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This Vatican document outlines the fundamental principles of Catholic education, its mission, and its role in the modern world. Essential reading for understanding the global context of Catholic education.

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1. The Catholic school is receiving more and more attention in the Church since the Second Vatican Council, with particular emphasis on the Church as she appears in the Constitutions Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes. In the Council's Declaration Gravissimum Educationis it is discussed in the wider sphere of Christian education. The present document develops the idea of this Declaration, limiting itself to a deeper reflection on the Catholic school.

2. The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education is aware of the serious problems which are an integral part of Christian education in a pluralistic society. It regards as a prime duty, therefore, the focusing of any attention on the nature and distinctive characteristics of school which would present itself as Catholic. Yet the diverse situations and legal systems in which the Catholic school has to function in Christian and non-Christian countries demand that local problems be faced and solved by each Church within its own social-cultural context.

3. While acknowledging this duty of the local Churches, the Sacred Congregation believes that now is the opportune moment to offer its own contribution by re-emphasising clearly the educational value of the Catholic school. It is in this value that the Catholic school's fundamental reason for existing and the basis of its genuine apostolate is to be found. This document does not pretend to be an exhaustive treatment of the subject; it merely proposes to state the premises that will lead to further fruitful study and implementation.

4. To Episcopal Conferences, pastorally concerned for all young Catholics whatever school they attend (1), the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education entrusts this present document in order that they may seek to achieve an effective system of education at all levels which corresponds to the total educational needs of young people today in Catholic schools. The Sacred Congregation also addresses itself to all who are responsible for education - parents, teachers, young people and school authorities - and urges them to pool all their resources and the means at their disposal to enable Catholic schools to provide a service which is truly civic and apostolic.
I.
THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL AND THE SALVIFIC MISSION OF
THE CHURCH The Salvific Mission of the Church
5. In the fulness of time, in His mysterious plan of love, God the Father sent His only Son to begin the Kingdom of God on earth and bring about the spiritual rebirth of mankind. To continue His work of salvation, Jesus Christ founded the Church as a visible organism, living by the power of the Spirit.

6. Moved by the same Spirit, the Church is constantly deepening her awarness of herself and meditating on the mystery of her being and mission.(2) Thus she is ever rediscovering her living relationship with Christ "in order to discover greater light, energy, and joy in fulfilling her mission and determining the best way to ensure that her relationship with humanity is closer and more efhcacious"(3) - that humanity of which she is a part and yet so undeniably distinct. Her destiny is to serve humanity until it reaches its fullness in Christ.

7. Evangelisation is, therefore, the mission of the Church; that is she must proclaim the good news of salvation to all, generate new creatures in Christ through Baptism, and train them to live knowingly as children of God.
Means available for the Mission of the Church
8. To carry out her saving mission, the Church uses, above all, the means which Jesus Christ has given her. She also uses other means which at different times and in different cultures have proved effective in achieving and, promoting the development of the human person. The Church adapts these means to the changing conditions and emerging needs of mankind(4). In her encounter with differing cultures and with man's progressive achievements, the Church proclaims the faith and reveals "to all ages the transcendent goal which alone gives life its full meaning"(5). She establishes her own schools because she considers them as a privileged means of promoting the formation of the whole man, since the school is a centre in which a specific concept of the world, of man, and of history is developed and conveyed.
Contribution of the Catholic school towards the Salvific Mission of the Church
9. The Catholic school forms part of the saving mission of the Church, especially for education in the faith. Remembering that "the simultaneous development of man's psychological and moral consciousness is demanded by Christ almost as a pre-condition for the reception of the befitting divine gifts of truth and grace"(6) , the Church fulfills her obligation to foster in her children a full awareness of their rebirth to a new life(7). It is precisely in the Gospel of Christ, taking root in the minds and lives of the faithful, that the Catholic school finds its definition as it comes to terms with the cultural conditions of the times.
The Church's educational involvement and cultural pluralism
10. In the course of the centuries "while constantly holding to the fullness of divine truth"(8) the Church has progressively used the sources and the means of culture in order to deepen her understanding of revelation and promote constructive dialogue with the world. Moved by the faith through which she firmly believes herself to be led by the Spirit of the Lord, the Church seeks to discern in the events, needs and hopes of our era(9) the most insistent demands which she must answer if she is to carry out God's plan.

11. One such demand is a pressing need to ensure the presence of a Christian mentality in the society of the present day, marked, among other things, by cultural pluralism. For it is Christian thought which constitutes a sound criterion of judgment in the midst of conflicting concepts and behaviour: "Reference to Jesus Christ teaches man to discern the values which ennoble from those which degrade him"(10).

12. Cultural pluralism, therefore, leads the Church to reaffirm her mission of education to insure strong character formation. Her children, then, will be capable both of resisting the debilitating influence of relativism and of living up to the demands made on them by their Baptism. It also stimulates her to foster truly Christian living and apostolic communities, equipped to make their own positive contribution, in a spirit of cooperation, to the building up of the secular society. For this reason the Church is prompted to mobilise her educational resources in the face of the materialism, pragmatism and technocracy of contemporary society.

13. The Church upholds the principle of a plurality of school systems in order to safeguard her objectives in the face of cultural pluralism. In other words, she encourages the co-existence and, if possible, the cooperation of diverse educational institutions which will allow young people to be formed by value judgments based on a specific view of the world and to be trained to take an active part in the construction of a community through which the building of society itself is promoted.

14. Thus, while policies and opportunities differ from place to place, the Catholic school has its place in any national school system. By offering such an alternative the Church wishes to respond to the obvious need for cooperation in a society characterised by cultural pluralism. Moreover, in this way she helps to promote that freedom of teaching which champions and guarantees freedom of conscience and the parental right to choose the school best suited to parents' educational purpose.(11)

15. Finally, the Church is absolutely convinced that the educational aims of the Catholic school in the world of today perform an essential and unique service for the Church herself. It is, in fact, through the school that she participates in the dialogue of culture with her own positive contribution to the cause of the total formation of man. The absence of the Catholic school would be a great loss(12) for civilisation and for the natural and supernatural destiny of man.

II.
PRESENT DIFFICULTIES OVER CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

16. In the light of her mission of salvation, the Church considers that the Catholic school provides a privileged environment for the complete formation of her members, and that it also provides a highly important service to mankind. Nevertheless, she is aware of the many problems that exist and objections that are made against Catholic schools sometimes regarding the very validity of their existence and their functions. The issue is really part of a much wider problem which faces all institutions as such in a society as the present, characterised by rapid and profound change.
Objections raised against Catholic schools
17. In the debate about Catholic schools there are some easily identifiable central objections and difficulties. These need to be borne in mind if discussion is to be relevant to the actual situation and if teachers are to make a serious attempt to adapt their work to the needs of the contemporary world.

18. In the first place many people, both inside and outside the Church, motivated by a mistaken sense of the lay role in secular society, attack Catholic schools as institutions. They do not admit that, apart from the individual witness of her members, the Church also may offer witness by means of her institutions, e.g. those dedicated to the search for truth or to works of charity.

19. Others claim that Catholic schools make use of a human institution for religious and confessional purposes. Christian education can sometimes run into the danger of a so-called proselytism, of imparting a one-sided outlook. This can happen only when Christian educators misunderstand the nature and methods of Christian education. Complete education necessarily includes a religious dimension. Religion is an effective contribution to the development of other aspects of a personality in the measure in which it is integrated into general education.

20. According to others, Catholic schools have outlived their time; - as institutions they were a necessary substitute in the past but have no place at a time when civil authority assumes responsibility for education. In fact, as the State increasingly takes control of education and establishes its own so-called neutral and monolithic system, the survival of those natural communities, based on a shared concept of life, is threatened. Faced with this situation, the Catholic school offers an alternative which is in conformity with the wishes of the members of the community of the Church.

21. In some countries Catholic schools have been obliged to restrict their educational activities to wealthier social classes, thus giving an impression of social and economic discrimination in education. But this occurs only where the State has not weighed the advantages of an alternative presence in their pluralistic society. From such nearsightedness considerable difficulties have arisen for Catholic schools.

22. Allied to these points, objections are raised concerning the educational results of the Catholic school. They are sometimes accused of not knowing how to form convinced, articulate Christians ready to take their place in social and political life. Every educational enterprise, however, involves the risk of failure and one must not be too discouraged by apparent or even real failures, since there are very many formative influences on young people and results often have to be calculated on a long-term basis.

23. Before concluding these comments on the objections raised against Catholic schools, one must remember the context in which contemporary work in the field of education is undertaken, and especially in the Church. The school problem in our rapidly changing society is serious for everyone. The Second Vatican Council has encouraged a more openminded approach which has sometimes been misrepresented in theory and practice. There are difficulties in the provision of adequate staff and finance. In such a situation should the Church perhaps give up her apostolic mission in Catholic schools, as some people would like her to do, and direct her energy to a more direct work of evangelisation in sectors considered to be of higher priority or more suited to her spiritual mission, or should she make State schools the sole object of her pastoral activity? Such a solution would not only be contrary to the directives of the Vatican Council, but would also be opposed to the Church's mission and to what is expected of her by Christian people. What follows emphasises this fact.
Some aspects of schools today
24. To understand the real nature of the Catholic school one cannot divorce it from wider modern problems concerning schools in general. Apart from the ideas advanced by the promoters of de-schooling - a theory which now seems of minor significance - contemporary society tends to place greater importance than ever on the specific function of the school: its social significance (parental participation, increased democratisation, equality of opportunity); its tendency to coordinate and eventually include the educational work of other institutions; the extension of the statutory duration of attendance at school.
III.
THE SCHOOL AS A CENTRE OF HUMAN FORMATION
25. To understand fully the specific mission of the Catholic school it is essential to keep in mind the basic concept of what a school is; that which does not reproduce the characteristic features of a school cannot be a Catholic school.
The general purpose of a school
26. A close examination of the various definitions of school and of new educational trends at every level, leads one to formulate the concept of school as a place of integral formation by means of a systematic and critical assimilation of culture. A school is, therefore, a privileged place in which, through a living encounter with a cultural inheritance, integral formation occurs.

27. This vital approach takes place in the school in the form of personal contacts and commitments which consider absolute values in a life-context and seek to insert them into a life-framework. Indeed, culture is only educational when young people can relate their study to real-life situations with which they are familiar. The school must stimulate the pupil to exercise his intelligence through the dynamics of understanding to attain clarity and inventiveness. It must help him spell out the meaning of his experiences and their truths. Any school which neglects this duty and which offers merely pre-cast conclusions hinders the personal development of its pupils.
School and attitudes of life
28. From this it is clear that the school has to review its entire programme of formation, both its content and the methods used, in the light of that vision of the reality from which it draws its inspiration and on which it depends.

29. Either implicit or explicit reference to a determined attitude to life (Weltanschauung) is unavoidable in education because it comes into every decision that is made. It is, therefore, essential, if for no other reason than for a unity in teaching, that each member of the school community, albeit with differing degrees of awareness, adopts a common vision, a common outlook on life, based on adherence to a scale of values in which he believes. This is what gives teachers and adults authority to educate. It must never be forgotten that the purpose of instruction at school is education, that is, the development of man from within, freeing him from that conditioning which would prevent him from becoming a, fully integrated human being. The school must begin from the principle that its educational programme is intentionally directed to the growth of the whole person.

30. It is one of the formal tasks of a school, as an institution for education, to draw out the ethical dimension for the precise purpose of arousing the individual's inner spiritual dynamism and to aid his achieving that moral freedom which complements the psychological. Behind this moral freedom, however, stand those absolute values which alone give meaning and value to human life. This has to be said because the tendency to adopt present-day values as a yardstick is not absent even in the educational world. The danger is always to react to passing, superficial ideas and to lose sight of the much deeper needs of the contemporary world.
The school in today's society
31. Precisely because the school endeavours to answer the needs of a society characterised by depersonalisation and a mass production mentality which so easily result from scientific and technological developments, it must develop into an authentically formational school, reducing such risks to a minimum. It must develop persons who are responsible and inner-directed, capable of choosing freely in conformity with their conscience. This is simply another way of saying that the school is an institution where young people gradually learn to open themselves up to life as it is, and to create in themselves a definite attitude to life as it should be.

32. When seen in this light, a school is not only a place where one is given a choice of intellectual values, but a place where one has presented an array of values which are actively lived. The school must be a community whose values are communicated through the interpersonal and sincere relationships of its members and through both individual and corporative adherence to the outlook on life that permeates the school.
IV.
THE EDUCATIONAL WORK OF THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL Specific character of the Catholic school
33. Having stated the characteristics of the Catholic school from the point of view of "school" we can now examine its Catholic quality, namely its reference to a Christian concept of life centred on Jesus Christ.

34. Christ is the foundation of the whole educational enterprise in a Catholic school. His revelation gives new meaning to life and helps man to direct his thought, action and will according to the Gospel, making the beatitudes his norm of life. The fact that in their own individual ways all members of the school community share this Christian vision, makes the school "Catholic"; principles of the Gospel in this manner become the educational norms since the school then has them as its internal motivation and final goal.

35. The Catholic school is committed thus to the development of the whole man, since in Christ, the Perfect Man, all human values find their fulfilment and unity. Herein lies the specifically Catholic character of the school. Its duty to cultivate human values in their own legitimate right in accordance with its particular mission to serve all men has its origin in the figure of Christ. He is the One Who ennobles man, gives meaning to human life, and is the Model which the Catholic school offers to its pupils.

36. If, like every other school, the Catholic school has as its aim the critical communication of human culture and the total formation of the individual, it works towards this goal guided by its Christian vision of reality "through which our cultural heritage acquires its special place in the total vocational life of man"(13). Mindful of the fact that man has been redeemed by Christ, the Catholic school aims at forming in the Christian those particular virtues which will enable him to live a new life in Christ and help him to play faithfully his part in building up the Kingdom of God(14).

37. These premises indicate the duties and the content of the Catholic school. Its task is fundamentally a synthesis of culture and faith, and a synthesis of faith and life: the first is reached by integrating all the different aspects of human knowledge through the subjects taught, in the light of the Gospel; the second in the growth of the virtues characteristic of the Christian.
Integration of faith and culture
38. In helping pupils to achieve through the medium of its teaching an integration of faith and culture, the Catholic school sets out with a deep awareness of the value of knowledge as such. Under no circumstances does it wish to divert the imparting of knowledge from its rightful objective.

39. Individual subjects must be taught according to their own particular methods. It would be wrong to consider subjects as mere adjuncts to faith or as a useful means of teaching apologetics. They enable the pupil to assimilate skills, knowledge, intellectual methods and moral and social attitudes, all of which help to develop his personality and lead him to take his place as an active member of the community of man. Their aim is not merely the attainment of knowledge but the acquisition of values and the discovery of truth.

40. Since the educative mission of the Catholic school is so wide, the teacher is in an excellent position to guide the pupil to a deepening of his faith and to enrich and enlighten his human knowledge with the data of the faith. While there are many occasions in teaching when pupils can be stimulated by insights of faith, a Christian education acknowledges the valid contribution which can be made by academic subjects towards the development of a mature Christian. The teacher can form the mind and heart of his pupils and guide them to develop a total commitment to Christ, with their whole personality enriched by human culture.

41. The school considers human knowledge as a truth to be discovered. In the measure in which subjects rare taught by someone who knowingly and without restraint seeks the truth, they are to that extent Christian. Discovery and awareness of truth leads man to the discovery of Truth itself. A teacher who is full of Christian wisdom, well prepared in his own subject, does more than convey the sense of what he is teaching to his pupils. Over and above what he says, he guides his pupils beyond his mere words to the heart of total Truth.

42. The cultural heritage of mankind includes other values apart from the specific ambient of truth. When the Christian teacher helps a pupil to grasp, appreciate and assimilate these values, he is guiding him towards eternal realities. This movement towards the Uncreated Source of all knowledge highlights the importance of teaching for the growth of faith.

43. The achievement of this specific aim of the Catholic school depends not so much on subject matter or methodology as on the people who work there. The extent to which the Christian message is transmitted through education depends to a very great extent on the teachers. The integration of culture and faith is mediated by the other integration of faith and life in the person of the teacher. The nobility of the task to which teachers are called demands that, in imitation of Christ, the only Teacher, they reveal the Christian message not only by word but also by every gesture of their behaviour. This is what makes the difference between a school whose education is permeated by the Christian spirit and one in which religion is only regarded as an academic subject like any other.
Integration of faith and life
44. The fundamental aim of teaching is the assimilation of objective values, and, when this is undertaken for an apostolic purpose, it does not stop at an integration of faith and culture but leads the pupil on to a personal integration of faith and life.

45. The Catholic school has as its specific duty the complete Christian formation of its pupils, and this task is of special significance today because of the inadequacy of the family and society. It knows that this integration of faith and life is part of a life-long process of conversion until the pupil becomes what God wishes him to be. Young people have to be taught to share their personal lives with God. They are to overcome their individualism and discover, in the light of faith, their specific vocation to live responsibly in a community with others. The very pattern of the Christian life draws them to commit themselves to serve God in their brethren and to make the world a better place for man to live in.

46. The Catholic school should teach its pupils to discern in the voice of the universe the Creator Whom it reveals and, in the conquests of science, to know God and man better. In the daily life of the school, the pupil should learn that he is called to be a living witness to God's love for men by the way he acts, and that he is part of that salvation history which has Christ, the Saviour of the world, as its goal.

47. Being aware that Baptism by itself does not make a Christian - living and acting in conformity with the Gospel is necessary - the Catholic school tries to create within its walls a climate(15) in which the pupil's faith will gradually mature and enable him to assume the responsibility placed on him by Baptism. It will give pride of place in the education it provides through Christian Doctrine to the gradual formation of conscience in fundamental, permanent virtues - above all the theological virtues, and charity in particular, which is, so to speak, the life-giving spirit which transforms a man of virtue into a man of Christ. Christ, therefore, is the teaching-centre, the Model on Whom the Christian shapes his life. In Him the Catholic school differs from all others which limit themselves to forming men. Its task is to form Christian men, and, by its teaching and witness, show non-Christians something of the mystery of Christ Who surpasses all human understanding (16).

48. The Catholic school will work closely with other Christian bodies (the family, the parish and Christian community, youth associations, etc.). But one must not overlook many other spheres of activity in society which are sources of information and in their various ways have an educational influence. Alongside this so-called " parallel school ", the school proper is an active force through the systematic formation of the pupils' critical faculties to bring them to a measure of self control(17) and the ability to choose freely and conscientiously in the face of what is offered by the organs of social communication. They must be taught to subject these things to a critical and personal analysis(18), take what is good, and integrate it into their Christian human culture.
Religious teaching
49. The specific mission of the school, then, is a critical, systematic transmission of culture in the light of faith and the bringing forth of the power of Christian virtue by the integration of culture with faith and of faith with living.

Consequently, the Catholic school is aware of the importance of the Gospel-teaching as transmitted through the Catholic Church. It is, indeed, the fundamental element in the educative process as it helps the pupil towards his conscious choice of living a responsible and coherent way of life.

50. Without entering into the whole problem of teaching religion in schools, it must be emphasised that, while such teaching is not merely confined to " religious classes " within the school curriculum, it must, nevertheless, also be imparted explicitly and in a systematic manner to prevent a distortion in the child's mind between general and religious culture. The fundamental difference between religious and other forms of education is that its aim is not simply intellectual assent to religious truths but also a total commitment of one's whole being to the Person of Christ.

51. It is recognised that the proper place for catechesis is the family helped by other Christian communities, especially the local parish. But the importance and need for catechetical instruction in Catholic schools cannot be sufficiently emphasised. Here young people are helped to grow towards maturity in faith.

52. The Catholic school must be alert at all times to developments in the fields of child psychology, pedagogy and particularly catechetics, and should especially keep abreast of directives from competent ecclesiastical authorities. The school must do everything in its power to aid the Church to fulfil its catechetical mission and so must have the best possible qualified teachers of religion.
The Catholic school as the centre of the educative Christian community
53. For all these reasons, Catholic schools must be seen as "meeting places for those who wish to express Christian values in education"(19). The Catholic school, far more than any other, must be a community whose aim is the transmission of values for living. Its work is seen as promoting a faith-relationship with Christ in Whom all values find fulfilment. But faith is principally assimilated through contact with people whose daily life bears witness to it. Christian faith, in fact, is born and grows inside a community.

54. The community aspect of the Catholic school is necessary because of the nature of the faith and not simply because of the nature of man and the nature of the educational process which is common to every school. No Catholic school can adequately fulfil its educational role on its own. It must continually be fed and stimulated by its Source of life, the Saving Word of Christ as it is expressed in Sacred Scripture, in Tradition, especially liturgical and sacramental tradition, and in the lives of people, past and present, who bear witness to that Word.

55. The Catholic school loses its purpose without constant reference to the Gospel and a frequent encounter with Christ. It derives all the energy necessary for its educational work from Him and thus "creates in the school community an atmosphere permeated with the Gospel spirit of freedom and love"(20). In this setting the pupil experiences his dignity as a person before he knows its definition. Faithful, therefore, to the claims of man and of God, the Catholic school makes its own contribution towards man's liberation, making him, in other words, what his destiny implies, one who talks consciously with God, one who is there for God to love.

56. "This simple religious doctrine is the cornerstone of the existential, Christian metaphysic"(21). This is the basis of a Catholic school's educational work. Education is not given for the purpose of gaining power but as an aid towards a fuller understanding of, and communion with man, events and things. Knowledge is not to be considered as a means of material prosperity and success, but as a call to serve and to be responsible for others.
Other aspects of the educational process in Catholic schools
57. Whether or not the Catholic community forms its young people in the faith by means of a Catholic school, a Catholic school in itself is far from being divisive or presumptuous. It does not exacerbate differences, but rather aids cooperation and contact with others. It opens itself to others and respects their way of thinking and of living. It wants to share their anxieties and their hopes as it, indeed, shares their present and future lot in this world.

58. Since it is motivated by the Christian ideal, the Catholic school is particularly sensitive to the call from every part of the world for a more just society, and it tries to make its own contribution towards it. It does not stop at the courageous teaching of the demands of justice even in the face of local opposition, but tries to put these demands into practice in its own community in the daily life of the school. In some countries, because of local laws and economic conditions, the Catholic school runs the risk of giving counter-witness by admitting a majority of children from wealthier families. Schools may have done this because of their need to be financially self supporting. This situation is of great concern to those responsible for Catholic education, because first and foremost the Church offers its educational service to " the poor or those who are deprived of family help and affection or those who are far from the faith "(22). Since education is an important means of improving the social and economic condition of the individual and of peoples, if the Catholic school were to turn its attention exclusively or predominantly to those from the wealthier social classes, it could be contributing towards maintaining their privileged position, and could thereby continue to favour a society which is unjust.

59. It is obvious that in such a demanding educational policy all participants must be committed to it freely. It cannot be imposed, but is offered as a possibility, as good news, and as such can be refused. However, in order to bring it into being and to maintain it, the school must be able to count on the unity of purpose and conviction of all its members.
The participation of the Christian community in the Catholic schools' work
60. From the outset the Catholic school declares its programme and its determination to uphold it. It is a genuine community bent on imparting, over and above an academic education, all the help it can to its members to adopt a Christian way of life. For the Catholic school mutual respect means service to the Person of Christ. Cooperation is between brothers and sisters in Christ. A policy of working for the common good is undertaken seriously as working for the building up of the Kingdom of God.

61. The cooperation required for the realisation of this aim is a duty in conscience for all the members of the community teachers, parents, pupils, administrative personnel. Each has his or her own part to play. Cooperation of all, given in the spirit of the Gospel, is by its very nature a witness not only to Christ as the corner-stone of the community, but also as the light Who shines far beyond it.
The Catholic school as a service to the Church and to society
62. The Catholic school community, therefore, is an irreplaceable source of service, not only to the pupils and its Other members, but also to society. Today especially one sees a world which clamours for solidarity and yet experiences the rise of new forms of individualism. Society can take note from the Catholic school that it is possible to create true communities out of a common effort for the common good. In the pluralistic society of today the Catholic school, moreover, by maintaining an institutional Christian presence in the academic world, proclaims by its very existence the enriching power of the faith as the answer to the enormous problems which afflict mankind. Above all, it is called to render a humble loving service to the Church by ensuring that she is present in the scholastic field for the benefit of the human family.

63. In this way the Catholic school performs "an authentic apostolate"(23). To work, therefore, in this apostolate "means apostolate performing a unique and invaluable work for the Church"(24).
V.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL TODAY
64. The real problem facing the Catholic school is to identify and lay down the conditions necessary for it to fulfil its mission. It is, therefore, a problem requiring clear and positive thinking, courage, perseverance and cooperation to tackle the necessary measures without being overawed by the size of the difficulties from within and without, nor "by persistent and outdated slogans"(25), which in the last analysis aim to abolish Catholic schools(26). To give into them would be suicidal. To favour in a more or less radical form a merely non-institutional presence of the Church in the scholastic field, is a dangerous illusion(27).

65. At great cost and sacrifice our forebears were inspired by the teaching of the Church to establish schools which enriched mankind and responded to the needs of time and place. While it recognises its own inadequacies, the Catholic school is conscious of its responsibility to continue this service. Today, as in the past, some scholastic institutions which bear the name Catholic do not appear to correspond fully to the principles of education which should be their distinguishing feature and, therefore, do not fulfil the duties which the Church and the society has every right to expect of them. Without pretending to make an exhaustive enquiry into the factors which may explain the difficulties under which the Catholic school labours, here are a few points in the hope of encouraging some thought as a stimulus to courageous reform.

