The Future of Catholic Schools
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- According to a recent “Wall Street Journal” headline, “Catholic Schools Are Losing Students at Record Rates, and Hundreds Are Closing.” Catholic schools peaked in the 1960s with about 5.5 million students in 11,000 schools. Today, Catholic schools boast only 1.6 million students in 5,900 schools. What explains this decline? And what can we do about it?
Bishop Barron and Brandon Vogt discuss the situation of Catholic schools, the purpose of Catholic education, and where Catholic schools should move in the future.
A listener asks, how can we be better friends with our friends who are not Christian?
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Just graduated from a Catholic high school yesterday … it’s the greatest gift my parents have given me
Congratulations, Grad! What a beautiful attitude you have.
congrats! Are you going to college?
what school?
It's a struggle. As a Catholic school principal our goal is to thrive, not to just survive. Catholic schools are the hope for the future of the Church. We have to make it affordable for all students! Great message. Thank you for addressing and highlighting this important issue.
I agree about cost. We had our children in a Catholic school but just couldn't afford it anymore..... We homeschool now but we are strong in the Faith and our main goal is evangelization!
Thank you for speaking out as a Catholic school principal. Catholic schools are struggling simply because the laity are not raising their children to be priests or nuns. Furthermore, they are not donating enough or getting involved.
It's time that the laity recognize that they indeed are critical to the church. We are the church together. It's time to stop thinking it's someone else's problem
I went to Catholic school all my life (grade school, high school and college). I feel extremely grateful for the education and environment I grew up in. I started my teaching career in a Catholic school then spent 10 years in the public school system. I eventually started to feel called back and am currently teaching high school Religion. Our diocese and school administration are amazing! I am so proud to be where I am, especially throughout this past year.
Beware of FALSE PROFILES appearing in the Comments section even if it is as 'BISHOP ROBERT BARRON'.
Thanks for your beautiful Presence☆
Stay blessed always☆
@@mathtutoring7509
You mean you too are associated with the same school?
Thank you for giving off your time to properly catechise Catholic students. Can I ask though, do you ever feel undervalued as a religious ed teacher (even if you're at a Catholic school)? Catholic high schools where I live usually have lay teachers of other subjects who get assigned to a religious ed class twice a week.
I also went to catholic school my whole life: k thru grad school. And then taught at 2 catholic parochial schools!
The schools are definitely not what they once were. STEM is the new religion.
In my opinion, when religious communities abandoned Catholic education in droves, Catholic schools were deeply damaged, and have not recovered from that damage to this day. One of the greatest services that religious congregations provided for low income families, was to make it possible for a quality Catholic education to be attainable for them. When they left Catholic education, their absence caused Catholic education to become out of reach for the poorest families. There is a huge irony there. Many religious communities opted for "social justice" type work instead of education, under the idea that they wanted to work more directly with the underserved and the poor. But the harm they have caused to the poor by leaving education, in my opinion, far outweighs whatever good they have done since then in their new jobs as social workers and counselors and such.
Bishop Barron please keep my family in your prayers. I have been sending my daughter to catholic schools as a single parent for most of her childhood because I think passing the faith is the most important thing. Please pray that I can continue to afford to send her for her next four years of high school. God bless you and your ministry. 🙏🏻🙏🏻❤
The catholic school system helped me grow out of atheism and sparked my interest in classical philosophy.
Whow we need more just like that, I only know of people becoming anything but catholic form the catholic schools in my area, the catholic education is laughable
This video should be shown to every Catholic school in the country! Boy, did Bishop Barron hit the nail on the head!
I would love a short clip to post everywhere, where Brandon askes Bishop Barron what Catholic schools should be offering that public schools can't offer, and Bishop says "Jesus". That should be on every Catholic school's website...beautiful. Come Lord Jesus.
Excellent idea!
As a former catholic elementary and high school administrator, with insight (and documentation) would make you 😱! Yes, the news, truth, is despicable and there’s no recourse as these private institutions can just dismiss people who are sincere in keeping Catholic schools Catholic! Political agendas have infiltrated the Catholic school system. I know of what I speak. There are solutions to returning our Catholic schools to their former greatness, but it takes courage to clean house and have foresight to see smaller, well-managed schools that can rebuild by prioritizing all that once made Catholic education the very best !
Please give me a few examples or where we might find facts that you are talking about.
We had a traumatic experience with our fourth child at our Catholic high school, which is also my alma mater!
We were horrified when we had to meet with administrators that may as well have rolled their eyes at us when we mentioned Catholic faith, prayer, the Bible, etc. during meetings.
Bishop Barron, I would love to be part of the solution; just tell me where to start!
I am a catechist in formation of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Our pastor supports this program for the Catholic school students and after school public school students. But there are those parents who see a Catholic education as a "private school" like it's a status symbol. Discipline isn't a Catholic school agenda for their students. I feel sad for the teachers at our school because of lack of discipline and respect. Yet we know what these children's home life is like - no discipline and no respect. The Pastor, Principal and teachers need to catechesis parents in faith formation and civil formation.
Great discussion Bishop Barron! You were spot on about evangelization; I became a Catholic, or at least started seriously looking into it because of Catholics I had contact with. I was raised Baptist - One day I just impulsively attended a Sunday mass because I had seen the church from a bus window while commuting and thought it was beautiful.
Bishop Barron, thank you for your ministry. My wife and I have chosen Catholic education for our children on the grammar school and high school levels here in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, NY. I believe this is precisely the moment for a bold move by evangelists to laud the social and moral messages given through Catholic education. The world is upside-down and messages given through some public school districts (critical race, transgenderism, etc) are dangerously self centered and wrong. Good Catholic schools are a strong parental partner to lead children toward the Truth. We work hard in our diocese, and have a great Bishop, John Barres, at dramatic missionary growth. God bless.
I'm a practicing Catholic who went to public school. At first, I wanted to go to Catholic school, but I kept seeing students graduate and no longer wanting to become Catholic. In my estimation, I had to fight hard for my faith and therefore value it rather than the ones I've seen who had their religion handed to them on a silver platter. Students in Catholic schools don't seem to appreciate how good they have it. They remind me of the children of rich parents and I've been able to out debate any of them who have left the church.
David. And indeed the parents are complicit. It's up to all of us to maintain our Church and schools. We are the church together
Amén Amén Amén … I am praying for that as I look for change in schools for 10 year old. From public school to Catholic School . Please keeps us in your prayers. As I am praying for all families in this same situation. Blessings to all.
My friend from Colombia prayed to St. Jude every day. I was deeply inspired by her faith! Our daughters attend the school together and have since kindergarten. They will be in 6th grade next year. I will keep your family in my prayers!
Thank you Bishop Barron for all your insights. I love everything you said. We are trying to keep our school open and get enrollment up here at Holy Family Catholic Academy, Queens, NY. Our new pastor is determined to make it flourish. Gonna share this video with him.
