Catholic Church and education


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THE CATHOLIC HOUR

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CATHOLIC CHURCH AND
EDUCATION

BY
RT. REV. MSGR. JAMES T. O'DOWD, Ph. D.

Superintendent of Schools, Department of Education,
San Francisco, California

The fourth in a series of nine addresses on THE CHURCH IN ACTION,
delivered in the Catholic Hour, broadcast by the National Broadcasting Com-
pany, in cooperation with the National Council of Catholic Men, on September
26

,
1943 .

National Council of Catholic Men

Washington, D. C.



CATHOLIC CHURCH AND EDUCATION
My dear Friends of the Catholic
Hour,

It is not without significance that

this address on Catholic Education

comes to you from the city of San

Francisco, the city named after the

Seraphic St. Francis of Assisi. The

name of the patron of this city is
intimately connected with the be-

ginnings of education in the United

States. We may trace the origin
of educational work in this country

to the mission schools established

by the spiritual sons of St. Francis,

the Franciscan Friars. In Florida

in the year 1594 and in New Mex-
ico in 1589, the first opportunities

for education within the boundries

of the present United States were

provided by the Spanish Francis-

cans. Here in this far western

country we trace the beginnings of
education to the twenty California

missions founded by the saintly

Father Junipero Serra, and his

Franciscan companions. The Fran-
ciscan mission schools in Florida

and New Mexico preceded by sev-
eral years the establishment of

schools in the English colonies. In-

deed it is certainly appropriate to

identify the name of St. Francis
of Assisi with the establishment of

schools in the United States.

From those Franciscan founda-
tions, there has developed the Cath-

olic school system. A visitor to our

country has called this system the

greatest single educational fact in

the United States. Such a state-

ment may seem to some to be an
exaggeration. But yet when we
consider the number of schools con-

ducted by the Catholic Church in

America, the assertion has a real

foundation. In the United States at

the present time, there are 2,584,-

561 students attending Catholic

educational institutions. These stu-

dents are enrolled in 7,944 Catholic

elementary schools, 2,105 high

schools, 168 colleges, 25 universi-

ties, and 181 seminaries. When we
realize that American Catholics

have built and supported these in-

stitutions without any financial aid

from the State, we are forced to
conclude that this system of schools

and colleges is unparalleled either

in this country or abroad.

The question readily comes to
mind: Why do Catholic people of
America maintain an elaborate

system of schools at the expense

of millions of dollars when their
children could attend public schools

which they help to support as tax-

payers? Surely there must be se-

rious reasons for the course of ac-

tion which Catholics have adopted.

And serious reasons there are.
Primarily, Catholics have establish-

ed their own system of schools be-
cause they have a very definite an-

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swer to the question : “What is

education ?” The answer to that

question is of vital importance be-

cause upon it depends the kind of

education which children are to re-

ceive. In approaching the Catholic

answer to this question, we may
observe that education has two

major elements. There is a con-

stant element and a variable one.

Those who are familiar with the

trends of education will agree that

the majority of modern educators

deal principally with changing fac-

tors, with methods of instruction

and technique of administration.

They are not mainly concerned

about the reason for teaching.

The method of teaching or the

science of education varies with the

development of knowledge in the

natural and social sciences. An ad-
vance in psychology, or biology, or

sociology may cause radical
changes in the character of an

educational system. In fact, mod-

ern research has introduced many
improvements in methods of teach-

ing and school administration. As
a result the typical school to-day

bears little resemblance to the 'little

red school house’ of a few genera-
tions ago. In the main the re-
search of the competent psycholo-

gists and educators has brought

progress in education. However,
because they emphasize experimen-

tation unduly, and neglect reflective
thinking, many educators have

come to believe that the main real-

ity in education is change. They

concentrate on the particular and

changeable aspects and give a sec-

ondary place to the purpose of edu-

cation which is the more general

and unchanging element.