66. Often what is perhaps fundamentally lacking among Catholics who work in a school is a clear realisation of the identity of a Catholic school and the courage to follow all the consequences of its uniqueness. One must recognise that, more than ever before, a Catholic school's job is infinitely more difficult, more complex, since this is a time when Christianity demands to be clothed in fresh garments, when all manner of changes have been introduced in the Church and in secular life, and, particularly, when a pluralist mentality dominates and the Christian Gospel is increasingly pushed to the side-lines.

67. It is because of this that loyalty to the educational aims of the Catholic school demands constant self-criticism and return to basic principles, to the motives which inspire the Church's involvement in education. They do not provide a quick answer to contemporary problems, but they give a direction which can begin to solve them. Account has to be taken of new pedagogical insights and collaboration with others, irrespective of religious allegiance, who work honestly for the true development of mankind - first and foremost with schools of other Christians - in the interests, even in this field, of Christian unity but also with State schools. In addition to meetings of teachers and mutual research, this collaboration can be extended to the pupils themselves and their families.

68. In conclusion it is only right to repeat what has been said above(28) about the considerable difficulties arising from legal and economic systems operating in different countries which hinder the activities of the Catholic school, difficulties which prevent them from extending their service to all social and economic classes and compel them to give the false impression of providing schools simply for the rich.
VI.
PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS
69. After reflecting on the difficulties which the Catholic school encounters, we turn now to the practical possibilities open to those who work in, or are responsible for, these schools. The following more serious questions have been selected for special comment: organisation and planning, ensuring the distinctive Catholic character of the school, the involvement of religious in the school apostolate, the Catholic school in mission countries, pastoral care of teachers, professional associations, the economic question.
The organisation and planning of the Catholic school
70. Catholic education is inspired by the general principles enunciated by the Second Vatican Council concerning collaboration between the hierarchy and those who work in the apostolate. In consequence of the principle of participation and co-responsibility, the various groupings which constitute the educational community are, according to their several competencies, to be associated in decision-making concerning the Catholic school and in the application of decisions once taken(29). It is first and foremost at the stage of planning and of putting into operation an educational project that this principle of the Council is to be applied. The assigning of various responsibilities is governed by the principle of subsidiarity, and, with reference to this principle, ecclesiastical authority respects the competence of the professionals in teaching and education. Indeed, "the right and duty of exercising the apostolate is common to all the faithful, clerical and lay, and laypeople have their own proper competence in the building up of the Church"(30).

71. This principle enunciated by the Second Vatican Council is particularly applicable to the apostolate of the Catholic school which so closely unites teaching and religious education to a well-defined professional activity. It is here, above all, that the particular mission of the lay person is put into effect, a mission which has become "all the more imperative in view of the fact that many areas of human life have become very largely autonomous. This is as it should be, but it sometimes involves a certain withdrawal from ethical and religious influences and thereby creates a serious danger to Christian life"(31). Moreover, lay involvement in Catholic schools is an invitation "to cooperate more closely with the apostolate of the Bishops"(32), both in the field of religious instruction(33) and in more general religious education which they endeavour to promote by assisting the pupils to a personal integration of culture and faith and of faith and living. The Catholic school in this sense, therefore, receives from the Bishops in some manner the "mandate" of an apostolic undertaking(34).

72. The essential element of such a mandate is "union with those whom the Holy Spirit has assigned to rule God's Church"(35) and this link is expressed especially in overall pastoral strategy. "In the whole diocese or in given areas of it the coordination and close interconnection of all apostolic works should be fostered under the direction of the Bishop. In this way all undertakings and organisation, whether catechetical, missionary, charitable, social, family, educational, or any other programme serving a pastoral goal will be coordinated. Moreover, the unity of the diocese will thereby be made more evident"(36). This is something which is obviously indispensable for the Catholic school, inasmuch as it involves "apostolic cooperation on the part of both branches of the clergy, as well as of the religious and the laity"(37).
Ensuring the distinctive Catholic character of the school
73. This is the framework which guarantees the distinctive Catholic character of the school. While the Bishop's authority is to watch over the orthodoxy of religious instruction and the observance of Christian morals in the Catholic schools, it is the task of the whole educative community to ensure that a distinctive Christian educational environment is maintained in practice. This responsibility applies chiefly to Christian parents who confide their children to the school. Having chosen it does not relieve them of a personal duty to give their children a Christian upbringing. They are bound to cooperate actively with the school - which means supporting the educational efforts of the school and utilising the structures offered for parental involvement, in order to make certain that the school remains faithful to Christian principles of education. An equally important role belongs to the teachers in safeguarding and developing the distinctive mission of the Catholic school, particularly with regard to the Christian atmosphere which should characterise its life and teaching. Where difficulties and conflicts arise about the authentic Christian character of the Catholic school, hierarchical authority can and must intervene.
Involvement of religious in the school apostolate
74 Some problems arise from the fact that certain Religious Institutes, founded for the school apostolate, have subsequently abandoned school work because of social or political changes and have involved themselves in other activities. In some cases they have given up their schools as a result of their efforts to adapt their lives and mission to the recommendations of the Second Vatican Council and to the spirit of their original foundation.

75. It is necessary, however, to re-assess certain arguments adopted against the teaching apostolate. Some would say they have chosen a "more direct" apostolate(38), forgetting the excellence and the apostolic value of educational work in the school(39). Others would appeal to the greater importance of individual over community involvement, of personal over institutional work. The advantages, however, of a community apostolate in the educational field are self evident. Sometimes the abandonment of Catholic schools is justified on the grounds of an apparent failure to gain perceptible results in pursuing certain objectives. If this were true, it would surely be an invitation to undertake a fundamental revision of the whole conduct of the school, reminding everyone who ventures into education of the need for humility and hope and the conviction that his work cannot be assessed by the same rationalistic criteria which apply to other professions(40).

76. It is the responsibility of competent local ecclesiastical authority to evaluate the advisability and necessity of any change to other forms of apostolic work whenever particular circumstances dictate the need for a re-assessment of the school apostolate, keeping in mind the observations above on overall pastoral strategy(41).
The Catholic school in mission countries
77. The importance of the Catholic school apostolate is much greater when it is a question of the foreign missions. Where the young Churches still rely on the presence of foreign missionaries, the effectiveness of the Catholic school will largely depend on its ability to adapt to local needs. It must ensure that it is a true expression of the local and national Catholic community and that it contributes to the community's willingness to cooperate. In countries where the Christian community is still at its beginning and incapable of assuming responsibility for its own schools, the Bishops will have to undertake this responsibility themselves for the time being, but must endeavour little by little to fulfil the aims outlined above in connection with the organisation of the Catholic schools(42).
Pastoral care of teachers
78. By their witness and their behaviour teachers are of the first importance to impart a distinctive character to Catholic schools. It is, therefore, indispensable to ensure their continuing formation through some form of suitable pastoral provision. This must aim to animate them as witnesses of Christ in the classroom and tackle the problems of their particular apostolate, especially regarding a Christian vision of the world and of education, problems also connected with the art of teaching in accordance with the principles of the Gospel. A huge field is thus opened up for national and international organisations which bring together Catholic teachers and educational institutions at all levels.

79. Professional organisations whose aim is to protect the interests of those who work in the educational field cannot themselves be divorced from the specific mission of the Catholic school. The rights of the people who are involved in the school must be safeguarded in strict justice. But, no matter what material interests may be at stake, or what social and moral conditions affect their professional development, the principle of the Second Vatican Council has a special application in this context: "The faithful should learn how to distinguish carefully between those rights and duties which are theirs as members of the Church, and those which they have as members of society. Let them strive to harmonize the two, remembering that in every temporal affair they must be guided by a Christian conscience"(43). Moreover, "even when preoccupied with temporal cares, the laity can and must perform valuable work for the evangelisation of the world"(44). Therefore, the special organisations set up to protect the rights of teachers, parents and pupils must not forget the special mission of the Catholic school to be of service in the Christian education of youth. "The layman is at the same time a believer and a citizen and should be constantly led by Christian conscience alone"(45).

80. In the light of what has been said, these associations, while being concerned for the rights of their members, must also be alive to the responsibilities which are part and parcel of the specific apostolate of the Catholic school. Catholic teachers who freely accept posts in schools, which have a distinctive character, are obliged to respect that character and give their active support to it under the direction of those responsible.
Economic situation of Catholic schools
81. From the economic point of view the position of very many Catholic schools has improved and in some countries is perfectly acceptable. This is the case where governments have appreciated the advantages and the necessity of a plurality of school systems which offer alternatives to a single State system. While at first Catholic schools received various public grants, often merely conceded, they later began to enter into agreements, conventions, contracts, etc. which guarantee both the preservation of the special status of the Catholic school and its ability to perform its function adequately. Catholic schools are thereby more or less closely associated with the national system and are assured of an economic and juridical status similar to State schools.

82. Such agreements have been reached through the good offices of the respective governments, which have recognised the public service provided by Catholic schools, and through the determination of the Bishops and the Catholic community at the national level. These solutions are an encouragement to those responsible for Catholic schools in countries where the Catholic community must still shoulder a very heavy burden of cost to maintain an often highly important network of Catholic schools. These Catholics need to be assured, as they strive to regularise the frequent injustices in their school situation, that they are not only helping to provide every child with an education that respects his complete development, but they are also defending freedom of teaching and the right of parents to choose an education for their children which conforms to their legitimate requirements(46).
VII.
COURAGEOUS AND UNIFIED COMMITMENT
83. To commit oneself to working in accordance with the aims of a Catholic School is to make a great act of faith in the necessity and influence of this apostolate. Only one who has this conviction and accepts Christ's message, who has a love for and understands today's young people, who appreciates what people's real problems and difficulties are, will be led to contribute with courage and even audacity to the progress of this apostolate in building up a Catholic school, which puts its theory into practice, which renews itself according to its ideals and to present needs.

84. The validity of the educational results of a Catholic school, however, cannot be measured by immediate efficiency. In the field of Christian education, not only is the freedom-factor of teacher and pupil relationship with each other to be considered, but also the factor of grace. Freedom and grace come to fruition in the spiritual order which defies any merely temporal assessment. When grace infuses human liberty, it makes freedom fully free and raises it to its highest perfection in the freedom of the Spirit. It is when the Catholic school adds its weight, consciously and overtly, to the liberating power of grace, that it becomes the Christian leaven in the world.

85. In the certainty that the Spirit is at work in every person, the Catholic school offers itself to all, non-Christians included, with all its distinctive aims and means, acknowledging, preserving and promoting the spiritual and moral qualities, the social and cultural values, which characterise different civilisations(47).

86. Such an outlook overrides any question of the disproportion between resources available and the number of children reached directly by the Catholic school; nothing can stop it from continuing to render its service. The only condition it would make, as is its right, for its continued existence would be remaining faithful to the educational aims of the Catholic school. Loyalty to these aims is, moreover, the basic motive which must inspire any needed reorganisation of the Catholic school institution.

87. If all who are responsible for the Catholic school would never lose sight of their mission and the apostolic value of their teaching, the school would enjoy better conditions in which to function in the present and would faithfully hand on its mission to future generations. They themselves, moreover, would most surely be filled with a deep conviction, joy and spirit of sacrifice in the knowledge that they are offering innumerable young people the opportunity of growing in faith, of accepting and living its precious principles of truth, charity and hope.

88. The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, to foster the full realisation of the aims of the Catholic school, extends once more its warmest and heartfelt encouragement to all who work in these schools. There can be no doubt whatever of the importance of the apostolate of teaching in the total saving mission of the Church.

89. The Church herself in particular looks with confidence and trust to Religious Institutes which have received a special charism of the Holy Spirit and have been most active in the education of the young. May they be faithful to the inspiration of their founders and give their whole-heartet support to the apostolic work of education in Catholic schools and not allow themselves to be diverted from this by attractive invitations to undertake other, often seemingly more effective, apostolates.

90. A little more than ten years after the end of the Second Vatican Council the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education repeats the final exhortation of the Declaration on Christian Education to the priests, religious and lay people who fulfil their mission in the Catholic school. It reads. "They are urged to persevere generously in their chosen duty, continuing to instil into their pupils the spirit of Christ; let them endeavour to excel in the art of teaching and in the advancement of knowledge. Thus they will not only foster the internal renewal of the Church, but will safeguard and intensify her beneficial presence in the modern world, and above all, in the world of the intellect"(48).

CONCLUSION

91. This document in no way wishes to minimise the value of the witness and work of the many Catholics who teach in State schools throughout the world. In describing the task confided to the Catholic school it is intended to encourage every effort to promote the cause of Catholic education, since in the pluralistic world in which we live, the Catholic school is in a unique position to offer, more than ever before, a most valuable and necessary service. With the principles of the Gospel as its abiding point of reference, it offers its collaboration to those who are building a new world - one which is freed from a hedonistic mentality and from the efficiency syndrome of modern consumer society.

92. We appeal to each Episcopal Conference to consider and to develop these principles which should inspire the Catholic school and to translate them into concrete programmes which will meet the real needs of the educational systems operating in their countries.

93. Realising that the problems are both delicate and highly complex, the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education also addresses itself to the whole People of God. In the economy of salvation we poor humans must confront problems, suffer their consequences and work might and main to solve them. We are certain that in the last analysis success in any venture does not come from trust in our own solutions but from trust in Jesus Who allowed Himself to be called Teacher. May He inspire, guide, support and bring to a safe conclusion all that is undertaken in His name.
Rome, March 19th, 1977, the Feast of St. Joseph
GABRIEL-MARIE Cardinal GARRONE,
Prefect

Antonio M. Javierre, Secretary Titular Archbishop of Meta

(1) Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education "Gravissimum Educationis", 7.

(2) Cf. PAUL VI, Encyclical Letter "Ecclesiam suam", 7.

(3) Ibid. 13.

(4) Cf SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes", 4.

(5) PAUL VI, Allocution to Cardinal Gabriel-Marie Garrone, November 27th, 1972.

(6) PAUL VI, Encyclical Letter "Ecclesiam suam", I5.

(7) Cf SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education "Gravissimum Educationis", 3.

(8) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation "Dei Verbum", 8.

(9) Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes", 11.

(10) PAUL VI, Allocution to the Ninth Congress of the Catholic International Education Office (O.I.E.C.), in "L'Osservatore Romano", June 9th, 1974.

(11) Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education "Gravissimum Educationis" 8.

(12) Cf. PAUL VI, Allocution to the Ninth Congress of the O.I.E.C., in "L'Osservatore Romano", June 9th, 1974.

(13) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World "Gaudium et Spes", 57

(14) Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education, "Gravissimum Educationis", 2.

(15) Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education, " Gravissimum Educationis ", 8.

(16) Cf. Eph. 3, 18-19.

(17) Cf. Pastoral Instruction " Communio et Progressio ", 67.

(18) Cf. Ibid.

(19) PAUL VI, Allocution to the Ninth Congress of the O.I.E.C., in " L'Osservatore Romano ", June 9th, 1974.

(20) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education " Gravissimum Educationis ", 8.

(21) PAUL VI, Valore dell'oblazione nella vita, in " The Teaching of Pope Paul VI ", vol. 8 (1970), p. 97.

(22) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education " Gravissimum Educationis ", 9.

(23) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education, " Gravissimum Educationis ", 8.

(24) PAUL VI, to Prof. Giuseppe Lazzati, Rector of the University of the Sacred Heart (Milano), in "The Teaching of Pope Paul VI ", vol. 9, p. 1082.

(25) PAUL VI, Allocution to the Ninth Congress of the O.I.E.C., in " L'Osservatore Romano ", June 9th, 1974.

(26) Cf. above, nn. 18, 20, 23.

(27) Cf. PAUL VI, Allocution to the Ninth Congress of the O.I.E.C.,. in " L'Osservatore Romano ", June 9th, 1974.

(28) Cf. above, n. 58.

(29) Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Pastorad Constitution on the Church in the Modern World " Gaudium et Spes ", 43.

(30) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity " Apostolicam Actuositatem ", 25.

(31) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity "Apostolicam Actuositatem ", 1.

(32) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, " Lumen Gentium ", 33.

(33) Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity " Apostolicam Actuositatem ", 10.

(34) Ibid., 24.

(35) Ibid., 23.

(36) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree on the Bishop's Pastoral Office in the Church " Christus Dominus ", 17.

(37) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity " Apostolicam Actuositatem ", 23.

(38) Cf. above, 23.

(39) Cf. above, nn. 38-48.

(40) Cf. above, n. 22.

(41) Cf. above, nn. 70-72.

(42) Cfr. above, nn. 70-72.

(43) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church " Lumen Gentium ", 36.

(44) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church "Lumen Gentium ", 35.

(45) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity "Apostolicam Actuositatem ", 5.

(46) Cf SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education "Gra vissimum Educationis ", 6.

(47) Cf SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-christian Religions " Nostra Aetate ", 2.

(48) SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Declaration on Christian Education "Gravissimum Educationis ". Conclusion.

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1. The Catholic school is receiving more and more attention in the Church since the Second Vatican Council, with particular emphasis on the Church as she appears in the Constitutions Lumen Gentium and Gaudium et Spes. In the Council's Declaration Gravissimum Educationis it is discussed in the wider sphere of Christian education.

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Educating for Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion

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Educating for Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion

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This document addresses current challenges in Catholic education worldwide, including issues of identity, community, and dialogue with contemporary culture. It's relevant for understanding global trends affecting Australian Catholic education.

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EDUCATING TODAY AND TOMORROW:
A RENEWING PASSION
PRESENTATION
The Members of the Congregation for Catholic Education's Plenary Assembly, meeting in 2011, accepted the suggestion of Pope Benedict XVI and entrusted to the Dicastery the task of preparing for the anniversary celebrations of the Declaration Gravissimum Educationis (50 years) and the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae (25 years), both of which fall in 2015. The aim is to give new stimulus to the Church's involvement in the field of education.

There have been two principal events that have taken place in these subsequent years of preparation. The first was a seminar that took place in June 2012, with the participation of experts from all over the world. The second was the Plenary Assembly of the Congregation's Members, which met in February 2014.

The indications that emerged in these two meetings are reflected in this Instrumentum Laboris, "Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion". The text recalls the essential reference-points of both aforementioned documents, the fundamental characteristics of Catholic schools and universities, going on to describe the challenges to which Catholic educational institutions are called to respond, with the development of their own specific mission.

In the years following the Second Vatican Council, Papal Magisterium has repeatedly insisted on the importance of education in general, as well as on the contribution that the Christian community is called to offer education. The Congregation for Catholic Education, too, has frequently addressed this theme in its documents. Therefore, the anniversaries of 2015 are a suitable and invaluable opportunity for taking on board the recommendations of the Magisterium and sketching out guidelines for the coming decades.

The Instrumentum Laboris has been prepared for just such a purpose. It has been translated into various languages, and is addressed principally to Bishops' Conferences, to the Union of Superiors General and to the International Union of Female Superiors General of Religious Congregations. The text is also addressed to national and international associations of teachers, parents, students and former students, as well as associations of those who run schools and universities. Finally, the Instrumentum Laboris is also addressed to Christian communities, so that they may reflect on the importance of Catholic education in the context of the New Evangelization. The text can be used to effect a pastoral evaluation of this area of the Church's apostolate; and it can also be used to promote various activities for updating and forming those who work in Catholic schools and universities.

The Instrumentum laboris can be found online at the following addresses:

http://www.educatio.va/content/cec/it/documentazione-e-materiali/documenti-della-congregazione.html
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/index_it.htm
The Instrumentum Laboris concludes with a questionnaire. We invite everyone to give their answers, so as to provide the Congregation for Catholic Education with indications, suggestions and proposals that will be considered with a view to the events that are being planned, in particular the Global Convention that will take place in Rome on 18-21 November 2015. To that end, answers to the questionnaire must be sent to the Dicastery no later than 31 July 2014 (to: educat2015@gmail.com).

Zenon Cardinal Grocholewski, Prefect
Vatican City, 7 April 2014 INTRODUCTION
Contemporary culture is affected by several problems that are causing a widespread "educational emergency": this expression refers to the difficulty in establishing educational relations which, in order to be genuine, should convey vital values and principles to younger generations, not only to help individual growth and maturation, but also to contribute to building the common good.

Catholic education, with its many schools and universities that are scattered all over the world, provides a remarkable support to ecclesial communities that are engaged in the new evangelization, and contributes to the fostering of anthropological and ethical values in individual consciences and cultures, which are necessary in order to build a society that is based on fraternity and solidarity[1].
I. ESSENTIAL REFERENCES
Two events will be remembered in 2015: the fiftieth anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis[2], the document on education issued by the 2nd Vatican Council on October 28, 1965, and the twenty-fifth anniversary of Ex Corde Ecclesiae[3], the Apostolic Constitution on Catholic universities' identity and mission, promulgated by John Paul II on August 15, 1990; irrespective of their different nature, both documents are essential references for the Congregation for Catholic Education.

This Instrumentum Laboris is aimed at providing guidance to particular Churches and associations in organizing their educational initiatives, as well as ecclesial and cultural events. At the same time, it also provides inspiration for future educational projects and activities.

The purpose of Gravissimum Educationis was to draw the attention of all baptized to the importance of education by providing basic guidelines on educational issues: it should be considered within the Council's overall teachings and read together with the other texts approved by the Council. Gravissimum Educationis, as it is stated in the introduction, should not be seen as the ultimate answer regarding all problems related to education, but as a document that was supposed to be later passed on to a special post-Council Commission - which later became the Congregation for Catholic Education's School Office - in order to further develop the principles of Catholic education, as well as to Bishops' Conferences, so that it could be applied to the various local situations. Among the many connections that the Declaration has with other Council documents (concerning the liturgy, bishops' ministry, ecumenism, the role of the laity, social communications ...), perhaps the most significant ones refer to the two main Constitutions, Lumen Gentium (which was promulgated on November 21, 1964) and Gaudium et Spes (December 7, 1965). Gravissimun Educationis often refers to the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium; whereas the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the contemporary world Gaudium et Spes, mentions Gravissimum Educationis in Part II, Chapter II (dedicated to The Promotion of Progress and Culture). The joint reading of all three documents proves to be particularly insightful to appreciate the two dimensions that education necessarily encompasses, when it is being analyzed from the standpoint of faith: i.e the secular and theological-spiritual dimensions.

Since the Council, the historical and social context has changed remarkably, both in terms of world vision, as well as ethical and political concepts. The 1960s were a time of confident expectations, following the Council's announcement and the possibility of more peaceful relations between States. Compared to that time, the scenario has deeply changed. The drive towards secularization has become more apparent. The increasingly faster globalization process, rather than favoring the promotion of individual development and a greater integration amongst peoples, seems to limit individual freedom and exacerbate conflicts between different ways of looking at personal and collective life (with positions ranging from strict fundamentalism to skeptical relativism). Other economic and political developments are equally significant: such as the encroachment on the Welfare State and social entitlements or the triumph of liberalism, with its dreadful impact on schools and education. However, all the changes that have taken place since the 1960s not only have not weakened the teachings provided by the Council on educational issues, but have actually enhanced their prophetic scope. Both Gravissimum Educationis and Gaudium et Spes (nn. 59-60) contain extremely farsighted and fruitful hints, that can help us face many contemporary challenges:

Stating the Church's willingness to work in order to support the edification of an increasingly humane society and personal development.

Recognizing education as a 'common good'.

Claiming the universal right to education and schooling for all, which is also amply reiterated by international declarations issued by organizations such as UNESCO (EFA: Education for All).

Implicitly supporting all individuals and international institutions who oppose rampant liberalism through their fight for the right to education.

Asserting that culture and education cannot be subservient to economic power and its workings.

Recalling everybody's duty - whether communities or individuals - to support women's participation in cultural life.

Outlining a cultural context of "new humanism" (GS, n. 55), that the Magisterium is constantly addressing[4].

The contribution that Council teachings have given to Christian education, as the spiritual and theological formation of the baptized and their conscience, is equally important. N. 2 of Gravissimum Educationis and nn. 11 and 17 (in addition to nn. 35 and 36) of Lumen Gentium contain several interesting insights, amongst which it is worth quoting:

The description of Christian education as a work of evangelization/mission ( Lumen Gentium, n. 17).

The emphasis on the necessarily sacramental character of education for the baptized: whereby it must be centered around baptism and the Eucharist ( Lumen Gentium, n. 11).

The need for Christian education to grow at the same time as human education, albeit respecting its Christian character, to prevent a situation in which the life of faith is experienced or perceived as being separate from other activities in human life.

The urging to envisage Christian education within the context of faith of a poor Church for the poor ( Lumen Gentium, n. 8), in line with one of the pivotal points of the Church's current message.

Gravissimum Educationis devoted a special attention to Catholic schools and universities, providing significant indications regarding this specific subject; the Constitution underlined the need for universities to serve societies, and not just the Church, and that "they should be noteworthy not so much for their numbers as for their high standards" ( Gravissimun Educationis, n. 10), because it is better to have fewer excellent Catholic Universities than many mediocre ones. In the Council fathers' reasoning, the essential purpose of Catholic higher education was to allow students to fully take on the cultural, social and religious responsibilities that would be required of them. For these reason, they believed Catholic universities had to strive to promote real academic research.