Thank you again for all you do
I am an Indian and born in the city of Kolkata. I must tell you that the Catholic schools has such a huge contribution towards the education system . Even the Hindus, Muslims and other faith were attracted to Catholic schools.
There are many international and public schools here now competing with Catholic schools...but they still and will always lack discipline and moral values.
Agree with Bishop Barron 🙏🙏🙏 evangelizing must continue and even more....take up challenges..
Catholic schools are indeed quite good. Love from a Hindu from Delhi!🙏🇮🇳
Christianity in the west is dying I think as a Hindu Christianity because Christianity cant handle or adopt to modern times. Its fixed to a specific era.
Hey thanks, Brandon and Bishop Barron. I'm a convert working as a church musician, and we just started our week-long VBS today. I'm working with the 5th/6th graders and it's such a joy to get a glimpse of Catholic education this week. I don't have much of a background with children, but the more I participate and help out, the more I admire our schools and all of their participants: adults and children. It is becoming more clearly important to me. I appreciate the timing of this video calling for Catholics to step up and invest in the spiritual lives of our children through education. I'll continue to take steps down this path, as God calls me. Thank you, please pray for us, and God bless you!
I almost cried when he said catholic schools used to be better than public schools. I’m 19 and went to public school all 13 years, and many of my friends who went to catholic school had nowhere near the academic opportunities I did. I am grateful for those, but I so wish it would have been an option for me to be formed in the faith at the same time. I feel like I missed out on growing up in a religious community, and I have had to undo so many misconceptions taught through public school. Very few kids in public school were lucky enough to have a traditionalist Catholic deacon as their chemistry teacher, and even fewer have any understanding at all of the faith, even if their parents are Catholic, simply because catechism programs at churches are way too weak to pick up the slack.
Gave me goosebumps when he said - I need a Saint- . Our society needs that Saint, our children need that Saint. Our grand children need that Saint.Mother Angelica was the one who brought me from just sitting in the pew to actual understanding of what I was doing. Then it was contagious. It’s fire and love and life lived abundantly!
Sometimes I feel called to start a school. The three pillars of the school would be TRUTH-BEAUTY-GOODNESS. Students would learn through these lenses. Service would be part of the school. Apologetics would be a course along with logic and debate. Arts would be taught through beauty. An eye on the future must also be applied with a technological focus married to traditional elements of academics and classics.
This would be enhanced by the sacraments. We would study the lives of the saints. We would strive to humbly know ourselves and know love and serve God.
This is so beautiful m! Let us know after some time of prayer how to help this come to life! :)
@@juliawin8419 I will.
This was already attempted in the LA archdiocese and the superintendent closed the school before giving it a full year to try to get off the ground. It was going to have all these elements led by some great directors who valued these things you mentioned.
Aside from the tech focus, there are two classical schools in the area that focus on faith, reason, and virtue. It includes logic, apologetics, etc. it has robotics and science, so tech isn’t shunned entirely, but it has a proper place.
I feel the same, Peter! I feel called to start a good catholic school. It's a great need for evangelization. Sending prayers your way. Please keep in touch, would like to brainstorm with you.
As one who went through Catholic schooling elementary through high school, the curriculum is missing a lot that can really enliven the faith of people. I went through all of Catholic school and remember having to memorize the names of the apostles, but it was not until college where I first heard of Eucharistic Adoration. Granted, there were some good things that were taught about the faith, but the fullness of it and especially the tough questions young people have (problem of evil etc.) I don't think were satisfactorily addressed. And I think when it's purely reduced to intellectualism and there is no actual fire of the faith brought to people, they can fade away. If Adoration was a weekly thing at Catholic schools, I think that would be great!
I believe the bishop of the diocese has power over Catholic school curriculum? We should call upon them with our concerns regarding the education. Because I believe the Catholic schools can improve in evangelizing and forming young people, and I have hope they will if bishops become more aware of the shortcomings in the current education.
Your comment on Adoration reminded me of the time I was in 2nd grade and my class was doing some sacrament preparation for the Eucharist. Our teacher (a sister of Notre Dame) and our priest showed and explained each detail of the church. We then came across the monstrance, which the priest says he brings out for special occasions. My younger self thought he said he brings out the monsters on special occasions. I didn’t really connect the dots until many years later when I relearned what the monstrance actual is and what it’s used for. In any case, I think it highlights a good point-although my class was introduced to these really interesting details and sacramentals within the church during our First Communion prep, many of these topics weren’t emphasized or explored afterwards. On a side note: with the significant drop in nun-led schools, I feel very blessed to have had nuns for both 1st and 2nd grade to start my Catholic education, even though I started back in the mid-90’s. Many thanks and prayers to Sr. Angeleen and Sr. Margie Ann!
I'm sorry, but we should be calling upon parents just as much as the school system. The one goal of a parent is to get their child to heaven. We always have to blame clergy. It's like a knee-jerk reaction, is if the laity have absolutely no role. When was the last time of parent went down to the the Catholic School to talk to the principal or raise the child to become a teaching nun or priest? Good grief
@@jenniferwinston7842 Hi Jennifer, you bring up a good point! I'd say improvements that need to be made to curriculum and the need for increased involvement of the laity are not mutually exclusive, but both would certainly be good for the building up of young students in the faith.
As one who went through Catholic schooling, I am still convinced the curriculum can improve drastically, and Bishop Barron's points he makes in the video are solid, too. In addition to that, as you point out, families and parents need to be the first teacher of their children. Let's hope for an improvement on both fronts!
@@turkey3gwiddle
I never said that they were mutually exclusive, nor did I say that there was no room for improvement. Nothing in this life is perfect and everything has an opportunity for improvement. What I disagree with and won't abide by is the innuendo in your comments which point to the clergy as the problem.
And I do respect your candor when it comes to talking about your personal experience in the school. My personal experience was very different than yours and it was wonderful.
So what's my point? If you see an opportunity of improvement and you are Catholic, then you are obligated to step up to the plate. Blame does nothing especially when you make public comments about a group of people from the past who are not around to defend themselves. You are talking about people who gave their whole lives in vocation.
I never ever had a problem with my Catholic schooling, and I opposed the accusations against the church and the clergy, as if the laity are not part of it and that we are not all part of the same mystical Body of Christ. Even if you had a bad experience, as an adult it's time to put that behind you and preach the word of God....act in God's name.
Lastly, how do you expect the Catholic schools to survive , when the laity are contracepting, and they are not raising their children to become priests or nuns?
Stop the vitriol. Become part of the solution. Please stop the knee-jerk reaction against the clergy. That is an example of a Catholic shooting himself in the foot
@@jenniferwinston7842 Hi Jennifer, by my statement "I believe the bishop of the diocese has power over Catholic school curriculum? We should call upon them with our concerns regarding the education" my intent is not to pin blame onto the clergy, but rather it is to acknowledge that in some dioceses the school curriculum needs improved, and that requires the involvement of the bishop. The laity do have a role in this, that is, to inform the bishops thereof of what is lacking in the curriculum as seen from personal experience. And of course, the laity have a larger role, as you well point out, to lead holy lives and raise holy children.
