Catholic Schools and the future of Catholicism

[Pavel Mosko]

Like most of western Christianity Catholicism has been on a decline since at the early 70s. On top of the general decline are all kinds of various controversies etc. that have made things worse. But watching Fox News they mentioned how Catholic schools have done well with teaching during Covid, and have been an example to the nation, compared to public schools.


Anyway what do you think of spending more, or doing more to promote parochial schools as a kind of spiritual mission / outreach?

Years ago I would not have thought about that because Catholic schools and the nuns who often run them have been the stuff of jokes, e.g. the irate older nun that raps your knuckles with a ruler the at the slightest offense. But I got to say, Covid has been a good foil at revealing at the people who are just phoning it in as far dedication level, especially in public education.

And I think of a cousin of mine, Diane. She was raised Lutheran, but became Catholic because she sent her daughter to Catholic schools because the public schools in her area were bad. And she not only converted, but joined their version of a PTA and I think became a teacher's assistant at the school.

And my Lutheran parents tell similar things of their Lutheran parochial school that has grades from kindergarten to high school that the school itself has attracted people to the church.


I do got to say, I'm personally leery of parochial schools having a very checkered history with them.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Like most of western Christianity Catholicism has been on a decline since at the early 70s. On top of the general decline are all kinds of various controversies etc. that have made things worse. But watching Fox News they mentioned how Catholic schools have done well with teaching during Covid, and have been an example to the nation, compared to public schools.


Anyway what do you think of spending more, or doing more to promote parochial schools as a kind of spiritual mission / outreach?

Years ago I would not have thought about that because Catholic schools and the nuns who often run them have been the stuff of jokes, e.g. the irate older nun that raps your knuckles with a ruler the at the slightest offense. But I got to say, Covid has been a good foil at revealing at the people who are just phoning it in as far dedication level, especially in public education.

And I think of a cousin of mine, Diane. She was raised Lutheran, but became Catholic because she sent her daughter to Catholic schools because the public schools in her area were bad. And she not only converted, but joined their version of a PTA and I think became a teacher's assistant at the school.

And my Lutheran parents tell similar things of their Lutheran parochial school that has grades from kindergarten to high school that the school itself has attracted people to the church.


I do got to say, I'm personally leery of parochial schools having a very checkered history with them.

Being made up of checkered Christians, as we all are, a little leeriness is a good thing. Articulately when there are schools that are Catholic in name only and don’t teach the faith. They can be as woke as a public school. Choose carefully. My kids loved their Catholic educations.

 

[Rhamiel]

It depends on the school

a LOT of Catholic schools follow this model

1/3 of the students go there because it is a good school, 1/3 go because it has good sports teams, 1/3 go because the parents want the kids to have a good Catholic education.
But right there it means that 2/3 of the parents paying tuition do not care about the Catholic Faith.... money has an effect so there are financial pressures to be more “ecumenical”

 

[chevyontheriver]

It depends on the school

a LOT of Catholic schools follow this model

1/3 of the students go there because it is a good school, 1/3 go because it has good sports teams, 1/3 go because the parents want the kids to have a good Catholic education.
But right there it means that 2/3 of the parents paying tuition do not care about the Catholic Faith.... money has an effect so there are financial pressures to be more “ecumenical”

Right. We had a great local Catholic k-8 school that eventually was partially staffed by the phenominal Nashville Dominicans. It was the best school in the town but it was also faithful. It was great. For high school we had a long commute because the closer Catholic high school was an expensive theological mess. The chosen school was deliberately Catholic and my kids are still intentionally Catholic long after college. Not all achieve that result. Caveat emptor.

 

[Gnarwhal]

It's kind of a mixed bag, I think Catholic schools did well during the pandemic because they opened up sooner than public schools. In some cases much sooner. But that's not universal, my friend's fiancée is a grade school teacher at a Catholic school, and it's closing down at the end of the school year. Which kind of surprised me but here we are.

@Rhamiel really touched on the biggest issue with Catholic schools today: a lot of people treat them like boarding schools or prep schools because the quality of the education is better than public schools, so maybe it gives them an edge in college admissions, or you they have excellent athletic reputations like Gonzaga in DC or De La Salle in California. But then you get schools saturated with (at best) lukewarm Catholics and in a lot of cases complete non-believers. Now we would think, "Great! An opportunity to proselytize unbelievers" but the problem is the parents of these students push back against the religiosity of the schools. They want all the academic perks of the school without any of the faith. Alarmingly more and more non-Catholic parents are actively trying to subvert the Church in the school.

I had two coworkers who went to Catholic schools in the Bay Area, and both of them are full on anti-theists. They were legitimately laughing while exclaiming that Catholic school "made them hate Jesus".

If it were possible, I would like to see these schools follow the model of some Catholic colleges like Thomas Aquinas College and Christendom College, where they don't accept funding from the federal government or the Church, which allows them to ward off the influence of secular authorities and their diocesan allies. Without the puppet strings that outside funding brings, they can stick to the pure Catholic faith and insist on a moral and ethical paradigm that is timeless. Not to mention the curricular benefits, they could shape a curriculum that isn't influenced by all of the bogus critical race theory and other Marxist nonsense circulating in the academic bloodstream these days.

 

[AvilaSurfer]

Our Catholic schools locally never closed, and currently have waiting lists for elementary and high schools.