In 1990, John Paul II issued the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae, which aimed at drawing people's attention to the importance of Catholic universities, as a privileged instrument to gain access to the truth regarding nature, man and God in order to favor an open dialogue between the Church and men and women of all cultures. In line with the Council Declaration, the Constitution reiterated that Catholic universities, as such, were supposed to adequately engage in research, teaching and cultural services like any other academic institution. As Catholic universities, they would have to a) be inspired by Christian values not only in so far as individuals are concerned, but also the entire university community as such; b) promote constant reflection, in the light of Catholic faith, on the processes and achievements of study and knowledge, providing their original contribution; c) be faithful to the Christian message, as it is presented by the Church; d) serve the people of God and mankind in the efforts they undertake to access truth.

Furthermore, John Paul II urged Catholic faculty members to become aware of the ethical and moral implications of their research, to foster dialogue between different disciplines in order to avoid any isolated and particularistic approach and favor the development of a synthetic view of things, albeit without challenging each discipline's integrity and methodology. A special role was assigned to the dialogue between different kinds of knowledge and theology, since the latter could help other disciplines to delve into the reasons and meaning of their activity, just like other forms of knowledge could stimulate theological research to address life issues and achieve a better understanding of the world. Therefore, he thought that every Catholic university had to include a Faculty or, at least, a chair of theology (cf. Ex Corde Ecclesiae, n.19).

If we think about how fragmented academic studies are nowadays, we cannot but realize how John Paul II's idea - whereby universities should promote dialogue between the various disciplines, albeit being faithful to their original vocation - is extremely topical nowadays and might provide precious indications to people working in higher education.
II. WHAT KIND OF CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES?
In the light of Church teachings and considering the needs and challenges of contemporary society, what should Catholic schools and universities be like?

Schools and universities are places where people learn how to live their lives, achieve cultural growth, receive vocational training and engage in the pursuit of the common good; they provide the occasion and opportunity to understand the present time and imagine the future of society and mankind. At the root of Catholic education is our Christian spiritual heritage, which is part of a constant dialogue with the cultural heritage and the conquests of science; Catholic schools and universities are educational communities where learning thrives on the integration between research, thinking and life experience.

1. Building an Educational Context

Catholic schools and universities educate people, first and foremost, through the living context, i.e. the climate that both students and teachers establish in the environment where teaching and learning activities take place. This climate is pervaded not only by the values that are being expressed in universities, but also by the values that are lived out, by the quality of interpersonal relations between teachers and students and students amongst each other, by the care professors devote to student and local community needs, by the clear living testimony provided by teachers and educational institutions' entire staff.

Although cultural contexts vary, as well as educational possibilities and influences, there are a number of quality hallmarks that Catholic schools and universities must be able to ensure:

respect for individual dignity and uniqueness (hence the rejection of mass education and teaching, which make human beings easier to manipulate by reducing them to a number);

a wealth of opportunities that are offered to young people for them to grow and develop their abilities and talents;

a balanced focus on cognitive, affective, social, professional, ethical and spiritual aspects;

encouragement for every pupil to develop their talents, in a climate of cooperation and solidarity;

the promotion of research as a rigorous commitment towards truth, being aware that human knowledge has its limits, but also with a great openness of mind and heart;

respect of ideas, openness to dialogue, the ability to interact and work together in a spirit of freedom and care.

2. Introducing Students to Research

Schools and universities are places where students are introduced to knowledge and scientific research. One of teachers' main responsibilities is to attract younger generations towards knowledge and understanding its achievements and applications. Engagement in knowledge and research cannot be separated from a sense of ethics and transcendence:no real science can disregard ethical consequences and no real science drives us away from transcendence. Science and ethics, science and transcendence are not mutually exclusive, but come together for a greater and better understanding of man and the world.

3. Teaching as an Instrument for Education

Nowadays, the "way" in which students learn seems to be more important than "what" they learn, just like the way of teaching seems to be more important than its contents. Teaching that only promotes repetitive learning, without favoring students' active participation or sparking their curiosity, is not sufficiently challenging to elicit motivation. Learning through research and problem-solving develops different and more significant cognitive and mental abilities, whereby students do more than just receiving information, while also stimulating teamwork. However, the value of learning contents must not be underestimated. If the way students learn is relevant, the same applies to what they learn: teachers must know how to select the essential elements of cultural heritage that has accumulated over time and how to present them to students. This approach also applies to the study of the major questions mankind is facing and has faced in the past. Otherwise, the risk could be to provide a kind of teaching that is only focused on what seems to be useful now, because it is being required by contingent economic or social demands, forgetting what is indispensable for the human person.

Teaching and learning are the two terms in a relationship that does not only involve the subject to be studied and the learning mind, but also persons: this relationship cannot be based exclusively on technical and professional relations, but must be nourished by mutual esteem, trust, respect and friendliness. When learning takes place in a context where the subjects who are involved feel a sense of belonging, it is quite different from a situation in which learning occurs in a climate of individualism, antagonism and mutual coldness.

4. The Centrality of Learners

Schools and - even more so - universities, work to provide students with training that will enable them to enter the labor market and social life with adequate skills. Albeit indispensable, this is not enough: the measure of good schools and universities is also given by their ability to promote a kind of learning that is more focused on developing general and higher-level skills through education. Learning is not just equivalent to content assimilation, but is an opportunity for self-education, commitment towards self-improvement and the common good. It allows our students to develop their creativity, strive for constant learning and become more open towards others. Learning can also provide the opportunity to open students' hearts and minds to the mystery and wonder of the world and nature, to self-consciousness and awareness, to responsibility towards creation, to the Creator's immensity.

In particular, schools would not be a complete learning environment if, what pupils learnt, did not also become an occasion to serve the local community. Today, many students still consider learning as an obligation or an imposition: probably this depends upon schools' inability to pass on to students the passion that is absolutely required for research, in addition to knowledge. Instead, when students have the opportunity to experience how important what they learn is for their lives and their communities, their motivation does change. It would be advisable for teachers to provide their students with opportunities to realize the social impact of what they are studying, thus favoring the discovery of the link between school and life, as well as the development of a sense of responsibility and active citizenship.

5. The Diversity of Learners

Teachers are called upon to rise up to a major educational challenge, which is the recognition, respect and enhancement of diversity. Psychological, social, cultural and religious diversity should not be denied, but rather considered as an opportunity and a gift. By the same token, diversities related to the presence of particular situations of frailness, affecting cognitive abilities or physical autonomy, should always be recognized and embraced, to prevent them from turning into penalizing inequalities. It is not easy for schools and universities to be "inclusive", open to diversity and able to truly help those who are going through difficulties. Teachers must be open and professionally knowledgeable when they are leading classes where diversity is recognized, accepted and appreciated as an educational asset that is beneficial to everyone. Those who find themselves in greater difficulties, who are poorer, more fragile or needy, should not be seen as a burden or obstacle, but as the most important students, who should be at the center of schools' attention and concerns.

6. Pluralism of Educational Establishments

Catholic schools and universities fulfil their task, which is mission and service, in very different cultural and social contexts, where their work is sometimes recognized and appreciated and, at other times, stymied by serious economic difficulties and hostility, which sometimes can even turn into forms of violence. The way in which their presence in different States and world regions is experienced varies remarkably, but the basic reasons for their educational work do not change. School communities that are inspired by the values of Catholic faith transpose their personalistic vision - which is the hallmark of humanistic-Christian tradition - into their organization and syllabi, not in order to oppose other cultures and religious faiths, but to engage in dialogue with them.

It is really important for Catholic educational establishments are able to interact with other non-Catholic institutions in the countries where they are located, with a listening attitude to engage in a constructive dialogue, for the common good.

Today, these establishments are found worldwide and the majority of their students come from different religious backgrounds, nations and cultures. However, students' confessional allegiances should not be seen as a barrier, but as a condition for intercultural dialogue, helping each pupil grow in their humanness, civic responsibility and learning.

7. Teacher Training

The importance of schools' and universities' educational tasks explains how crucial training is for teachers, managers and the entire staff that has educational responsibilities. Professional competence is the necessary condition for openness to unleash its educational potential. A lot is being required of teachers and managers: they should have the ability to create, invent and manage learning environments that provide plentiful opportunities; they should be able to respect students' different intelligences and guide them towards significant and profound learning; they should be able to accompany their students towards lofty and challenging goals, cherish high expectations for them, involve and connect students to each other and the world. Teachers must be able to pursue different goals simultaneously and face problem situations that require a high level of professionalism and preparation. To fulfil such expectations, these tasks should not be left to individual responsibility and adequate support should be provided at institutional level, with competent leaders showing the way, rather than bureaucrats.

III. CURRENT AND FUTURE EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES

At the heart of Catholic education there is always Jesus Christ: everything that happens in Catholic schools and universities should lead to an encounter with the living Christ. If we look at the great educational challenges that we will face soon, we must keep the memory of God made flesh in the history of mankind - in our history - alive.

Catholic schools and universities, as subjects in the contemporary Church, are a place of testimony and acceptance, where faith and spiritual accompaniment can be provided to young people who ask for it; they open their doors to all and uphold both human dignity, as well as the dissemination of knowledge, to the whole of society, irrespective of merit.

First and foremost, they are places where the transmission of knowledge is key; however, knowledge too has undergone major changes that are affecting our educational approach. As a matter of fact, we are witnessing a remarkable differentiation, privatization and even expropriation of knowledge.

Schools and universities are also living environments, where an integral education is provided, that includes religious formation. The challenge will be to make young people realize the beauty of faith in Jesus Christ and of religious freedom in a multireligious universe. In every environment, whether it is favorable or not, Catholic educators will have to be credible witnesses.

People who work with faith, passion and professionalism cannot be forgotten; they deserve all our attention and encouragement. We should not also forget that, for the most part, this educational mission and professional commitment are principally sustained by women.

First of all, we must express the anthropology underpinning our educational vision for the 21st century in different terms: it is a philosophical anthropology that must also be an anthropology of truth, i.e. a social anthropology whereby man is seen in his relations and way of being; an anthropology of recollection and promise; an anthropology that refers to the cosmos and cares about sustainable development; and, even more, an anthropology that refers to God. The gaze of faith and hope, which is its foundation, looks at reality to discover God's plan hidden therein. Thus, starting from a profound reflection on modern man and the contemporary world, we must redefine our vision regarding education.

The young people we are educating today will become the leaders of the 2050s. What will religion's contribution be to educating younger generations to peace, development, fraternity in the universal human community? How are we going to educate them to faith and in faith? How will we establish the preliminary conditions to accept this gift, to educate them to gratitude, to a sense of awe, to asking themselves questions, to develop a sense of justice and consistency? How will we educate them to prayer?

Education requires a strong alliance between parents and educators to present a life that is good, rich in meaning, open to God and others as well as the world; this alliance is even more necessary, since education is a personal relationship. It is a journey that reveals the transcendental elements of faith, family, Church and ethics, highlighting their communal character.

Education is not just knowledge, but also experience: it links together knowledge and action; it works to achieve unity amongst different forms of knowledge and pursues consistency. It encompasses the affective and emotional domains, and is also endowed with an ethical dimension: knowing how to do things and what we want to do, daring to change society and the world, and serving the community.

Education is based on participation, shared intelligence and intelligence interdependence; dialogue, self-giving, example, cooperation and reciprocity are also equally important elements.

1. Challenges for Catholic Schools

Nowadays education is going through rapid changes. The generation to which it is addressed is changing quickly as well, therefore each educator must constantly face a situation which, as Pope Francis put it, "provides us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand."[5]

At the heart of the global changes we are called upon to embrace, love, decipher and evangelize, Catholic education must contribute to the discovery of life's meaning and elicit new hopes for today and the future.

The redefinition of Catholic schools' identity for the 21st century is an urgent task. Going back to the documents issued by the Congregation for Catholic Education[6] can be quite helpful in this respect, together with the experience that has been made over time in Catholic teaching, both in diocesan and congregational schools. This experience is supported by three pillars: Gospel tradition, authority and freedom.

Contemporary educators have a renewed mission, which has the ambitious aim of offering young people an integral education as well as assistance in discovering their personal freedom, which is a gift from God.

Spiritual poverty and declining cultural levels are starting to produce their dismal effects, even within Catholic schools. Often times, authoritativeness is being undermined. It is really not a matter of discipline - parents greatly appreciate Catholic schools because of their discipline - but do some Catholic school heads still have anything to say to students and their families? Is their authority based on formal rules or on the authoritativeness of their testimony? If we want to avert a gradual impoverishment, Catholic schools must be run by individuals and teams who are inspired by the Gospel, who have been formed in Christian pedagogy, in tune with Catholic schools' educational project, and not by people who are prone to being seduced by fashionability, or by what can become an easier sell, to put it bluntly.

Many Catholic school students belong to a multiplicity of cultures, therefore our institutions must proclaim the Gospel beyond believers, not only with words, but through the power of our educators' lives, which must be consistent with the Gospel. Teachers, school heads, administrative staff: the whole professional and educational community is called upon to present faith as an attractive option, with a humble and supportive attitude. The model is provided by Jesus Christ and his disciples in Emmaus: we must start from young people's life experience but also from that of co-workers, to provide an unconditional service. Actually, educating young people to serve and give themselves freely is one of the hallmarks of Catholic schools, in the past as well as the future.

If we think about our societies' rampant individualism, we realize how important it is for Catholic schools to be true living communities that are animated by the Holy Spirit. The friendly and welcoming ambiance that is established by teachers who are believers - who sometimes are the minority - together with the common engagement of all those who have educational responsibilities, irrespective of their beliefs or convictions, might allow students to overcome moments of loss or discouragement and open new prospects of evangelical hope. The complex network of interpersonal relations is schools' real strength, when it expresses love of truth, and teachers who are also believers must be supported, so that they might provide the leaven and benevolent power to edify the community.

In order for this to happen, a particular attention must be devoted to the formation and selection of school heads. They are not only in charge of their respective schools, but are also Bishops' reference persons inside schools in matters of pastoral care. School heads must be leaders who make sure that education is a shared and living mission, who support and organize teachers, who promote mutual encouragement and assistance.

Another challenging terrain for Catholic schools is relations with families, many of which are going through a deep crisis and need support, solidarity, involvement and even formation.

Teachers, parents and school heads - together with students - make up a broad educational community that is called upon to work together with Church institutions. Lifelong learning must focus on the promotion of a just community based on solidarity, that is sensitive to individual needs and is able to systematically help poorer students and families.

The world, in all its diversity, is eager to be guided towards the great values of mankind, truth, good and beauty; now more than ever. This is the approach Catholic schools should have towards young people, through dialogue, in order to present them with a view regarding the Other and others that is open, peaceful and enticing.

Sometimes, when relating to young people, asymmetry creates a distance between educators and learners. Today, the circular character of communication between teachers and students is being appreciated a lot more: its greater openness is remarkably more favorable to mutual listening. This does not mean that adults must relinquish their role as authority figures, but a differentiation must be introduced between the kind of authority that is only linked to a specific role or institutional function, and the authority that comes from credible testimony.

Schools are communities that learn how to improve, thanks to constant dialogue among educators, between teachers and their students and amongst students in their relations.

However, we should not forget that learning does not take place exclusively within schools: in the current context, which is strongly characterized by the pervasiveness of new technological languages and new opportunities for informal learning, schools have lost their traditional educational primacy. Our contemporary age has been defined as the age of knowledge. Today, people talk about the knowledge-based economy. On the one hand, young people are required to achieve unprecedented learning levels and abilities, on the other hand, schools have to deal with scenarios where information is more broadly available, in massive and uncontrollable amounts. Some degree of humbleness is necessary when considering what schools are able to do in times like these, when social networks are becoming more important, and learning opportunities outside of schools are increasingly widespread and impactful. Since schools are no longer the only learning environment for young people, and not even the most important one, and virtual communities are acquiring a remarkable importance, schooling must face a new challenge: that is, helping students develop the necessary critical tools to avoid being dominated by the power of new media.

Educating is a lot more than just instructing people. The European Union, OECD and World Bank highlight instrumental reason and competitiveness and have a merely functional view of education, as if it were legitimized only if it served the market economy and the labor market: all this strongly reduces the educational content of many international documents, something that we see reflected also in several texts issued by education ministries. Schools should not yield to this technocratic and economic rationale, even if they are exposed to outside forces as well as market attempts to use them instrumentally, even more so in the case of Catholic schools. We do not mean in any way to belittle the demands of the economy or unemployment's seriousness, but students need to be respected as integral persons and be helped to develop a multiplicity of skills that enrich the human person, such as creativity, imagination, the ability to take on responsibilities, to love the world, to cherish justice and compassion.

Proposing an integral education, in a society that is changing so quickly, requires a constant reflection that is able to renew it and make it increasingly rich quality-wise. Anyhow, there is a clear stance that must be taken: the kind of education that is promoted by Catholic schools is not aimed at establishing an elitist meritocracy; the pursuit of quality and excellence is indeed important, but we should never forget that students have very specific needs: they are often going through difficult circumstances, and deserve a pedagogical attention that takes their needs into account. Therefore, Catholic schools must engage in high-level global debates about inclusive education[7] to provide the benefit of their experience and educational vision.

An increasing number of students have been wounded during their childhood. Poor school performance is rising and requires a preventive kind of education, as well as specific training for teachers.

Nowadays, school systems are asked to promote skill development, and not just to convey knowledge; the skill paradigm, interpreted according to a humanistic vision, goes beyond the mere acquisition of knowledge or abilities: it involves the development of students' total personal resources, establishing a meaningful bond between school and life. It is important for schooling to enhance not only skills that are related to knowing and knowing how to do things, but also skills that apply to living alongside others and growing as human beings. These are reflective skills, for instance, by which we are responsible for our actions, or intercultural, decision-making, citizenship skills, that are becoming increasingly important in our globalized world and affect us directly, as is the case with skills related to consciousness, critical thinking and creative and transforming action.

Schools that are not subsidized by States are facing increasing financial difficulties to provide their services to the poorest students, at a time of dire economic crisis, when the choice to introduce new technologies becomes inevitable and costly. All schools, whether they are subsidized or not, must deal with increasing social divisions due to the economic crisis. Of course, this situation mandates diversified pedagogical approaches that are addressed to everyone; but this choice requires financial resources, in order to be feasible, as well as human resources, namely well trained teachers and leaders. Undoubtedly, missionary openness towards new forms of poverty must not only be safeguarded, but also further stimulated.

Teaching is not simply a job but a vocation that we must encourage. Nowadays, teachers have to deal with an increasing number of tasks. Some countries are having problems in finding school heads and teachers for specific subjects: many young people would rather work for businesses, hoping to receive a higher salary. Plus, teachers are not valued by society as they used to be, and their job has become more cumbersome because of increasing administrative duties. This leads many school heads to look for volunteers. The challenge will be for them to keep motivating and encouraging volunteers in their unconditional gift.

A growing number of young people are drifting away from the institutional Church. Religious ignorance or illiteracy are rising. Catholic education is an unglamorous mission. How can students be educated to exercise their freedom of conscience and take a stance in the immense domain of values and beliefs in a globalized society?

In many countries, Catholic schools do not receive adequate pastoral guidance in the multireligious context they are supposed to evangelize.

As far as educators are concerned, "deculturation" is limiting their knowledge of cultural heritage. Easy access to information, which nowadays is broadly available, when it is not selected with critical awareness, ultimately favors widespread superficiality among both students and teachers, not only impoverishing reason, but also imagination and creative thinking.

The number of educators and teachers who are believers is shrinking, hence making Christian testimony more rare. How can a bond with Jesus Christ be established in this new educational context?

In some Bishops' Conferences, Catholic teaching is not considered as a pastoral priority. But once the crisis hits, parishes realize that Catholic schools are often the only places where young people encounter the bearers of Good News. In many instances, these schools have become open to cultural and religious pluralism and, in some countries, priests and religious men and women are not present there. This is an unprecedented situation, which requires the presence of committed lay people, who are well prepared and willing to engage in a very demanding task. In many cases, this awareness has led many lay Catholics to organize their action but, quite often, their commitment is also characterized by diffidence towards the institutional Church, who has become uninterested in Catholic schools. Hence, one of the major challenges for some Bishops' Conferences will be to urgently redefine their relations with the laity, in order to cater to the Gospel's proclamation. Bishops must urgently rediscover how, among different modes of evangelization, an important place must be given to the religious formation of new generations, and schools are a precious instrument for this service.

In a number of countries, Catholic religion courses have been threatened and risk disappearing from syllabi. Since religion courses fall under the responsibility of Bishops, it is extremely important to always remember that this teaching cannot be neglected, although it should constantly be renewed.

Religion courses require an in-depth knowledge of young people's real needs, because this will provide the foundation on which the proclamation can be built, although the difference between "knowing" and "believing" must be respected.

Since, in many countries, the population of Catholic schools is characterized by a multiplicity of cultures and beliefs, religious formation in schools must be based on the awareness of the existing pluralism and constantly be able to be meaningful in contemporary society. This scenario is extremely diversified, therefore religion cannot be taught in the same way everywhere: in some situations, religion classes can provide the occasion where the Gospel is proclaimed for the first time; in other circumstances, educators will provide students the opportunity to experience interiority and prayer, prepare for the sacraments, and invite them to engage in youth movements or social service activities.

Since international organizations are dealing with religious matters increasingly often, it will be important for Bishops' Conferences to put forward their own proposals about religion courses that are able to provide knowledge and critical learning concerning all religions in our society. And they should also be able to clearly differentiate between the specificity of religion courses and others dedicated to responsible citizenship. Otherwise, governments will come up with their own agenda to educate free citizens, who are able to be supportive, compassionate and responsible, without the contribution of Christian and Catholic views in school syllabi.

The multiculturalism and multireligiosity of Catholic school students are a challenge for all people who have educational responsibilities. When schools' identities are weakened, several problems arise, due to the inability to deal with new situations. The answer cannot be to seek shelter in indifference, nor to adopt a kind of Christian fundamentalism, nor - lastly - to define Catholic schools as schools that support "generic" values.

Hence, one of the most important challenges will be to foster a greater cultural openness amongst teachers and, at the same time, an equally greater willingness to act as witnesses, so that they are aware and careful about their school's peculiar context in their work, without being lukewarm or extremist, teaching what they know and testifying to what they believe in. In order for teachers to interpret their profession in this way, they must be formed to engage in the dialogue between faith and cultures and between different religions.: there cannot be any real dialogue if educators themselves have not been formed and helped to deepen their faith and personal beliefs.

Promoting cooperation among students of different religious persuasions in civil service initiatives is an opportunity that should not be underestimated, where learning contexts are pluralistic. Would it not be wonderful if, as a minimum, all Catholic schools provided their students with opportunities to engage in civil service, accompanied by their teachers or, perhaps, their parents?

In this kind of cultural context, teacher training becomes essential and requires rigour and depth; without this, their teaching would be considered as not credible, unreliable and, therefore, unnecessary. This kind of training is urgent, if we want to rely on teachers who are committed to and concerned with our Educational Project's evangelical identity and its implementation in the future. It would not be advisable to have a "double population" of teachers in Catholic schools: what is needed, instead, is unity among the teachers, who together are willing to embrace and share a specific evangelical identity, as well as a consistent lifestyle.

Who can ensure this kind of training? Can specific places be dedicated to this task and be identified? Where can these kinds of trainers be found for teachers?

Here are some possible suggestions:

National structures and their offices.

Diocesan structures: vicars or diocesan directors of teaching activities, in synergy or partnership with training institutions. We should really think about the opportunity to centralize the training of lay people with ecclesial responsibilities and religion teachers in one single diocesan facility. On the one hand, this choice would lead to a stronger identity, but it would not provide the answer to a difficult question: how can this kind of training be adapted to needs that are typical of learning contexts? We should not forget that teachers have specific professional identities, with their peculiar features, that should be taken into account during training.

Religious congregations.

Catholic universities or institutes.

Parishes, deaneries or monasteries as centers for retreats or spiritual support for educators.

Networking, e-learning.

Some governments are quite keen on marginalizing Catholic schools through a number of rules and laws that, sometimes, trample over Catholic schools' pedagogical freedom. In some cases, governments hide their animosity by using lack of resources as an excuse. In these situations, the existence of Catholic schools is not ensured.

Another threat that might emerge once again is related to rules to avoid discrimination. Under the guise of a questionable "secularism", there is hostility against an education that is openly based on religious values and which, therefore, has to be confined to the "private" sphere.
2. Challenges for Catholic Higher Education
Are the challenges related to Catholic higher education, university education, any different from the ones Catholic schools must face, in primary and secondary education? For the most part, they are the same. For universities too, we must recognize that the fundamental issues education must face are mostly related, in one way or another, to the new cultural - and even sociological - contexts our societies are experiencing and Catholic university students mostly come from.

There are a number of systemic and structural differences that refer to higher education establishments' peculiarity in so far as size, history and legal frameworks are concerned, as well as governance; then there are also differences regarding plans and procedures, educational levels, research and the way in which activities are carried out. Lastly, there are differences in the status and prestige that is associated to individual institutions, as well as in the typology of students and academic staff.

