Catholic schools can't ignore trends in catechesis, finance: rising tuition costs threaten mission

National Catholic Reporter, March 27, 1998 by James Youniss

Other researchers have found that lay teachers of religion often do not know the church's official position on issues and, even when they know, do not necessarily agree with them. Perhaps these results should not be shocking, given the diversity of views among educated Catholics and honest disagreement about nondoctrinal matters among theologians and the hierarchy.

The percentage of Catholic school-age children who attend Catholic: schools has declined nationwide to fewer than one in five. If this figure is accurate and if socialization into the religious tradition is the means by which the church its dynamism, then there is an obvious need to build and strengthen parish religious education programs, The alternative is to have a church of mainly nominal, uninformed Catholics. Some observers have pointed to the example of mainline Protestant denominations to show the likely outcome of educational neglect

One recent study has found that a terribly small proportion of the new immigrants attends Catholic schools. This may be attributed to several factors such as that many groups come from, countries with no tradition of Catholic schooling. When the reverse holds, however, such as with Haitians, even high tuition does not prevent enrollment. But in most cases tuition charges are a serious factors. There is irony in the fact that Catholic schools, which are viewed positively by historians for having successfully mediated the citizenship of 19th-century do so poorly today with the new immigrants.

In the past, most Catholics were in the same working-class boat, but today, when the old immigrants have settled into the middle class, the new immigrants find themselves in competition for the scarce educational resources of the church. This can be seen as a matter of unfortunate. timing, as the new immigrants came after 1970, just when the religious teachers were leaving and the schools were being closed.

On the other hand, the new immigrants come into a different context than did the old immigrants who faced religious discrimination. If the goal of the new immigrants is to become American citizens, religious background does not stand in their way. Nor do the public schools, which have accommodated to the many languages they speak, the need for after-school care and special education programs.

Two questions

Catholic schools no longer comprise a homogeneous unity in doctrine, internal culture or structure. They are as diverse as the Catholic population itself, which covers a range from national leaders in politics and commerce to new immigrants who vary in background. As the television ad says, "This is not your fathers Oldsmobile."

The schools today are not the schools that Catholic adults attended. Nor could they be. The history of the schools is a story of continual change, paced by changes within the church, within the Catholic population and the relationship of the church and the population with the U.S. culture.

Of all the questions confronting the schools today, two seem especially important. One is how to achieve the goal of educating the next generation in religion, catechesis and the faith. For roughly 150 years, this goal has been achieved through the schools. Simultaneously, the schools helped foster loyalty to the institutional church and to development of an echelon of religious and lay leaders.