church leaders can learn from evangelicals. One month after joining an evangelical church, my sister and her family were happily giving 10% of their income to the church. I’ve never heard a decent, biblically-based sermon on tithing in the Catholic church. We are the most charitable organization in the world and charity starts at home. The Church as a whole needs to help parents educate their kids in the faith. This includes providing solid adult formation, authentically Catholic schools and the financial resources. The average Catholic family simply can’t afford it alone and needs help from the diocese. We will have many more vocations if we can educate more kids in Catholic schools.
The Catholic HS in my city is $14K per year per child.. This is out of reach for my wife, I and our four teenage children. My wife and I use NFP. If we were poor we might get a scholarship, if we were wealthy it wouldn’t matter, but we are middle class. I wonder just what kind of faith is actually taught there anyway, actually wonder if it’s better that my children do not attend. I do not want them to be taught the faith by persons not believing in ALL the teachings of the Church. Better that they go to public school and are taught by my wife and I. If there was something I could do to change this, I would.. I don’t see Bishops taking a stand on this. Catholic School has become “prep” school, and there is a “market” for that…
Many of those in charge of Catholic education will fight, with all their might, a return to a more orthodox approach to the faith. They obtained control of the Catholic education system PRECISELY to modernize Catholic education, away from orthodoxy.
I pray that what this article discusses happens, but many of the forces in charge of Catholic education will resist a return to a more orthodox approach with all the energy and resources that they have.
God will not bless the Catholic schools until they are teaching the truth of the Magesterium, in an effective way. Honestly, when I came back to the Catholic Church after 30 years, I found the teaching materials just as bad as when I left as a teenager. When I came back, I got a copy of the old 1960s Baltimore Catechism on ebay and I learned more in a week than I learned in my 19 years as a Catholic in the CCD program here in the US. The CCD material was all touchy feely stuff that got my emotions going for about a month as a teenager. Once I read the Baltimore Catechism #2 (designed for ages 8 to 13) I learned how important the Grace of God is. How we need to pray for it, access the sacraments of Confession and Communion, and attend mass in order to access it more fully. Once I tasted that Grace, there was no turning back.
Are any Catholic schools using this fine resource or anything even close to it in effectiveness. I have heard of many former protestants who say that if it wasn’t for the old Baltimore Catechism someone gave them, they may very not be Catholic today, or at the very least, be a cafeteria Catholic.
I think the best thing a person can do for people is buy old copies or reprints of the Baltimore Catechism and teach them what Catholicism is all about. It is really well written with increasingly difficult excercises at the end of each section to keep the young people (or adults) interested and taking the information to heart. As far as I am concerned, replacing the Baltimore Catechism was like trying to replace the Bible with something better. It just doesn’t work. The Baltimore Catechism was written with the assistance of the Holy Spirit and seems to surpass anything being written today. I have a library of newer material that just doesn’t hold a candle to this old jewel of spirituality. The illustrations are way out of date (1950s), but the material is excellent. (The reprints may have updated the illustrations.)
Why was the treasure thrown away? Why were so many wonderful things tossed out? Personally, I think the devil is hard at work trying to harm the Church in every way. He can even use well meaning Catholics to do his bidding. When we teach 100% Catholic teaching, the devil has no room to work.
EDUCATION-PAPAL TEACHINGS
Get a copy of: Education - Papal Teachings. It’s a book that I think one can only find used because the bishops do not teach according to it any longer. See Abebooks for a couple used. The prices tell you how precious the information it contains.
Read the site indicated and weep. See how our youth’s minds and the Catholic Faith are being destroyed in parochial schools!
http://www.motherswatch.net/content/view/12/6/ - Part 1
http://www.motherswatch.net/content/view/15/6/ - Part 2
Then ask yourself why do you support it financially with each dollar you put in the basket?