Differentiation processes should be seen as a reaction to the changes and challenges that have involved higher education systems in the last three decades: during that time, access to universities stopped being limited to elites, but became generalized, while demands have increased for universities to respond to social needs and become factors for economic development. The challenge stemming from these trends is the same practically everywhere: i.e. how can these changes affecting universities' role can be reconciled with the values that have characterized university tradition? How can the centrality of scientific research and the formation of highly-skilled human capital be restored, being aware that universities must not only be places where knowledge is processed but also shared, in order to respond to social needs, and become instruments not just for cultural and civil development but for economic growth as well?

Governments' reply to these questions was to differentiate between systems of curricula and degrees, or introduce new functions inside institutions, or structure higher education systems based on increasingly complex labor market needs.

Considering these changes - that are still happening - it is natural to redefine universities' goals and functions: in addition to engaging in scientific, research and educational activities, universities are also becoming a reference point or supporting agencies for social, political and economic decision makers.

These changes mandate a conceptual redefinition of universities, and Catholic higher education cannot elude this effort too: in this context, it is urged to better specify its identity and peculiar academic and scientific tasks.

In recent years, the international dimension of higher education has been enhanced, through agreements between countries and universities, supported by instruments and programs that have been introduced by continental or global international organizations. Experiences in this domain have been characterized by several aspects: broader course offerings, growing foreign student presence, innovation in educational methodologies, and in process and research management. Joint university courses involving different universities are an effective internationalization tool because they allow for the exchange of ideas and experiences, favor the encounter of various people (students, teachers and researchers, administrative staff), coming from different cultures and traditions, and allow for the development of expertise in universities that have different missions, visions and profiles. This is a new and growing development that gives rise to many questions for institutions regarding openness, teaching methods and research activities.

In contemporary society, web-based applications are being used increasingly frequently and ubiquitously in the management of personal knowledge. Over the last few years, digital proficiency - in its different aspects - has been at the center of growing attention. Various documents and communications, published by international organizations, have highlighted the relevance of this specific skill for Lifelong Learning and to participate in the so-called "information society". But what does it mean to be a cultivated or even educated person in the 21st century? This issue goes beyond preparing young people for future jobs and challenges, but refers to being conscious citizens, irrespective of having been born or become digitally savvy individuals, who are fully autonomous in accessing and using digital society's resources, contents, relations, tools and potential. In this framework, the necessary skills to manage and enrich our knowledge, using online and offline resources, become extremely important. This set of skills, which is defined as Personal Knowledge Management, coupled with personal learning and/or personal learning network concepts, should help every individual to independently select and evaluate information sources, to search for online data, and be able to store, reprocess, transmit and share such data.

Next to these skills, others are needed, such as: connectedness, which involves not only technological aspects but also communication, as well as relational and identity management skills in a global communication context; critical ability, i.e. a critical approach to the web, that refers to the ability to use the web as a resource repository, also considering the context in which such resources are used; creativity, that is developing creative attitudes towards Lifelong Learning in order to benefit from educational experiences where formal and informal learning situations coexist.

One of the main problems we are facing today is joblessness. What opportunities can universities provide in terms of future jobs and business opportunities? Businesses, professionals and universities should have occasions to meet, in order to provide inspiration and opportunities for young people who are thinking about starting their own business, and for them to test their ideas and abilities. University students need to know about possible job opportunities early on in their career, participating in projects and competitions and accessing grants and scholarship to become more specialized. In this respect, guidance and counselling activities in upper secondary schools and universities become absolutely essential.

Regarding work-related issues, unemployment and training future leaders through higher education, we must remember that universities, as it is stated in Ex Corde Ecclesiae, have the fundamental mission to confidently serve "truth through their research, and the preservation and communication of knowledge for the good of society." (n. 30). Catholic universities contribute to this mission by fulfilling their ministry of hope in the service of others, forming people who are endowed with a sense of justice and profound concern for the common good, educating them to devote a particular attention to the poor and oppressed and trying to teach students to be responsible and active global citizens.

One of the goals that has been at the center of international attention recently, in different countries and institutions, is to ensure the quality of academic systems, identifying specific evaluation criteria and instruments to enhance individual institutions' responsibilities and transparency. This goal has been fully accepted and shared by all and many national and international agreements have been signed with specialized agencies in order to identify and share measurement indicators that do not simply evaluate external statistical data and procedures, but also consider higher education goals and contents within a system of values.

Promoting the quality of a Catholic academic center means to highlight the value of its activities, strengthening positive aspects and, when necessary, improving shortcomings. This monitoring and evaluation activity has become indispensable and performs two major functions: first of all, a public function, making sure that the study system is reliable and transparent, fostering awareness and a healthy emulation amongst the various teaching establishments; secondly, an internal function, aimed at helping players in the system to achieve their institutional goals and reflect on the outcome of their activities in order to improve and develop them further.

The changes mentioned so far also affect Catholic universities as institutions, including their governance. Since universities are "impartial" (they do not cater to partisan attitudes) and are not linked to "people's sovereignty" (university heads are not representatives of the people), governance can be seen from many different viewpoints, such as: conditions for student access, funding sources and mechanisms, levels of autonomy, universities' role in modern society and governance structures in academic institutions.

What is university autonomy all about? In many countries, the State has great power while individual universities need to be able to act freely to pursue their academic goals, without being unduly influenced by the fact of receiving public funding (which, in some cases, accounts for most of or even all their financial coverage). Nowadays, since States fund universities, they are actively present in them through the control they exercise over them remotely, by defining goals and evaluation instruments and trying to increasingly involve them in ensuring financial responsibility and sustainability.

While autonomy is being emphasized, universities are increasingly urged to meet the needs of their local areas, by providing courses that favor economic and social development, within a context of lifelong learning, and serving communities in supporting public and private decision makers. This growing multiplicity of functions that universities are developing, prompted by social pressures, has led many countries to introduce different organizational models for higher education which, on the one hand, are characterized by greater autonomy and academic freedom and, on the other hand, by growing responsibilities towards States and stakeholders in general.

Education must guide students to face reality, to enter the world with a sense of awareness and responsibility and, in order for this to happen, knowledge acquisition is always necessary. However, the real expected result is not the acquisition of information or knowledge but, rather, personal transformation. In this respect, motivation is not just a preliminary condition, but must be built: it is a result.

Catholic higher education aims at forming men and women who are able to engage in critical thinking, who are endowed with high level professionalism but also with rich humaneness, through which their skills are put to the service of the common good. "If need be, a Catholic University must have the courage to speak uncomfortable truths which do not please public opinion, but which are necessary to safeguard the authentic good of society. " ( Ex Corde Ecclesiae, n. 32). Research, teaching and various kinds of services that are in line with its mission, are the fundamental dimensions that should guide university education, in a constant dialogue amongst them. Catholic education's contribution nourishes this twofold growth: in knowledge and humanity. In Catholic universities, Christian inspiration permeates the life of academic communities, nourishes engagement in research, by providing guidance and meaning to it, and supports the task of forming young people, to whom broader and more meaningful prospects can be offered beyond their - albeit legitimate - professional expectations.

Catholic university professors are called upon to provide an original contribution to overcome the fragmentation of specialized knowledge, favoring dialogue amongst the various disciplines, looking for a unitarian reconciliation of knowledge, which is never fixed but constantly evolving; in this task, they should be guided by the awareness of the one single underlying meaning of all things. Within this dialogue, theology provides an essential contribution.
CONCLUSION
Nowadays, a lot of attention has been devoted to verifying the outcome of students' learning activities. International surveys draw up rankings and compare countries. Public opinion is very sensitive to these messages. Transparent results, social reporting, the drive towards improving existing standards: they all point to the current trend to improve the quality of education. However, it is important not to lose sight of one of education's fundamental aspects, which is respecting each person's readiness to adjust and the awareness that real changes usually take a long time to happen. Education, right now, is like the metaphor of the Good Sower who is busy sowing without always having the possibility to see the fruits of his work. Educating requires working with hope and confidence. Education and teaching must be concerned with constant self-improvement and verifying the effectiveness of its tools, being aware that not all expected results can always be seen or ascertained.

Each person's formation takes place within a process that is implemented over many years by several educators, starting with parents. Schooling occurs in the midst of a continuous growth process that has already started, which might have been positive and enriching, or riddled with problems and constraints, and this must be taken into account. Catholic education finds its place within a specific time in a person's history, and is all the more effective if it is able to connect to this history, build alliances, share responsibilities and build educating communities. Within a framework of educational cooperation, teaching is not only a process through which knowledge or training are provided, but also guidance for everyone to discover their talents, develop professional skills and take important intellectual, social and political responsibilities in local communities. Even more than this, teaching means to accompany young people in their search for truth and beauty, for what is right and good. The effectiveness of collective action, involving both teaching and administrative staff, is given by shared values and the fact of being a learning community, in addition to teaching.

Future challenges for Catholic schools and universities are immense. However, Pope Francis' words encourage us to renew our passion to educate younger generations: "Do not be disheartened in the face of the difficulties that the educational challenge presents! Educating is not a profession but an attitude, a way of being; in order to educate it is necessary to step out of ourselves and be among young people, to accompany them in the stages of their growth and to set ourselves beside them. Give them hope and optimism for their journey in the world. Teach them to see the beauty and goodness of creation and of man who always retains the Creator's hallmark. But above all with your life be witnesses of what you communicate. Educators [...] pass on knowledge and values with their words; but their words will have an incisive effect on children and young people if they are accompanied by their witness, their consistent way of life. Without consistency it is impossible to educate! You are all educators, there are no delegates in this field. Thus collaboration in a spirit of unity and community among the various educators is essential and must be fostered and encouraged. School can and must be a catalyst, it must be a place of encounter and convergence of the entire educating community, with the sole objective of training and helping to develop mature people who are simple, competent and honest, who know how to love with fidelity, who can live life as a response to God's call, and their future profession as a service to society"[8].
QUESTIONNAIRE
The following questionnaire serves as a basis for reflection and suggestions. It can be used with a certain flexibility.
1. Identity and Mission
- In your country, how are Catholic schools and universities consistent with their nature and aims?

- What elements principally characterize the service that Catholic schools and universities offer students and their families?

- Can we say that Catholic schools and universities are concerned for evangelization, and not just for offering a quality service that is superior to that of other institutions? How does local or national pastoral care include, as one of its integral parts, the world of schools and universities?

- What place is there for the teaching of the Catholic religion in Catholic schools and non-Catholic schools?

- Do Catholic schools and universities promote interreligious and intercultural dialogue?
2. Subjects
- Is there provision for accompaniment in the faith for teachers, students and the families of students who attend Catholic schools and universities?

- Are students encouraged to participate in the life of the educational institution?

- Are families encouraged to participate?

- What expectations have the young people who attend high school and university, and how does the education they receive enter into dialogue with these expectations?

- Is there care for students from an economically disadvantaged background?

- Is there care for students who have learning difficulties or are physically disadvantaged?

- Are activities promoted for former students?

- How have religious congregations with a charism for education "updated" their presence in schools and universities? What difficulties have they faced and what beneficial results have they achieved?

- How does one promote the shared mission of consecrated persons and lay faithful in Catholic schools and universities?
3. Formation
- How does one recruit personnel, particular teachers and administrators?

- How does one organize and guarantee the ongoing formation, both professional and Christian, of administrators, teachers and non-teaching staff?

- Is there care to form also those who work in non-Catholic schools and universities?

- Is there care to form also parents?

- Is there care for cooperation among the various Catholic schools and universities?
4. Challenges and Outlook
- The Instrumentum Laboris lists many challenges that Catholic education today is called upon to face. Which of these are considered, in your context, to be the most demanding?

- How are Catholic schools and universities placed with respect to these challenges?

- Briefly, what are the best experiences of Catholic schools and universities in your country?

- What, on the other hand, are the greatest weaknesses?

- What strategies and activities have already been prepared or are being sketched out for the future?

[1] "We should always remember that we are brothers and sisters, and therefore teach others and teach ourselves not to consider our neighbour as an enemy or as an adversary to be eliminated." POPE FRANCIS, Fraternity, the Foundation and Pathway to Peace, Messagge for World Day of Peace (2014), n. 8.

[5] "Wake up the World!". Conversation between Pope Francis and Religious Superiors, in La Civiltà Cattolica, n. 3925, January 4, 2014, p. 17.

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Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (Instrumentum laboris)

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EDUCATING TODAY AND TOMORROW: A RENEWING PASSION PRESENTATION The Members of the Congregation for Catholic Education's Plenary Assembly, meeting in 2011, accepted the suggestion of Pope Benedict XVI and entrusted to the Dicastery the task of preparing for the anniversary celebrations of the Declaration Gravissimum Educationis (50 years) and the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae (25 years), both of which fall in 2015.

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This Declaration on Christian Education from the Second Vatican Council provides the theological and philosophical foundations for Catholic education. It emphasizes the importance of education in the Church's mission.

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The Sacred Ecumenical Council has considered with care how extremely important education is in the life of man and how its influence ever grows in the social progress of this age.(1)

Indeed, the circumstances of our time have made it easier and at once more urgent to educate young people and, what is more, to continue the education of adults. Men are more aware of their own dignity and position; more and more they want to take an active part in social and especially in economic and political life.(2) Enjoying more leisure, as they sometimes do, men find that the remarkable development of technology and scientific investigation and the new means of communication offer them an opportunity of attaining more easily their cultural and spiritual inheritance and of fulfilling one another in the closer ties between groups and even between peoples.

Consequently, attempts are being made everywhere to promote more education. The rights of men to an education, particularly the primary rights of children and parents, are being proclaimed and recognized in public documents.(3) As the number of pupils rapidly increases, schools are multiplied and expanded far and wide and other educational institutions are established. New experiments are conducted in methods of education and teaching. Mighty attempts are being made to obtain education for all, even though vast numbers of children and young people are still deprived of even rudimentary training and so many others lack a suitable education in which truth and love are developed together.

To fulfill the mandate she has received from her divine founder of proclaiming the mystery of salvation to all men and of restoring all things in Christ, Holy Mother the Church must be concerned with the whole of man's life, even the secular part of it insofar as it has a bearing on his heavenly calling.(4) Therefore she has a role in the progress and development of education. Hence this sacred synod declares certain fundamental principles of Christian education especially in schools. These principles will have to be developed at greater length by a special post-conciliar commission and applied by episcopal conferences to varying local situations.

1. The Meaning of the Universal Right to an Education

All men of every race, condition and age, since they enjoy the dignity of a human being, have an inalienable right to an education (5) that is in keeping with their ultimate goal,(6) their ability, their sex, and the culture and tradition of their country, and also in harmony with their fraternal association with other peoples in the fostering of true unity and peace on earth. For a true education aims at the formation of the human person in the pursuit of his ultimate end and of the good of the societies of which, as man, he is a member, and in whose obligations, as an adult, he will share.

Therefore children and young people must be helped, with the aid of the latest advances in psychology and the arts and science of teaching, to develop harmoniously their physical, moral and intellectual endowments so that they may gradually acquire a mature sense of responsibility in striving endlessly to form their own lives properly and in pursuing true freedom as they surmount the vicissitudes of life with courage and constancy. Let them be given also, as they advance in years, a positive and prudent sexual education. Moreover they should be so trained to take their part in social life that properly instructed in the necessary and opportune skills they can become actively involved in various community organizations, open to discourse with others and willing to do their best to promote the common good.

This sacred synod likewise declares that children and young people have a right to be motivated to appraise moral values with a right conscience, to embrace them with a personal adherence, together with a deeper knowledge and love of God. Consequently it earnestly entreats all those who hold a position of public authority or who are in charge of education to see to it that youth is never deprived of this sacred right. It further exhorts the sons of the Church to give their attention with generosity to the entire field of education, having especially in mind the need of extending very soon the benefits of a suitable education and training to everyone in all parts of the world.(7)

2. Christian Education

Since all Christians have become by rebirth of water and the Holy Spirit a new creature(8) so that they should be called and should be children of God, they have a right to a Christian education. A Christian education does not merely strive for the maturing of a human person as just now described, but has as its principal purpose this goal: that the baptized, while they are gradually introduced the knowledge of the mystery of salvation, become ever more aware of the gift of Faith they have received, and that they learn in addition how to worship God the Father in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23) especially in liturgical action, and be conformed in their personal lives according to the new man created in justice and holiness of truth (Eph. 4:22-24); also that they develop into perfect manhood, to the mature measure of the fullness of Christ (cf. Eph. 4:13) and strive for the growth of the Mystical Body; moreover, that aware of their calling, they learn not only how to bear witness to the hope that is in them (cf. Peter 3:15) but also how to help in the Christian formation of the world that takes place when natural powers viewed in the full consideration of man redeemed by Christ contribute to the good of the whole society.(9) Wherefore this sacred synod recalls to pastors of souls their most serious obligation to see to it that all the faithful, but especially the youth who are the hope of the Church, enjoy this Christian education.(10)

3. The Authors of Education

Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators.(11) This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking. Parents are the ones who must create a family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered. Hence the family is the first school of the social virtues that every society needs. It is particularly in the Christian family, enriched by the grace and office of the sacrament of matrimony, that children should be taught from their early years to have a knowledge of God according to the faith received in Baptism, to worship Him, and to love their neighbor. Here, too, they find their first experience of a wholesome human society and of the Church. Finally, it is through the family that they are gradually led to a companionship with their fellowmen and with the people of God. Let parents, then, recognize the inestimable importance a truly Christian family has for the life and progress of God's own people.(12)

The family which has the primary duty of imparting education needs help of the whole community. In addition, therefore, to the rights of parents and others to whom the parents entrust a share in the work of education, certain rights and duties belong indeed to civil society, whose role is to direct what is required for the common temporal good. Its function is to promote the education of youth in many ways, namely: to protect the duties and rights of parents and others who share in education and to give them aid; according to the principle of subsidiarity, when the endeavors of parents and other societies are lacking, to carry out the work of education in accordance with the wishes of the parents; and, moreover, as the common good demands, to build schools and institutions.(13)

Finally, in a special way, the duty of educating belongs to the Church, not merely because she must be recognized as a human society capable of educating, but especially because she has the responsibility of announcing the way of salvation to all men, of communicating the life of Christ to those who believe, and, in her unfailing solicitude, of assisting men to be able to come to the fullness of this life.(14) The Church is bound as a mother to give to these children of hers an education by which their whole life can be imbued with the spirit of Christ and at the same time do all she can to promote for all peoples the complete perfection of the human person, the good of earthly society and the building of a world that is more human.(15)

4. Various Aids to Christian Education

In fulfilling its educational role, the Church, eager to employ all suitable aids, is concerned especially about those which are her very own. Foremost among these is catechetical instruction,(16) which enlightens and strengthens the faith, nourishes life according to the spirit of Christ, leads to intelligent and active participation in the liturgical mystery(17) and gives motivation for apostolic activity. The Church esteems highly and seeks to penetrate and ennoble with her own spirit also other aids which belong to the general heritage of man and which are of great influence in forming souls and molding men, such as the media of communication,(18) various groups for mental and physical development, youth associations, and, in particular, schools.

5. The Importance of Schools

Among all educational instruments the school has a special importance.(19) It is designed not only to develop with special care the intellectual faculties but also to form the ability to judge rightly, to hand on the cultural legacy of previous generations, to foster a sense of values, to prepare for professional life. Between pupils of different talents and backgrounds it promotes friendly relations and fosters a spirit of mutual understanding; and it establishes as it were a center whose work and progress must be shared together by families, teachers, associations of various types that foster cultural, civic, and religious life, as well as by civil society and the entire human community.

Beautiful indeed and of great importance is the vocation of all those who aid parents in fulfilling their duties and who, as representatives of the human community, undertake the task of education in schools. This vocation demands special qualities of mind and heart, very careful preparation, and continuing readiness to renew and to adapt.

6. The Duties and Rights of Parents

Parents who have the primary and inalienable right and duty to educate their children must enjoy true liberty in their choice of schools. Consequently, the public power, which has the obligation to protect and defend the rights of citizens, must see to it, in its concern for distributive justice, that public subsidies are paid out in such a way that parents are truly free to choose according to their conscience the schools they want for their children.(20)

In addition it is the task of the state to see to it that all citizens are able to come to a suitable share in culture and are properly prepared to exercise their civic duties and rights. Therefore the state must protect the right of children to an adequate school education, check on the ability of teachers and the excellence of their training, look after the health of the pupils and in general, promote the whole school project. But it must always keep in mind the principle of subsidiarity so that there is no kind of school monopoly, for this is opposed to the native rights of the human person, to the development and spread of culture, to the peaceful association of citizens and to the pluralism that exists today in ever so many societies.(21)

Therefore this sacred synod exhorts the faithful to assist to their utmost in finding suitable methods of education and programs of study and in forming teachers who can give youth a true education. Through the associations of parents in particular they should further with their assistance all the work of the school but especially the moral education it must impart.(22)

7. Moral and Religious Education in all Schools

Feeling very keenly the weighty responsibility of diligently caring for the moral and religious education of all her children, the Church must be present with her own special affection and help for the great number who are being trained in schools that are not Catholic. This is possible by the witness of the lives of those who teach and direct them, by the apostolic action of their fellow-students,(23) but especially by the ministry of priests and laymen who give them the doctrine of salvation in a way suited to their age and circumstances and provide spiritual aid in every way the times and conditions allow.

The Church reminds parents of the duty that is theirs to arrange and even demand that their children be able to enjoy these aids and advance in their Christian formation to a degree that is abreast of their development in secular subjects. Therefore the Church esteems highly those civil authorities and societies which, bearing in mind the pluralism of contemporary society and respecting religious freedom, assist families so that the education of their children can be imparted in all schools according to the individual moral and religious principles of the families.(24)

8. Catholic Schools

The influence of the Church in the field of education is shown in a special manner by the Catholic school. No less than other schools does the Catholic school pursue cultural goals and the human formation of youth. But its proper function is to create for the school community a special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity, to help youth grow according to the new creatures they were made through baptism as they develop their own personalities, and finally to order the whole of human culture to the news of salvation so that the knowledge the students gradually acquire of the world, life and man is illumined by faith.(25) So indeed the Catholic school, while it is open, as it must be, to the situation of the contemporary world, leads its students to promote efficaciously the good of the earthly city and also prepares them for service in the spread of the Kingdom of God, so that by leading an exemplary apostolic life they become, as it were, a saving leaven in the human community.

Since, therefore, the Catholic school can be such an aid to the fulfillment of the mission of the People of God and to the fostering of the dialogue between the Church and mankind, to the benefit of both, it retains even in our present circumstances the utmost importance. Consequently this sacred synod proclaims anew what has already been taught in several documents of the magisterium,(26) namely: the right of the Church freely to establish and to conduct schools of every type and level. And the council calls to mind that the exercise of a right of this kind contributes in the highest degree to the protection of freedom of conscience, the rights of parents, as well as to the betterment of culture itself.

But let teachers recognize that the Catholic school depends upon them almost entirely for the accomplishment of its goals and programs.(27) They should therefore be very carefully prepared so that both in secular and religious knowledge they are equipped with suitable qualifications and also with a pedagogical skill that is in keeping with the findings of the contemporary world. Intimately linked in charity to one another and to their students and endowed with an apostolic spirit, may teachers by their life as much as by their instruction bear witness to Christ, the unique Teacher. Let them work as partners with parents and together with them in every phase of education give due consideration to the difference of sex and the proper ends Divine Providence assigns to each sex in the family and in society. Let them do all they can to stimulate their students to act for themselves and even after graduation to continue to assist them with advice, friendship and by establishing special associations imbued with the true spirit of the Church. The work of these teachers, this sacred synod declares, is in the real sense of the word an apostolate most suited to and necessary for our times and at once a true service offered to society. The Council also reminds Catholic parents of the duty of entrusting their children to Catholic schools wherever and whenever it is possible and of supporting these schools to the best of their ability and of cooperating with them for the education of their children.(28)

9. Different Types of Catholic Schools

To this concept of a Catholic school all schools that are in any way dependent on the Church must conform as far as possible, though the Catholic school is to take on different forms in keeping with local circumstances.(29) Thus the Church considers very dear to her heart those Catholic schools, found especially in the areas of the new churches, which are attended also by students who are not Catholics.

Attention should be paid to the needs of today in establishing and directing Catholic schools. Therefore, though primary and secondary schools, the foundation of education, must still be fostered, great importance is to be attached to those which are required in a particular way by contemporary conditions, such as: professional(30) and technical schools, centers for educating adults and promoting social welfare, or for the retarded in need of special care, and also schools for preparing teachers for religious instruction and other types of education.

This Sacred Council of the Church earnestly entreats pastors and all the faithful to spare no sacrifice in helping Catholic schools fulfill their function in a continually more perfect way, and especially in caring for the needs of those who are poor in the goods of this world or who are deprived of the assistance and affection of a family or who are strangers to the gift of Faith.

10. Catholic Colleges and Universities

The Church is concerned also with schools of a higher level, especially colleges and universities. In those schools dependent on her she intends that by their very constitution individual subjects be pursued according to their own principles, method, and liberty of scientific inquiry, in such a way that an ever deeper understanding in these fields may be obtained and that, as questions that are new and current are raised and investigations carefully made according to the example of the doctors of the Church and especially of St. Thomas Aquinas,(31) there may be a deeper realization of the harmony of faith and science. Thus there is accomplished a public, enduring and pervasive influence of the Christian mind in the furtherance of culture and the students of these institutions are molded into men truly outstanding in their training, ready to undertake weighty responsibilities in society and witness to the faith in the world.(32)

In Catholic universities where there is no faculty of sacred theology there should be established an institute or chair of sacred theology in which there should be lectures suited to lay students. Since science advances by means of the investigations peculiar to higher scientific studies, special attention should be given in Catholic universities and colleges to institutes that serve primarily the development of scientific research.