Admittedly have I done a good job of informing the bishop of my diocese in ways to improve school curriculum in my opinion? I have not. Perhaps I ought to write a letter.
But yes, we are all one mystical body, but as we are of different parts, it is important to recognize the roles of the different parts. If there is a toilet paper shortage in a business facility, the person to go to would be the one in charge of purchasing the toilet paper. Likewise, since the bishops do have a role in the school curriculum, it is important for laity to be involved in having discussions with them regarding school curriculum and ways they believe it can be improved.
You are right in saying "If you see an opportunity of improvement and you are Catholic, then you are obligated to step up to the plate" - and I want to make sure I step up to the plate along with my brothers and sisters, since improving the schools will be involvement of the whole community rather than one individual. But in this one little particular aspect out of many regarding Catholic schools, that is, improving the curriculum in some dioceses, the bishop's hand is the one that would sign off on such changes and officiate them.
I really like what you have to say and appreciate you taking the time to respond to me. Thanks!
He who has ears to hear let us listen and act upon it.
YES WE HAVE TO TAKE TIME TO EVANGELIZE AND NOT BE SHY OR AFRAID WE DO HAVE THE TRUTH.
LETS BUILD UP OUR CHURCH AND FAITH.
Even bishop Barron contributies to kids abandoning the faith. In an interview with Ben Shapiro he said Jesus is the ‘privileged’ way to salvation. Not the only way. How do I tell my kids to go to church if Jesus is not the only way to salvation?
I graduated high school in 1965. Vatican II began when I was a junior. We had sisters come from surrounding parishes, and they represented 5 communities and 1 community of brothers. Most of the sisters left their communities after Vatican II. It was a huge shift not only in economics, but in catechesis. Lay teachers simply do not impart the faith in the same way that religious do, partly because they do not have formation.
Bishop Kelley high school in Tulsa, OK has significantly grown their student body as well as their evangelization efforts in recent years. Recently the evangelization efforts have been spearheaded by Father Duy Nguyen. They even have their own RCIA candidates/catechumens now. I would say it may be a good case study for other schools to follow, especially since it is in a state with one of the smallest Catholic populations.
Yes. And I'm sure he did it with the help of the laity. We are complicit
Catholic schools are so expensive I can't afford them at all. I have 5 kids and my husband might be able to pay two years for one child and nothing else!! Imagine that, the Catholic Church tells us to have large families and then makes their education system only for the rich and elite and the kids who are literally poor and qualify for assistance. Absolutely awful. So I just homeschool and hope for the best. I attended Catholic schools for 6 years and my parents had two kids and could barely afford anything at all but they managed!! And I attend Mass regularly and my money goes to those schools I can't afford to send my own kids to lool
Thank you. We have our oldest in Catholic school, with 2 younger at home and hope to have at least 1 more baby. I dont know how we will afford 3 or 4 tuitions. We're trying to trust that the path will be opened, but we're talking about $15k to $20k per year for families.
Amen!
I am surprised Bishop Barron did not mention stewardship as a viable means of continuing Catholic Education. I am from the Wichita Diocese and through stewardship of time, talent and treasure, all students are able to attend parish and high schools with no tuition. It takes an enormous amount of faith, hope and dedication but has been working here since the 70s.
The backbone of the Church are the volunteers, the paid staff, and the parish groups who are inclusive of race, gender, age, religion, handicap, and LGBTQ. The Church has been shutting out more people than gaining any by the recent evangelization.
They key to finding an “Elizabeth Ann Seton” is to teach the children about the Saints daily and to remind them constantly that God is calling them to Sainthood! Children will evangelize their parents & Catholic schools! I see it happening before my very eyes. Let’s talk, Bishop Barron!
This is encouraging. I was Catholic teacher and campus minister in the past. Left the system and took my kids out as well. As a practicing Catholic, it was disheartening to have been marginalized from the Theology department in one school and bullied by the principal in the other. Almost lost my faith when I tried to confront these issues Bishop Barron talked about only to have the L.A. archdiocese school department defended these people. Public school became a refreshing and positive change for my kids and me professionally. My kids experienced teachers and administrators who actually liked the kids and had passion for their profession. It was easier for us to be Catholic in our local public schools. I’m also speaking for other families in our area (by the way, Bishop Barron’s region). I am encouraged to hear Bishop Barron’s appeal for a saint with the love of Jesus and passion for true Catholic education to rise up and mold authentic Catholic schools. God bless this man 🙏. David
David: I had a similar experience being marginalized in the Theology department and attempted bullying by the principal for anyone who taught Church teaching faithful to the Catechism and the Magisterium. This is one of the biggest problems: the dissent from the faculty and administration. When a principal of a Catholic school and the department chair of the theology department come to your class to try to force you to apologize to your students for presenting Catholic Church teachings, that’s a problem.
Bishop Barron, I humbly pray that I can be used to dedicate the rest of my life totally to Catholic Education. I'll be praying for this every day. Thank you for your leadership. God Bless.
The Bishops have a lot of work to do on Catholic education. The Bishops need to hire dedicated Catholics emphasize Catholic teaching in schools and not liberal garbage. Some Bishops are not doing their job in propagating their faith
Unfortunately, even Catholics have been indoctrinated into liberal garbage
Ours as well - the Diocese of Fort Worth.
@@TimBoyddtimboyd So Bishop Olson allows them to spew liberal garbage. I strong believe the diocese of Tyler, under Bishop Strickland will not allow liberal garbage
Liberalism has nothing to do with your religion. Liberalism is literally just freedom of religion. That literally means Catholic schools are free to teach Catechism.
@@Avianca-rr3rf false. Some individuals who are Catholics, acquire and absorb liberalism from the society, they allow it to shape their ideologies and they bring in into the Catholic Church and its teachings, that is the problem
I was active in Christian Education in Evangelical Protestant circles and saw how Christian schools began as an effective means of assisting Christina parents to disciple their children in Christian teaching. The Christian school was distinctively Christian. I, unfortunately, observed how Christian education began to decline into affordable "private education" with a Christian veneer. Very sad! As goes the home, so goes the school. I have seen this in working in high school Faith Formation where the kinds coming are not convinced of viability of the Christian Faith--their parents drop them off to have them go through this program in prep for Confirmation but the parents don';t even attend Mass. The decline of the schools is a reflection of the decline of Christian home. Evangelism is the key!!
How can we evangelize if parents and church leaders have not been fully formed?
Catechism and fully formed education is the key
I also was a kid who went to catholic school, nuns yes! Am Catholic today and am seriously catholic. I know it wasn’t a accident.