Our Catholic schools have one root problem and that is that they are, like the rest of society, bending to the societal pressures of the culture of death. I know that is kind of an extreme statement and may seem unrelated at first glance. But please brothers and sisters hear me out. 80% of Catholics use contraception. And of the 20% who try to use NFP, many of them think it is just fine to have 2-3 kids and then use NFP to never have any more kids even if they can financially, physically, and emotionally handle them. The Church teaches that it is not.
This has lead to smaller and smaller families even for Catholics. And our school’s policies both from a curriculum and fiscal standpoint are directly reflecting this trend. Instead, our schools should do everything in their power to orient themselves toward large Catholic families which is the natural state that God intended for the vast majority of his married children. So what would that mean?
1. We must find a way to give a substantial multi child discount that is fixed and guaranteed so that families can budget. It is fine to means test this but that means test needs to be realistic. For instance if you make 400-500K / year or more then you need no discount. If you make possibly as low as 300K then you very well may not need a discount. But if you make in the 100K range a year I can tell you that if you are honest with your current and future budgets and keep them as modest as possible that you cannot send more than 2-3 children a year to a 6500 / year Catholic school and still meet your high school, college, and retirement savings numbers. People who make 100K may be in a far better situation than someone who makes 50-60K but it still does not change the fact that neither of them can send all of their children to Catholic school. There are many possible answers such as endowments, getting every Catholic to support Catholic education, etc. But whatever the answer we have to find a way to do this or our Catholic schools will be relegated to people who are not following Church teaching and to the rich. From my experience, neither of these groups are consistently good for our schools. They propose ideas and change our schools for the worse in many cases.
2. Form Catholic accrediting agencies so that our curriculum and values can reflect our #1 goal which is to help our children become saints. We must get out from under secular accrediting agencies that demand more and more hours, homework, projects, extra-curricular activities, and special classes in order to be considered a good school. I am all for these things as long as large Catholic families can assimilate them and still have the time to properly form their children in the faith. Proper formation requires time to go to daily Mass maybe once a week at the minimum. It requires time to say a decade or a whole rosary every other day or every day. It requires free time to spend with your children where you play games or do activities and they can pick up on your values and the way you conduct yourself. It requires ample time for morning and nighttime prayer. It requires time to organize and participate in charity that the whole family can do (soup kitchens, service at the Church, right to life marches, etc.). If you have more than 2 or 3 kids in a modern Catholic school then you probably know the fever pitch that life takes on. Your kids are in school 7.5 - 8 hours a day instead of the 6-7 that children 20 years ago were. When school is done they are encouraged to do after school activities which puts them in for another 1-2 hours. When they finally do get home you are seeing 1-2 hours of homework on some nights in grades as low as 2nd and 3rd. When teachers are asked about this they simply say “I don’t like it but I have to keep up with the pace of the curriculum.”. And half the time they don’t even know how to do their homework and you end up teaching it to them. The teachers give the same response when asked about this so it is not their fault. Now add in projects and fund raising events every week or two. Then multiply this by however many children you have. There are many nights when my wife and I spend literally the entire time from when our children get home until bed time teaching and correcting homework or helping with projects, contests, or other fund raising activities like readathons, etc. And we only have 3 of our 5 children in school so far. Where is the time left over for children to learn their parents values, to pray, to play and learn to apply their values while playing? Well they can do that in the summer you might say. But as you well know summer vacation is an ever shrinking event. So not only are we increasing the school day and the activities but now we need even more days in the year. This leads to the next few suggestions.
3. 6.5 hour school day and no more.
4. 3 months of summer vacation.
5. 100% Catholic and traditional based curriculum. There are much more Catholic and traditional curriculums that have been proven to work for generations out there than what most of our schools use. Suffice it to say that not everything new is good but our modern society seems to believe it is and that we have to constantly change everything to make progress. That is not the case. Just look at many of the Churches teachings. When it is right, it is right.
It is time for our Catholic schools to follow the principal dictated by the simple goal that our children become saints. This mandates that we will have the best education possible as long as it gives our families the time necessary to properly form their children.