The sacred synod heartily recommends that Catholic colleges and universities be conveniently located in different parts of the world, but in such a way that they are outstanding not for their numbers but for their pursuit of knowledge. Matriculation should be readily available to students of real promise, even though they be of slender means, especially to students from the newly emerging nations.

Since the destiny of society and of the Church itself is intimately linked with the progress of young people pursuing higher studies,(33) the pastors of the Church are to expend their energies not only on the spiritual life of students who attend Catholic universities, but, solicitous for the spiritual formation of all their children, they must see to it, after consultations between bishops, that even at universities that are not Catholic there should be associations and university centers under Catholic auspices in which priests, religious and laity, carefully selected and prepared, should give abiding spiritual and intellectual assistance to the youth of the university. Whether in Catholic universities or others, young people of greater ability who seem suited for teaching or research should be specially helped and encouraged to undertake a teaching career.

11. Faculties of Sacred Sciences

The Church expects much from the zealous endeavors of the faculties of the sacred sciences.(34) For to them she entrusts the very serious responsibility of preparing her own students not only for the priestly ministry, but especially for teaching in the seats of higher ecclesiastical studies or for promoting learning on their own or for undertaking the work of a more rigorous intellectual apostolate. Likewise it is the role of these very faculties to make more penetrating inquiry into the various aspects of the sacred sciences so that an ever deepening understanding of sacred Revelation is obtained, the legacy of Christian wisdom handed down by our forefathers is more fully developed, the dialogue with our separated brethren and with non-Christians is fostered, and answers are given to questions arising from the development of doctrine.(35)

Therefore ecclesiastical faculties should reappraise their own laws so that they can better promote the sacred sciences and those linked with them and, by employing up-to-date methods and aids, lead their students to more penetrating inquiry.

12. Coordination to be Fostered in Scholastic Matters

Cooperation is the order of the day. It increases more and more to supply the demand on a diocesan, national and international level. Since it is altogether necessary in scholastic matters, every means should be employed to foster suitable cooperation between Catholic schools, and between these and other schools that collaboration should be developed which the good of all mankind requires.(36) From greater coordination and cooperative endeavor greater fruits will be derived particularly in the area of academic institutions. Therefore in every university let the various faculties work mutually to this end, insofar as their goal will permit. In addition, let the universities also endeavor to work together by promoting international gatherings, by sharing scientific inquiries with one another, by communicating their discoveries to one another, by having exchange of professors for a time and by promoting all else that is conducive to greater assistance.

CONCLUSION

The sacred synod earnestly entreats young people themselves to become aware of the importance of the work of education and to prepare themselves to take it up, especially where because of a shortage of teachers the education of youth is in jeopardy. This same sacred synod, while professing its gratitude to priests, Religious men and women, and the laity who by their evangelical self-dedication are devoted to the noble work of education and of schools of every type and level, exhorts them to persevere generously in the work they have undertaken and, imbuing their students with the spirit of Christ, to strive to excel in pedagogy and the pursuit of knowledge in such a way that they not merely advance the internal renewal of the Church but preserve and enhance its beneficent influence upon today's world, especially the intellectual world.
NOTES
1. Among many documents illustrating the importance of education confer above all apostolic letter of Benedict XV, Communes Litteras, April 10, 1919: A.A.S. 11 (1919) p. 172. Pius XI's apostolic encyclical, Divini Illius Magistri, Dec. 31, 1929: A.A.S. 22 (1930) pp. 49-86. Pius XII's allocution to the youths of Italian Catholic Action, April 20, 1946: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 8, pp. 53-57. Allocution to fathers of French families, Sept. 18, 1951: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 13, pp. 241-245. John XXIII's 30th anniversary message on the publication of the encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, Dec. 30, 1959: A.A.S. 52 (1960) pp. 57-S9. Paul VI's allocution to members of Federated Institutes Dependent on Ecclesiastic Authority, Dec. 30, 1963: Encyclicals and Discourses of His Holiness Paul VI, Rome, 1964, pp. 601-603. Above all are to be consulted the Acts and Documents of the Second Vatican Council appearing in the first series of the ante-preparatrory phase. vol. 3. pp. 363-364; 370-371; 373-374.

2. Cf. John XXIII's encyclical letter Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961: A.A.S. 53 (1961) pp. 413-415; 417-424; Encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963: A.A.S. 55 (1963) p. 278 ff.

3. Declaration on the Rights of Man of Dec. 10, 1948, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, and also cf. the Declaration of the Rights of Children of Nov. 20 1959; additional protocol to the Convention Safeguarding the Rights of Men and Fundamental Liberties, Paris, March 20, 1952; regarding that universal profession of the character of human laws cf. apostolic letter Pacem in Terris, of John XXIII of April 11, 1963: A.A.S. 55 (1963) p. 295 ff.

4. Cf. John XXIII's encyclical letter, Mater et Magistra, May 15, 1961: A.A.S. 53 (1961) p. 402. Cf. Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, no. 17: A.A.S. 57 (1965) p. 21, and schema on the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, 1965.

5. Pius XII's radio message of Dec. 24, 1942: A.A.S. 35 (1943) pp. 12-19, and John XXIII's encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris April 11, 1963: A.A.S. 55 (1963) p. 259 ff. Also cf. declaration cited on the rights of man in footnote 3.

8. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri 1, p. 83.

10. Cf. Second Vatican Council's schema on the Decree on the Lay Apostolate (1965), no. 12.

11. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 59 ff., encyclical letter Mit Brennender Sorge, March 14, 1937: A.A.S. 29; Pius XII's allocution to the first national congress of the Italian Catholic Teachers' Association, Sept. 8, 1946: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 8, p. 218.

13. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 63 ff. Pius XII's radio message of June 1, 1941: A.A.S. 33 (1941) p. 200; allocution to the first national congress of the Association of Italian Catholic Teachers, Sept 8, 1946: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 8, 1946: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 8 p. 218. Regarding the principle of subsidiarity, cf. John XXIII's encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris, April 11, 1963: A.A.S. 55 (1963) p. 294.

14. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1 pp. 53 ff. and 56 ff.; Encyclical letter, Non Abbiamo Bisogno June 29, 1931: A.A.S. 23 (1931) p. 311 ff. Pius XII's letter from Secretariat of State to 28th Italian Social Week, Sept. 20, 1955; L'Osservatore Romano, Sept. 29, 1955.

15. The Church praises those local, national and international civic authorities who, conscious of the urgent necessity in these times, expend all their energy so that all peoples may benefit from more education and human culture. Cf. Paul VI's allocution to the United Nations General Assembly, Oct. 4, 1965: L'Osservatore Romano, Oct. 6, 1965.

16. Cf. Pius XI's motu proprio. Orbem Catholicum, June 29 1923: A.A.S. 15 (1923) pp. 327-329; decree, Provide Sane, Jan. 12, 1935: A.A.S. 27 (1935) pp. 145-152. Second Vatican Council's Decree on Bishops and Pastoral Duties, nos. 13 and 14.

17. Cf. Second Vatican Council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, no. 14: A.A.S. 56 (1964) p. 104.

18. Cf. Second Vatican Council's Decree on Communications Media, nos. 13 and 14: A.A.S. 56 (1964) p. 149 ff.

20. Cf. Provincial Council of Cincinnati III, a. 1861: Collatio Lacensis, III, col. 1240, c/d; Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1, pp. 60, 63 ff.

21. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 63; encyclical letter, Non Abbiamo Bisogno, June 29, 1931: A.A.S. 23 (1931) p. 305, Pius XII's letter from the Secretary of State to the 28th Italian Social Week, Sept. 20, 1955: L'Osservatore Romano, Sept. 29, 1955. Paul VI's allocution to the Association of Italian Christian Workers, Oct. 6, 1963: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, vol. 1, Rome, 1964, p. 230.

23. The Church considers it as apostolic action of great worth also when Catholic teachers and associates work in these schools. Cf. Second Vatican Council's schema of the Decree on the Lay Apostolate (1965), nos. 12 and 16.

24. Cf. Second Vatican Council's schema on the Declaration on Religious Liberty (1965), no. 5.

25. Cf. Provincial Council of Westminster I, a. 1852: Collatio Lacensis III, col. 1334, a/b; Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1, p. 77 ff.; Pius XII's allocution to the Bavarian Association of Catholic Teachers, Dec. 31, 1956: Discourses and Radio Messages, vol. 18, p. 746; Paul VI's allocution to the members of Federated Institutes Dependent on Ecclesiastic Authority, Dec. 30, 1963: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, 1, Rome, 1964, 602 ff.

26. Cf. especially the document mentioned in the first note; moreover this law of the Church is proclaimed by many provincial councils and in the most recent declarations of very many of the episcopal conferences.

27. Cf. Pius XI's encyclical letter, Divini Illius Magistri, 1 p. 80 ff.; Pius XII's allocution to the Catholic Association of Italian Teachers in Secondary Schools, Jan. 5, 1954: Discourses and Radio Messages, 15, pp. 551-55B; John XXIII's allocution to the 6th Congress of the Associations of Catholic Italian Teachers Sept. 5, 1959: Discourses, Messages, Conversations, 1, Rome,1960, pp. 427-431.

28. Cf. Pius XII's allocution to the Catholic Association of Italian Teachers in Secondary Schools, Jan. 5, 1954, 1, p. 555.

29. Cf. Paul VI's allocution to the International Office of Catholic Education, Feb. 25, 1964: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, 2, Rome, 1964, p. 232.

30. Cf. Paul VI's allocution to the Christian Association of Italian Workers, Oct. 6, 1963: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, 1, Rome, 1964, p. 229.

31. Cf. Paul VI's allocution to the International Thomistic Congress, Sept. 10, 1965: L'Osservatore Romano, Sept. 13-14, 1965.

32. Cf. Pius XII's allocution to teachers and students of French Institutes of Higher Catholic Education, Sept. 21, 1950: Discourses and Radio Messages, 12, pp. 219-221; letters to the 22nd congress of Pax Romana, Aug. 12, 1952: Discourses and Radio Messages, 14, pp. 567-569; John XXIII's allocution to the Federation of Catholic Universities, April 1, 1959: Discourses, Messages and Conversations, 1, Rome, 1960, pp. 226-229; Paul VI's allocution to the Academic Senate of the Catholic University of Milan, April 5, 1964: Encyclicals and Discourses of Paul VI, 2, Rome, 1964, pp. 438-443.

33. Cf. Pius XII's allocution to the academic senate and students of the University of Rome, June 15, 1952: Discourses and Radio Messages, 14, p. 208: "The direction of today's society principally is placed in the mentality and hearts of the universities of today."

34. Cf. Pius XII's apostolic constitution, Deus Scientiarum Dominus, May 24, 1931: A.A.S. 23 (1931) pp. 245-247.

35. Cf. Pius XII's encyclical letter, Humani Generis Aug. 12, 1950 A.A.S. 42 (1950) pp. 568 ff. and 578; Paul VI's encyclical letter, Ecclesiam Suam, part III Aug. 6, 1964; A.A.S. 56 (1964) pp. 637-659; Second Vatican Council's Decree on Ecumenism: A.A.S. 57 (1965) pp. 90-107.

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Declaration on christian education - Gravissimum educationis

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The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School

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The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School

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This document explores the distinctive characteristics of Catholic schools and how they integrate faith, culture, and life. It's crucial for understanding the unique identity of Catholic education.

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THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION
OF EDUCATION IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL

GUIDELINES FOR REFLECTION AND RENEWAL

CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
1. On October 28, 1965, the Second Vatican Council promulgated the Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum educationis. The document describes the distinguishing characteristic of a Catholic school in this way; "The Catholic school pursues cultural goals and the natural development of youth to the same degree as any other school. What makes the Catholic school distinctive is its attempt to generate a community climate in the school that is permeated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and love. It tries to guide the adolescents in such a way that personality development goes hand in hand with the development of the "new creature" that each one has become through baptism. It tries to relate all of human culture to the good news of salvation so that the light of faith will illumine everything that the students will gradually come to learn about the world, about life, and about the human person".(1)

The Council, therefore, declared that what makes the Catholic school distinctive is its religious dimension, and that this is to be found in a) the educational climate, b) the personal development of each student, c) the relationship established between culture and the Gospel, d) the illumination of all knowledge with the light of faith.

2. More than twenty years have passed since this declaration of the Council. In response to suggestions received from many parts of the world, the Congregation for Catholic Education warmly invites local ordinaries and the superiors of Religious Congregations dedicated to the education of young people to examine whether or not the words of the Council have become a reality. The Second Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of 1985 said that this opportunity should not be missed! The reflection should lead to concrete decisions about what can and should be done to make Catholic schools more effective in meeting the expectations of the Church, expectations shared by many families and students.

In order to be of assistance in implementing the Council's declaration, the Congregation for Catholic Education has already published sevetal papers dealing with questions of concern to Catholic schools. The Catholic School (2) develops a basic outline of the speciflc identity and mission of the school in today's world. Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to the Faith(3) emphasizes the contributions of lay people, who complement the valuable service offered in the past and still offered today by so many Religious Congregations of men and women. This present document is closely linked to the preceding ones; it is based on the same sources, appropriately applied to the world of today.(4)

4 The present document restricts its attention to Catholic schools: that is, educational institutions of whatever type, devoted to the formation of young people at all preuniversity levels, dependent on ecclesiastical authority, and therefore falling within the competence of this Dicastery. This clearly leaves many other questions untouched, but it is better to concentrate our attention on one area rather than try to deal with several different issues at once. We are confident that attention will be given to the other questions at some appropriate time.(5)

5. The pages which follow contain guidelines which are rather general. Different regions, different schools, and even different classes within the same school will have their own distinct history, ambience, and personal characteristics. The Congregation asks bishops, Religious superiors and those in charge of the schools to study these general guidelines and adapt them to their own local situations.

6. Not all students in Catholic schools are members of the Catholic Church; not all are Christians. There are, in fact, countries in which the vast majority of the students are not Catholics - a reality which the Council called attention to. (6) The religious freedom and the personal conscience of individual students and their families must be respected, and this freedom is explicitly recognized by the Church.(7) On the other hand, a Catholic school cannot relinquish its own freedom to proclaim the Gospel and to offer a formation based on the values to be found in a Christian education; this is its right and its duty. To proclaim or to offer is not to impose, however; the latter suggests a moral violence which is strictly forbidden, both by the Gospel and by Church law. (8)

PART ONE

THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION
IN THE LIVES OF TODAY'S YOUTH

1. Youth in a changing world

7. The Council provided a realistic analysis of the religious condition in the world today,(9) and paid explicit attention to the special situation of young people;(10) educators must do the same. Whatever methods they employ to do this, they should be attentive to the results of research with youth done at the local level, and they should be mindful of the fact that the young today are, in some respects, different from those that the Council had in mind.

8. Many Catholic schools are located in countries which are undergoing radical changes in outlook and in life-style: these countries are becoming urbanized and industrialized, and are moving into the so-called "tertiary" economy, characterized by a high standard of living, a wide choice of educational opportunities, and complex communication systems. Young people in these countries are familiar with the media from their infancy; they have been exposed to a wide variety of opinions on every possible topic, and are surprisingly well-informed even when they are still very young.

9. These young people absorb a wide and varied assortment of knowledge from all kinds of sources, including the school. But they are not yet capable of ordering or prioritizing what they have learned. Often enough, they do not yet have the critical ability needed to distinguish the true and good from their opposites; they have not yet acquired the necessary religious and moral criteria that will enable them to remain objective and independent when faced with the prevailing attitudes and habits of society. Concepts such as truth, beauty and goodness have become so vague today that young people do not know where to turn to find help; even when they are able to hold on to certain values, they do not yet have the capacity to develop these values into a way of life; all too often they are more inclined simply to go their own way, accepting whatever is popular at the moment.

Changes occur in different ways and at different rates. Each school will have to look carefully at the religious behaviour of the young people "in loco" in order to discover their thought processes, their life-style, their reaction to change. Depending on the situation, the change may be profound, it may be only beginning, or the local culture may be resistant to change. Even a culture resistant to change is being influenced by the all-pervasive mass media!

2. Some common characteristics of the young

10. Although local situations create great diversity, there are characteristics that today's young people have in common, and educators need to be aware of them.

Many young people find themselves in a condition of radical instability. On the one hand they live in a onedimensional universe in which the only criterion is practical utility and the only value is economic and technological progress. On the other hand, these same young people seem to be progressing to a stage beyond this narrow universe; nearly everywhere, evidence can be found of a desire to be released from it.

11. Others live in an environment devoid of truly human relationships; as a result, they suffer from loneliness and a lack of affection. This is a widespread phenomenon that seems to be independent of life-style: it is found in oppressive regimes, among the homeless, and in the cold and impersonal dwellings of the rich. Young people today are notably more depressed than in the past; this is surely a sign of the poverty of human relationships in families and in society today.

12 Large numbers of today's youth are very worried about an uncertain future. They have been influenced by a world in which human values are in chaos because these values are no longer rooted in God; the result is that these young people are very much afraid when they think about the appalling problems in the world: the threat of nuclear annihilation, vast unemployment, the high number of marriages that end in separation or divorce, widespread poverty, etc. Their worry and insecurity become an almost irresistible urge to focus in on themselves, and this can lead to violence when young people are together - a violence that is not always limited to words.

13 Not a few young people, unable to find any meaning in life or trying to find an escape from loneliness, turn to alcohol drugs, the erotic, the exotic etc. Christian education is faced with the huge challenge of helping these young people discover something of value in their lives.

14 The normal instability of youth is accentuated by the times they are living in. Their decisions are not solidly based: today's "yes" easily becomes tomorrow's "no".

Finally, a vague sort of generosity is characteristic of many young people. Filled with enthusiasm, they are eager to join in popular causes. Too often, however, these movements are without any specific orientation or inner coherence. It is important to channel this potential for good and, when possible, give it the orientation that comes from the light of faith.

15 In some parts of the world it might be profitable to pay particular attention to the reasons why young people abandon their faith. Often enough, this begins by giving up religious practices. As time goes on, it can develop into a hostility toward Church structures and a crisis of conscience regarding the truths of faith and their accompanying moral values. This can be especially true in those countries where education in general is secular or even imbued with atheism. The crisis seems to occur more frequently in places where there is high economic development and rapid social and cultural change. Sometimes the phenomenon is not recent; it is something that the parents went through, and they are now passing their own attitudes along to the new generation. When this is the case, it is no longer a personal crisis, but one that has become religious and social. It has been called a "split between the Gospel and culture".(11)

16 A break with the faith often takes the form of total religious indifference. Experts suggest that certain patterns of behaviour found among young people are actually attempts to fill the religious void with some sort of a substitute: the pagan cult of the body, drug escape, or even those massive "youth events" which sometimes deteriorate into fanaticism and total alienation from reality.

17 Educators cannot be content with merely observing these behaviour patterns; they have to search for the causes. It may be some lack at the start, some problem in the family background. Or it may be that parish and Church organizations are deficient. Christian formation given in childhood and early adolescence is not always proof against the influence of the environment. Perhaps there are cases in which the fault lies with the Catholic school itself.

18 There are also a number of positive signs, which give grounds for encouragement. In a Catholic school, as in any school, one can find young people who are outstanding in every way - in religious attitude, moral behaviour, and academic achievement. When we look for the cause, we often discover an excellent family background reinforced by both Church and school. There is always a combination of factors, open to the interior workings of grace.

Some young people are searching for a deeper understanding of their religion; as they reflect on the real meaning of life they begin to find answers to their questions in the Gospel. Others have already passed through the crisis of indifference and doubt, and are now ready to commit themselves - or recommit themselves - to a Christian way of life. These positive signs give us reason to hope that a sense of religion can develop in more of today's young people, and that it can be more deeply rooted in them.

19 For some of today's youth, the years spent in a Catholic school seem to have scarcely any effect. They seem to have a negative attitude toward all the various ways in which a Christian life is expressed - prayer, participation in the Mass, or frequenting of the Sacraments. Some even reject these expressions outright, especially those associated with an institutional Church. If a school is excellent as an academic institution, but does not witness to authentic values, then both good pedagogy and a concern for pastoral care make it obvious that renewal is called for - not only in the content and methodology of religious instruction, but in the overall school planning which governs the whole process of formation of the students.

20. The religious questioning of young people today needs to be better understood. Many of them are asking about the value of science and technology when everything could end in a nuclear holocaust; they look at how modern civilization floods the world with material goods, beautiful and useful as these may be, and they wonder whether the purpose of life is really to possess many "things" or whether there may not be something far more valuable; they are deeply disturbed by the injustice which divides the free and the rich from the poor and the oppressed.

21 For many young people, a critical look at the world they are living in leads to crucial questions on the religious plane. They ask whether religion can provide any answers to the pressing problems afflicting humanity. Large numbers of them sincerely want to know how to deepen their faith and live a meaningful life. Then there is the further practical question of how to translate responsible commitment into effective action. Future historians will have to evaluate the "youth group" phenomenon, along with the movements founded for spiritual growth, apostolic work, or service of others. But these are signs that words are not enough for the young people of today. They want to be active - to do something worthwhile for themselves and for others.

22 Catholic schools are spread throughout the world and enroll literally millions of students.(12) These students are children of their own race, nationality, traditions, and family. They are also the children of our age. Each student has a distinct origin and is a unique individual. A Catholic school is not simply a place where lessons are taught; it is a centre that has an operative educational philosophy, attentive to the needs of today's youth and illumined by the Gospel message. A thorough and exact knowledge of the real situation will suggest the best educational methods.

23 We must be ready to repeat the basic essentials over and over again, so long as the need is present. We need to integrate what has already been learned, and respond to the questions which come from the restless and critical minds of the young. We need to break through the wall of indifference, and at the same time be ready to help those who are doing well to discover a "better way", offering them a knowledge that also embraces Christian wisdom.(13) The specific methods and the steps used to accomplish the educational philosophy of the school will, therefore, be conditioned and guided by an intimate knowledge of each student's unique situation.(14)

PART TWO

THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION
OF THE SCHOOL CLIMATE

1. What is a Christian school climate?

24. In pedagogical circles, today as in the past, great stress is put on the climate of a school: the sum total of the different components at work in the school which interact with one another in such a way as to create favourable conditions for a formation process. Education always takes place within certain specific conditions of space and time, through the activities of a group of individuals who are active and also interactive among themselves. They follow a programme of studies which is logically ordered and freely accepted. Therefore, the elements to be considered in developing an organic vision of a school climate are: persons, space, time, relationships, teaching, study, and various other activities.

25. From the first moment that a student sets foot in a Catholic school, he or she ought to have the impression of entering a new environment, one illumined by the light of faith, and having its own unique characteristics. The Council summed this up by speaking of an environment permeated with the Gospel spirit of love and freedom.(15) In a Catholic school, everyone should be aware of the living presence of Jesus the "Master" who, today as always, is with us in our journey through life as the one genuine "Teacher", the perfect Man in whom all human values find their fullest perfection. The inspiration of Jesus must be translated from the ideal into the real. The Gospel spirit should be evident in a Christian way of thought and life which permeates all facets of the educational climate. Having crucifixes in the school will remind everyone, teachers and students alike, of this familiar and moving presence of Jesus, the "Master" who gave his most complete and sublime teaching from the cross.

26. Prime responsibility for creating this unique Christian school climate rests with the teachers, as individuals and as a community. The religious dimension of the school climate is expressed through the celebration of Christian values in Word and Sacrament, in individual behaviour, in friendly and harmonious interpersonal relationships, and in a ready availability. Through this daily witness, the students will come to appreciate the uniqueness of the environment to which their youth has been entrusted. If it is not present, then there is little left which can make the school Catholic.

2. The physical environment of a Catholic school

27 Many of the students will attend a Catholic school - often the same school - from the time they are very young children until they are nearly adults. It is only natural that they should come to think of the school as an extension of their own homes, and therefore a "school- home" ought to have some of the amenities which can create a pleasant and happy family atmosphere. When this is missing from the home, the school can often do a great deal to make up for it.

28 The first thing that will help to create a pleasant environment is an adequate physical facility: one that includes sufficient space for classrooms, sports and recreation, and also such things as a staff room and rooms for parent-teacher meetings, group work, etc. The possibilities for this vary from place to place; we have to be honest enough to admit that some school buildings are unsuitable and unpleasant. But students can be made to feel "at home" even when the surroundings are modest, if the climate is humanly and spiritually rich.

29 A Catholic school should be an example of simplicity and evangelical poverty, but this is not inconsistent with having the materials needed to educate properly. Because of rapid technological progress, a school today must have access to equipment that, at times, is complex and expensive. This is not a luxury; it is simply what a school needs to carry out its role as an educational institution. Catholic schools, therefore, have a right to expect the help from others that will make the purchase of modern educational materials possible.(16) Both individuals and public bodies have a duty to provide this support.

Students should feel a responsibility for their "schoolhome"; they should take care of it and help to keep it as clean and neat as possible. Concern for the environment is part of a formation in ecological awareness, the need for which is becoming increasingly apparent.