Programming?
@@marksandsmith6778
I guess God's Fatherhood☆
👍
@@worshipthetruelight9284
✝️💩
@@marksandsmith6778
What is your point with that cheap-shot about programming?
Well said Bishop Barron! God bless you and thank you for your ministry.
It would be good to make 1 or more movies about the lives of nuns in Catholic schools in the USA during the 60's. This would serve 2 purposes: 1) Capture this golden era in case it never returns. 2) Maybe motivate a new generation to continue the good work.
Thank you for addressing this topic--it is one of great interest to me personally, but also one of great value to our Catholic community. I welcome additional shows tackling Catholic schools and would appreciate a deeper dive into the conversation.
Whow I love you Bishop I just wanted to say thank you for the work you do! I could listen to you knowledge day and night
Yes, yes, yes! Too many are worried about academic results and only a checkbox attitude to forming disciples. Close them if they aren't primarily about mission!
One of the biggest impacts of my catholic school faith was the nuns. They played a huge role in my formation. But I also see that our parents play a big role too. My mom worked at a Carholic school so that was a big part of my life as well.
Many parents who send their kids to Catholic school don’t attend church on Sundays or regularly partake in the sacraments outside of school.
I agree that adoration and evangelization is a big part that’s needed.
One thing that my daughters school has done that I see so very powerful during Covid, is to participate in a weekly online rosary with her classmates. The downside was there weren’t many parents who were involved but it was a start.
My prayer is for families to take more of an active role and not treat their child’s faith formation as secondary.
A most enlightening conversation. THANKS.
Bishop I know the root of the problem. I attended Catholic school from K-12 and the main problem is that laypersons teach the religion classes but don’t teach the core beliefs of the faith. ai never knew the Eucharist was the body blood soul and divinity of Christ until I joined a cursillo class weekend many years later. I learned more about the faith from that cursillo weekend than my whole Catholic school career. Cursilo is becoming massively important to educating the faithful to really know the faith
I know someone who said, "I went to Mass daily when I was in school; so, I banked enough to not attend Mass for the rest of my life." Sadly, he had passed away. And I don't know anyone who has offered Mass for him.
You can offer a mass for him.
From cradle to crypt remember to keep holy the Sabbath , also Jesus said unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you cannot have life in you. one hour s week on Saturday or Sundays is not to much to offer to God considering Jesus hung on the cross.for us. And endured pain and suffering so we would not be overcome by the evil one. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity so when we are one with Him reverently receiving the Eucharist we are one with the Trinity ,Father ,Son, and Spirit.
I appreciate that homeschooling and classical education are also supported here. When my kids were in our parish school (our diocese is tithing based, not tuition, which encourages our parishioners to send their kids there), I used to volunteer teaching English and was often able to incorporate faith into literature and writing classes. When I later switched to homeschooling, I taught group classes which also incorporated faith into lit, writing, history, and science. It worked well.
💖💖💖💖 let us pray for more vocations to Catholic Education ❤️❤️❤️
I will say that as a high school theology teacher, I could usually tell very quickly how much the faith was taught at home. The blame often gets put on teachers or diocese with hokey teaching styles but it really is an uphill battle. The religion teacher is often expected to miraculously churn out disciplines of Christ who have no foundation at home and have parents who are not living the faith. Try teaching about the sanctity of marriage for example when half your class have parents who are divorced. They may be learning the truth in your classroom but that influence is brief compared to the barrage they are getting from culture, their friends and even their own families. Every high school religion teacher dreads the day they have to dive into the the Church’s teaching on gender identity or homosexuality, not because they didn’t prepare with prayer and sound arguments but because even despite those, they are up against indifference and opposition on a grand scale. Having taught in the Wichita diocese which is considered one of the best in the country, teachers still regularly got angry phones calls from parents , letters sent to the superintendent or students who ran out crying because the Church teaches something they don’t like. Of course the answer is not to just give up but it’s also not to just blame Catholic schools. Yes we are still coming out of an era of shallow religious teaching but in many parts of the country, that has already been remedied and the outcome is still bleak. We need to evangelize families and that takes a much greater commitment from lay people and pastors alike.
I'd like to add that the Theology teachers in Catholic schools need to have a proper Theological education rather than simply practicing Catholics who are in good standing with their parish
You're spot on, thank you.
This is true for every subject. Education starts in the home. If parents dont do their job in instilling the desire to learn, teachers cant do their job of teaching.
@@Tttb95 true for every subject indeed. And every learner in the class is more important than the class as a whole
A true description of the experience of teachers worldwide. Unless we accept the irrelevance and death of the industrial model of schooling in the contemporary world, we will remain ineffective and grow increasingly irrelevant. Why cant we understand the significance of a PERSONAL, INDIVIDUAL encounter with Christ? Study Jesus as teacher and compare it with our preferred teaching methods. See the contrasts?
Dear Bishop Baron please pray also for my sisters son Benedict studying for 6 month in Berecly university California.God blesse you and young generation
I wish there were more Catholic movies, animations, novels, books, songs. More reaching out 'underground'. And not just any but good, fun, in depth ones!
Agreed. There's a real drought of Catholic entertainment in the world.
@@TS47YT well, the few that are out there, most people don't really see.. like Terrence Malik's movies.. check out A Hidden Life, or any of his older movies.
@@ericjanuar2563 thanks for the recommendations, will check those out! Loved the novels 'lord of the world', 'the keys of the kingdom', and the movies 'Moscati: doctor to the poor', 'the staircase', 'Duns Scotus', 'the flowers of st francis'
The Scarlet and the Black, based on a true story. Gregory Peck plays the priest. Excellent movie.
@@mariehayes5281 new one for me, thank you!
Thanks Bishop for enlightening the real motto of Catholic Education and The Aim of Catholic Schools….
The Evangelization and through which the real Catholic values are being communicated into the young minds ….
Good job and God’s blessings
Very astute analysis; I pray for a revitalization of the Catholic Schools. I translate your term evangelization as discipleship or spiritual formation. This appears so insightful it must be prophetic and by God’s power will it be so!
Bishop Barron, thanks for the shout out to ACE! My daughter has just graduated from the University of Notre Dame and has immediately entered its newest ACE cohort. As she tells me about the course-work that is preparing her to become a Catholic grade school teacher this August, I am thrilled to discover that she is purposefully being challenged and directed to incorporate the tenets of the faith into each and every subject she will be teaching. I agree with you that this is so critical; Jesus and His Church MUST be at the center of each and every class. I have been following you for years and are so indebted to your preaching and teaching. Thank you. I assure you - your good and holy work has had quite a positive ripple effect throughout my family. We're so grateful for you.
Do appreciate your gracious Presence☆
God bless you heaps☆
The school taught was one of the first to become ACE certified. I got an all expense paid, essentially, retreat up to ND. It was great and I learned so much!
