The mission of Catholic education

By Cardinal Justin Rigali

In Psalm 139, verse 14, we read a beautiful description of the glory of the human person, made in God’s image: “I praise you, so wonderfully you made me; wonderful are your works!” Indeed, as we look at ourselves, even in our human imperfections, we see the great marvel of God’s creation. In fact, we are the greatest of His earthly creations. Among the abilities which God has crowned us with is the ability to know. This knowledge is not a mere instinct, as it is with the lower orders of creation, but a true ability to think, to reason, to learn and to come to conclusions based on evidence.

Some of this ability to learn can be made use of merely by looking at the world around us and drawing intelligent conclusions. Some knowledge is taught within families or handed down verbally in human societies. We know that knowledge is not limited to what can be learned in books as these did not become widely available until several hundred years ago, when printing made books more available to greater numbers of people.

Even with that technological advance, formal education was limited to a comparative few until the last two centuries. Nonetheless, the natural forms of education allowed knowledge to be handed down and even allowed great advances to be made in art and in some of the sciences.

Since governments are entrusted with the common good of their citizens within human society, education has often been a goal of responsible governments. Nations have even united to proclaim the right of the individual, as a part of the inherent human dignity of the person, to receive a proper education (cf. United Nations’ Universal Profession of the Rights of Man, 10 December 1948). The twentieth century, which saw so much war, hatred and bloodshed, did have the blessing of also being a period in which formal education was made available to larger numbers of people in many parts of the world.

Parents as primary educators
Although the human person has the right to an education, so that the dignity of that person may be more effectively proclaimed and lived out, this education is primarily concerned with our lives as we live them here on earth, in the human society which God has made part of our nature.
We also have a life and a goal which are not merely connected to this earth but which bind us to the things of God and call us to an eternal, perfect happiness when this earthly life is over. The baptismal liturgy is a wonderful reminder of these two vocations of the human person: to live in this world with a degree of joy and fulfillment but to also remember the eternal happiness offered to us through the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

In this context, we look to the parents, who have come together in love for one another and generosity towards God and have brought forth another human being. In this, they cooperate with God in the very act of creation. In Baptism, another life and destiny are offered to the child to be baptized: a sharing in the very life of Jesus, through grace, in this life and the transformation of the life of grace into eternal life in the world to come.

This intimate relationship recalls to parents that just as they have accepted the joy and responsibility of cooperating with God in bringing new life into the world, so they also have the responsibility of leading this child to the gift of eternal life.

At the beginning of the baptismal liturgy, the celebrant addresses the parents in these or similar words: “You have asked to have your child baptized. In doing so you are accepting the responsibility of training him (or her) in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him (or her) up to keep God’s commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?” (Rite of Baptism, Reception of the Child).

The Declaration on Christian Education of the Second Vatican Council sums up the primary role of parents in both the secular and Christian education of their children. It states: “Since it is the parents who have given life to their children, on them lies the gravest obligation of educating their family. They must therefore be accepted as primarily and principally responsible for their education.” Concerning the Christian education of children, the Declaration also states: “All Christians — that is, all those who having been reborn in water and the Holy Spirit are called and in fact are children of God — have a right to a Christian education” (Gravissimum Educationis, 3 and 2).

Catholic schools
In many parts of the world, and most especially in the United States, the mission of parents, the Church and society to educate children both for the common good of society and the fulfillment of the commands of the Gospel has been carried out through the work of Catholic schools. I return to the Declaration of the Second Vatican Council, quoted above, to summarize this thought.

The Council states: “Education is, in a very special way, the concern of the Church, not only because the Church must be recognized as a human society capable of imparting education, but especially because it has the duty of proclaiming the way of salvation to all, of revealing the life of Christ to those who believe, and of assisting them with unremitting care so that they may be able to attain to the fullness of that life” (Gravissimum Educationis, 3).

From time to time, we hear amusing stories, which are often well-meaning but which give the impression that our Catholic schools are places which are based upon a set of prohibitions!

On the contrary, a Catholic spirit in a school or college is not one of prohibitions but rather, as Pope Benedict XVI has explained it, a “positive option” based on the recognition of the dignity of the human person called to a loving relationship with God and neighbor. Similarly, in any loving, human relationship there are things that we do and things that we do not do, always out of love!

Some statistics
As the new school year begins, I am so pleased to know that we in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, through the zeal and sacrifices of so many parents, men and women religious and dedicated lay teachers and administrators are able to contribute to the welfare of our local community, while fulfilling the mission of the Church in the area of education.

I take this opportunity, once again, to review some statistics. Although these are just for the City of Philadelphia, they may give some concrete idea of the partnership of the Church with the family in building up a loving, human society which benefits enormously the civil community.

1) There are approximately thirty‑five thousand students in the elementary, secondary and special education schools of the Archdiocese. About one‑quarter of these students are non-Catholic and over 40 percent of those in the elementary schools are minority students.

2) The current savings to the City of Philadelphia through the running of our Catholic schools is $334,418,140.00 yearly.

3) Were the new spending level recommended to Pennsylvania legislators to be adopted for the City of Philadelphia, the Archdiocese would then be saving the City $508,576,780.00 yearly.

4) Additionally, we infuse $73,610,000.00 for educating our students at the current level, thereby adding another benefit to the City in terms of services and employment.

As we commit ourselves, in this local five-county Church of Philadelphia, to building up both the “City of God” and the “City of Man,” as Saint Augustine described them, we remind ourselves that we are part of a challenging and yet fulfilling and necessary task: the work of Catholic education!
August 28, 2008