Z't) 1fIe ?teed ~e~ioU4 Edueati(J~ ? THE PAULIST PRESS 401 West 59th Street New York 19 . N. Y. DO WE NEED RELIGIOUS EDUCATION? CATHOLIC SCHOOLS BY REV. MICHAEL ]. LARKIN, LL.D. Superintendent 0/ Catholic Schools in Westchester County, New York THE PAULIST PRESS 401 WEST 59TH STREET NEW YORK 19, N . Y . ~i~i1 OObstat: 31mpdmatu\:: ARTHUR J. SCANLAlf. S.T. D .• Censor Librorum. ~ PATRICI CARDINAL D.wJUl. Archbishop. Nrol York. New York. Februar" IS. 1927. paiNTED AND PU_LI S BED IN THE V . S. A • • V THa PAULUT P.&8S. NBW yo .... 19. If. Y . DeactdUIId CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WHY do Catholics conduct parish schools? Why in the face of fabulous sums expended upon public educa- tion, do they deem it necessary to maintain a separate sys- tem of their own? Why do they feel constrained to sup- port two systems, one by their taxes and the other by their free will contributions? The public school today is splen- didly equipped . Its buildings are the finest in the land. Its teachers are scientifically trained and most devoted to their high calling. Why then, I ask, do Catholics volun- tarily elect to assume the double burden of supporting two systems, the one they use and also the other they do not use? They do this, my dear friends , in obedience to a principle, in answer to the voice of conscience; and having examined the reasons that determine their action, all will, I feel, agree that at least they are consistent. Catholics believe that man has a soul that can never die,-a soul destined for eternal life. "God wills all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the Truth." They further believe that to save one's soul is the supreme busi- ness of life. That although one may succeed in all things else, were he to fail in this, his life would have been a miser- able failure . That after a few years spent here below man must enter another realm which is eternal, and the things of time are not to be compared to the things of eternity. "The world passeth away and the lusts thereof." That he must one day answer to the great God of heaven for his conduct in this life, and that "it profiteth a man nothing to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul." Hence they argue thus: education is and must always be incomplete without religion. If education be a prepara- tion for Ufe, and the life of man lasts beyond the grave, then one must prepare not only for life here but for life hereafter. If education be training for citizenship, then 3 4 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS it must train youth to become not only good citizens of this world but also worthy citizens of the world to come. Re- ligion is an essential and ineradicable part of any true sys- tem of education. In fact it is the most important part, for it was Jesus Christ Who said "seek ye first the King- dom of God and His justice and all these things shall be added unto you." We maintain our separate system of schools, therefore, for this purpose, and for this alone: that religion may be given its proper place in the training of the young; that it may form part and parcel of the daily program of the child's school life. The Catholic View Catholic educators have very strong and definite con- victions upon the education of youth. They believe that to educate a man is to draw forth, to cultivate all the fac- ulties God has given him; to develop his entire nature, mental, moral and physical. Not to train the intellect alone to the neglect of his moral nature-as though to know were greater than to be-for the man with mental faculties acute but no moral training may prove a real menace to our civilization. Not to feed truths to the mind without a thought of disciplining the will, for the intellec- tual genius, unless his will be formed by careful training, has within his power a tremendous force for evil. Not to train the head and the hand and neglect the heart, for un- less the heart be practiced in virtue and impregnated with sound principles of moral conduct-education may not be a blessing but a curse. To be complete, education must aim at the harmonious development of the whole man and all his faculties and train him to use these noble endow- ments for the highest purpose of life. To cultivate and strengthen man, body and soul, mind and heart and con- science-this is the business of true education. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 5 Catholics at Home in America Both the Catholic Church and the Catholic School feel very much at home in America. Never for a moment do they consider themselves intruders here. The stamp of Catholicity marks every page of our country's history and the seal of the Church of the living God of freedom has made its impress upon every corner of the continent. When the Catholic Columbus was pondering the great ambition of his life and found himself overwhelmed with difficulties, it was a Catholic priest, Father Perez, who first gave him counsel and encouragement. He was presented at court by a Cardinal, a prince of the Catholic Church. A Catholic queen assisted him in his glorious enterprise. A Catholic crew accompanied him through the dangers of a perilous voyage. Catholic prayers and hymns brought him consolation and hope through the long and weary months. And when at length this land was reached and a new world was discovered, the same Catholic Columbus planted the cross, the symbol of Catholic faith, upon a continent which after another Catholic is called America, and on which the Catholic Sacrifice of the Mass was the first act of supreme worship to the true and living God. Led by missionaries of the type of Father Marquette, Catholic explorers crossed the mountains and penetrated the forests, ascended the rivers and traversed the lakes, teaching everywhere the rude inhabitants belief in the one true God, and naming many of the places they discovered