Has University of Notre Dame gone back to being Catholic? Are you sure your daughter is being educated in the Catholic faith and not some version of Catholic political correctness?
@@nnovo3122 Hello N Novo. Yes, I can honestly say that my daughter was well educated in the Catholic faith during her undergraduate time at Notre Dame, praise God. It was not a watered down version of the faith in any way. Also, the two individuals who spoke at her graduation were exceptional - devout and unabashedly enthusiastic Catholics with courageous and selfless stories to tell. I can't speak for everyone, of course, but my family's experience at Notre Dame was excellent, and my daughter's faith formation was perfectly in line with Church doctrine. As an aside, while my daughter was there, she had the joy of serving as a Confirmation Sponsor for her roommate, and throughout that process, the Confirmandi and their sponsors all watched several videos from Bishop Barron's Catholicism Series, which pleased me so much. God bless you, N Novo!
Thanks. Seen in London, England.
The description you made of the catholic schools in the US resembles very much what I see here in Brazil.
I am now realising, on the long run of being 47, how important for mew was to be sent to a Catholic school (which I hated at the time). This has meant a successful marriage in the midst of generalised divorce, unchastity and the such.. Thank you mother Chruch for bringing me t and my wife to Christ.
Our Catholic School in Batavia, IL is flourishing. Not only does faith permeate every part of their day, but first period EVERY DAY is school mass.
Thank you Brandon and Bishop Barron, we love the program and we thank God for you Bishop! I am not sure if nuns and priest are allow to participate now in education (Scandal in the Church). Should we now focus now more educating those lay teachers?
I would love to send this to my bishop
Do it 🙏
Loved this. Thank you !!
COVID brought more children to our Catholic School District. The public schools were online while the Catholic schools remained open. We had a waiting list for the first time in years. The key will be if the new children continue next year.
I'm not Catholic...but the same need ... Classical Christian education is needed every where....
Hello Nancy
I left a broken home for a Benedictine boarding school. It was the first time I recognized men that were good, that I should respect and that were smarter than me. Even the guys who were kicked out want to send their sons there.
This is probably the first time I've read a positive review of a Catholic boarding school. Thanks
I'm an engineer and one day I will take step back from work to teach math at a catholic school. Blessed my fiance is a nurse and we can afford to do this one day
Where are the consequences for agostic, atheist, and heretical education in Catholic schools? That's the pivotal factor missing from this discussion. The bishops are forever inviting their schools to be orthodox and evangelistic, but they offer only words. Even Pope Benedict XVI required an agreement by educators to avoid heretical teaching but was ignored for the toothless mandate. So many nominally Catholic schools have already been overtaken by non-Catholic and disobedient Catholic administrators, teachers, and directors because the bishops didn't care enough to exercise their authority over those schools.
Catholic school attendance is dropping precisely because so many are Catholic in name only. Appearances can be deceiving. I attended a nominally Catholic university full of reverent statues and paintings, with a crucifix in every classroom but God seldom on the lips of its teachers. The head of the theology department was a modern feminist who denied the historicity of the Bible. The head of philosophy, though a charitable and wise soul, was an agnostic and a self-described Marxist.
As you say, Your Excellency, close them down. Start over. Some good Catholic schools remain. But many are no longer Catholic. In presently faithful schools, require all teachers to be Catholic. Welcome non-Catholic students but with understanding that they will be taught the Catholic worldview and must tolerate it, even though we will not demand that they adopt the faith.
Demand a truly Catholic education. Or else stop pretending. Stop permitting schools to present themselves as Catholic while advocating against or without the Church.
As for 2020's acceleration of "Catholic" school closures, one favlctor is certainly the prolonged closure of Mass around the country, leading to a decline in tithing and donations. My parish and many others are struggling just to fund their churches. Part of that is likely due to the bishops' adoption of agnostic assumptions concerning disease and failure to insist that "the source and summit of the Christian life" is at least as important as groceries during a pandemic.
Also, like Catholic parents have no use for nominally Catholic schools, parents have no use for schools that won't open or are too distracted by hygiene to teach well. One friend of mine told me he was moving further from the city because he didn't want his child's first year of school to be masked, separated, and generally quarantined.
We are living during a period of pruning, as Pope Benedict XVI testified. It is good that Catholic schools are being culled so that the bishops and faithful can remember their duty to live "in the world but not of the world."
Nicely said
Aaron Miller
It amazes me when Catholics complain about the Catholic church is if they have absolutely no responsibility when it comes to the schools. Tell me how many Catholics you know are actually raising their children to become teaching nuns or priests? Tell me how many Catholic families you know are we actually taking their children to church with their father?
When the laity break down so don't the institutions to which they should support in a variety of ways.
You seem to think the Catholic schools are not subject to some of the affirmative action rules or financial constraints by latching parishioners and Families.
It is just stunning to me when I see comments such as yours. We are all part of the problem
Nothing in my comment suggested otherwise. I did not claim the bishops' abdication of authority is the lone problem. But they are the only ones with more than an advisory role in directing administration of Catholic schools.
Home schoolers can always listen to Word on Fire for evangelization, the whole family must do it, together as much as possible. God bless you all.
We use to have nuns teaching regular studies and religion who basically worked as charity to the church. More than 90,000 nuns left the church after the rulings of Vatican II. Many felt they had lost a special place in the Church after being demoted to the same level as a parishioner. They were no longer required to wear habits or cover their hair.
Thank you Bishop, God Bless
Recently, I asked my parents why they didn’t put my sister & I into Catholic School when we were younger and they told me they wanted to but that it was too expensive. I wish I could’ve gone and maybe I would’ve took school more seriously but I’m thankful for my journey because it made me really come to know God through my struggles & I love God 🙏 thank you Jesus ❤️(ps I’m in community college and I am majoring in Nutrition & I am an assistant Catechists teacher) :)
Great discussion. Thank you for your honesty Bishop Barron. We definitely need more people willing to dedicate their lives to Catholic education without thought of salary and benefits.
My husband taught for 23 yrs in a Catholic school in a small town in central Ohio.He taught 6th and 7th grade math (6 classes), and had his 7th grade home room for religion. He also taught 7th and 8th grade Phys Ed. He coached football, basketball, and track, and was the Athletic Director. The teachers were told, whenever they dared to question their salary, that they were doing their Baptismal duty. When we moved in 1996 to Columbus, after 23 yrs of teaching and coaching to fulfill his Baptismal duty, he was making less than $20,000. I have one word for what that was. It was a sin! It is a sin to expect Catholics to teach for less then a competitive salary than that of public school teachers.
@@songbirds3712 I can understand what you are saying. Perhaps this is the fault of the Church, in part, that after the exodus of Catholic nuns from education, the Church began to hire lay people with a promise of salary and benefits that is now shown to be completely unsustainable (unless you're in a very wealthy parish).
