This is a tremendous credit to our Catholic schools. A good Catholic education has … When Christ is the center of all we do, then we are enabled to redirect our focus of life towards an understanding of the world in which we live that is geared towards the promotion of human dignity and the common good.  Young men and women graduating from Catholic schools and universities should have the keen understanding of being called as Christians to work for the common good and to do so through a life that is deeply rooted in Christ, combined with a vigorous desire to pursue the truth of things, to live through and with reality rather than merely being guided by constantly changing feelings and preferences. Instead, he found a deeper more satisfying and more authentic feeling of joy when he contemplated the lives of the Saints and the stories of the Gospels.So Ignatius decided he wanted to serve God, but also discovered that if he really wanted to be of any value, that he needed to be educated. Catholic education was built upon the Church’s mission to encourage students to live the gospel, evangelize, and encourage them to live an authentic life that will lead them to heaven. I think it is the role of Jesuit University to be a place where the Church is in dialogue with the broader culture; where people of all religious faiths can practice and deepen their faith openly, while engaging with the world as it is, in all its complexity. But I also think that we have to acknowledge that the cultural conditions at the moment mean that many of our young people come to University needing a great deal of assistance from us.Here are few thoughts to consider:• According to a recent major study by UCLA involving 227 colleges and universities, more than half of college students say they have experienced “overwhelming anxiety” in the past year. The Genesis creation stories make the point that everything Christ-centred. Catholic Religious Education, particularly since the Second Vatican Council, is committed to teaching and learning about and from other religions, not as an option but as something intrinsic to the definition of Christian identity. 6).  This freedom belongs to parents because of our God-given nature and the gift of free will that is given to us: Government, in consequence, must acknowledge the right of parents to make a genuinely free choice of schools and of other means of education, and the use of this freedom of choice is not to be made a reason for imposing unjust burdens on parents, whether directly or indirectly.  Besides, the right of parents are violated, if their children are forced to attend lessons or instructions which are not in agreement with their religious beliefs, or if a single system of education, from which all religious formation is excluded, is imposed upon all (Dignitatis humanae, no. Notice the principal purpose of Catholic education is to form disciples — people who know Christ, follow Christ and make him known. The benefits of Catholic schools are clear. I think I can say too that I had the feeling that I was being called to something more — I was being asked to give up something comfortable for something that would be a greater challenge, a bigger stretch, one that asked for sacrifices from me in the interests of a greater good. Catholic education has always been at the heart of the Catholic mission. I thank you for your support for Catholic schools.Thank you for listening! A Catholic education means giving a student the opportunity to learn about the Holy Scriptures. In order for Christians to be able to effectively promote the true, the good and the beautiful, there is the vital need for coherence in word and deed.  Pope Paul VI brought this strikingly to the point when he observed that "(M)odern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 1975).  Young people are especially sensitive to this for they are shaped more by the concrete experiences in their lives, and thus the lived example of their teachers, than by the best of pedagogical techniques.  Any form of Catholic education will ultimately fail when the student is confronted with the word being spoken not conforming to the life being lived. Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977. The religious formation of children begun at home is continued in Catholic school. If the teachers, administrators and families who are the foundation of our Catholic schools create a climate of hope, then all of their students will benefit regardless of whether they embrace religion knowingly and explicitly, or not. I was certainly passionate about my area of study, history, and I thought I was suited to a life of study and scholarship and so I also wanted to pursue that. For example, you might say, ‘liturgy needs good priests, and our priest is a stick-in-the-mud, and way past his sell-by date’. But, while the Church institutionally must have the right to establish schools, the freedom to educate children ultimately belongs to parents:  "Parents who have the primary and inalienable right and duty to educate their children must enjoy true liberty in their choice of schools" (GE, no. Obviously, more of their time is spent alone on the Internet, or socializing on Facebook and Twitter and so on.• In 2014, more than a quarter of college freshmen said that they did not identify with any specific religion — an all-time low.• According to a Higher Education Research Institute’s survey of 2009 college freshmen, almost 80 percent said being well-off financially was the reason they were attending college, the highest number of students responding in this manner since the poll began in 1966. So I suppose the overarching question for me is: “What do young people need in terms of their early schooling and formation in order to be truly creative, compassionate, joyful, civilized, and productive members of society? Teaching about other religions is important for several reasons: 1. While the latter part will focus on its application to the 21st first century, to the world and its education … Catholic education, and the students who are the product of it, have been called the “greatest work of the Church”. God for Ignatius was the Great Educator —always drawing us forward, deepening our understanding, forming and developing our gifts and talents. At least, the journey has been in large part a coherent mystery to me. Pope Benedict fittingly calls it the duty of the educator to be led by 'intellectual charity' which is inspired by the recognition that leading the young to truth is an act of love.  