after the saints. Go where you will from the frozen North to the sunny South, from our own throbbing coastline in the East to the plains of the Golden West, and you will find everywhere the unmistakable imprint of Catholicity in the very names the places bear. St. Augustine, San Salvador, St. Lawrence, San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Sacramento are a few in the long litany of sacred names 6 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS that so generously dot the land. Yes, Catholic mission- aries whose names and holy deeds are now all but for- gotten were bringing the Christian religion and civilization to the inhabitants of this land almost a century before Jamestown was founded or the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock. The Church a Pioneer It was by God's command that the Catholic Church embarked upon a career of education. Not from any state or nation, but from Jesus Christ Himself, did she receive her holy charter, the grandest and most comprehensive charter ever given to any institution-"Going therefore teach all nations." And from: that day two thousand years ago when first she received her divine commission, she has since cherished it as her most sacred trust. Back in the early twilight of Apostolic times we can trace her cate- chetical and monastic schools. Their teachers were her priests and monks who labored at the same time in tran- scribing the Sacred Scriptures and the classical writings of antiquity. She was teaching on the day she emerged from the catacombs of Rome and she was still teaching before Columbus set foot upon American soil. She civilized the savage, reclaimed the barbaric hordes which swept down from the North, and trained them in the tilling of the soil and industrial pursuits. Her monasteries kept bright the torch of learning when wars and devastation threatened its extinction. She built magnificent cathedrals and placed within them matchless works of art, beautifying them to a degree that has made them the models of all time. She founded the most famous universities of Europe, and in those so-called dark ages, she gave to the world a galaxy of artists, sculptors, painters and philosophers who have never been surpassed to the present day. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 7 With the same zeal that characterized her efforts in the old world, she set herself to labor in the new. With the words of her divine Founder ever ringing in her ears, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me," she began to establish schools which would teach them , not only the wisdom of this world, but the truths of God as well. Here, too, was she the pioneer. The first schools estab- lished in the Western hemisphere were Catholic Schools to civilize and educate the Indians. In 1 S 16, at the request of Bishop La Casas, the Spanish Government took steps to provide schools and churches in every settlement of New Spain. The oldest university in the Western hemisphere is the Catholic University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru, founded in ISS 1. Two years later the Catholic University of Mex- ico was established. And both were teaching the higher branches of learning seventy years before the first university in New England was opened. No Morality Without Religion Attempts are made to teach morality without religion, but the attempts are always futile. Without religion there is no such thing as a fixed principle of morality. Ignore religion and the power that sustains and the authority that sanctions all laws of human conduct are wanting . Unless founded on religion morality rests upon shifting sands and will not stand the strain in the stress and storms of life . "Quarry the granite rock with razors or moor the vessel with a thread of silk, then may you hope with such keen and delicate instruments as human knowledge and human reason to contend against these giants-the passions and pride of man." The deplorable effects of education without religion have not gone on unheeded and several expedients have 8 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS been attempted to supply the want. These take the form of moral instructions, ethical lectures, lessons from the ancient philosophers and moralists. Who will deny that they have accomplished something? But who will admit that they can ever fill the place of religion in properly moulding the will and developing character? No system of ethics that has not behind it a living faith was ever ef- fective in curbing the evil inclinations of human nature. Where is the sanction behind these moral lessons? Whence the source of their authority? What is to be the charac- ter of the instructions? Who the arbiter of what is morally . right and morally wrong? Will it be a sufficient stay to the headstrong youth in the stress of temptation to re- member certain thoughts of Plato about virtue? How ef- fective is a quotation from Shakespeare in checking an am- bitious soul on the road to its desire? As has been well said: "It isn't instruction so much we need in this matter, it is inspiration; not to learn what is right and wrong, but rather to be inspired to do what is right and not to do what is wrong." Without the foundation of the eternal law and the com- pelling authority of God Himself Who reads the secrets of men's hearts and is the supreme Judge of the living and the dead, can any system of ethics raise men's lives to the high- est form of moral conduct. Every moral obligation, every ethical duty to be done has behind it a religious truth to be learned, so that morality in action and truth in religion are one and inseparable. What History Teaches The truth of the Catholic conviction, namely, that re- ligion is an essential part of education, is borne out by the fate of past civilizations. If the history of the nations of antiquity teaches us one lesson more