The public schools are funded by huge tax revenues. There is no way the Church can compete for teachers today. That is why I agree with Bishop Barron that what the Church needs today are saints who will do the work of education without need of compensation. Normally in the history of the Church, that would mean religious men and women.
I had a similar experience being marginalized in the Theology department and bullied by the principal, or anyone else who taught Church teaching faithful to the Catechism and the Magisterium. This is one of the biggest problems: the dissent from the faculty and administration. When a principal of a Catholic school and the department chair of the theology department come to your class to try to force you to apologize to your students for presenting Catholic Church teachings, that’s a problem. It’s difficult for students to get a good Catholic education when the ones teaching it not only don’t believe it themselves but teach why they think the Church is wrong on a variety matters.
Even bishop Barron contributies to kids abandoning the faith. In an interview with Ben Shapiro he said Jesus is the ‘privileged’ way to salvation. Not the only way. How do I tell my kids to go to church if Jesus is not the only way to salvation?
I absolutely love Bishop Baron. However I think he is missing a crucial point. Namely that the downfall of the Catholic school system isn’t fundamentally because of rising costs and a lack of religious sisters teaching. It’s because there’s nothing that differentiates most Catholic schools from public schools. Catholic schools have lost their identities. Many of them have given in to what is most vogue in secular culture. And therefore as costs go up why pay more for what you can get for far less at a public school? As data shows you don’t. It should be noted that it’s not just the nominal Catholics that Bishop Baron mentions that don’t value this type of “Catholic “education but your most faithful and devoted Catholics also don’t value it.
The content here on evangelization needs to be heard by everyone who runs a catholic school!
While Bishop Barron does me the nuns and nones, I’m pretty sure he discussed the loss of Catholic identity as well. Especially when he discussed evangelization. I also think the book he plugged would help establish Catholic identity.
P.E.
Did you listen to the entire video? One of the reasons that costs are going up is because there are no sisters to teach. It was their vocation. There was no need to pay a high-end salary for a good teacher. Parents are not raising their children to become nuns or priest. Some parents aren't even having enough children! They are using contraceptives!
I love it when a Catholic looks to the church are the schools for the problems instead of looking at their part in the whole mess.
It's the job of a parent to evangelize their children. The number one goal of a parent is to get their children to heaven! Parents are complicit in the rising class of schools and some Catholic schools must take Federal funding in order to survive! As a result they are forced to teach some things that are secular.
Get the same from a public school? Think again! Your school's right now or teaching your kids that they can't identify a person's gender. Teachers are forced to never use the term boy or girl! This policy exists in every state for transgender kids and the parents will never be notified by the way!
To add insult to injury, public schools are now teaching critical race Theory - meaning that if you're white you're racist. I've seen the curriculum first-hand!
Furthermore are public high schools have known convicted felon to wear ankle bracelets to school! Boys are allowed to compete on girls teams, and use them girls restroom and showers if they think they were girl!
It makes me absolutely nuts when I see comments like yours, without understanding that not only are we all complicit in the mess, that it's up to all of us to step up to the plate to fix the problem! That was the whole point of Vatican II! To get the tired lazy week complicit laity to wake the heck up and start helping the church! We are the church!
Catholic School cost about $15,000 per child... The church says to not restrict your family size then also makes catholic schooling unaffordable. I think that at the very least a middle ground would be local parishes handing out Catholic curriculum for people to homeschool... I only have three children but I don't have $45,000 a year for their education...
Yeah, a lot of it is cold, hard economics.
I'm an ICU nurse for 45 years at a Catholic Hospital.Ive been with the Sisters of Mercy for 53 years.(8 years of grammar school on the Southside of Chicago).My daughter teaches 2nd grade at your alma mater Bishop.I'm so proud of her.If you want to learn anything good-go to a Catholic school.
in the 50's and 60's i went through the elementary catholic school system. it was very thorough. but my 6th grade teacher and 7th grade teachers , both nuns , left their teaching community for something else, one in hospital administration. the tuition in the 50's was 5 dollars a month. in the 60's the tuition was 50 dollars per month. and yes amazingly i got a thorough education in the old testament and the new testament and read it every day. i was ahead of my peers in humanity education, but in the sciences i was behind. this was in the san francisco bay area.
I agree w Bishop Barron’s assessment Catholic schools’ decline: rise of nones, decline of nuns, and lack of evangelization in Catholic family life and in Catholic schools.
Fundamentally, I think our society focuses so much on materialism and self-gratification. When we think so much of ourselves, how can we teach our children and set an example for them when we are so self-involved?
Go back to the 2 great commandments: love God and love your neighbor as yourself!
I love this video. We decided to pull our kids from the diocese school for all the reasons discussed here. They are in a small, Catholic classical school and it is an incredible experience. I wish the the diocese would use them as a model!
The reason people haven't been going to Catholic schools is because it's prohibitively expensive.
I think this is main reason as well, honestly, a lot of families are interested but can’t afford to pay tuition for elementary or high school level education.
@@krist-yonnarain7786 Yes it is. I went 12 years to a Catholic School in Texas & loved it. Most of my 20 classmates are still in touch by Facebook or emails 60 yrs later. My daughter tried to send her daughter to a Catholic School here & it was sooo expensive, they just couldn't. But the CCD or RICA as they call it now, has no comparison to any kind of Catholic education at once a week for an hour or two. They received the sacraments but my 3 kids did not stay practicing Catholics after they left home. At least the one daughter is trying to go & take them frequently, but not nearly enough. They all have to have a strong example to follow to expect them to stay an active Catholic. Maybe joining the groups, clubs etc. would help, but they seem to have done away with CYO that we had which was fun & had other teen Catholics to become friends with. No more. People are just too busy these days to put their faith first.
Agreed. Perhaps it's time for Catholic laity to step up to the plate and donate money, time, and efforts...including fundraising skills
And not that different from public schools. The closet Catholic grade school to me in SF bay area says they embody the spirit of the catholic faith but never attend daily mass and don't teach the catechism or details of the faith, the spirit of Catholicism is here. Thankfully the Catholic high school here does no apologize for teaching the faith.
@@scheuermann11 At least where I am in the Diocese of Arlington, VA, the Catholic schools follow the CCC faithfully. The bigger issue nationwide is definitely cost.
The median US income AFTER taxes in 2016 was $49k while the average cost of Catholic education was $7.4k. That doesn't leave a lot for any monthly expenditures: debt, food ($600), mortgage ($1600), car ($300), health insurance ($300), medication ($100), student loans ($400), cell phone: ($100), car insurance: ($100), gas ($200), utilities ($200) etc. If these reasonable expenses were your budget, you'd be running a deficit each month. Hope your kid doesn't need any entertainment, extracurriculars, friends, or tutoring. God forbid you have a second child.
This is why homeschooling is increasing and creating a Catholicism for the elite.
