J. Michael Miller - The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools

On September 15, 2005, the Solidarity Association sponsored a conference in Washington that brought together leaders with a passionate interest in the future of Catholic education in our nation. After intense discussion, they concluded that, forty years after the promulgation of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Councils Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis, the signs of the times require that new wine be poured into the wineskins of Americas Catholic schools. Affirming the June 2005 statement of the American bishops,

Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium, the participants committed themselves to ensuring that truly Catholic elementary and secondary schools be available, accessible, and affordable, to all Catholic parents and their children.

The meeting acknowledged the irreplaceable role that Catholic schools play in the new evangelization of America and sought to foster the cooperation of all those involved in this apostolic work. The duty of educating the young is an ecclesial responsibility shared by all members of the Body of Christ: bishops, teachers, parents, and concerned lay leaders.

By her very nature, the Church has the right and the obligation to proclaim the Gospel to all nations (cf. Matt. 28:20). In the words of Vatican IIs Gravissimum Educationis:

To fulfill the mandate she has received from her divine founder of proclaiming the mystery of salvation to all men and of restoring all things in Christ, Holy Mother the Church must be concerned with the whole of mans life, even the secular part of it, insofar as it has a bearing on his heavenly calling. Therefore, she has a role in the progress and development of education.

Catholic schools participate in the Churchs evangelizing mission of bringing the gospel to the ends of the earth. Particularly, they are places for the evangelization of the young. As ecclesial institutions, they are the privileged environment in which Christian education is carried out.

From the days of their first appearance in the United States, Catholic schools have generously served the needs of the socially and economically disadvantaged. The parochial school system has integrated millions of young Catholics into ecclesial and social life. The Solidarity Association, whose name recalls the heritage of our beloved Pope John Paul II, follows in the long tradition of St. Angela Merici, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle, St. John Bosco, and countless other religious and lay people who generously dedicated themselves to Christs love for the poor, the disadvantaged, and the marginalized, as well as for the wealthy and for mid-dle-and working-class Catholics.

This booklet, based on my intervention at the conference sponsored by the Solidarity Association, deals with the Holy Sees teaching on Catholic education. Although this theme is far too vast to be adequately summarized in a few pages, I will introduce the major concerns found in post-conciliar Vatican publications on the subject. These include various papal interventions, the 1983 Code of Canon

Law in its section on schools, and the five major documents published by the Congregation for Catholic Education since Vatican II: The Catholic School (1977); Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982); The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School (1988); The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium (1997); and Consecrated Persons and Their Mission in Schools: Reflections and Guidelines (2002). Among these documents, in particular I recommend for further study The Catholic School and The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School.

After a preliminary statistical look at the current situation, I will discuss parental and government rights in education and the five benchmarks that can be used to judge a schools Catholic identity and thereby take the steps necessary to strengthen it.