The stable element in education

concerns man and his destiny; it
concerns his relation to God. Edu-

cators must have a definite under-

standing concerning the nature

and destiny of man. If they lack

this, then all methods and proce-

dures, no matter how scientific, will
lack intelligent direction. In mak-

ing a journey, our destination is of

prime importance. Likewise in edu-

cation the first essential is knowl-

edge of the goal to which we are to
lead the child. Of course the goal

of education is determined by the

nature and destiny which God has

given to the child.

The Catholic school gives a pri-

mary place to the purpose of edu-

cation. Therefore it bases its pro-

gram on the clear teaching of phil-

osophy and divine revelation con-

cerning the origin, nature, and des-

tiny of man. That teaching gives

an answer to the momentous ques-

tions asked in all ages and so well

expressed by Carlyle when he said,

“Whence and 0 God whither?”
The Catholic knows the answer to

the question of the whence, the

what, and the whither of life, part-

ly by the use of human intelligence,



more adequately through the word

of God, speaking through the

prophets in the Old Testament, and

still more fully through the word

made Flesh, Our Lord Jesus

Christ. And the answer is one
known by the child in every Cath-

olic school—that man is unique in
the universe; that he is a union of

body and soul created by a Personal

God; that he is a person with a

sacred dignity; that he has not

here a lasting city but seeks one

that is to come. For the Catholic

the ultimate goal of life is com-

plete union with God. That is the

true term of human progress.
That is the final end of the divine

creative act.

Since the Catholic has this un-

derstanding of the nature and

destiny of man, he can only be

satisfied with an education which

is defined in terms which respect

man's sacred character and final

end. With this in mind, we may
define education as the process

whereby the physical, intellectual,

social, and moral powers of a per-

son are so developed as to enable

him to accomplish his life work
here and to attain his eternal des-

tiny. The latter part of this defi-

nition is at least as important as

the earlier. For Catholics it pre-

dominates.
• /

The implications of this defini-

tion are obvious. Educational

means must be selected which are

in conformity with human nature
and adequately suited to achieve

the main purpose of human life,
union with God. Certainly secular

means will not be sufficient. The

educator who embraces a secular
philosophy considers man as the
measure of all things. He believes
that man should seek ends which
are exclusively human and natural.
He assumes that all goals which
claim to lie beyond nature and hu-

man life are illusory. He simply
concentrates on man and ignores
everything else.

#
Therefore, in edu-

cation he chooses natural means to
achieve his natural goal. Certainly

means which are man-centered can-

not attain an end which is God-

centered.

Nor can the supernatural goal of
Catholic education be reached by

methods and procedures which are

erroneously termed neutral. There

is no such thing as neutral educa-

tion, for as Professor Harold Rugg
has stated, "As we look upon life,
so we teach. What we believe, the
loyalties to which we hold, subtly
determine the content and method

of our teaching." The professedly

neutral school is actually sectarian,

since it implies that the principles

of religion have no necessary con-

nection with the realities of life.

Such a system of education pro-

claims a highly sectarian set - of

dogmas regarding religion and



tends definitely toward indiffer-

entism.

No, secular and neutral means

simply will not do. To achieve the

desired goal of life and education,

union with God in this life and

hereafter, adequate means must be

used. The only means adequate for

such a sublime educational object-

ive is the school which begins and

ends in Jesus Christ, the religious

school. In any school worthy of

the name Catholic, the truths of
religion must enter into all the pro-

A

cesses of education. The entire

school program must be permeated

with religious principles. As the
poet Browning has said,

“Religion is all or nothing; its no

mere smile

O’contentment, sigh, or aspiration,

sir

—

No quality o' the finelier tempered
clay,

Like its whiteness or its lightness

;

rather stuff

O' the very stuff; life of life, and

self of self.”

Religion in the Catholic school

is no mere subject; it is not “a
side current apart from the main

gulf-stream of culture.” Rather

it penetrates into every relation of

the child and touches his every

ideal and aim and act. This does
not, of course, imply the continuous

direct teaching of religion, but it

does imply that the approach to all

subjects will be from the Christian

point of view.