plainly than another it CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 9 is this: religion is simply indispensable to the life of a people. Imperial Rome was mistress of the world as long as her statesmen and warriors cherished a belief in her gods, but despite her mighty legions that proud empire crumbled into dust once that faith had vanished. Greece was a world power, a nation of heroes, scholars and states- men, while she worshiped at the shrines of her chosen deities, but fell into decay when she had outgrown that faith. If that be true of nations in general most especially is it true of a republic. Republics live by virtue, and morality is the very soul of good citizenship. Yes, we may have the most efficient army and navy, "the sentinels on our outposts may tell us that no danger is nigh," but if reli- gion no longer dwells in the hearts of our citizens, then the strength of the nation has departed. In a democracy such as ours the laws of the land are the creation of the people; in them are reflected the people's character and their ideals ; hence for its own protection the age of democracy must be an age of religion. Washington's Admonition Listen to the immortal words of Washington, who in his farewell address did not fail to admonish his fellow citizens upon this very point: "Of all the dispositions and habits," he says, "which lead to political prosperity, reli- gion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national mo- rality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles." This conviction of the Father of his Country is justified by the 10 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS verdict of all time, by students of government all the world over. Speaking some time ago at Wilmington, Delaware, President Coolidge said: "A religious foundation is neces- sary for if the other attributes of an education are to sur- vive. Without this religion education the study of the classics, vocational training and the rest would fail." Instilling Civic Virtue If then, as Washington has pointed out, religion is so necessary to the perpetuity of our country, the American Flag has no better friend than the Catholic School which tends constantly to foster religious growth in the minds and hearts of the future citizens of the Republic. The Catholic School inculcates those lessons which most vitally concern the well-being of the nation, viz., respect for law, reverence for lawful authority and a deep sense of civic duty. It impresses upon the mind of the child that all authority is from God and all laws derive their binding force from Him . It inculcates upon a basis of religion those first requisites of good citizenship . It keeps con- stantly before the child, from the first day he toddles into class, that an act which is wrong, is wrong although the world may never know. That a crime against the State is a sin against God. That he must one day render an ac- count of his life to the eternal Judge of men. That it will profit him nothing, were he to gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul. This is the type of edu- cation which is the mainstay of the nation. We are proud and rightly of our Annapolis and West Point, those famous academies in which are trained the gallant leaders who will fight our countries battles. I wonder if the country at large ever stops to 'estimate what a wonderful reserve force for law and order we have.in our immense system of par- ish schools? The Catholic school is the nation's strong- CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 11 est bulwark of defense, its firmest prop, its most faithful ally. State's Aim and Church's Aim The Catholic Church recognizes the right of the State to safeguard her own vital interests and the Catholic school must likewise ever prove itself efficient in safeguarding those same interests no less sacredly than in safeguarding the specific interests of the faith. Writers on pedagogy point out to us various aims of education. We hear for example discussions upon the cultural vs. the vocational aim; education for industrial efficiency; education for eco- nomic efficiency, etc. Now whatever views may be enter- tained by the different schools of philosophers concerning the relative value of the various aims we have just men- tioned, all are practically agreed that under a form of gov- ernment such as ours, education for worthy citizenship must maintain its place in every school that undertakes the train- ing of our future citizens. The State supports its schools to the end that the chil- dren may grow up into useful, loyal, intelligent, self-re- specting members of society. In a word, the ultimate end of State education is, and must always remain , to educate for citizenship. As far as the State is concerned all other educational aims are either indifferent or secondary, but she must insist upon the education for citizenship not only in her own schools but in all other schools training the men and women of tomorrow. Now while the Church recog- nizes good citizenship as a very worthy and laudable aim in education and never for a moment loses sight of it, still she does not look upon it as the ultimate aim and the chief goal of the educational process. The Church recognizes in each child a future citizen, yes, but she also recognizes in him a child of God and an heir of heaven. She accepts 12 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS as perfectly valid such educational aims as social efficiency, industrial ' efficiency and the rest, but she does not and can- not accept any of these aims as ultimate because her vision of life is not bounded by the grave. "Now this is eternal life; that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent." In her eyes the brief span of this life is but a preparation for a richer and fuller life with God which will endure throughout an end- less eternity. The