I am praying for our schools and I encourage all of you to do the same because they are either dying or being transformed into secular private schools with Catholic window dressing. I believe there are answers to this problem and it all starts with realizing that the root cause lies in the evil of the culture of death and our shrinking Catholic families. Any plan that does not recognize that as the systemic cause and seek to address it is doomed to fail. God bless you.
And why does this happen ? - “80% of Catholics use contraception. And of the 20% who try to use NFP, many of them think it is just fine to have 2-3 kids and then use NFP to never have any more kidseven if they can financially, physically, and emotionally handle them. TheChurch teaches that it is not.”
It happens because adults do not know their Faith. They do not know that contrception is a MORTAL sin. They do not hear from the pulpit, nor are they encouraged to read the “Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition” - that all Catholics are required to adhere to.
When adults do not know their Faith accurately, they can not pass it on to their children.
Help spread the Faith in truth. Give gifts of the CCC and Catholic Bibles to family members.
“Through the harmonious and complementary efforts of all the ranks of the People of God, may this Catechism be known and shared by everyone, so that the unity in faith whose supreme model and origin is found in the Unity of the Trinity may be strengthened and extended to the ends of the earth.” - Pope John Paul II (CCC pg xv)
“
This is the reason America must separate School from State.
Bill, the AmChurch does not believe in the moral absolutes of the Catholic Church, therefore, these moral protections are not taught to youth in U S Bishops’ schools. Have you read, “Sex Education, the Final Plague” by Randy Engel? Youth in parochial schools are being educated into existing as the new barbarians used as fodder to destroy any concepts of Catholicism.
New Oxford Review featured an article: “Protecting Our Children from Catholic Schools” by Charles James - December 2003
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did 1203-james
Uncatechized parents support the demise of Catholicism by allowing their children into parochial schools that are bent on ruining the vocations and Christ like character of children.
Pope Pius XII Speaks to Mothers
Allocution of Pope Pius XII “Davantia Questa” 1941
correction:
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=1203-james
http://www.eldredgelibrary.org/wp-content/upgrade/tramadolonline/#order buy tramadol pay with mastercard - buy tramadol with paypal
See what youth are taught in the parochial schools in the United States:
http://www.motherswatch.net/content/view/12/6/ - Part 1
http://www.motherswatch.net/content/view/15/6/ - Part 2
Joe,
Stop it!!!! Not all Catholic schools are teaching what your motherwatch.net site implies. My catholic HS IS NOT. There are 1205 (Cara statistics 2010) catholic HS in US I doubt you have personally studied the religious curriculum of all of the schools. You are more divisive than helpful. The current generation of children in catholic schools more likely to practice and support the future church. Fast forward 20 years in the US with minimal Catholic schools and there were be churches closing for lack of members. Work within the church (like St. Francis) to make better schools.
Kelly, Here are some interesting headlines:
**Safe Sex Dorms: Boston College professors group backs students who may face discipline for distributing condoms Posted by Your Town March 27, 2013
** “ ……..Origin of Sex Education in Catholic Schools”chools
http://uscl.info/edoc/doc.php?doc_id=62&action=inline
**Study: Female Students More Promiscuous at Catholic Colleges by LifeSiteNews.com Mon Mar 01, 2010
**Catholic Students Losing Their Religion ==== Study Says Tuition Doesn’t Fund Faith at Catholic Colleges BY TIM DRAKE Register Senior Writer November 9-15, 2008
The study states: “Catholic students are confused about their faith and acting out in ways that most parents and university administrators would find shocking. That’s according to a landmark national survey examining the behaviors and beliefs of students at Catholic institutions of higher education….”
The following are from a current ‘catholic church’ that provides websites for teens:
*******http://lifeteen.com/ “Gay Catholic and Doing Fine” LifeTeen September 24, 2012 NCR won’t allow the website to be posted.
