The goal of Catholic education should be to cultivate an army of saints.

The Soul of Education

By Jacquelyn Lee

The goal of Catholic education should be to cultivate an army of saints. Every graduate from a Catholic school should be equipped with the tools necessary to live their faith honestly and completely. They should know not only what the Church teaches, but why she teaches what she does and how to explain Church teachings properly and defend them effectively to others. A student’s time in Catholic school also must root them in prayer and the sacramental life. If this aspect is overlooked, then it doesn’t matter how much students leave knowing about God. Their commitment to the faith will wane without a personal relationship with Christ in prayer. These should be the priorities of a Catholic school because the salvation of eternal souls far out weighs any temporal matter in importance.

However, it does not appear that these goals are the priority of Catholic schools today. It takes money to run a school. Catholic schools are not exempt from this, but whereas public schools receive funding from the federal and local governments, Catholic schools must charge tuition. Thus, Catholic school is expensive. It is truly an investment in a child’s future to send them to Catholic school for any period of time, and often this involves sacrifices on the part of the family.

In the past, Catholic schools were typically run by religious orders, but with the long term decline of vocations this is simply not possible anymore. Religious orders are not in the business of making money, but the laity must make a living and fallen human nature inclines men towards excess. The people responsible for leading Catholic schools see it in terms of a business and the goal of a business is making money. While there is no sense in denying that this is a component of the situation that we must engage, it is important that this is not the sole focus for the leaders of a school.

When making a profit becomes the overwhelming goal of a school administration, the essence of what a Catholic school ought to be falls to the wayside. Being truly, authentically, Catholic is hard. This does not mean that Catholic schools should dilute their Catholic identities for the sake of attracting more students or making more money.

On the contrary, one’s Catholic identity ought to be clung to like a life raft in the middle of a hurricane. A school that is Catholic more than just in name will produce a generation of Catholics capable of carrying on the Church through the storms of coming decades. If a school’s Catholic identity is its central focus, the rest will follow. The Catholic Church provides individuals with a way to live that while not easy, is appealing even to outsiders. Christians have a joy that shines forth from their words and deeds, a certain charisma about them, that is unmistakable.


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