What a cool episode. Makes me think of the importance of classical teaching and critical thinking. For anyone interested, or who might be in the area, Star of the Sea parish in San Francisco is opening a classical Catholic school for children. It is called Stella Maris Academy. Feel free to take a look!
Star of the Sea in Sausalito? I'm looking for a parish to do my RCIA -- maybe I should check them out! (I'm in Mill Valley.)
@@annette4660 Star of the Sea in San Francisco! A very beautiful and committed church. Wouldn't be too far over the bridge for you, I think.
@@NotOfThisWolrd Thank you so much. I'll check it out right now! And I love that they are opening a classical Catholic school. Bless their hearts.
Thanks Bishop !
Totally agree 👍
If our Catholic school were as Bishop Barron described, my kids would still be there. The leadership and teachers were such a disappointment that we decided to homeschool. I know many parents who used to send their kids there too and we all lament the worldliness that has permeated the school.
Bold words by the bishop to let the schools close, but we need and save good Catholics from being scandalized by bad schools.
What are the best resources for thoughtful evangelization in Science and Math classes?
The Catholic school system in New Zealand seems to be flourishing. They have actually built and expanded new schools in recent years. The roles are over subscribed and some of the best schools are Catholic. The Catholic Church in NZ has managed to keep fees low part of this is how schools funded. The government funds teachers and resources while buildings etc are funded through fees etc. I have heard of a friend who wasn’t Catholic, the son went to Catholic school and asked to be baptised and if the mother would join… she did. Having and open heart to all will lead many back to the church.
Thank you for sharing this. It was helpful.
Same as in the UK. Many faith schools are over-subscribed, and some even now have entrance exams. This goes from primary school, middle school and colleges.
Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing and its awesome to see the evangelization at work!
One detriment to Catolic school enrollment is cost. How can a working family with 4 kids pay $4,500+ for each child and have money left to put food on the table? I went to Catholic schools starting in1949 and it was free for members of the parish. Bishop Barron is right.. I had all nuns teach me.
We need to look at The Diocese of Lincoln NE and see how they do it. They are offering Catholic education at one of the lowest costs and they have one of the highest per capita ordination rates
Thanks. Very interesting🎁🎁
I wasn't able to attend the neighborhood Catholic school because there wasn't enough room at the tail end of the Baby Boom. But it turned out that most of my public school teachers were Catholic, followed in number by Lutherans. I had a Christian education without going to Catholic school. It's quite different nowadays.
I am catholic and went to catholic private school and catholic college but I will not be able to afford to send my kids to catholic school due to how expensive they are. Whatever happen to affordable catholic education? We are a humble middle class family
Bishop, you hit the nail on the head. Too many schools don't infuse every aspect, every subject, every sport, etc. with the Faith. It is so important to do this to help form disciples who will build the Kingdom after they graduate. Too often, the school want to be the best academically or win state championships at the cost of forming the students in the Fatih and with a relationship with Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. If every Catholic school did as you suggest, by working with families and being unapologetically Catholic in every aspect, our schools would be full and growing. Thank you for your thoughts!
My daughter just graduated from a catholic school. Unfortunately my she won't be attending catholic school. I was sanded by the education their offering now. They're not teaching the faith. It is only about the money. 😪🙏🙏🙏
My kids school is being flooded with inquiries because of everything going on in public schools right now. We’re fortunate enough to attend a church whose parishioners are extremely generous with financial aid without it we wouldn’t be able to do it. Keep “woke” culture out!
Indeed. For many Catholic schools (perhaps especially the high schools), the faith has become an afterthought. It is given lip service. But in the day-to-day life of the school, it does not permeate student and faculty life. Also, in some urban areas, Catholic students are a minority of the student body. The schools have become places to serve the local community with a slightly better alternative to public school. They are no longer places to nurture the faith of the children of Catholic families. Theology as a subject, has become a joke. It is not taken seriously. Students cannot fail theology. When most of your students are non-Catholic and could not care less, but they have to be in theology class, and, the school administration basically ensures that theology cannot be failed, it becomes a totally disrespected subject. Theology teachers have to make the classes completely watered-down wastes of time so that no one fails, even the kids who don't care. There are exceptions to this, certainly. But this seems to be the case in no small number of urban Catholic high schools. There is no way they can last because they no longer exist for the sake of the faith, regardless of what their websites say.
I think Word on Fire should run a school or set of schools as a model. You say "don't dumb down the faith"? Please show us what that looks like practically speaking.
I’d say that not dumbing down the faith means introducing to people, especially young people, the more unfiltered, more thought provoking great works of our long tradition.
For example, Dante’s descriptions and analogies of God,
G.K Chestertons essays,
Augustine, Aquinas.
Even something as simple as, give young kids Lord of the Rings and explain its biblical analogies rather than Harry Potter.
@@Chakra_king Yes, at the HS level, that's fine. But K-6 needs more straightforward reading of the OT and NT. At that level, kids love stories and can memorize anything. So feed them the stories of the Bible and the saints. That way, when they get to the upper levels, they have a firm grasp of biblical history on which they can build.
You must also consider the fact that wages haven't risen in real terms since the 1970s. Scrimping and saving is not going to cut it. Also, here here in my city there were Catholic churches and schools every few blocks, for each different European nationality group. That was unsustainable too.
Catholic schools are very important. I attended Catholic schools, religion was woven into every class. I believe my faith is strong because of it. If someone attends a religious education program for 1 hour weekly during the school year for just a few years I don't know how they have any understanding of our Catholic faith and I am not surprised they do not attend mass.
Chris P from Illinois
I work as a staff member at a Catholic school in his region. A lot of the teachers and staff are either not Catholic or not practicing Catholics. Among other things that should not be allowed, I saw a student wearing an LGBTQ shirt. While I was fortunate to attend Catholic elementary school for some years, received a solid Catholic education and saw a good witness to the Faith from lay teachers, I agree with Bishop that Catholic schools need not be afraid to ban things that are contrary to the mission of evangelization. If the school closes down because it calls out and bans the promotion of ideas that are contrary to the truth that Jesus taught, then so be it, because the purpose of the Catholic school will have been fulfilled.
Thank you for saying this. How wide spread is this problem? Is it just L.A. County, Southern California? Have you talked to other Catholic administrators from other states or even other countries? I am collecting all the info and would appreciate you share your experience.
We are praying and looking forward to enrolling our 3 and 2 year old in a catholic school. I am praying that the sacrifice with cost is sustained with financial assistance as my hope is to raise a new generation of Catholics who are strong in faith. Knowing what I know now, my goal is to nurture my children’s faith from setting examples/observation in our home to their education.
Greatly-said Bishop Barron!🤍😇😭…Very enlightening in our contemplation on which high school should my child will go next year after he graduates from Catholic middle school. My child has been in this current Catholic school since Pre-school. We weren’t considering to send our child to a Catholic school anymore next year but upon hearing this from Bishop Barron, it moved me to tears😭… Yes there’s a lot more of sacrifices to do as it has already been for us but I am willing to send my child for another 4 years of Catholic education next year. All for Jesus and in Jesus’ name.
