Catholic Sensibility

Somehow I don't think the Domino Pizza founder and Catholic millionaire-at-large has inrgatiated himself with the education crowd. Found on Amy Welborn's open book: Domino's has been in trouble before. When you get in trouble, you prioritize. You cut out a lot of fat. It seems to me, the first place I'd look, being a layman, would be the schools. There's probably 10,000 Catholic schools in the United States alone. And I think that's a business that pastors and even diocese shouldn't be in. I think they should franchise it. I don't think much of Monaghan's overall vision of Catholicism, but he's not out of the ballpark on this one. The edge of the infield dirt behind third base maybe, but not total left field. For starters, most people I know who question the parish-run Catholic school are progressives. They raise valid points on parish ministries than go lacking, the secular aspects of education, the real impact a school has on a person's faith, etc.. Sure I know the line: faith permeates the education of every Catholic school student. You can't measure it. You never know when a seed planted will sprout. And that all might well be true. The problem is: faith does not permeate the home life of every Catholic school student. Therein lies the main challenge, as I see it. About 30% of the kids at my parish's school come to Sunday Mass on any given weekend. Two weeks ago I was asked to develop a "remedial" effort for next year to introduce kindergarteners and first graders to "liturgy etiquette." Basically, teaching them how to worship, or at the very least, moving them out of the Cry Room/Cheerios/Go-To-The-Bathroom-When-I-Want-To experience of Mass. If a fairly liberal parish staff can identify such a problem and agree how to address it, I can only imagine what my more conservative commentators are thinking. The context of Monaghan's remarks is the supposed priest shortage. We don't have a shortage of teachers generally, so I'm not sure what he's thinking on the connection between schools and priests. It is true that parish schools take up a substantial percentage of a parish budget. In my parish, it's about 66%. I've worked in parishes where it's been a few points higher. I have heard non-progressive thrifties complain about having to "support" a school. And let's be honest, Catholic schools have totally changed over the past three generations, and these changes are not without problems. Take a look at these items: - On any given weekend outside of Easter and Christmas, there are fewer Catholic school students going to Mass than doing something else. - Some parents treat schools as an inexpensive alternative to poor city public schools and expensive prep academies. - Studies have shown that Catholic grade school graduates have no discernible catechetical advantage over Catholics who went to RE. The same studies show Sunday worship as a family is the single most influential factor in a Catholic maintaining faith practices and faith "literacy" into young adulthood. Catholic schools are still being built, by the way. Mostly in middle-class to wealthy suburbs, where the need is probably the lightest. Also where the cult of sport and affluence rates higher than Christian commitment in some quarters. A priest friend once related to me the gist of a Holy Week encounter in his parish. Thursday afternoon he was walking the parish grounds pondering his homily or something and he noticed the football coach (this was Spring, mind you) working with some boys. He walked over and asked if they were coming to Church that night. Church? the coach asked. Mass of the Lord's Supper--Holy Thursday, said my friend. Uh, the boys will be dirty, coach said. That's okay, said the pastor, they'll be just where they need to be. (My mind immediately flashed to Peter, then wash not only my feet, but my head and hands as well.) You know, we can't have the tail wagging the dog in our parish. Better if it happens the other way around. Even in the suburbs, the school can be a fine facet in a parish's ministry effort, especially if formation in the faith remains at the forefront as it did in American Catholic schools before 1945. But it's an issue that despite squirming from my NCEA colleagues, does indeed need to be discussed.