******How Girls Gone Wild and Trojan Condoms Deepened My Faith
by Amanda Teixeira|APRIL 4, 2013
http://www.focus.org/blog/posts/girls-gone-wild-trojan-condoms-spring-break.html
There is more.
The point is you say your school is OK. In charity don’t you think it is your responsibility to speak out for the other youth who are not protected? Remember the “Growing In Love” series has an imprimatur.
Kelly, I’ve provided factual information in a polite manner but the ‘moderator’ is blocking this valuable information.
*****Study: Female Students More Promiscuous at Catholic Colleges by LifeSiteNews.com Mon Mar 01, 2010
******Catholic Students Losing Their Religion ==== Study Says Tuition Doesn’t Fund Faith at Catholic Colleges BY TIM DRAKE Register Senior Writer November 9-15, 2008
*****
Origin of Sex Education in Catholic Schools”chools
http://uscl.info/edoc/doc.php?doc_id=62&action=inline
Three sources are not enough to indict the entire school system. I grew up hearing the “fast girls” are at Catholic schools, etc. The “fast” girls are at every school. Remember Christ reached out to the marginalized in society those “fast girls”. It is not an excuse, and one study is enough, because I have read enough on the impact of Catholic schools that is positive too.
Like I said, don’t bring down the system, work to change it from within. There is no sex ed at my grade school or HS (both are Catholic and diocesan in Florida). The schools are by no means perfect, but then again neither is the Church and her followers.
Luckily you live (I suspect) in the US and you are free to choose (for the most part) on how to educate your children and give to charity. Just as I get irritated when catholic parents who chose to educate their children in public schools feel the need to disparage the catholic schools to justify their decision, I would state the same thing here—don’t generalize and only see the bad. It’s the same with the church’s sex scandals, we don’t want people to use that as an excuse to leave the church or stop giving. Pope Francis actually can address all that much better than I ever could.
Kelly. I don’t know how it is in Florida, but in Massachusetts almost all the persons I know who are pro Life and use Some form of NFP either do not or cannot ($) send their children to Catholic HS. And for those that do send their children to Catholic HS overwhelmingly they do use contraceptives and/or abortifacients, have a minimum number of children (1 or 2), and send their children to Catholic HS not because its Catholic, but because their child will get the “best” education and get into the “best” college. Many are not even Catholic.
Kelly, The moderator has prevented me to post more ‘headlines’. These are not what I’ve contrived but these are ‘headlines’ to grab youth’s attention who visit church bulletin websites. I’ll do what I can to get them to you and the readers. I’m very disturbed that you do not investigate further. This has been going on since the Vat 2 council gave the green light to teach sexualized catechetics in parochial schools.
Did you bother to read Randy Engel’s newsletter on McHugh bringing sex education into Catholic schools. McHugh began as a priest and was rewarded with the position of bishop all along he was imposing scandalous materials upon innocent minds in classrooms with the help of Planned Parenthood. McHugh and other priests used the funds of Catholics to implement what has been Supremely condemned. To DATE – no apologies; no excommunications; no corrections; only more and more of the same that targeting for destruction the doctrines of Christ’s Church. “Growing In Love” sex education series has an imprimatur. To date, no correction, no firings, no apologies!
If moderator of N C R was not so protective of its readers it would allow the readers to view what children see daily in their parochial schools. ONLY 10% of teachers in parochial schools follow the teachings of the Catholic Church in regards to birth controlling. Therefore, abortion will STAY legalized for the is the root of abortion – sex education in classrooms. Teachers in classrooms likewise believe in remarriages – no longer is indissolubility a word taught to youth in regards to Holy Matrimony.
I’ll attempt to post more of what I’ve discovered recently in a church website in Maine
Kelly - Here are some more headlines youth can get from Church bulletin websites:
***Gay. Catholic, and Doing Fine - LifeTeen.com for Catholic Youth
****I’m That Girl - That Girl That Got Pregnant - LifeTeen.com for Catholic Youth
(from the article) “……It’s no surprise that on my 21st birthday, I got drunk “justifiably” because it was my birthday, and had sex with some guy. It was no surprise at all; in fact the devil had this in the works for many years….”