The relativistic mindset that reigns at most schools and universities, including many of those calling themselves Catholic, proclaiming that all truths are equal and the secular truth more equal than others, tells us that religion and education need to be separated because they have nothing to do with each other.  What is really being proposed by secularist movements is that the pupil should replace whatever god he believes in with the secular god.  Catholic educators however should be able to identify this ruse and know that the only proper way to educate is by providing a formation that centers on Christ alone.  It is the only way to enable the student to beat out a coherent path of life by being guided by the one and only God who created heaven and earth. As the joke goes, I guess didn’t do a bad enough job as chair of the history department — and so I was asked to become the Dean of Fordham College in 1998. This is the reason why Catholic schools make a great deal of effort to make the school environment as “Gun-free zones” or “Drug-free zones” as possible. Christ as a model – The goal of a Catholic education is to help children mature into Christ-like people. What is the role of our schools within the greater patterning of our society and its evolution, and do our schools provide our children with the foundation they need in order to thrive? 2):  "Since all Christians have become by rebirth of water and the Holy Spirit a new creature so that they should be called and should be children of God, they have a right to a Christian education. It is at this point that the primary importance of what we would call "virtue-oriented" formation becomes visible. And even today there are over 200 Jesuit universities and colleges all over the world, and countless Jesuit high schools.What Ignatius had come to understand — through his own deeply personal experience — was that education was the way that God opened us up to our innate potential. The kids, at least a lot of them, are not all right.We are not doing enough to bring the strands of our young people’s lives — their hearts and their heads — together in an integrated manner so they feel better about themselves and optimistic about the future.At Fairfield, we are very aware of this and have a number of programs in place where we address these issues. They are successful precisely because by their mission and foundation they are dedicated to human flourishing, and they hold as a promise in every dimension of their activities the conviction that each human life has a unique destiny in the eyes of God. 5). from the University of Heidelberg in Germany with a specialization in European Law.  He also studied philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA.  He is Chief Development Officer at the International Theological Institute, a private Catholic university near Vienna.  In addition, he was the founding president of the Phoenix Institute Europe Foundation, an educational institution that aims to form young men and women in the classical and Judeo-Christian tradition.   Alting von Geusau lectures and publishes extensively in the areas of law, philosophy and education with a special interest in Christian identity and human dignity.  He is married with five children and lives in Baden bei Wien. It is to those characteristics that I now turn. and Philip Booth. Catholic schools are an integral part of the Church and are Christ-centred communities based on gospel values. The Importance of Catholic Education Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic School. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Lk 18:16) Catholic schools, therefore, aspire to graduate students who will know that every person is made in God’s image and likeness and has value and that their education can help them contribute to the good of the larger community, not just themselves. “Catholic education sees the quality of education as linked to the Christian vision of man and of the world, which it receives from the faith. If you’ve appreciated, Christian Perspectives on the Financial Crash, Catholic Social Teaching and the Market Economy, CHRISTIAAN ALTING VON GEUSAU & PHILIP BOOTH. Our society as a whole benefits when our young people are formed within this framework of understanding. Jeffrey P. von Arx, S.J., President of Fairfield University, An address on the occasion of the Archbishop of Hartford’s St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast, March 17, 2016. They have been entrusted with the fullness of faith and have been charged with the mission of evangelization. Furthermore, catholic schools shift the environment to a more “Christlike zone”. I will be discussing 2 general points that will show the importance, relevance and effectiveness of the catholic education. Philip Booth is Editorial and Programme Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London.  He also serves as Professor of Insurance and Risk Management at Cass Business School, City University and has been a Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford.  He was a Catholic school governor for 20 years.  Booth has worked on a number of projects developing insurance and finance education in Central and Eastern Europe.  His edited and co-authored books include Christian Perspectives on the Financial Crash, Catholic Social Teaching and the Market Economy, The Road to Economic Freedom (a compilation of the work of a number of Nobel Prize Winners in Economics) and Investment Mathematics.  