Page 5: Duc in Altum, continued

Duc in Altum, continued

He went on to discuss various approaches being used around the country to make our schools “available, accessible, and affordable to Catholic parents and their children.” He concluded his address by quoting the hierarchy’s document from two years ago:

Our vision is clear: Our Catholic schools are a vital part of the teaching mission of the  Church. The challenges ahead are many, but our spirit and will to succeed are strong. We, the Catholic bishops of the United States, in cooperation with the total Catholic community, are committed to overcoming these challenges. Adversity often brings out the best in men and women. We must respond to challenging times with faith, vision, and the will to succeed  because the Catholic school’s mission is vital to the future of our young people, our nation, and most especially our Church.

A week later, Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski’s Congregation for Catholic Education in Rome released its latest document, “Educating Together in Catholic Schools: A Shared Mission between Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful.” During the press conference that accompanied the release, the Cardinal and the Congregation’s undersecretary, Monsignor Angelo Zani, offered several observations. They mentioned, for example, that in the United States the percentage of lay teachers went from 14% in 1950 to more than 95% this year, with similar figures for countries like Australia, France, Spain and Hong Kong. Of course, that is not necessarily a calamity; Mother Seton, after all, was a lay woman when she began the whole venture in this country. The issue is proper formation of lay teachers, which is being addressed in places.

Monsignor Zani spoke about the critical role played by Catholic schools in places like Lebanon, the Holy Land, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Morocco, and Eastern Europe, where Catholic schools fulfill an important civic function of providing quality education, but also an education which trains children to live in peace and harmony.  Father Gregoris and I can attest that in our travels to many Muslim countries, we have repeatedly been given positive and even warm welcomes by Muslims who had been educated in Catholic schools.

Monsignor Zani also proudly noted that in the United States, Catholic schools have a drop-out rate of 3.4%, compared to a 14.9% rate in the government schools; furthermore, 99% of Catholic high school students in the United States actually graduate, with 97% going on for higher education. This is surely nothing to be sneezed at.