Teachers reject some doctrines, study says

National Catholic Reporter, Feb 27, 1998

A majority of Catholic elementary school teachers are either unaware of, or disagree with, many church rules and doctrines, according to a study published by the National Catholic Educational Association.

On issues of "church discipline" -- matters such as divorce, women's ordination, who may receive Communion and the frequency of reception of penance -- only 37 percent of teachers, on average, reported that they "believed in" these rules.

Similarly, on "Catholic morality" -- including abortion, birth control, euthanasia, discrimination and premarital sex -- an average of 49 percent said they "believed in" church teaching.

Slightly larger groups reported knowing what church teaching was in these areas. Roughly 49 percent said they knew the teachings grouped under church discipline, and 78 percent knew those grouped under morality.

Results varied on specific questions; numbers reported above are aggregates for all questions in a particular category. A teacher could report "knowing" but not "believing in" a teaching, and similarly, could "believe in" something without "knowing" that it was part of church doctrine.

An overwhelming number of teachers, 93 percent, said they knew points of general Christian doctrine, such as the existence of God and the divinity of Jesus, and 89 percent said they believed in these teachings. Two-thirds, or 65 percent, said they believed in specifically Catholic doctrines such as the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and that both faith and works are required for salvation.

The study was based on a survey of 2,300 teachers in Catholic elementary schools across the country. Augustinian Fr. Paul Galetto, who authored the study, said two factors emerged as they predictors of knowledge and belief in church teaching: the amount of time the teacher had spent in Catholic school as a student and how old the teacher was. The older the teacher, the more likely that person was to know and believe in church teaching.

"Age basically translates into experience," Galetto said. "That means we have to do a much better job with retention, especially with salaries, so people want to stay in the system."

Leonard DeFiore, NCEA president, told NCR, "There's no question that we know more at 40 than we do at 30 and so on. Clearly, having policies that help people stay in positions is important, and this study underlines that." Acknowledging that salaries play a key role in retention, he said, "Finances work against us to some extent."

DeFiore said that while Catholic school salaries have been rising in recent years, "we don't seem to be able to close the gap with the public system."

Some diversity in opinion among teachers, Galetto said, is not necessarily a bad thing, pointing to dissent from the teaching on women's ordination as example. "It's probably a grace," Galetto said. "That line will fall as people don't buy it anymore," he said, referring to the ban on women priests.

"But," he said, "there's a point we cross where, if our teachers don't know what the hell they're talking about, we're not Catholic anymore."