Booth is Deputy Editor of Economic Affairs. “The Catholic school’s proper function is to create for the school community a special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity, to help youth grow according to the new creatures they were made through baptism as they develop their own personalities, and finally to order the whole of human culture to the news of salvation so that the knowledge the students … Every Catholic school and college, whatever its failings may be, has this understanding of the purpose of life at the core. How to help. Catholic School Week is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. If the teachers, administrators and families who are the foundation of our Catholic schools create a climate of hope, then all of their students will benefit regardless of whether they embrace religion knowingly and explicitly, or not.Our Catholic schools and Universities therefore, are more important to the vitality and strength of our nation than they have ever been. Now, about half of college freshmen say they spend about 5 hours a week with friends. Al Kelley, as President of Fairfield when he left in 2004, and I have been there ever since — 12 years! But at the same time I became aware of a desire to be fully taken up in a great project, a project bigger than my own desires and ambitions — and I felt that perhaps the Society of Jesus would be a good fit for me. No, a good Catholic education educates the entire person, the mind with the heart, the soul with faith, and the person with the community. We develop communities in our residence halls that encourage reflection and help to form real human bonds of affection and respect; we engage in difficult conversations in the classroom and in the dormitories about religious faith — and the places where faith and reason intersect. Rev. 133). We know, for instance, that the achievement gap is smaller in Catholic schools than in public schools. The relationship between Catholic education and the state has taken a variety of forms in different countries and at different times in history.  However, the "signs of the times" in which we need to think about the application of Catholic social teaching to public policy in education include as perhaps their most prominent feature a major decline in religious practice and a general indifference towards religion, especially in the upper echelons of Western political systems.  At the same time, however, there has been a greater recognition in many countries that, for both practical reasons and reasons of principle, parents should have greater autonomy when choosing schools.  Expanding opportunities to choose schools, however, have often been accompanied by more extensive regulation of schools. © 1996-2019 Catholic Education Resource Center | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Sitemap, CERC is an entirely reader-supported web site and non-profit charity. (1) It is Sacramental To say that Catholic education is sacramental is to suggest that there is nothing that is only secular. School officials said that it was an inspiring time for the students, but it surely was inspiring for Catholic educators and students throughout the nation, especially with a speech like this: Graduates of Catholic high schools are more likely to vote, than graduates of public schools.Catholic schools build community — they are communities. Students are encouraged to recognize the presence of Christ in themselves and others. A Jesuit University is also a mission of the Church, and should be a place that educates to the highest level for the purposes of engaging productively what the former Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Peter Hans Kolvenbach, called the “gritty realities” of social injustice, poverty, cultural misunderstanding, and fundamentalist intolerances of all kinds, both religious and secular.But giving our children a strong foundation needs to begin earlier than that, and this is where Catholic schools come in. The result was a very painful period of convalescence. Furthermore, he came to understand that by educating these young men — and eventually women —  they would then go on to be lawyers, doctors, administrators, priests, teachers, rulers, counselors,  artists, business leaders, and so on. So I applied to join the Society during my senior year in college. But throughout this own life and work he always asked himself what “more” could be done to “help souls,” as he would put it; what “more” could he do in service of the greater glory of God. My perspective on the importance and role of Catholic schools is naturally a reflection of what it means to be a University President today — working with young people at a critical moment of transition and formation in their lives when they are on the cusp of adulthood. And we know that students from less privileged backgrounds are more likely to attend college and to succeed if they attend a Catholic school. It was the foundation for what would become the largest network of educational institutions in the world — spanning the globe, and including Asia, Europe, and South America. For those of you who are familiar with the culture and language of the Society of Jesus you may be familiar with the phrase — the magis — which means, “the more.”  It is attributed to St. Ignatius although he never used the phrase in this way. Christiaan Alting von Geusau, LL holds a law degree (LL.M.) One in ten said they felt depressed, the lowest overall emotional health score since the survey began.• Back in the 1980s, about half of high school seniors reported spending about 40 hours a week hanging out with friends. And so for 11 years — at what would be considered a very old age of 33 — St. Ignatius went back to school, first studying basic grammar in Barcelona, and then off to the University of Paris — where he gathered friends around him, and the Society of Jesus was born.There are two significant aspects of Ignatius’ story and that of the early Jesuits that I feel are still critical for us to understand and embrace this morning as we gather to support and celebrate the tradition of Catholic education.The first, is that St. Ignatius experienced God as a teacher — this is very explicit for St. Ignatius. I didn’t go to Catholic schools. The specific purpose of a Catholic education is the formation of boys and girls who will be good citizens of this world, loving God and neighbor and enriching society with the leaven of the gospel, and who will also be citizens of the world to come, thus fulfilling their destiny to become saints. Welcome to the Catholic Education website. What we would want for all of our citizens is, frankly, the same experience of life that St. Ignatius had, and indeed, the same experience of life that I have been privileged to have — that there is a higher purpose to which we are called that is unique, that draws us into an ever richer appreciation of life, and deepens our capacity to love and to serve our fellow men and women. "  However, arguably, more guidance has been given by the Church on this subject than on other controversial political matters.  