An awareness of Mary's presence can be a great help toward making the school into a "home". Mary, Mother and Teacher of the Church, accompanied her Son as he grew in wisdom and grace; from its earliest days, she has accompanied the Church in its mission of salvation.

30 The physical proximity of the school to a church can contribute a great deal toward achieving the educational aims. A church should not be seen as something extraneous, but as a familiar and intimate place where those young people who are believers can find the presence of the Lord: " Behold, I am with you all days"(17) Liturgy planning should be especially careful to bring the school community and the local Church together.

3. The ecclesial and educational climate of the school

31 The declaration Gravissimum educationis(18) notes an important advance in the way a Catholic school is thought of: the transition from the school as an institution to the school as a community. This community dimension is, perhaps, one result of the new awareness of the Church's nature as developed by the Council. In the Council texts, the community dimension is primarily a theological concept rather than a sociological category; this is the sense in which it is used in the second chapter of Lumen gentium, where the Church is described as the People of God.

As it reflects on the mission entrusted to it by the Lord, the Church gradually develops its pastoral instruments so that they may become ever more effective in proclaiming the Gospel and promoting total human formation. The Catholic school is one of these pastoral instruments; its specific pastoral service consists in mediating between faith and culture: being faithful to the newness of the Gospel while at the same time respecting the autonomy and the methods proper to human knowledge.

32 Everyone directly involved in the school is a part of the school community: teachers, directors, administrative and auxiliary staff. Parents are central figures, since they are the natural and irreplaceable agents in the education of their children. And the community also includes the students, since they must be active agents in their own education.(19)

33 At least since the time of the Council, therefore, the Catholic school has had a clear identity, not only as a presence of the Church in society, but also as a genuine and proper instrument of the Church. It is a place of evangelization, of authentic apostolate and of pastoral action - not through complementaty or parallel or extracurricular activity, but of its very nature: its work of educating the Christian person. The words of the present Holy Father make this abundantly clear: "the Catholic school is not a marginal or secondary element in the pastoral mission of the bishop. Its function is not merely to be an instrument with which to combat the education given in a State school" (20)

34 The Catholic school finds its true justification in the mission of the Church; it is based on an educational philosophy in which faith, culture and life are brought into harmony. Through it, the local Church evangelizes, educates, and contributes to the formation of a healthy and morally sound life-style among its members. The Holy Father affirms that "the need for the Catholic school becomes evidently clear when we consider what it contributes to the development of the mission of the People of God, to the dialogue between Church and the human community, to the safeguarding of freedom of conscience ...". Above all, according to the Holy Father, the Catholic school helps in achieving a double objective: "of its natute it guides men and women to human and Christian perfection, and at the same time helps them to become mature in their faith. For those who believe in Christ, these are two facets of a single reality" (21)

35 Most Catholic schools are under the direction of Religious Congregations, whose consecrated members enrich the educational climate by bringing to it the values of their own Religious communities. These men and women have dedicated themselves to the service of the students without thought of personal gain, because they are convinced that it is really the Lord whom they are serving.(22)

Through the prayer, work and love that make up their life in community, they express in a visible way the life of the Church. Each Congregation brings the richness of its own educational tradition to the school, found in its original charism; its members each bring the careful professional preparation that is required by the call to be an educator. The strength and gentleness of their total dedication to God enlightens their work, and students gradually come to appreciate the value of this witness. They come to love these educators who seem to have the gift of eternal spiritual youth, and it is an affection which endures long after students leave the school.

36 The Church offers encouragement to these men and women who have dedicated their lives to the fulfilment of an educational charism.(23) It urges those in education not to give up this work, even in situations where it involves suffering and persecution. In fact, the Church hopes that many others will be called to this special vocation. When afflicted by doubts and uncertainty, when difficulties are multiplied, these Religious men and women should recall the nature of their consecration, which is a type of holocaust (24) - a holocaust which is offered "in the perfection of love, which is the scope of the consecrated life".(25) Their merit is the greater because their offering is made on behalf of young people, who are the hope of the Church.

37 At the side of the priests and Religious, lay teachers contribute their competence and their faith witness to the Catholic school. Ideally, this lay witness is a concrete example of the lay vocation that most of the students will be called to. The Congregation has devoted a specific document to lay teachers,(26) meant to remind lay people of their apostolic responsibility in the field of education and to summon them to participate in a common mission, whose point of convergence is found in the unity of the Church. For all are active members of one Church and cooperate in its one mission, even though the fields of labour and the states of life are different because of the personal call each one receives from God.

38 The Church, therefore, is willing to give lay people charge of the schools that it has established, and the laity themselves establish schools. The recognition of the school as a Catholic school is, however, always reserved to the competent ecclesiastical authority (27) When lay people do establish schools, they should be especially concerned with the creation of a community climate permeated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and love, and they should witness to this in their own lives.

39 The more the members of the educational community develop a real willingness to collaborate among themselves, the more fruitful their work will be. Achieving the educational aims of the school should be an equal priority for teachers, students and families alike, each one according to his or her own role, always in the Gospel spirit of freedom and love. Therefore channels of communication should be open among all those concerned with the school. Frequent meetings will help to make this possible, and a willingness to discuss common problems candidly will enrich this communication.

The daily problems of school life are sometimes aggravated by misunderstandings and various tensions. A determination to collaborate in achieving common educational goals can help to overcome these difficulties and reconcile different points of view. A willingness to collaborate helps to facilitate decisions that need to be made about the ways to achieve these goals and, while preserving proper respect for school authorities, even makes it possible to conduct a critical evaluation of the school - a process in which teachers, students and families can all take part because of their common concern to work for the good of all.

40 Considering the special age group they ate workìng with, primary schools should try to create a community school climate that reproduces, as far as possible, the warm and intimate atmosphere of family life. Those responsible for these schools will, therefore, do everything they can to promote a common spirit of trust and spontaneity. In addition, they will take great care to promote close and constant collaboration with the parents of these pupils. An integration of school and home is an essential condition for the birth and development of all of the potential which these children manifest in one or the other of these two situations - including their openness to religion with all that this implies.

41 The Congregation wishes to express its appreciation to all those dioceses which have worked to establish primary schools in their parishes; these deserve the strong support of all Catholics. It also wishes to thank the Religious Congregations helping to sustain these primary schools, often at great sacrifice. Moreover, the Congregation offers enthusiastic encouragement to those dioceses and Religious Congregations who wish to establish new schools. Such things as film clubs and sports groups are not enough; not even classes in catechism instruction are sufficient. What is needed is a school. This is a goal which, in some countries, was the starting point. There are countries in which the Church began with schools and only later was able to construct Churches and to establish a new Christian community (28)

4. The Catholic school as an open community

42 Partnership between a Catholic school and the families of the students must continue and be strengthened: not simply to be able to deal with academic problems that may arise, but rather so that the educational goals of the school can be achieved. Close cooperation with the family is especially important when treating sensitive issues such as religious, moral, or sexual education, orientation toward a profession, or a choice of one's vocation in life. It is not a question of convenience, but a partnership based on faith. Catholic tradition teaches that God has bestowed on the family its own specific and unique educational mission.

43 The first and primary educators of children are their parents.(29) The school is aware of this fact but, unfortunately, the same is not always true of the families themselves; it is the school's responsibility to give them this awareness, Every school should initiate meetings and other programmes which will make the parents more conscious of their role, and help to establish a partnership; it is impossible to do too much along these lines. It often happens that a meeting called to talk about the children becomes an opportunity to raise the consciousness of the parents. In addition, the school should try to involve the family as much as possible in the educational aims of the school - both in helping to plan these goals and in helping to achieve them. Experience shows that parents who were once totally unaware of their role can be transformed into excellent partners.

44 "The involvement of the Church in the field of education is demonstrated especially by the Catholic school".(30) This affirmation of the Council has both historical and practical importance. Church schools first appeared centuries ago, growing up alongside monasteries, cathedrals and parish churches. The Church has always had a love for its schools, because this is where its children receive their formation. These schools have continued to flourish with the help of bishops, countless Religious Congregations, and laity; the Church has never ceased to support the schools in their difficulties and to defend them against governments seeking to close or confiscate them.

Just as the Church is present in the school, so the school is present in the Church; this is a logical consequence of their reciprocal commitment. The Church, through which the Redemption of Christ is revealed and made operative, is where the Catholic school receives its spirit. It recognizes the Holy Father as the centre and the measure of unity in the entire Christian community. Love for and fidelity to the Church is the organizing principle and the source of strength of a Catholic school.

Teachers find the light and the courage for authentic Religious education in their unity among themselves and their generous and humble communion with the Holy Father. Concretely, the educational goals of the school include a concern for the life and the problems of the Church, both local and universal. These goals are attentive to the Magisterium, and include cooperation with Church authorities. Catholic students are helped to become active members of the parish and diocesan communities. They have opportunities to join Church associations and Church youth groups, and they are taught to collaborate in local Church projects.

Mutual esteem and reciprocal collaboration will be established between the Catholic school and the bishop and other Church authorities through direct contacts. We are pleased to note that a concern for Catholic schools is becoming more of a priority of local Churches in many parts of the world.(31)

45 A Christian education must promote respect for the State and its representatives, the observance of just laws, and a search for the common good. Therefore, traditional civic values such as freedom, justice, the nobility of work and the need to pursue social progress are all included among the school goals, and the life of the school gives witness to them. The national anniversaries and other important civic events are commemorated and celebrated in appropriate ways in the schools of each country.

The school life should also reflect an awareness of international society. Christian education sees all of humanity as one large family, divided perhaps by historical and political events, but always one in God who is Father of all. Therefore a Catholic school should be sensitive to and help to promulgate Church appeals for peace, justice, freedom, progress for all peoples and assistance for countries in need. And it should not ignore similar appeals coming from recognized international organizations such as UNESCO and the United Nations.

46 That Catholic schools help to form good citizens is a fact apparent to everyone. Both government policy and public opinion should, therefore, recognize the work these schools do as a real service to society. It is unjust to accept the service and ignore or fight against its source. Fortunately, a good number of countries seem to have a growing understanding of and sympathy for the Catholic school.(32) A recent survey conducted by the Congregation demonstrates that a new age may be dawning.

PART THREE

THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION
OF SCHOOL LIFE AND WORK

1. The religious dimension of school life

47 Students spend a large share of each day and the greater part of their youth either at school or doing activities that are related to school. "School" is often identified with "teaching"; actually, classes and lessons are only a small part of school life. Along with the lessons that a teacher gives, there is the active participat i on of the students individually or as a group: study, research, exercises, para-curricular activities, examinations, relationships with teachers and with one another, group activities, class meetings, school assemblies. While the Catholic school is like any other school in this complex variety of events that make up the life of the school, there is one essential difference: it draws its inspiration and its strength from the Gospel in which it is rooted. The principle that no human act is morally indifferent to one's conscience or before God has clear applications to school life: examples of it are school work accepted as a duty and done with good will; courage and perseverance when difficulties come; respect for teachers; loyalty toward and love for fellow students; sincerity, tolerance, and goodness in all relationships.

48 The educational process is not simply a human activity; it is a genuine Christian journey toward perfection. Students who are sensitive to the religious dimension of life realize that the will of God is found in the work and the human relationships of each day. They learn to follow the example of the Master, who spent his youth working and who did good to all.(33) Those students who are un aware of this religious dimension are deprived of its benefits and they run the risk of living the best years of their lives at a shallow level.

49 Within the overall process of education, special mention must be made of the intellectual work done by students. Although Christian life consists in loving God and doing his will, intellectual work is intimately involved. The light of Christian faith stimulates a desire to know the universe as God's creation. It enkindles a love for the truth that will not be satisfied with superficiality in knowledge or judgment. It awakens a critical sense which examines statements rather than accepting them blindly. It impels the mind to learn with careful order and precise methods, and to work with a sense of responsibility. It provides the strength needed to accept the sacrifices and the perseverance required by intellectual labour. When fatigued, the Christian student remembers the command of Genesis(34) and the invitation of the Lord.(35)

50 The religious dimension enhances intellectual efforts in a variet of ways: interest in academic work is stimulated by the presence of new perspectives; Christian formation is strengthened; supernatural grace is given. How sad it would be if the young people in Catholic schools were to have no knowledge of this reality in the midst of all the difficult and tiring work they have to do!

2. The religious dimension of the school culture

51 Intellectual development and growth as a Christian go forward hand in hand. As students move up from one class into the next it becomes increasingly imperative that a Catholic school help them become aware that a relationship exists between faith and human culture.(36) Human culture remains human, and must be taught with scientific objectivity. But the lessons of the teacher and the reception of those students who are believers will not divorce faith from this culture;(37) this would be a major spiritual loss. The world of human culture and the world of religion are not like two parallel lines that never meet; points of contact are established within the human person. For a believer is both human and a person of faith, the protagonist of culture and the subject of religion. Anyone who searches for the contact points will be able to find them.(38) Helping in the search is not solely the task of religion teachers; their time is quite limited, while other teachers have many hours at their disposal every day. Everyone should work together, each one developing his or her own subject area with professional competence, but sensitive to those opportunities in which they can help students to see beyond the limited horizon of human reality. In a Catholic school, and analogously in every school, God cannot be the Great Absent One or the unwelcome intruder. The Creator does not put obstacles in the path of someone trying to learn more about the universe he created, a universe which is given new significance when seen with the eyes of faith.

52 A Catholic secondary school will give special attention to the "challenges" that human culture poses for faith. Students will be helped to attain that synthesis of faith and culture which is necessary for faith to be mature. But a mature faith is also able to recognize and reject cultural counter-values which threaten human dignity and are therefore contrary to the Gospel.(39) No one should think that all of the problems of religion and of faith will be completely solved by academic studies; nevertheless, we are convinced that a school is a privileged place for finding adequate ways to deal with these problems. The declaration Gravissimum educationis,(40) echoing Gaudium et spes,(41) indicates that one of the characteristics of a Catholic school is that it interpret and give order to human culture in the light of faith.

53 As the Council points out, giving order to human culture in the light of the message of salvation cannot mean a lack of respect for the autonomy of the different academic disciplines and the methodology proper to them; nor can it mean that these disciplines are to be seen merely as subservient to faith. On the other hand, it is necessary to point out that a proper autonomy of culture has to be distinguished from a vision of the human person or of the world as totally autonomous, implying that one can negate spiritual values or prescind from them. We must always remember that, while faith is not to be identified with any one culture and is independent of all cultures, it must inspire every culture: "Faith which does not become culture is faith which is not received fully, not assimilated entirely, not lived faithfully".(42)

54 In a number of countries, renewal in school programming has given increased attention to science and technology. Those teaching these subject areas must not ignore the religious dimension. They should help their students to understand that positive science, and the technology allied to it, is a part of the universe created by God. Understanding this can help encourage an interest in research: the whole of creation, from the distant celestial bodies and the immeasurable cosmic forces down to the infinitesimal particles and waves of matter and energy, all bear the im print of the Creator's wisdom and power, The wonder that past ages felt when contemplating this universe, recorded by the Biblical authors,(43) is still valid for the students of today; the only difference is that we have a knowledge that is much more vast and profound. There can be no conflict between faith and true scientific knowledge; both find their source in God.

The student who is able to discover the harmony between faith and science will, in future professional life, be better able to put science and technology to the service of men and women, and to the service of God. It is a way of giving back to God what he has first given to us.(44)

55 A Catholic school must be committed to the development of a programme which will overcome the problems of a fragmented and insufficient curriculum. Teachers dealing with areas such as anthropology, biology, psychology, sociology and philosophy all have the opportunity to present a complete picture of the human person, including the religious dimension. Students should be helped to see the human person as a living creature having both a physical and a spiritual nature; each of us has an immortal soul, and we are in need of redemption. The older students can gradually come to a more mature understanding of all that is implied in the concept of "person": intelligence and will, freedom and feelings, the capacity to be an active and creative agent; a being endowed with both rights and duties, capable of interpersonal relationships, called to a specific mission in the world.

56 The religious dimension makes a true understanding of the human person possible. A human being has a dignity and a greatness exceeding that of all other crea tures: a work of God that has been elevated to the supernatural order as a child of God, and therefore having both a divine origin and an eternal destiny which transcend this physical universe.(45) Religion teachers will find the way already prepared for an organic presentation of Christian anthropology.

57 Every society has its own heritage of accumulated wisdom. Many people find inspiration in these philosophical and religious concepts which have endured for millennia. The systematic genius of classical Greek and European thought has, over the centuries, generated countless different doctrinal systems, but it has also given us a set of truths which we can recognize as a part of our permanent philosophical heritage. A Catholic school conforms to the generally accepted school programming of today, but implements these programmes within an overall religious perspective. This perspective includes criteria such as the following:

Respect for those who seek the truth, who raise fundamental questions about human existence.(46) Confidence in our ability to attain truth, at least in a limited way - a confidence based not on feeling but on faith. God created us "in his own image and likeness" and will not deprive us of the truth necessary to orient our lives.(47) The ability to make judgments about what is true and what is false; and to make choices based on these judgments.(48) Making use of a systematic framework, such as that offered by our philosophical heritage, with which to find the best possible human responses to questions regarding the human person, the world, and God.(49) Lively dialogue between culture and the Gospel message.(50) The fullness of truth contained in the Gospel message itself, which embraces and integrates the wisdom of all cultures, and enriches them with the divine mysteries known only to God but which, out of love, he has chosen to reveal to us.(51) With such criteria as a basis, the student's careful and reflective study of philosophy will bring human wisdom into an encounter with divine wisdom.

58 Teachers should guide the students' work in such a way that they will be able to discover a religious dimension in the world of human history. As a preliminary, they should be encouraged to develop a taste for historical truth, and therefore to realize the need to look critically at texts and curricula which, at times, are imposed by a government or distorted by the ideology of the author. The next step is to help students see history as something real: the drama of human grandeur and human misery.(52) The protagonist of history is the human person, who projects onto the world, on a larger scale, the good and the evil that is within each individual. History is, then, a monumental struggle between these two fundamental realities,(53) and is subject to moral judgments. But such judgments must always be made with understanding.

59 To this end, the teacher should help students to see history as a whole. Looking at the grand picture, they will see the development of civilizations, and learn about progress in such things as economic development, human freedom, and international cooperation. Realizing this can help to offset the disgust that comes from learning about the darker side of human history. But even this is not the whole story. When they are ready to appreciate it, students can be invited to reflect on the fact that this human struggle takes place within the divine history universal salvation, At this moment, the religious dimension of history begins to shine forth in all its luminous grandeur.(54)

60 The increased attention given to science and technology must not lead to a neglect of the humanities: philosophy, history, literature and art. Since earliest times, each society has developed and handed on its artistic and literary heritage, and our human patrimony is nothing more than the sum total of this cultural wealth. Thus, while teachers are helping students to develop an aesthetic sense, they can bring them to a deeper awareness of all peoples as one great human family. The simplest way to uncover the religious dimension of the artistic and literary world is to start with its concrete expressions: in every human culture, art and literature have been closely linked to religious beliefs. The artistic and literary patrimony of Christianity , is vast and gives visible testimony to a faith that has been handed down through centuries.

61 Literary and artistic works depict the struggles of societies, of families, and of individuals. They spring from the depths of the human heart, revealing its lights and its shadows, its hope and its despair. The Christian perspective goes beyond the merely human, and offers more penetrating criteria for understanding the human struggle and the mysteries of the human spirit.(55) Furthermore, an adequate religious formation has been the starting point for the vocation of a number of Christian artists and art critics. In the upper grades, a teacher can bring students to: an even more profound appreciation of artistic works: as a retlection of the divine beauty in tangible form. Both the Fathers of the Church and the masters of Christian philosophy teach this in their writings on aesthetics - St. Augustine invites us to go beyond the intention of the artists in order to find the eternal order of God in the work of art; St. Thomas sees the presence of the Divine Word in art.(56)

62 A Catholic school is often attentive to issues having to do with educational methods, and this can be of great service both to civil society and to the Church. Government requirements for teacher preparation usually require historical and systematic courses in pedagogy, psychology and teaching methods. In more recent times, educational science has been subdivided into a number of areas of specialization and has been subjected to a variety of different philosophies and political ideologies; those preparing to become teachers may feel that the whole field is confused and fragmented. Teachers of pedagogical science can help these students in their bewilderment, and guide them in the formulation of a carefully thought out synthesis, whose elaboration begins with the premise that every pedagogical current of thought contains things which are true and useful. But then one must begin to reflect, judge, and choose.

63 Future teachers should be helped to realize that any genuine educational philosophy has to be based on the nature of the human person, and therefore must take into account all of the physical and spiritual powers of each individual, along with the call of each one to be an active and creative agent in service to society. And this philosophy must be open to a religious dimension. Human beings are fundamentally free; they are not the property of the state or of any human organization. The entire process of education, therefore, is a service to the individual students, helping each one to achieve the most complete formation possible.

The Christian model, based on the person of Christ, is then linked to this human concept of the person - that is, the model begins with an educational framework based on the person as human, and then enriches it with supernatural gifts, virtues, and values - and a supernatural call. It is indeed possible to speak about Christian education; the Conciliar declaration provides us with a clear synthesis of it.(57) Proper pedagogical formation, finally, will guide these students to a self-formation that is both human and Christian, because this is the best possible preparation for one who is preparing to educate others.

64 Interdisciplinary work has been introduced into Catholic schools with positive results, for there are questions and topics that are not easily treated within the limitations of a single subject area. Religious themes should be included; they arise naturally when dealing with topics such as the human person, the family, society, or history. Teachers should be adequately prepared to deal with such questions and be ready to give them the attention they deserve.

65 Religion teachers are not excluded. While their primary mission must be the systematic presentation of religion, they can also be invited - within the limitations of what is concretely possible - to assist in clarifying religious questions that come up in other classes. Conversely, they may wish to invite one of their colleagues to attend a religion class, in order to have the help of an expert when dealing with some specific issue. Whenever this happens, students will be favourably impressed by the cooperative spirit among the teachers: the one purpose all of them have in mind is to help these students grow in knowledge and in commitment.

PART FOUR

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN THE CLASSROOM
AND THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION OF FORMATION

1. The nature of religious instruction

66 The mission of the Church is to evangelize, for the interior transformation and the renewal of humanity (58) For young people, the school is one of the ways for this evangelization to take place.(59) It may be profitable to recall what the Magisterium has said: "Together with and in collaboration with the family, schools provide possibilities for catechesis that must not be neglected ... This refers especially to the Catholic school, of course: it would no longer deserve the title if, no matter how good its reputation for teaching in other areas there were just grounds for a reproach of negligence or deviation in religious education properly so-called. It is not true that such education is always given implicitly or indirectly. The special character of the Catholic school and the underlying reason for its existence, the reason why Catholic parents should prefer it, is precisely the quality of the religious instruction integrated into the overall education of the students"(60)

67 Sometimes there is an uncertainty, a difference of opinion, or an uneasiness about the underlying principles governing religious formation in a Catholic school, and therefore about the concrete approach to be taken in religious instruction. On the one hand, a Catholic school is a "civic institution"; its aim, methods and characteristics are the same as those of every other school. On the other hand, it is a "Christian community", whose educational goals are rooted in Christ and his Gospel. It is not always easy to bring these two aspects into harmony; the task requires constant attention, so that the tension between a serious effort to transmit culture and a forceful witness to the Gospel does not turn into a conflict harmful to both.

68 There is a close connection, and at the same time a clear distinction, between religious instruction and catechesis, or the handing on of the Gospel message.(61) The close connection makes it possible for a school to remain a school and still integrate culture with the message of Christianity. The distinction comes from the fact that, unlike religious instruction, catechesis presupposes that the hearer is receiving the Christian message as a salvific reality. Moreover, catechesis takes place within a community living out its faith at a level of space and time not available to a school: a whole lifetime.

69 The aim of catechesis, or handing on the Gospel message, is maturity: spiritual, liturgical, sacramental and apostolic; this happens most especially in a local Church community. The aim of the school however, is knowledge. While it uses the same elements of the Gospel message, it tries to convey a sense of the nature of Christianity, and of how Christians are trying to live their lives. It is evident, of course, that religious instruction cannot help but strengthen the faith of a believing student, just as catechesis cannot help but increase one's knowledge of the Christian message.

The distinction between religious instruction and catechesis does not change the fact that a school can and must play its specific role in the work of catechesis. Since its educational goals are rooted in Christian principles, the school as a whole is inserted into the evangelical function of the Church. It assists in and promotes faith education.

70 Recent Church teaching has added an essential note: "The basic principle which must guide us in our commitment to this sensitive area of pastoral activity is that religious instruction and catechesis are at the same time distinct and complementary. A school has as its purpose the students' integral formation. Religious instruction, therefore, should be integrated into the objectives and criteria which characterize a modern school".(62) School directors should keep this directive of the Magisterium in mind, and they should respect the distinctive characteristics of religious instruction. It should have a place in the weekly order alongside the other classes, for example; it should have its own syllabus, approved by those in authority; it should seek appropriate interdisciplinary links with other course material so that there is a coordination between human learning and religious awareness. Like other course work, it should promote culture, and it should make use of the best educational methods available to schools today. In some countries, the results of examinations in religious knowledge are included within the overall measure of student progress.

Finally, religious instruction in the school needs to be coordinated with the catechesis offered in parishes, in the family, and in youth associations.

