Panelists address challenges ahead for Catholic schools

Published: 2004-01-15

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When about 250 Catholic educators from around the country met in Washington Jan. 8-11, they did not seem daunted by the challenges that lie ahead for them. The group of principals, superintendents, catechetical leaders and diocesan officials, who gathered to attend a symposium marking the 100th year of the National Catholic Educational Association, instead spoke frankly of difficulties they currently face and of ways they could meet these obstacles head on. A particular challenge, brought up repeatedly during a Jan. 9 panel discussion, was the urgency of continuing the work of Catholic education while the church, in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse crisis, has lost some of its credibility. "We are in a humbled church. We need to take this moment of grace. If not, we've missed a moment," said Dominican Sister Rose Marie Hennessy, prioress of the Dominican Sisters of San Jose, Calif. Sister Hennessy urged educators to take this particular time to teach young people the very essence of the Catholic faith.

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