My high school and college were also from Catholic schools years ago and I’m so grateful for my parents for their sacrifice. My husband and I were saying that we’re tired of paying tuition and yes for putting off leisure travels😀, but it’s worth the sacrifice and it’s truly a blessing for us and for our child. Thank you Bishop.🤍
My heart is overflowing with joy! I am a devoted classical Catholic teacher in Texas and I am so consoled by your willingness to boldly guide the Church on this matter. The classical tradition of the Roman Catholic Church, which has always understood and promoted the complementarity of faith and reason, is being restored by small, grass-roots, classical Catholic schools like the one I teach at. I long for the day when we no longer have to designate 'Catholic' from 'Catholic classical' in education. The Catholic Church has always been devoted to guiding, preserving, and honoring truth, goodness, and beauty through the Great Conversation. Every Catholic school should be 'classical' in principle. I am so hopeful that we are on the right track and I am happy to be doing my little part! I am deeply grateful for your spiritual fatherhood, Bishop Barron!
The best decision we ever made was to send our youngest daughter to St. John Vianney Catholic School. It is in its 65th year and a bit of a secret. After sending our older kids to public school and carefully choosing a “choice” school thinking it would be better - it was not. Homeschooling was not an option for us because of personal reasons - though I seriously considered it. Because of the Catholic school, our daughter was baptized and confirmed and we returned to Mass. There is something to be said about being immersed in the culture of Catholic school…a ripple effect of goodness for our family. I always thought it would be too expensive - not true …anyone can go and it is affordable. Please don’t let price stop you because there are programs to help. I love going to Christmas programs. I love attending Mass with my daughter’s school during the week. I love it when our daughter learns challenging curriculum. I love it when we pray. I love the devout Catholic family from Columbia whose daughter attends with our daughter - they have taught me so much. There are many things I love - too many to list here. My only regret is not learning more about Catholic education when our other kids were young. I would send them all to Catholic school if I had it to do over again.
Even with financial aid it is over $4000 per year for us for 1 child. Tell a family with 4 or 5 kids that $16000+ per year is easily affordable. Cost varies across the country
@@ashleyslack5960 That is expensive and I see your point. Our school has been in the same building for 65 years and many of the parents themselves attended the school which surprised me. Our school isn’t fancy and some schools in our area are fancy and more expensive. There is no way we could have put our four kids through at the same time at that price. Also in our situation our kids’ ages are spread apart (25,25,19,11) and that spread would have helped us. As I mentioned, our older kids attended public school, and they were subjected to all kinds of things that school should not be teaching and not taught important good things. Knowing what I know today, I would homeschool if I could not send our kids to a parochial school.
My husband earns a good salary, but it is solidly middle-class and 5 figures. I am so thankful for him and the ways the Lord provides for us through my husband's work. We are trying to take it one year at a time and trusting in the Lord's provision, but I honestly have worries about how we will afford it for all of our children. We don't have debt except our mortgage, we pay cash for everything including cars and we live a very simple lifestyle. No vacations, we don't even have internet anymore or streaming services for television. We have had the same cell phones for years. Even with a tight budget, and a good salary this is going to be a struggle. The church needs to figure out a way to make these schools accessible. And it needs to be good authentically Catholic schools that are receiving financial support from the church, not Catholic schools in name only. Thank you for sharing your perspective and your experience. I will absolutely opt for homeschooling before I put my kids in the public schools in Colorado
Future of Seminaries. Please do a podcast on that. Illustrate the points of reference we need to take. Thanks. God bless you and your mission
I'm 25 years old. My parents tried to bring me to a Catholic school and later to a Catholic college/high school (Spanish system). Too expensive and exclusive for us. I don't like public schools agenda but I'm afraid if I have children I won't be able to educate them elsewhere.
The expectation of personal responsibility was raised in the Catholic school. In practical ways, especially when I observed the difference in education, and the resulting higher, much higher percentage of those that entered college. The kids I knew from the Catholic high school all seemed a little more mature. I think that’s a combination of raising the expectations, and the teaching of the faith.
I went to Catholic School in the 1960s ... and late 50s .... my parents say we paid $25 a term when I was for example in the 5th grade. I had one lay teacher through the 7th grade! I think that was a big part of economics ... Mass every single day ... so donuts and mild provided by the school every single day due to fasting before communion. Now the cost is through the roof!! We must work on that!!! My Nuns were GREAT ... fantastic ... fully dedicated GREAT women! I loved them ... oh I got love taps from plenty of yard sticks. I am so very very very grateful. Jerry
Dear Bishop Barron -- Hello, my name is Brendan McGrath; I teach Theology in a Catholic high school, and I love all of your work; I use passages from various works you've written with my students, too! With regard to having the Catholic faith permeate our schools beyond just Theology classes, I've been thinking a lot lately about how this could be done in English classes (I actually majored in English at Georgetown, where I also minored in Theology, before getting my Master of Theological Studies at Notre Dame), and it strikes me that what could be really valuable (maybe this is something you and Word on Fire could develop) would be textbooks for English courses (e.g., AP English Language & Composition) that include more Catholic authors, writings that deal with theological/ecclesial themes and issues, etc. This summer, I've been working on developing some possible materials that English teachers could use at our school (or even that I could maybe use at some point), but I'm limited in what I can do as just one person.
I've been reading the College Board's "Course & Exam Description" book for AP English Language & Composition, and also looking through the textbook our school uses for the course -- and it breaks my heart that, on the one hand, the book and the course are so wonderful, but that on the other hand, it's such a missed opportunity to "kill two birds with one stone." E.g., the course focuses on reading authors who write for particular rhetorical situations, and then having students write pieces of their own, etc. -- what if there were a Catholic textbook (or, a Catholic supplement to existing textbooks) that had units where they could read the writings of early Christian apologists in their rhetorical situations (St. Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Origen, etc.), or maybe Newman's Apologia?
Here's a sentence from the course description book that, if we think about what's missing from it, really highlights the problem for Catholic schools: "An AP English Language & Composition course cultivates the reading and writing skills that students need for college success and for intellectually responsible civic engagement." What's missing is that, in a Catholic school, we should say "responsible civic AND ECCLESIAL engagement." And it breaks my heart that we have kids in Catholic schools going through courses like this, which are wonderful, yet which, as currently taught, may also give the message that religion, faith, etc. are totally unimportant in a course like that.
P.S. -- Is there anywhere I could send you and Word on Fire some of the course packets I've developed for my junior-year honors Theology course, and my senior-year advanced Theology course that's the sequel to it? I just feel like maybe you might like to see them, and that perhaps they could spark ideas of your own for resources you and Word on Fire could develop, etc.