****GAYS?: THE MYTH DEBUNKED
The article projects that God creates what He abhors, homosexual persons, and it focuses over and over in a very distasteful manner upon “sex”.
^^^^ Everything I Know About Love I Learned From Taylor Swift - LifeTeen.com for Catholic Youth
The article never refers to the perfect love expressed by Jesus Christ Crucified Christ on the Cross. It’s about ‘dating’. Did you know dating is establishing grounds for divorce? Catholics do not date. There are principals established for ‘courtship’ when Catholics are considering marriage.
See photo in: http://edgeyouthministry.com/ Which saints do the guys on the left and the right replicate? Pictures are worth a thousand words.
If this is how teens are learning about what Christ taught His Apostles, it is no wonder that new barbarians are being raised as Randy Engel speaks about in her book, “Sex Education the Final Plague.”
Joe,
There are no easy answers. 15 years ago a parent group (FL) legally fought to keep sex ed out of our catholic schools, the case went all the way to the Vatican. They won, but some of the families involved in the case actually left the church.
Of equal concern to keeping Catholic schools open is the cost. Educating my five children in Catholic school will cost more their college education. (We are not going to Ivy league!) I agree that the dioceses need to assist large families. Our friends with 10 and 11 children (it is busy enough with 5) receive assistance in grade school (in our diocese after 3rd child in grade school cost is minimal), but the tuition discounts for high school are not as generous. Running a Catholic HS is a business too. We need full paying students to keep the school operating. Don’t shun the non-practicing Catholics, they still receive the same religious formation and perhaps through the grace of God the seeds planted will blossom in adulthood. Finally, there are some great Opus Dei schools (check out Aquinas Academy in Pittsburgh) that will meet your standards. Wyoming Catholic College is so conservative there is no cell phone use or internet. There is a place for everyone.
Kelly, You’re making excuses for a very serious issue. Schools are closing due to depopulation of Catholics and the costs paid to victims of the predatory priests. Birthcontrolling is another major reason. Sin no more abounds, only wrong choices.
See these pronouncements:
Decree of March 21, 1931, Congregation of the Holy office forbidding sex education: Question: May the method called ‘sex education’ or even‘sex initiation’ be approved?
Answer: “No. In the education of youth the method to be followed is that hitherto observed by the Church and the Saints as recommended by His Holiness the Pope in the Encyclical dealing with the Christian Education of Youth, (Divini Illius Magistri) promulgated December 31, 1929…”
Bishops of the U S issued a Statement of November 17, 1950 regarding the role of parents in the instruction of children on matters relating to sex……”We protest in the strongest possible terms against the introduction of sex instruction into the school!!” (their emphasis not mine)
Pope Pius XII, Address to the French Fathers and Families on September 18, 1951 on the matter of sex initiation and propaganda, “……..procreation and education of children are the serious duties of married couples……Fathers of families.. Unite and to stop and curtail these movements…..”
Pope Pius XII in his address of April 13, 1953, states that personal sex instruction of children and youth in the home should place special stress “upon self mastery and religious training.”
see Randy Engel’s book page 58-59 Sex Education The Final Plague
Self mastery is not the pursuit of the claimed Catholic schools nor for pro-life organizations! I’ve literally begged Priests For Life, Cardinal Newman Society, The St. Joseph’s Foundation, American Life League————-and more to expose, to combat the evils foistered upon our most valuable resource,- our Youth in parochial schools. I’ve given them copies of “Growing In Love” series. The major response is silence. A stranglehold is over these organizations. No doubt it is risk to careers, lack of backbone, and/ or chivalry is dead. Who will defend our youth? I find none willing to take it on. What a mockery to the Martyrs, Virgins, and Saints to make one’s leisure and comfort a preference.
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