This is largely, of course, because of the relationship between evangelization, education and the formation of the whole human person and because of the vital role of the family — and especially the parents chosen by God — in both formation and education. The first part will discuss the nature of the philosophy of catholic school education. This year, during Catholic Schools Week, the Office of Schools hosted an essay contest to hear from students how their lives have been impacted by attending a Catholic school. As we consider how to go about promoting the renewal of Catholic education so as to align it more closely with the purposes described, one of the critical questions that confronts us is the role of government. They benefit our families, our parishes, and our society. At school, praying and worshiping with my friends has always been natural to me, as we feel more like a family than just classmates. Christiaan Alting von Geusau What a pleasure and an honor it is to have been asked to speak with you all today on a subject for which we all share a great passion and commitment — the advancement of Catholic schools and education.My own journey through Catholic education has led me into higher education and to Fairfield University — a Jesuit University of about 4000 undergraduates and 1500 graduate students in Fairfield, Connecticut where I am privileged to serve as President. Catholic schools are welcoming to all who seek to share their life and wish to entrust their children’s future to Catholic schools because of their explicit goals and acknowledged educational quality. posted 17 March, 2016by fairfieldthinkspace, This is the official Tumblr account of Fairfield University, The Importance of Catholic Education Today. The Church regards the dignity of the human person as the foundation of all the other principles and content of the Church's social doctrine (Compendium of the Social Doctrine [CSD], no. Catholic Education The story of how important your support is to families who yearn for Catholic Education, but cannot afford it, is a story rooted in the Gospel. And in turn, it is through education — the formation and instruction and guidance we receive in our schooling — that we discover our potential, and are thereby enabled to engage with the world as agents of positive social change, serving our fellow men and women through our gifts.Now as a University President in a Catholic and Jesuit institution I am particularly aware of my duties and obligations to carry on this mission, and so I am also therefore aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the young men and women who enroll every year, and for whom I have responsibility.They are all wonderful — truly they are. Catholic schools are places of encounters with Christ through learning. From there I went on to join the history faculty at Georgetown. It is not reduced to a specific time or to a particular activity: it is present in the entire educational mission of the school or university, in such a way that the student acquires a true synthesis of faith, culture and life,” he said. "  Clearly, such a right would not be fulfilled if a secular education were provided free by the government and the less-well-off lacked the means to obtain a Christian education. Given that freedom in education is an extension of freedom of conscience and freedom of religion more generally, it is important to note that the Catholic Church is not calling for privileges for Catholic parents and children.  In many traditionally Catholic countries (though also in the UK) systems of Catholic education have become intertwined with the provision of free state education more generally.  This means that parents can choose a Catholic education that is funded by government on the same basis as secular education.  However, this freedom is not necessarily available to all parents.  Furthermore, Catholic parents can be limited in their choice of schools to those the state wishes to authorise (with places and the building of new schools often being severely limited).  The Catholic Church, in the authentic promotion of her teaching, does not wish to defend such arrangements as privileges.  The Church believes that freedom in education should be available to all parents.  It is a fundamental human right and should not merely be a special arrangement for Catholics in countries where Catholics are sufficiently numerous. But my story, and my perspective on Catholic education only makes sense within the greater story of the Jesuit mission in education. excerpted from Catholic Education in the West:  Roots, Reality and Revival (September 25, 2013). Loading ... Pope Francis: You cannot speak of Catholic education without speaking about humanity - … He did that rather well until 1521 when a cannon ball struck both of his legs at the battle of Pamplona. The annual National Catholic Schools Week is underway. We know that math scores are higher. What he discovered was that the romantic and chivalric books and stories he once found so enticing no longer filled him with pleasure. By their witness and their behaviour teachers are of the first importance to impart a distinctive character to Catholic schools. In this way, Catholic schools instill students with morals, virtues, self-discipline, and knowledge, preparing them to succeed in further education, seek holiness, and live meaningful lives. 26). In other words, all of reality is suffused with the presence of God, including material reality. Sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association, schools observe the week with Masses, open houses, and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members. I pursued my Ph.D. at Yale, where my area of study was Great Britain and Ireland in the 19th century. We are deeply committed to supporting the proclamation of the Gospel through our primary and secondary Catholic Schools, Catholic higher education, campus ministry, certification for ecclesial ministry, and support of children and parents through advocacy and public policy in our Nation's Capital. Sr Mary Bernard Father OSF speaks about the importance of Catholic education on 14 September 2019 at the Knock Conferences. is: are the “kids really all right?”I am a member of the Society of Jesus, a religious order founded by St. Ignatius — a Jesuit — and in the great tradition of Jesuit personal narratives, my own journey into education has been one of unexpected twists that looks like a series of accidents, but is also one of mystery and coherence. 2) and to prevent a family from educating children in the faith would be to do just that. They are all curious, full-of-life, and in various ways eager to learn. 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