Page 7: Duc in Altum, continued
Duc in Altum, continued
Catholic schools that are qualitatively different from other educational institutions, at the level of faith, do very well, while those that do not emphasize the difference end up closing, thankfully. Careful selection and formation of our teachers is key to everything. To that end, I want to encourage pastors, principals and Catholic school board members to make friends with Curtis Hancock’s Recovering a Catholic Philosophy of Elementary Education, the first such book published in English in decades (see the Newman House Press ad in this issue for further information). Our hiring and maintenance policies must be crystal clear. Furthermore, it is essential to insist on faithful Sunday Mass attendance as a condition for membership in a Catholic school community.
On the matter of accessibility, we see some movement as many suburban parishes are now taking up the challenge to open schools where the Catholic population has moved; not enough dioceses, however, have exhibited the holy boldness to make school-openings a top priority. This is where the voice of the laity, especially parents, needs to resound. The Second Vatican Council and the Code of Canon Law both speak of the right and the obligation that the lay faithful have to make known their needs to their pastors.
On affordability, what can one say? The tiny, 186-student parish high school from which I graduated in 1968 charged $300 tuition that year; now, with over a thousand students, the tuition exceeds $7000. The sacrificial spirit of Catholic parents seems to know no bounds, but a breaking point does occur. A panel of experts in the Archdiocese of San Antonio recently declared that finances was the overriding reason why most parents did not use Catholic schools. Duh? To the credit of the Archdiocese, a program has been launched to give significant financial aid, lest our schools become havens for the wealthy alone – which would be in direct opposition both to the teaching of the Church Universal and to our entire history of Catholic education in this country.
Catholic schools that are qualitatively different from other educational institutions, at the level of faith, do very well, while those that do not emphasize the difference end up closing, thankfully. Careful selection and formation of our teachers is key to everything. To that end, I want to encourage pastors, principals and Catholic school board members to make friends with Curtis Hancock’s Recovering a Catholic Philosophy of Elementary Education, the first such book published in English in decades (see the Newman House Press ad in this issue for further information). Our hiring and maintenance policies must be crystal clear. Furthermore, it is essential to insist on faithful Sunday Mass attendance as a condition for membership in a Catholic school community.
On the matter of accessibility, we see some movement as many suburban parishes are now taking up the challenge to open schools where the Catholic population has moved; not enough dioceses, however, have exhibited the holy boldness to make school-openings a top priority. This is where the voice of the laity, especially parents, needs to resound. The Second Vatican Council and the Code of Canon Law both speak of the right and the obligation that the lay faithful have to make known their needs to their pastors.
On affordability, what can one say? The tiny, 186-student parish high school from which I graduated in 1968 charged $300 tuition that year; now, with over a thousand students, the tuition exceeds $7000. The sacrificial spirit of Catholic parents seems to know no bounds, but a breaking point does occur. A panel of experts in the Archdiocese of San Antonio recently declared that finances was the overriding reason why most parents did not use Catholic schools. Duh? To the credit of the Archdiocese, a program has been launched to give significant financial aid, lest our schools become havens for the wealthy alone – which would be in direct opposition both to the teaching of the Church Universal and to our entire history of Catholic education in this country.
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