2. Some basic presuppositions about religious instruction

71 It should be no surprise that young people bring with them into the classroom what they see and hear in the world around them, along with the impressions gained from the "world" of mass media. Perhaps some have become indifferent or insensitive. The school curriculum as such does not take these attitudes into account, but teachers must be very aware of them. With kindness and understanding, they will accept the students as they are, helping them to see that doubt and indifference are common phenomena, and that the reasons for this are readily understandable. But they will invite students in a friendly manner to seek and discover together the message of the Gospel, the source of joy and peace.

The teachers' attitudes and behaviour should be those of one preparing the soil.(63) They then add their own spiritual lives, and the prayers they offer for the students entrusted to them.(64)

72 An excellent way to establish rapport with students is simply to talk to them - and to let them talk. Once a warm and trusting atmosphere has been established, various questions will come up naturally. These obviously depend on age and living situation, but many of the questions seem to be common among all of today's youth; and they tend to raise them at a younger age. (65) These questions are serious ones for young people, and they make a calm study of the Christian faith very difficult. Teachers should respond with patience and humility, and should avoid the type of peremptory statements that can be so easily contradicted:

Experts in history and science could be invited to class. One's own experiences and study should be used to help the students. Inspiration can be found in the numerous and carefully worked out responses which Vatican II gives to these kinds of questions. In theory at least, this patient work of clarification should take place at the beginning of each year, since it is almost certain that new questions and new difficulties will have come up during the vacation period. And experience suggests that every other opportune occasion should be taken advantage of.

73 It is not easy to develop a course syllabus for religious instruction classes which will present the Christian faith systematically and in a way suited to the young people of today.

The Second Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in 1985 suggested that a new catechism be developed for the universal Church, and the Holy Father immediately created a commission to begin the preparatory work on this project. When the catechism becomes available, adaptations will be necessary in order to develop course outlines that conform to the requirements of education authorities and respond to the concrete situations that depend on local circumstances of time and place.

While we await the new synthesis of Christian doctrine - the completion of the work mandated by the Synod we present by way of example an outline which is the fruit of experience. It is complete in content, faithful to the Gospel message, organic in form, and is developed according to a methodology based on the words and deeds of the Lord.

3. An outline for an organic presentation of the Christian event and the Christian message

74 As expressed by Vatican II, the task of the teacher is to summarize Christology and present it in everyday language. Depending on the level of the class, this should be preceded by a presentation of some basic ideas about Sacred Scripture, especially those having to do with the Gospels, Divine Revelation, and the Tradition that is alive in the Church.(66) With this as a base, the class begins to learn about the Lord Jesus. His person, his message, his deeds, and the historical fact of his resurrection lead to the mystery of his divinity: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God".(67) For more mature students, this study can be expanded to include Jesus as Saviour, Priest, Teacher, and Lord of the universe. At his side is Mary his Mother, who cooperates in his mission.(68)

The discovery process is an important pedagogical method. The person of Jesus will come alive for the students. They will see again the example of his life, listen to his words, hear his invitation as addressed to them: "Come to me, all of you ... ".(69) Faith is thus based on knowing Jesus and following him; its growth depends on each one's good will and cooperation with grace.

75 The teacher has a reliable way to bring young people closer to the mystery of the revealed God, to the extent that this can ever be humanly possible.(70) It is the way indicated by the Saviour: "Whoever has seen me, has seen the Father".(71) Through his person and his message we learn about God: we examine what he has said about the Father, and what he has done in the name of the Father. Through the Lord Jesus, therefore, we come to the mystery of God the Father, who created the universe and who sent his Son into the world so that all men and women might be saved.(72) Through Christ we come to the mystery of the Holy Spirit, sent into the world to bring the mission of the Son to fulfilment.(73) And thus we approach the supreme mystery of the Holy Trinity, in itself and as operative in the world. It is this mystery that the Church venerates and proclaims whenever it recites the Creed, repeating the words of the first Christian communities.

The process has great educational value. Its successful completion will help to strengthen the virtues of faith and of Christian religion, both of which have God as their object: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; known, loved and served in this life as we await an eternal life in union with them.

76 Students learn many things about the human person by studying science; but science has nothing to say about mystery. Teachers should help students begin to discover the mystery within the human person, just as Paul tried to help the people of Athens discover the "Unknown God". The text of John already cited(74) demonstrates that, in and through Christ, a close relationship has been established between God and each human being. The relationship has its beginning in the love of the Father; it is expressed in the love of Jesus, which led to the ultimate sacrifice of himself: "No one has greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends".(75) A crowd of people constantly surrounded Jesus; they were of all types, as if representing all of humanity. As the students see this, they will begin to ask themselves why Jesus loves everyone, why he offers an invitation to all, why he gives his life for us all. And they will be forced to conclude that each person must be a very privileged creature of God, to be the object of so much love. This is the point at which students will begin to discover another mystery - that human history unfolds within a divine history of salvation: from creation, through the first sin, the covenant with the ancient people of God, the long period of waiting until finally Jesus our Saviour came, so that now we are the new People of God, pilgrims on earth journeying toward our eternal home.(76)

The educational value of Christian anthropology is obvious. Here is where students discover the true value of the human person: loved by God, with a mission on earth and a destiny that is immortal. As a result, they learn the virtues of self-respect and self-love, and of love for others - a love that is universal. In addition, each student will develop a willingness to embrace life, and also his or her own unique vocation, as a fulfilment of God's will.

77 The history of salvation continues in the Church, an historical reality that is visible to the students. They should be encouraged to discover its origins in the Gospels, in Acts, and in the Apostolic Letters; as they study these works they will see the Church at its birth, and then as it begins to grow and take its place in the world. From the way it comes into being, from its miraculous growth, and from its fidelity to the Gospel message the transition is made to the Church as a mystery. The teacher will help students to discover the Church as the People of God, composed of women and men just like ourselves, bringing salvation to all of humanity. The Church is guided by Jesus the Eternal Shepherd; guided by his Spirit, which sustains it and is forever renewing it; guided visibly by the pastors he has ordained: the Holy Father and the bishops, assisted by priests and the deacons who are their collaborators in priesthood and in ministry. The Church, called by God to be holy in all its members, continues to be at work in the world. This is the mystery of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church that we celebrate in the Creed.(77)

Ecclesiology has an extremely important educational value: the ideal of a universal human family is realized in the Church. As young people come to a better knowledge of the Church they belong to, they will learn to love it with a filial affection; this has obvious consequences for life, for apostolate, and for a Christian vision of the world.

78 As they get older, many young people stop receiving the Sacraments; this may be a sign that their meaning has not been grasped. Perhaps they are seen as devotional , practices for children, or a popular devotion joined to a secular feast. Teachers are familiar with this phenomenon and its dangers. They will, therefore, help students to discover the real value of the Sacraments: they accompany the believer on his or her journey through life. This journey takes place within the Church, and therefore becomes more comprehensible as students grow in an understanding of what it means to be a member of the Church. The essential point for students to understand is that Jesus Christ is always truly present in the Sacraments which he has instituted,(78) and his presence makes them efficacious means of grace. The moment of closest encounter with the Lord Jesus occurs in the Eucharist, which is both Sacrifice and Sacrament. In the Eucharist, two supreme acts of love are united: Our Lord renews his sacrifice of salvation for us, and he truly gives himself to us.

79 An understanding of the sacramental journey has profound educational implications. Students become aware that being a member of the Church is something dynamic, responding to every person's need to continue growing all through life. When we meet the Lord in the Sacraments, we are never left unchanged. Through the Spirit, he causes us to grow in the Church, offering us "grace upon grace"; (79) the only thing he asks is our cooperation. The educational consequences of this touch on our relationship with God, our witness as a Christian, and our choice of a personal vocation.(80)

80 Young people today are assaulted by distractions; the circumstances are not ideal for reflecting on the last things. An effective way to approach this mystery of faith is, however, available to the teacher: the Lord proposes it in his own unique way. In the story of Lazarus, he calls himself "the resurrection and the life"(81) In the parable of the rich man he helps us to understand that a personal judgement awaits each one of us.(82) In the impressive drama of the last judgment he points to an eternal destiny which each of us merits through our own works.(83) The good or evil done to each human being is as if done to him.(84)

81 Then, using the Creed as a pattern, the teacher can help students to learn about the Kingdom of Heaven: that it consists of those who have believed in him and spent their lives in his service. The Church calls them "saints" even if not all are formally venerated under that title. First among them is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, living a glorified life at the side of her Son. Those who have died are not separated from us. They, with us, form the one Church, the People of God, united in the "communion of saints". Those dear to us who have left us are alive and are in communion with us.(85)

These truths of faith contribute to human and Christian maturity in several important areas. They provide a sense of the dignity of the person, as destined to immortality. Christian hope offers comfort in life's difficulties. We are personally responsible in everything we do, because we must render an account to God.

4. An outline for a systematic presentation of the Christian life

82 As we have seen, each truth of faith has educational and ethical implications, and students should be helped to learn about these from the time when they first begin the study of religion. But a systematic presentation of Christian ethics is also needed; to assist in this task, we present here a sample outline.

As an introduction to a study of the relationship between faith and life through religious ethics it can be helpful to reflect on the first Christian communities, where the Gospel message was accompanied by prayer and the celebration of the Sacraments.(86) This has permanent value. Students will begin to understand the meaning of the virtue of faith: helped by grace, to give complete, free, personal and affective loyalty to the God who reveals himself through his Son.

This commitment is not automatic; it is itself a gift of God. We must ask for it and wait for it patiently. And students must be given time to grow and to mature.

83 The life of faith is expressed in acts of religion. The teacher will assist students to open their hearts in confidence to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through personal and liturgical prayer. The latter is not just another way of praying; it is the official prayer of the Church, which makes the mystery of Christ present in our lives - especially through the Eucharist, Sacrifice and Sacrament, and through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Religious experiences are then seen, not as something externally imposed, but as a free and loving response to the God who first loved us.(87) The virtues of faith and religion, thus rooted and cultivated, are enabled to develop during childhood, youth, and in all the years that follow.

84 The human person is present in all the truths of faith: created in "the image and likeness" of God; elevated by God to the dignity of a child of God; unfaithful to God in original sin, but redeemed by Christ; a temple of the Holy Spirit; a member of the Church; destined to eternal life.

Students may well object that we are a long way from this ideal. The teacher must listen to these pessimistic responses, but point out that they are also found in the Gospel.(88) Students may need to be convinced that it is better to know the positive picture of personal Christian ethics rather than to get lost in an analysis of human misery. In practice, this means respect for oneself and for others. We must cultivate intelligence and the other spiritual gifts, especially through scholastic work. We must learn to care for our body and its health, and this includes physical activity and sports. And we must be careful of our sexual integrity through the virtue of chastity, because sexual energies are also a gift of God, contributing to the perfection of the person and having a providential function for the life of society and of the Church.(89) Thus, gradually, the teacher will guide students to the idea, and then to the realization, of a process of total formation.

85 Christian love is neither sentimentalism nor humanitarianism; it is a new reality, born of faith. Teachers must remember that the love of God governs the divine plan of universal salvation. The Lord Jesus came to live among us in order to show us the Father's love. His ultimate sacrifice testifies to his love for his friends. And the Lord's new commandment is at the centre of our faith: "This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you".(90) The "as" is the model and the measure of Christian love.

86 Students will raise the standard objections: violence in the world, racial hatred, daily crime, both young and old concerned only with themselves and what they can get for themselves. Teachers cannot avoid discussing these issues, but they should insist that the commandment of Christ is new and revolutionary, and that it stands in opposition to all that is evil and to every form of egoism. The new Christian ethic needs to be understood and put into practice.

87 It begins at the level of family and school: affection, respect, obedience, gratitude, gentleness, goodness, helpfullness, service and good example. All manifestations of egoism, rebellion, antipathy, jealousy, hatred or revenge must be rooted out. At the broader level of Church: a love for all that excludes no one because of religion, nationality or race; prayer for all, so that all may know the Lord; labouring together in apostolic works and in efforts to relieve human suffering; a preferential option for the less fortunate, the sick, the poor, the handicapped, the lonely, As love grows in the Church, more young people may choose a life of service in it, responding to a call to the priesthood or to Religious life.

As they begin to prepare for marriage: rejecting anything that would hint at a desecration of love; discovering the newness and the depth of Christian love between man and woman, including the mutuality and reserve with which it is expressed and the sincere tenderness by which it is preserved. Young people should experience love in this way from their first friendships, gradually leading to the possibility of a commitment, until finally love is consecrated for the whole of life in the Sacrament of Matrimony.

88 Christian. social ethics must always be founded on faith. From this starting point it can shed light on related disciplines such as law, economics and political science, all of which study the human situation,(91) and this is an obvious area for fruitful interdisciplinary study. But it is important to remind ourselves that God has put the world at the service of the human family.(92) As our Lord pointed out,(93) violence and injustice in society come from men and women, and they are contrary to the will of God. But in saving us, God also saves our works: a renewed world flows from a renewed heart. The works of the new Christian order of humanity are love, justice, freedom and grace.(94)

89 These, then, are the basic elements of a Christian social ethic: the human person, the central focus of the social order; justice, the recognition of the rights of each individual; honesty, the basic condition for all human relationships; freedom, the basic right of each individual and of society. World peace must then be founded on good order and the justice to which all men and women have a right as children of God; national and international well-being depend on the fact that the goods of the earth are gifts of God, and are not the privilege of some individuals or groups while others are deprived of them. Misery and hunger weigh on the conscience of humanity and cry out to God for justice.

90 This is an area which can open up broad possibilities. Students will be enriched by the principles and values they learn, and their service of society will be more effective. The Church supports and enlightens them with a social doctrine which is waiting to be put into practice by courageous and generous men and women of faith.(95)

91 The guidelines developed up to this point seem excessively optimistic. While the presentation of the Christian message as "good news" is pedagogically sound,(96) the realism of revelation, history and daily experience all require that students have a clear awareness of the evil that is at work in the world and in the human person. The Lord spoke about the "power of darkness".(97) Men and women wander far away from God, and rebel against the Gospel message; they continue to poison the world with war, violence, injustice and crime.

92 A teacher can invite the students to examine their own consciences. Which one of us can honestly claim to be without sin? (98) Thus they will acquire a sense of sin: the great sin of humanity as a whole and the personal sin which all of us discover within ourselves. Sin drives us away from God, rejects the message of Christ, and transgresses the law of love; sin betrays conscience, abuses the gift of freedom, offends the other children of God, and harms the Church of which we are all members.

93 But we are not in a hopeless situation. The teacher should help students to see, in the light of faith, that this reality has another side to it. On the world scale, the Gospel message continues to "die" as the "seed" in the soil of the earth only to blossom and bear fruit in due season.(99) At the personal level, the Lord waits for us in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It is not just a devotional practice, but rather a personal encounter with him, through the mediation of his minister. After this celebration we can resume our journey with renewed strength and joy.

94 These truths can lead to a new and more mature understanding of Christianity. The Lord calls us to an endless struggle: to resist the forces of evil and, with his help, to have the courage to overpower it. This is a Christianity which is alive and healthy, at work in history and within the life of each individual.(100)

The call to be a Christian involves a call to help liberate the human family from its radical slavery to sin and, therefore, from the effects of sin in the cultural, economic, social and political orders. Ultimately, these effects all result from sin; they are obstacles which prevent men and women from living according to the dignity which is theirs.(101)

95 Perfection is a theme which must be part of this systematic presentation of the Christian message. To pass over it would be disloyal: to the Lord, who calls us to limitless perfection;(102) to the Church, which invites us all to perfection;(103) and to the young people themselves, who have the right to know what the Lord and the Church expect of them. The teacher will begin by reminding believing students that, through their baptism, they have become members of the Church. The Christian perfection to which we are all called is a gift of Jesus through the mediation of the Spirit; but the gift requires our cooperation. Our apostolic witness must make this perfection visible in the world, today and in the future.

Once they get beyond feeling that too much is being asked of them, students will realize that perfection is actually within their grasp. The only thing they have to do is live their lives as students as well as they can:(104) do their best in study and work; put into practice the virtues they already know in theory - especially love, which must be lived in the classroom, at home, and among friends; accept difficulties with courage; help those in need; give good example. In addition, they must find the inspiration for their daily lives in the words and the example of Jesus. They must converse with him in prayer and receive him in the Eucharist. No student can say that these are impossible demands.

The ideal would be for each student to have an opportunity for spiritual guidance, to help in interior formation. It is the best way of giving orientation and completion to the religious instruction given in the classroom and, at the same time, of integrating this instruction into the personal experiences of each individual

5. The religion teacher

96 The fruits of an organic presentation of the faith and of Christian ethics depend in great part on the religion teachers: who they are and what they do.

The religion teacher is the key, the vital component, if the educational goals of the school are to be achieved. But the effectiveness of religious instruction is closely tied to the personal witness given by the teacher; this witness is what brings the content of the lessons to life. Teachers of religion, therefore, must be men and women endowed with many gifts, both natural and supernatural, who are also capable of giving witness to these gifts; they must have a thorough cultural, professional, and pedagogical training, and they must be capable of genuine dialogue.

Most of all, students should be able to recognize authentic human qualities in their teachers. They are teachers of the faith; however, like Christ, they must also be teachers of what it means to be human. This includes culture, but it also includes such things as affection, tact, understanding, serenity of spirit, a balanced judgment, patience in listening to others and prudence in the way they respond, and, finally, availability for personal meetings and conversations with the students. A teacher who has a clear vision of the Christian milieu and lives in accord with it will be able to help young people develop a similar vision, and will give them the inspiration they need to put it into practice.

97 In this area, especially, an unprepared teacher can do a great deal of harm. Everything possible must be done to ensure that Catholic schools have adequately trained religion teachers; it is a vital necessity and a legitimate expectation. In Catholic schools today, these teachers tend more and more to be lay people, and they should have the opportunity of receiving the specific experiential knowledge of the mystery of Christ and of the Church that priests and Religious automatically acquire in the course of their formation. We need to look to the future and promote the establishment of formation centres for these teachers; ecclesiastical universities and faculties should do what they can to develop appropriate programs so that the teachers of tomorrow will be able to carry out their task with the competence and efficacy that is expected of them.(105)

PART FIVE
A GENERAL SUMMARY:
THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSION
OF THE FORMATION PROCESS AS A WHOL
1. What is a Christian formation process?

98 The declaration of the Council insists on the dynamic nature of integral human formation,(106) but it adds immediately that, from a Christian point of view, human development by itself is not sufficient. Education ÂÂÂ"does not merely strive to foster in the human person the maturity already described. Rather, its principal aims are these: that as the baptized person is gradually introduced into a knowledge of the mystery of salvation, he or she may daily grow more conscious of the gift of faith which has been received ...".(107) What characterizes a Catholic school, therefore, is that it guide students in such a way "that the development of each one's own personality will be matched by the growth of that new creation which he or she became by baptism".(108) We need to think of Christian education as a movement or a growth process, directed toward an ideal goal which goes beyond the limitations of anything human.(109) At the same time the process must be harmonious, so that Christian formation takes place within and in the course of human formation. The two are not separate and parallel paths; they are complementary forms of education which become one in the goals of the teacher and the willing reception of the students. The Gospel notes this harmonious growth in the child Jesus.(110)

99 A Christian formation process might therefore be described as an organic set of elements with a single purpose: the gradual development of every capability of every student, enabling each one to attain an integral formation within a context that includes the Christian religious dimension and recognizes the help of grace. But what really matters is not the terminology but the reality, and this reality will be assured only if all the teachers unite their educational efforts in the pursuit of a common goal. Sporadic, partial, or uncoordinated efforts, or a situation in which there is a conflict of opinion among the teachers, will interfere with rather than assist in the students' personal development.

2. Educational goals

100 The responsibility of a Catholic school is enormous and complex. It must respect and obey the laws that define methods, programmes, structure, etc., and at the same time it must fulfil its own educational goals by blending human culture with the message of salvation into a coordinated programme; it must help each of the students to actually become the "new creature" that each one is potentially, and at the same time prepare them for the responsibilities of an adult member of society. This means that a Catholic school needs to have a set of educational goals which are "distinctive" in the sense that the school has a specific objective in mind, and all of the goals are related to this objective. Concretely, the educational goals provide a frame of reference which:

- defines the school's identity: in particular, the Gospel values which are its inspiration must be explicitly mentioned;

- gives a precise description of the pedagogical, educational and cultural aims of the school;

- presents the course content, along with the values that are to be transmitted through these courses;

- describes the organization and the management of the school;

- determines which policy decisions are to be reserved to professional staff (governors and teachers), which policies are to be developed with the help of parents and students, and which activities are to be left to the free initiative of teachers, parents, or students;

- indicates the ways in which student progress is to be tested and evaluated.

101 In addition, careful attention must be given to the development of general criteria which will enable each aspect of school activity to assist in the attainment of the educational objective, so that the cultural, pedagogical, social, civil and political aspects of school life are all integrated:

a) Fidelity to the Gospel as proclaimed by the Church. The activity of a Catholic school is, above all else, an activity that shares in the evangelizing mission of the Church; it is a part of the particular local Church of the country in which it is situated, and shares in the life and work of the local Christian community.

b) Careful rigour in the study of culture and the development of a critical sense, maintaining a respect for the autonomy of human knowledge and for the rules and methods proper to each of the disciplines, and at the same time orienting the whole process toward the integral formation of the person.

c) Adapting the educational process in a way that respects the particular circumstances of individual students and their families.

d) Sharing responsibility with the Church. While school authorities are the ones primarily responsible for the educational and cultural activities of the school, the local Church should also be involved in appropriate ways; the educational goals should be the result of dialogue with this ecclesial community.

It is clear, then, that the set of educational goals is something quite distinct from internal school regulations or teaching methods; and it is not just a description of vague intentions.

102 The educational goals should be revised each year on the basis of experience and need. They will be achieved through a formation process which takes place in stages; it has a starting point, various intermediate points, and a conclusion, At each stage, teachers, students and families should determine the degree of success in achieving these goals; where there is insufficient progress they should look for the reasons and find suitable remedies. It is essential that this evaluation be seen as a common responsibility, and that it be carried out faithfully.

The end of each school year is one appropriate time for such an evaluation. From a Christian perspective, it is not enough to say that this is the time for examinations. The academic programme is only one part of the process, and the end of the school year is also the time for a serious and intelligent examination of which educational goals have been achieved and which have not. A much more decisive time comes at the completion of a student's years in the school, because this is the moment when students should have reached the maximum level of an education that integrates the human and the Christian.(111)

103 The religious dimension of the school climate strengthens the quality of the formation process, so long as certain conditions are verified - conditions that depend both on teachers and students. It is worth noting, once again, that the students are not spectators; they help to determine the quality of this climate.

Some of the conditions for creating a positive and supportive climate are the following: that everyone agree with the educational goals and cooperate in achieving them; that interpersonal relationships be based on love and Christian freedom; that each individual, in daily life, be a witness to Gospel values; that every student be challenged to strive for the highest possible level of formation, both human and Christian. In addition, the climate must be one in which families are welcomed, the local Church is an active participant, and civil society - local, national, and international - is included. If all share a common faith, this can be an added advantage.

104 Strong determination is needed to do everything possible to eliminate conditions which threaten the health of the school climate. Some examples of potential problems are these: the educational goals are either not defined or are defined badly; those responsible for the school are not sufficiently trained; concern for academic achievement is excessive; relations between teachers and students are cold and impersonal; teachers are antagonistic toward one another; discipline is imposed from on high without any participation or cooperation from the students; relationships with families are formal or even strained, and families are not involved in helping to determine the educational goals; some within the school community are giving a negative witness; individuals are unwilling to work together for the common good; the school is isolated from the local Church; there is no interest in or concern for the problems of society; religious instruction is "routine". Whenever some combination of these symptoms is present, the religious dimension of the school is seriously threatened. Religious instruction can become empty words falling on deaf ears, because the authentically Christian witness that reinforces it is absent from the school climate. All symptoms of ill health have to be faced honestly and directly, remembering that the Gospel calls us to a continuous process of conversion.

105 A school exerts a great deal of effort in trying to obtain the students' active cooperation. Since they are active agents in their own formation process, this cooperation is essential. To be human is to be endowed with intelligence and freedom; it is impossible for education to be genuine without the active involvement of the one being educated. Students must act and react; with their intelligence, freedom, will, and the whole complex range of human emotions. The formation process comes to a halt when students are uninvolved and unmoved. Experienced teachers are familiar with the causes of such ÂÂÂ"blocksÂÂÂ" in young people; the roots are both psychological and theological, and original sin is not excluded.

106 There are many ways to encourage students to become active participants in their own formation. Those with sufficient knowledge and maturity can be asked to help in the development of educational goals. While they are clearly not yet able to determine the final objective, they can help in determining the concrete means which will help to attain this objective. When students are trusted and given responsibility, when they are invited to contribute their own ideas and efforts for the common good,

their gratitude rules out indifference and inertia. The more that students can be helped to realize that a school and all its activities have only one purpose

- to help them in their growth toward maturity - the more those students will be willing to become actively involved.

Even students who are very young can sense whether the atmosphere in the school is pleasant or not. They are more willing to cooperate when they feel respected, trusted and loved. And their willingness to cooperate will be reinforced by a school climate which is warm and friendly, when teachers are ready to help, and when they find it easy to get along with the other students.