Moreover, the Catholic school is

able to achieve unity in its in-

struction. It sees the child as a

whole child, possessing religious,

intellectual, physical, and social

powers given to him by Almighty

God, as means to an end, union

with Him. These powers are to be

developed harmoniously—not with
the lopsided development of the

natural man, the economic man, or

the social man, but unto the full

perfection of the Christian man,

“the supernatural man who thinks,
judges, and acts by the supernat-

ural light of the example and teach-

ing of Christ; in other words . . .

the true and finished man of char-
acter.”

In brief, such are the fundamen-

tal and serious reasons for the

Catholic school system. By its
schools, the Catholic Church in

America is making an indispen-

sable contribution to the youth

under its direction. Moreover, by

its positive position it proclaims

the inherently American principle

that religion is essential in educa-

tion. In recent years, we have
heard the voices of the presidents

of the two largest universities in

the United -States urging American

educators to return to the religious

ways of their fathers. From New
York we have heard the voice of
Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler stat-



ing, “The separation of church

and state is fundamental in our

American political order, but so far

as religious instruction is concern-

ed, the principle has been so far

departed from as to put the whole

force and influence of the tax sup-

ported school on the side of one

element of the population, namely,

that which is pagan and believes in

no religion whatsoever.” A plan
was suggested by Dr. Butler where-

by .. . “school children and their

parents . . . would come to look

upon religious instruction as vital-

ly important and as constituting an

essential part of the educational

process.” From Berkeley in Cali-
fornia, Dr. Robert Gordan Sproul,

President of the State University,

made the following striking state-
ment: “While I am a firm believer
in the separation of Church and

state, I also believe that our people

have carried this principle to an

extreme.” He added, “Without the
vital issues of religion' students

might become merely efficient in

the Nazi manner, and, therefore, a

menace rather than a help to civili-

zation and democracy. Something

more than brilliance, cleverness,

and getting degrees is needed in

our educational system.” These two

leaders of American education

recognize the fact that a complete

education is the rightful heritage

of every American youth. They

realize that no part of. a complete

education should be eliminated,

least of all the religious part which

emphasizes our relation to God and

our fellowman.

This American principle of reli-

gion in education has been the soul

of the Catholic educational tradi-

tion from the days of the Francis-

can Fathers to the present. The

Catholic educator strives to be true

to that tradition and desires to

share its manifold treasures with

others. He is interested not only in
Catholic schools and colleges, but

also in the best kind of education

for all the children of all the peo-

ple. He remembers that he is an
apostle of Christ, who by Baptism
and Confirmation is appointed to

the service of his brothers within

the household of the faith as well

as to the service and edification of

those wflio are potential members
of Christ's Mystical Body. In all

his efforts to attain the educational

ideals of the Catholic school, union

with God, he faces the future with

confidence, knowing that with the

help of a kindly and omnipotent

Providence, he will not relinquish

a ray of splendor of his vision, nor

a fragment of the faith which will

lead him with clear eyes through
a lifetime of fruitfulness to the

eternal city of God.



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THE CATHOLIC HOUR
1930—Fourteenth Year—1943

The nationwide Catholic Hour was inaugurated
on March 2, 1930, by the National Council of Cath-
olic Men in cooperation with the National Broad-
casting Company and its associated stations. Radio
facilities are provided gratuitously by NBC and the
stations associated with it

;
the program is arranged

and produced by NCCM.

The Catholic Hour was begun on a network of
22 stations, and now carries its message of Catho-
lic truth on each Sunday of the year (and Good
Friday) through a number of stations varying from
90 to 107, situated in 40 states, the District of Colum-
bia, and Hawaii. Consisting of an address mainly
expository, by one or another of America’s leading
Catholic preachers, and of sacred music provided
usually by a unit of the Paulist Choir, the Catholic
Hour has distinguished itself as one of the most pop-
ular and extensive religious broadcasts in the world.
A current average of 41,000 audience letters a month,
about twenty per cent of which come from listeners
of other faiths, gives some indication of its popular-
ity and influence.

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