In answer to the question of whether there is a real need for Catholic schools today, Bishop Joseph L. Bernardin gave an emphatic “yes” in a talk at St. Joseph’s parish third annual Art and Science Fair last Sunday.

The bishop said, “The question which must first be answered is whether there is a real need for Catholic schools today; whether the reason for maintaining our system today are as compelling as the reasons which prompted the Church in America to begin establishing schools over 100 years ago. If we can justify the need for Catholic schools today, then we can proceed to consider other problems which our schools face and to seek solutions to these problems.” “To the question of whether we need Catholic schools today, my answer is an emphatic ‘yes.’ It is true the conditions have changed since the mid-nineteenth century, when the Council of Baltimore made it mandatory that every parish establish a school as soon as possible and imposed penalties on those parents who did not send their children to these schools,” the bishop said.

He noted that Catholics have come of age in the United States, they are more affluent, and for the most part their strength and influence is proportionate to their numbers. In a pluralistic society which has advanced to a new degree of maturity and sophistication, anti-Catholic prejudice, for the most part has ceased to be a real problem in the field of education as well as in other areas.

He said, “The fact remains that the public schools are, by law, completely secular institutions. While this is perhaps inevitable and necessary in a pluralistic society such as ours, it leaves us with the problem of how we can effectively give our children the religious instruction and formation which is so essential during the formative years.”

“The Church maintains schools because she believes that the best education is that which is oriented toward all the needs of the child, including spiritual needs. Education which ignores this aspect of the child, indeed education which is not permeated by religious and moral values, is deficient.”

The bishop cited the statement of the Council fathers in the Degree on Catholic Education which emphasized the fact that parents have the right to provide for the educational needs of their children and their freedom in this matter must be respected, the statement reaffirmed the importance of Catholic schools.

Quoting from the decree regarding the Catholic school, the bishop said, “It (the school) has several distinctive purposes. It aims to create for the school community an atmosphere enlivened by the gospel spirit of freedom and charity. It aims to help the adolescent in such a way that the development of his own personality will be matched by the growth of that new creation which he became in baptism. It strives to relate all human culture eventually to the needs of salvation, so that the light of faith will illuminate the knowledge which students gradually gain of the world, of life, and of mankind...The purpose in view is that, by living an exemplary and apostolic life, the Catholic graduate can become the saving leaven of the human family.

“Therefore, since it can contribute so substantially to fulfilling the mission of God’s people, and can further the dialogue between the Church and the family of man, to their mutual benefit, the Catholic school retains its immense importance in the circumstances of our times, too.”

Both the Greely-Rossi report and the “Catholic Schools in America,” a study sponsored by Notre Dame University seem to back statistically the validity of the Church’s official position as stated by the Council, the bishop said.

Noting the conclusions of the studies, the bishop said that they indicate a moderate but significant relationship between Catholic education and adult religious behavior. Although the Greely-Rossi report did not attempt to distinguish between poor CCD programs and good ones, it did not find that on the national average the present CCD program has much effect and would have to be improved considerably to be realistically considered a functional substitute for Catholic schools.

The bishop said, “We must realistically face the problems which confront us. The quality of education in the public schools is constantly improving... I think that everyone agrees that we can hardly expect Catholic children to go to Catholic schools unless they have a first class education... But in the essentials, we cannot help but keep up with the standards of the public school system.”

The bishop said it is for this reason that the archdiocesan Synod in line with recommendations of the lay congress and sisters’ congress, has decided that all parochial schools must be accredited by 1972.

He said, “Accreditation in itself is not a panacea; the quality of the education in a school depends on other factors as well. In our own schools, for example, one such factor would be the caliber and dedication of our sisters.” A practical problem which must be faced is the rising cost of education in the Catholic school system and in the schools of religion. The bishop said, “The children who are in the schools of religion (either by necessity or choice) have a right to receive a proportionate share of the parish income which is marked for education since their parents contribute as much as do the parents of children in the

parochial school. For example, we are going to employ trained catechists on a full or part-time basis rather than relying on volunteers.” He said, “Now that the laity are assuming more responsibility and will play a more active role in planning and policy-making, they will have a better understanding of the Church’s needs. And I am confident that their response will be much better.”

The purpose of Fine Arts Week was to encourage the inquisitive minds of youth to reach out to new experiences in art, science, and music in order to have a wider appreciation of life.

Award for outstanding work were given to: Evelyn Myers, Peter Webster, Mike Anderson, John Hallisey, Debbie Dubose, Mary Pfab, Debbie Landy, Sammy Bereznik, Sean Randall, Keith Kent, Chris Wynne, Bill Ingalsbee, Jeff Hawkins, Barbara Cowan, Karen Schnorak, Kathy Reusing, Ginger Pfab, Maureen Scherer, Margaret Hogan, Susan Spence, Cheryl Tarczynksi, Melinda Borgel, Fiona Turnbull, Rose Moseley, Maureen Carey, Matthew Cafiso, Jan Webster, Pat Duff, Michael Cafiso.