Print Issue: December 5, 2002
U.S. Bishops Affirm Need To Support Catholic Schools' Mission
By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. bishops voted Nov. 11 to develop a new statement on Catholic schools in light of the challenges the schools face today and the new support they have received.
"It has been 12 years since the bishops last spoke on Catholic elementary and secondary schools," Bishop Donald Wuerl of Pittsburgh said at the bishops' plenary meeting, and the schools have entered "a new millennium with new challenges."
"There is a need to reaffirm the rights of parents to educate their children . . . At the heart of it is our desire to demonstrate our solidarity with teachers and administrators of Catholic schools and parents who send their children to Catholic schools, as well as benefactors and supporters."
Texts like the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Pope John Paul II's pastoral letter on the new millennium, published since the bishops last wrote on Catholic schools in 1990, should be incorporated, he said. Bishop Wuerl is chairman of the Committee on Education and Advisory Committee on Public Policy and Catholic Schools.
"I strongly support the development of this statement. We need it," said Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia.
He asked that it "emphasize faithfulness to the magisterium," the church's teaching authority, and "strengthening the Catholic identity of schools" and state that the primary purpose of the schools is to teach the Catholic faith.
Retired New Orleans Archbishop Francis Schulte said after a "crisis of confidence," Catholic schools are now experiencing a resurgence.
"We went through a crisis of confidence in our schools . . . But now today's laity are telling us in many parts of the country they want Catholic schools," Archbishop Schulte said. "Minorities in the country have also expressed support" for Catholic schools because they have fostered academic success for minority students, Catholic or not, he said.
Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Sullivan of Brooklyn, N.Y., asked whether the document would "include the vast numbers of young children who do not have the resources to attend Catholic schools."
However, Bishop Wuerl said the conference of bishops has already issued a statement on religious education and one on Catholic schools would "balance" that text on catechesis.
By a voice vote, the bishops overwhelmingly approved Bishop Wuerl's motion to develop a new statement in support of Catholic elementary and secondary schools. He said it would probably take two years for the document to be developed and presented to the bishops for approval.
The bishops' action follows the U.S. Supreme Court decision on June 27 upholding Cleveland's school voucher program. In a 5-4 ruling, the court said the Cleveland program is "entirely neutral with respect to religion." A majority of the students who receive the vouchers use them to attend Catholic schools.
Chief Justice William Rehnquist said the system is "a program of true private choice" and does not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the voucher system is an effective way of helping minority students get the education needed "to defend themselves from some of discrimination's effects."
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