Catholic education is in a state of “mission confusion,” according to Patricia Weitzel-O’Neill, the outgoing superintendent of schools in the Archdiocese of Washington. More and more schools in city centers are closing their doors, shutting out a potential immigrant and non-Catholic student body, as affluent families elsewhere are targeted to enroll their children in expensive Catholic schools. Weitzel-O’Neill said vigorous support for Catholic education is lacking from both parents and pastors. Parents, she said, believe their children get a satisfactory education in suburban public school districts, while a growing number of pastors never attended Catholic schools themselves. Nationwide 5,645 fewer Catholic schools are operating now than in 1960. Meanwhile, what Weitzel-O’Neill termed “faux Catholic schools” are springing up, led by those who have been in the Catholic home-school movement. “They’re teaching the Catholic faith, but they’re not approved by any bishop,” she said.
Catholic Education's 'Mission Confusion'
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
“We must pray for the conversion of many people, inside and outside of the church, who still do not recognize the urgency of caring for our common home,” Pope Leo XIV said while celebrating a new formulary of the Mass “for the care of creation.”
A Reflection for the Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time, by Ashley McKinless
No one ever expected a U.S.-born pope. In this first-ever I “Inside the Vatican” Deep Dive series, those who know him best reveal who Pope Leo XIV—“the American pope”—really is. In Episode 1, we hear from the genealogist who uncovered his Louisiana roots, a teacher, and fellow Augustinian friars
The Vatican Synod office has released a set of guidelines for local churches and bishops to implement the proposals of the recent Synod on Synodality.