107 One important result of religious instruction is the development of religious values and religious motivation; these can be a great help in obtaining the willing participation of the students. But we must remember that religious values and motivation are cultivated in all subject areas and, indeed, in all of the various activities going on in the school, One way that teachers can encourage an under standing of and commitment to religious values is by frequent references to God. Teachers learn through experience how to help the students understand and appreciate the religious truths they are being taught, and this appreciation can easily develop into love, A truth which is loved by the teacher, and communicated in such a way that it is seen to be something valuable in itself, then becomes valuable to the student. One advantage of the Christological approach to religious instruction is that it can develop this love more easily in young people. The approach we have suggested concentrates on the person of Jesus. It is possible to love a person; it is rather difficult to love a formula. This love for Christ is then transferred to his message which, because it is loved, has value.

But every true educator knows that a further step is necessary: values must lead to action; they are the motivation for action. Finally, truth becomes fully alive through the supernatural dynamism of grace, which enlightens and leads to faith, to love, to action that is in accord with the will of God, through the Lord Jesus, in the Holy Spirit. The Christian process of formation is, therefore, the result of a constant interaction involving the expert labour of the teachers, the free cooperation of the students, and the help of grace.

108 We have already referred to the fact that, in many parts of the world, the student body in a Catholic school includes increasing numbers of young people from different faiths and different ideological backgrounds. In these situations it is essential to clarify the relationship between religious development and cultural growth. It is a question which must not be ignored, and dealing with it is the responsibility of each Christian member of the educational community.

In these situations, however, evangelization is not easy - it may not even be possible. We should look to preevangelization: to the development of a religious sense of life. In order to do this, the process of formation must constantly raise questions about the "how" and the "why" and the "what" and then point out and deepen the positive results of this investigation.

The transmission of a culture ought to be especially attentive to the practical effects of that culture, and strengthen those aspects of it which will make a person more human. In particular, it ought to pay attention to the religious dimension of the culture and the emerging ethical requirements to be found in it.

There can be unity in the midst of pluralism, and we need to exercise a wise discernment in order to distinguish between what is essential and what is accidental. Prudent use of the "why" and the "what" and the "how" will lead to integral human development in the formation process, and this is what we mean by a genuine pre-evangelization. It is fertile ground which may, at some future time, be able to bear fruit.

109 In order to describe the formation process, we have had to proceed by an analysis of its various elements; this, of course, is not the way things happen in the real world. The Catholic school is a centre of life, and life is synthetic, In this vital centre, the formation process is a constant interplay of action and reaction. The interplay has both a horizontal and a vertical dimension, and it is this qualification that makes the Catholic school distinctive from those other schools whose educational objectives are not inspired by Christianity.

110 The teachers love their students, and they show this love in the way they interact with them. They take advantage of every opportunity to encourage and strengthen them in those areas which will help to achieve the goals of the educational process. Their words, their witness, their encouragement and help, their advice and friendly correction are all important in achieving these goals, which must always be understood to include academic achievement, moral behaviour, and a religious dimension.

When students feel loved, they will love in return. Their questioning, their trust, their critical observations and suggestions for improvement in the classroom and the school milieu will enrich the teachers and also help to facilitate a shared commitment to the formation process.

111 In a Catholic school, even this is not enough. There is also a continuous vertical interaction, through prayer; this is the fullest and most complete expression of the religious dimension.

Each of the students has his or her own life, family and social background, and these are not always happy situations. They feel the unrest of the child or adolescent, which grows more intense as they face the problems and worries of a young person approaching maturity. Teachers will pray for each of them, that the grace present in the Catholic school's milieu may permeate their whole person, enlightening them and helping them to respond adequately to all that is demanded of them in order to live Christian lives.

And the students will learn that they must pray for their teachers. As they get older, they will come to appreciate the pain and the difficulties that teaching involves. They will pray that the educational gifts of their teachers may be more effective, that they may be comforted by success in their work, that grace may sustain their dedication and bring them peace in their work.

112 Thus a relationship is built up which is both human and divine; there is a flow of love, and also of grace. And this will make the Catholic school truly authentic. As the years go by, students will have the joy of seeing themselves nearing maturity; not only physically, but also intellectually and spiritually. When they look back, they will realize that, with their cooperation, the educational objectives of the school have become a reality. And as they look forward, they will feel free and secure, because they will be able to face the new, and now proximate, life commitments.

CONCLUSION

113 The Congregation for Catholic Education asks local ordinaries and superiors of Religious Congregations dedicated to the education of youth to bring these reflections to the attention of all teachers and directors of Catholic schools, At the same time, the Congregation wishes to affirm once again that it is fully conscious of the important service they offer

- to youth and to the Church.

114 Therefore the Congregation extends warm thanks to all those engaged in this work: for all they have done, and for all that they continue to do in spite of political, economic, and practical difficulties. For many, to continue in this mission involves great sacrifice. The Church is deeply grateful to everyone dedicated to the educational mission in a Catholic school; it is confident that, with the help of God, many others will be called to join in this mission and will respond generously.

115 The Congregation would like to suggest that further study, research, and experimentation be done in all areas that affect the religious dimension of education in Catholic schools. Much has been done, but many people are asking for even more. This is surely possible in every school whose freedom is sufficiently protected by civil law. It may be difficult in those countries which allow the Catholic school as an academic institution, but where the religious dimension leads to constant conflict. Local experience must be the determining factor in such situations; however, to the extent that it is possible, a religious dimension should always be present - either in the school or outside its walls. There has never been a shortage of families and students, of different faiths and religions, who choose a Catholic school because they appreciate the value of an education where instruction is enhanced by a religious dimension.

Educators will know the best way to respond to their expectations, knowing that, in a world of cultural pluralism, dialogue always gives grounds for hope.

Rome, April 7, 1988, Feast of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, Principal Patron of teachers.

+ ANTONIO M. JAVIERRE ORTAS
Titular Archbishop of Meta
Secretary

(1) Gravissimum educationis, 8.

(2) March 19, 1977.

(3) October 15, 1982.

(4) From Vatican Council II: Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum educationis; Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium; Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World Gaudium et spes; Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei verbum; Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium; Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity Apostolicam actuositatem; Decree on Missionary Activity Ad gentes divinitus; Declaration on Non-Christian Religions Nostra aetate; Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis redintegratio; Declaration on Religious Liberty Dignitatis humanae. From Paul VI, the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi of December 8, 1975. From John Paul II, the Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi tradendae of October 16, 1979; in addition, a number of his talks given to educators and to young people will be cited below. From the Congregation for Clergy, the Directorium catechisticum generale of April 11, 1971. All of these documents will be cited by their Latin titles in the notes which follow. In a few places, pastoral letters of bishops will be quoted.

(5) Note that the Congregation has also published Educational Guidance in Human Love: Outlines for Sex Education, November 1, 1983. This theme, therefore, will receive only brief and passing mention in the present document.

(6) Gravissimum educationis, 9: "It is clear that the Church has a deep respect for those Catholic schools, especially in countries where the Church is young, which have large numbers of students who are not Catholics".

(7) Cf. Dignitatis humanae, 2; 9; 10; 12 et passim.

(8) C.I.C., canon 748 § 2: "Homines ad amplectendam fidem catholicam contra ipsorum conscientiam per coactionem adducere nemini umquam fas est ".

(9) Cf Gaudium et spes, 4-10.

(10) Ibid., 7: "The change of mentality and of structures often call into question traditional values, especially among the young ...".

(11) Cf Evangelii nuntiandi, 20.

(12) Cf the Annuario Statistico della Chiesa published by the Central Statistical Office of the Church, an office within the Secretariate of State for Vatican City. By way of example, on December 31, 1985, there were 154,126 Catholic schools with 38,243,304 students.

(13)Cf 1 Cor 12:31.

(14) Various aspects of the religious attitudes of young people developed in this section have been the object of recent statements of the Holy Father. A handy compilation of these numerous talks can be found in a book edited by the Pontifical Council for the Laity, The Holy Father Speaks to Youth: 1980-1985. The book is published in several languages.

(15) Cf Gravissimum educationis, 8. For the Gospel spirit of love and freedom, cf Gaudium et spes, 38: "[The Lord Jesus] reveals to us that God is love (1 Jn 4:8), and at the same time teaches us that the fundamental rule for human perfection, and therefore also for the transformation of the world, is the new commandment of love". See also 2 Cor 3:17: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom".

(16) This question was treated in The Catholic Scbool, 81-82.

(17) Mt 28:20.

(18) 6.

(19) Cf the address of John Paul II to the parents, teachers and students from the Catholic schools of the Italian Province of Lazio, March 9, 1985, Insegnamenti, VIII/1, p. 620.

(20) Address of John Paul II to the bishops of Lombardy, Italy, on the occasion of their "Ad limina" visit, January 15, 1982, Insegnamenti, V/1, 1982, p. 105.

(21) Insegnamenti, VIII/1, pp. 618f.

(22) Mt 25:40: "For indeed I tell you, as often as you have done these things to one of these least of my brothers, you have done it to me".

(23) Cf Perfectae caritatis, 8: "There are in the Church a great number of institutes, clerical or lay, dedicated to various aspects of the apostolate, which have different gifts according to the grace that has been given to each: 'some exercise a ministry of service; some teach' (cf Rom 12:5-8)". Also see Ad gentes divinitus, 40.

(24) Summa Theol. II-II, q. 186, a. 1: "By antonomasis those are called 'religious' who dedicate themselves to the service of God as if they were offering themselves as a holocaust to the Lord".

(25) Ibid., a. 2.

(26) Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to the Faith.

(27) The norms of the Church in this respect are to be found in canons 800-803 of the Code of Canon Law.

(28) Cf the address of Pope Paul VI to the National Congress of Diocesan Directors of the Teachers' Organizations of Catholic Action, Insegnamenti, I, 1963, p. 594.

(29) Cf Gravissimum educationis, 3

(30) Gravissimum educationis, 8

(31) A number of recent documents from national Episcopal Conferences and from individual local ordinaries have had the Catholic school as their theme. These documents should be known and put into practice.

(32) See, for example, the Resolution of the European Parliament on freedom of education in the European Community, approved by a large majority on March 14, 1984.

(33) Cf Mk 6: 3; Acts 10: 35. Useful applications of the ethics of work to the work done in school can be found in the September l4, 1981 Encyclical Laborem exercens of John Paul II, especially in Part Five.

(34) Gen 3: 19: "By the sweat on your face shall you get bread to eat".

(35) Lk 9: 23: "...let him take up his cross each day".

(36) Gravissimum educationis, 8: among the elements characteristic of the Catholic school, there is that of "developing the relationship b etween human culture and the message of salvation, so that the knowledge of the world, of life and of the human person which the students are gradually acquiring is illuminated by faith".

(37) For a description of culture and of the relationship between culture and faith, see Gaudium et spes, 54 ff.

(38) Cf Denz: Schön. 3016-3017 for the traditional doctrine on the rapport between reason and faith, as defined by Vatican Council I.

(39) Cf the address of Pope John Paul II to the teachers and students of Catholic schools in Melbourne, Australia, on the occasion of his pastoral journey to East Asia and Oceania: Insegnamenti November 28, 1986; IX/2, 1986, pp. 1710 ff.

(40) Cf 8.

(41) Cf 53-62.

(42) Pope John Paul II, speaking at the National Congress of Catholic Cultural Organizations: Insegnamenti, V/1, 1982, p. 131. See also John Paul II, Epistula qua Pontificium Consilium pro hominum Cultura instituitur: AAS 74 (1982), p. 685.

(43) Wis 13: 5: "Through the grandeur and beauty of the creatures we may, by analogy, contemplate their Author". Ps 18(19): 2ff.: "The heavens tell of the glory of God...".

(44) Cf Mt 25: 14-30.

(45) Cf Gaudium et spes, 12; 14; 17; 22.

(46) Cf Gaudium et spes, 10.

(47) Cf Denz.-Schön. 3004 for the ability to know God through human reason, and 3005 for the ability to know other truths.

(48) 1 Thes 5: 21: "Examine all things, hold on to what is good". Phil 4: 8: "Everything that is true, noble, or just ... let all this be the object of your thoughts".

(49) Cf Gaudium et spes, 61, on the need to hold on to certain fundamental concepts.

(50) Ibid., 44: "At the same time there should be a vital exchange between the Church and the diverse cultures of peoples".

(51) Cf Dei verbum 2.

(52) Cf Blaise Pascal, Pensées, fr. 397.

(53) Gaudium et spes, 37: "The whole of human history is permeated with the gigantic struggle against the powers of darkness".

(54) Invaluable material for presenting the divine history of salvation can be found in Lumen gentium and Dei verbum.

(55) Cf Gaudium et spes, 62.

(56) Cf St. Augustine, De libero arbitrio, II, 16, 42. PL 32, 1264. St. Thomas, Contra gentiles, IV, 42.

(57) Cf Gravissimum educationis, 1-2.

(58) Evangelii nuntiandi, 18: "For the Church to evangelize is to bring the Good News to all aspects of humanity and, through its influence, to transform it from within, making humanity itself into some thing new".

(59) Ibid., 44: "The effort to evangelize will bring great profit, through catechetical instruction given at Church, in schools wherever this is possible, and always within the Christian family".

(60) Catechesi tradendae, 69.

(61) Cf The address of Paul VI at the Wednesday audience of May 31, 1967, Insegnamenti, V, 1967, p. 788.

(62) Address of John Paul II to the priests of the diocese of Rome, March 5, 1981, Insegnamenti, IV/1, pp. 629 f.

(63) Cf Mt 3: 1-3 on the mission of the Precursor.

(64) Cf Jn 17: 9, the prayer of the Lord for those entrusted to him.

(65) Apart from strictly local concerns, these questions are generally the ones treated in university "apologetics" manuals, and are about the "preambles to the faith". But the questions acquire a specific nuance for today's students, because of the material they are studying and the world they are living in. Typical questions have to do with atheism, non-Christian religions, divisions among Christians, events in the life of the Church; the violence and injustice of supposedly Christian nations, etc.

(66) Revelation, Scripture, Tradition and Christology are themes developed in Dei verbum, Lumen gentium, and Gaudium et spes. Study of the Gospels should be extended to include a study of these documents.

(67) Mt 16: 16.

(68) Concerning the Blessed Virgin Mary in the life of the Pilgrim Church, cf the encyclical Redemptoris Mater of Pope John Paul II, number 39.

(69) Mt 11:28.

(70) Cf Denz.-Schön. 2854: one cannot speak about God in the same way that one speaks about the objects of human knowledge.

(71) Jn 14: 9.

(73) Cf Jn 16: 13.

(74) Cf Jn 3: 16 f.

(75) Jn 15: 13.

(76) From the point of view of Christian anthropology, it is essential that the history of salvation presented in Lumen gentium and Gaudium et spes be a part of what is studied in class.

(77) Important and valuable material for teaching about the Church can be found in Lumen gentium.

(78) Sacrosanctum Concilium, 7: "Christ is present in the Sacraments with his own authority, so that when one baptizes it is Christ himself who baptizes ...".

(79) Jn 1: 16.

(80) The content and the methods for teaching about the Sacraments can be enriched through studying parts of Lumen gentium and Sacrosanctum Concilium.

(81) Jn 11: 25-27.

(82) Cf Lk 16: 19-31.

(83) Cf Mt 25: 31-46.

(84) Cf Ibid. 25: 40.

(85) Cf Lumen gentium, Chapter VII on the eschatological nature of the pilgrim Church and its union with the heavenly Church.

(86) Cf Eph 1: 1-14 and Col 1: 13-20 for doxologies which witness to the faith of the early communities. Acts 10 speaks of evangelization, conversion, faith, and the gift of the Spirit in the house of the Roman official Cornelius. Acts 20: 7-12 describes evangelization and the Eucharist in a house at Troas.

(87) 1 Jn 4:10: "It is not we who have loved God, but God who first loved us ... ".

(88) Cf Mt 15: 19 f.

(89) Cf the document of the Congregation for Catholic Education already referred to - Educational Guidance in Human Love: Outlines for Sex Education.

(90) Jn 15:12.

(91) Cf Gaudium et spes, 63-66 and related applications.

(92) Cf Gen 1: 27 f.

(93) Again cf Mt 15: 19 f.

(94) Cf Gaudium et spes, 93.

(95) Students should become aware of at least some of the Church's major social documents.

(96) Lk 2: 10: "I bring you news of great joy...".

(97) Lk 22: 53: "But this is your hour; this is the reign of darkness". Evidence of this is easily found in various abuses, acts of injustice, attacks on freedom, the overwhelming weight of misery that leads to sickness, decline and death, the scandalous inequality between rich and poor, the lack of any equity or sense of solidarity in international relations. (Cf Some Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation", published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Introduction and Part I).

(98) Jn 8: 7: "Let the one who is without sin cast the first stone ...".

(99) Cf Lk 8: 4.15.

(100) Cf Eph 6: 10-17, a characteristically vigorous Pauline description.

(101) Cf the Introduction to Some Aspects of the "Theology of Liberation" published by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, August 6, 1984.

(102) Mt 5: 48: "You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect".

(103) Lumen gentium, 42: "All the faithful are invited and called to holiness and to perfection within their own state of live".

(104) Ibid., 39: "This holiness of the Church... is expressed in various forms according to each individual, who in their lives and their activities join perfection to love".

(105) Some aspects of this are treated in the documents already referred to: The Catholic School, 78-80; Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to the Faith, especially 56-59. What is said there does not apply only to the lay teachers.

(106) Gravissimum educationis, 1; "Children and young people should be assisted in the harmonious development of their physical, moral and intellectual gifts ... They should be helped to acquire gradually a more mature sense of responsibility ... ".

(107) Ibid., 2.

(108) Ibid., 8.

(109) Cf Mt 5: 48.

(110) Lk 2:40: "The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him". Lk 2:52: ÂÂÂ"And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and with men".

(111) Cf once again Gravissimum educationis, 1-2.

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THE RELIGIOUS DIMENSIONOF EDUCATION IN A CATHOLIC SCHOOL GUIDELINES FOR REFLECTION AND RENEWAL CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION INTRODUCTION 1. On October 28, 1965, the Second Vatican Council promulgated the Declaration on Christian Education Gravissimum educationis.

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This book provides a comprehensive overview of the development of schooling in Australia, including the significant role of Catholic education. It offers valuable historical context for understanding the current landscape.

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Catholic Schools in Australia: A Concise History

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Catholic Schools in Australia: A Concise History

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This book traces the development of Catholic schools in Australia from their beginnings to the present day. It's an essential resource for understanding the unique challenges and achievements of Catholic education in the Australian context.

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03 Historical development of Australian Catholic School Religious Education

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The Mission and Education of Young Australians

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The Mission and Education of Young Australians

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This NCEC publication outlines the vision and mission of Catholic education in Australia. It's crucial for understanding the current goals and challenges of Catholic schools in the country.

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The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium

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The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium

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This document reflects on the challenges and opportunities for Catholic schools in the 21st century. It's particularly relevant for educators preparing for future roles in Catholic education.

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The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium

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CONGREGATION FOR CATHOLIC EDUCATION(for Seminaries and Educational Institutions)

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This book examines the challenges facing Catholic schools in maintaining their distinctive identity while adapting to modern educational demands. It offers insights applicable to the Australian context.

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This document outlines the strategic plan and vision for Catholic education in Western Australia. It's essential for understanding the specific context and future directions of Catholic schools in this region.

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Leadership Framework for Catholic Schools in Western Australia

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Leadership Framework for Catholic Schools in Western Australia

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This framework provides guidance on leadership in Catholic schools in Western Australia. It's particularly relevant for those aspiring to leadership positions in Catholic education.

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Catholic Education Western Australia acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Owners and Elders, both past and present, of the lands on which Catholic Education Western Australia's schools, offices and operations are located.

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Pope Francis letter to assist us in leadership

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Pope Francis letter to assist us in leadership

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PRESENTATION OF THE CHRISTMAS GREETINGS TO THE ROMAN CURIA

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

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To the Roman Curia on the occasion of the presentation of Christmas greetings (22 December 2014) | Francis

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To the Roman Curia on the occasion of the presentation of Christmas greetings, 22 December 2014

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CIWA 4090/6090 Essential Course Text Book, please contact reception at the CIWA office to receive your copy, or email admin@ci.wa.edu.au  A chapter guide is found below for each week-

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CIWA 4090/6090 Essential Course Text Book, please contact reception at the CIWA office to receive your copy, or email admin@ci.wa.edu.au  A chapter guide is found below for each week-

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A chapter guide for each week-

Week 1: Read Chapter 9

Week 2: Read Chapter 1 and 3

Week 3: Read Chapter 3

Week 4: Read Chapter 2

Week 5: Read Chapter 7

Week 6: Read Chapter 4, 5 and 6

Week 7: Read Chapter 8 and 10

Week 8: Read Chapter 11

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Catholic schools in Australia have been educating students for over 200 years. The first official Catholic school was founded in Parramatta in October 1820.

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In 2021 we celebrate 50 years since the Bishops of Western Australia brought Catholic schools across the four Dioceses of WA together into one State-wide system with the establishment of the Catholic Education Commission of Western Australia. The 50th anniversary is celebrated alongside the 200th an

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Life to the Full

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Congregation for Catholic Education, The Vatican, 2022

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Instruction of the Congregation for Catholic Education, “The identity of the Catholic school for a culture of dialogue”

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Leading Catholic Schools Lib Guide for your course

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Leading Catholic Schools Lib Guide for your course

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Shane Safir; Michael Fullan (Foreword by)

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CEWA LibGuides: Leading Catholic Schools: Home

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CEWA LibGuides: Leading Catholic Schools: Home

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USEFUL LEADERSHIP E BOOKS at the St John Henry Library on Leadership- To view the actual eBook just click on the View eBook button below, then the login screen will appear and you’ll need your library card details and password, once those are entered it should take you directly to the eBook title you have chosen.

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USEFUL LEADERSHIP E BOOKS at the St John Henry Library on Leadership- To view the actual eBook just click on the View eBook button below, then the login screen will appear and you’ll need your library card details and password, once those are entered it should take you directly to the eBook title you have chosen.

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Catholic Library Leadership Resources

now available in the Library’s catalogue, please click on the links to browse each title’s catalogue entry:

How Schools Transform: Practices, Research and Actions That Change Schools

Anderson, Michael; Jefferson, Miranda     2024

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1451662690

Shaping School Success : Empowering Educational Leaders. (2024). Taylor and Francis Group.

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1449587166

WATSON, S. (2024). A-Z OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL LEADERSHIP. JOHN CATT EDUCATIONAL LTD.

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1451662857

Fleming, B. (2024). A journey in school leadership : theory and practice. Peter Lang.

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1446134480

BECOMING AN ENGAGED EDUCATIONAL LEADER navigating mid-career growth. (2024). INFORMATION AGE PUB.

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1449548839

Inclusive Leadership: From Theory to Practice

Moss, Sheryl Cowart; Emenuga, Rolandria Justice     2024

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1449546523

Emerge: The Five Most Common Challenges Faced by Middle Leaders and How to Overcome Them (Unleash the Power of Self-Awareness in Leadership. )

Grift, Gavin     2024

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1443111537

Six Steps to a Strong School Culture: A Leadership Cycle for Educational Success (a Six-Step Leadership Cycle for Principals)

Nix, Samuel     2024

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1443939361

The Early Years of Leadership: The Journey Begins

Marshall, Ian; Jackman, Grace-Anne; Armstrong, Denise E.     2022

https://sjhnlibrary.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1342501779

To view the actual eBook just click on the View eBook button, then the login screen will appear and you’ll need your library card details and password, once those are entered it should take you directly to the eBook title you have chosen.

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Useful Comparison to Pope Francis document

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Pope Francis has not tried to hide his desire to radically reform the administrative structures of the Catholic Church, which he sees as imperious and insular. The Church is, essentially, a bureaucracy, full of good-hearted but imperfect people - not much different than any organization, making the Pope's counsel relevant for leaders everywhere. Pope Francis's 2014 address of the Roman Curia can be translated into corporate-speak. It identifies 15 "diseases" of leadership that can weaken the effectiveness of any organization. These diseases include excessive busyness that neglects the need for rest, and mental and emotional "petrification" that prevents compassion and humility. The Pope also warns against poor coordination, losing a sense of community by failing to work together. A set of questions corresponding to the 15 diseases can help you determine if you are a "healthy" leader.

Pope Francis has made no secret of his intention to radically reform the administrative structures of the Catholic church, which he regards as insular, imperious, and bureaucratic. He understands that in a hyper-kinetic world, inward-looking and self-obsessed leaders are a liability.

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The 15 Diseases of Leadership, According to Pope Francis

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Pope Francis has not tried to hide his desire to radically reform the administrative structures of the Catholic Church, which he sees as imperious and insular. The Church is, essentially, a bureaucracy, full of good-hearted but imperfect people - not much different than any organization, making the Pope's counsel relevant for leaders everywhere.

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Life to the Full

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Life to the full: The mission and purpose of Catholic schools - NCEC

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This discussion paper was published in August 2024 by the National Catholic Education Commission. It is intended for Catholic schools to complement existing local resources and provides an opportunity for dialogue to enhance the shared understanding of why Catholic schools exist in Australian society. It will outline who we are, what we do, why and […]