Church and the State therefore have each vital interests in the child must must be protected. The State must see to it that the child is properly trained for citizenship and the Church must see to it that her chil- dren are adequately trained for membership in the King- dom of Heaven. The ultimate aim of the Church in education does not lie within the scope of the State schools. In fact the State has neither the authority nor the means to attain this end. Hence it is, that in order to be faithful to her trust of lead- ing souls back to God, the Church is constrained to organize and maintain her own system of schools. Let it be noted, however, that while the educational forces of the State do not nor cannot achieve the Church's ultimate aim in the training of youth-the Church can and does achieve the State's highest aim in education, through her system of religious schools. Nay more, not only does the Catholic school give adequate training in sound citizenship, but we boldly declare that she does so more effectively and more thoroughly than does the school in which religion has no part. It is simply impossible for a man to be a good Catholic without at the same time being a good and useful citizen of the State and nation . Morality Essential to Good Citizenship After outlining the importance of morality to the life of a nation, Washington goes on to say that wisdom and CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 13 experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail with the exclusion of religious principles. Now all will . admit that morality is a prime requisite of a free people, the very life blood of a republic. But Washington declares that we cannot hope for a lasting national morality unless it be rooted in religion. Does it not follow then that the most powerful agent for good citizenship in America today is the school which fosters religion in the hearts and souls of our future men and women? A people without good morals is incapable of self-gov- ernment. Underlying the proper exercise of the ballot are unselfishness and the spirit of sacrifice. A corrupt man is selfish; an appeal to duty finds no response in his con- science; he is devoid of the high-mindedness and generos- ity that are the elements of patriotism. With good rea- . son then does patriotism take alarm at the spread of in- temperance, indecency, dishonesty and perjury. Material- ism and the denial of a living God annihilate conscience, break down the barriers to sensuality, broadcast the seeds of moral death, and are fatal to liberty and the social or- der. A people without belief in God and in a futUre life will not long remain free . Empires and monarchies place their reliance upon sword and cannon . Republics put their trust in the citizens' respect for law. If law be not sacred, a free government will not endure. How the Catholic School Forms Citizens The Catholic school teaches the child the civic virtues upon a basis of religion. She teaches them, I say, as reli- gious obligations and backs up her teaching with a reli- gious sanction. She inculcates as a matter of religious duty the habits of personal honor, self-restraint, respect for one's fellows, the dignity and blessedness of labor, all of which are of vital importance in a republic such as ours. 14 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS She impresses most deeply upon her pupils tho sacred- ness and sanctity of an oath, disregard for which at times seems to threaten the foundation of our judicial system. She prefaces all her moral instruction with the words: "Thus sayeth the Lord," and by His divine authority she brings home the lessons which shape and develop Chris- tian character. In bringing home to the minds of her youth the lesson of respect for civil authority, not too common a virtue in our day,-she bases her teaching upon the words of St. Paul: "Let every soul be subject to higher powers; for there is no power but from God and those that are ordained of God. Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that re- sist purchase to themselves damnation." In other words, she tells her children that while our civil magistrates are indeed human, still behind them and encircling them stands the divine One, making their laws His Own-whom to obey is our most sacred duty. To sin against properly consti- tuted civil authority therefore is to sin against God Him- self. Every Catholic school in the land is dedicated "to God and Country," and every Catholic school is true to this dual consecration . With her, patriotism is not an empty senti- ment but a religious obligation. She makes her children understand that they are not only bound to live for their country but even to die for her-not only to be patriotic in time of peace but patriotic in time of war. And how have these lessons of patriotism registered? Catholic Patriotism There has never been a struggle in our country's his- tory since first the colonists began their glorious fight for freedom down to the great World War that has not found a generous response in the hearts of the alumni of our CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 15 Catholic schools. Whenever the bugle called "to arms," they took their places with the bravest of the brave and deemed no sacrifice too great for the honor of their flag. We have made reference to the World War. In that gi- gantic conflict our boys rallied to the colors in army, navy and marines, in numbers far beyond the proportion of our Catholic population. Yes, Catholic boys have learned well the lesson of patriotic devotion to their country's call. That our fair flag of freedom might fly in triumph today they fought in its defense all the way from Bunker Hill to Yorktown and from Fort Sumter to Appomatox. They were at the Meuse and on the Marne. They fought at Chateau Thierry and Verdun. They endured the cold and hunger with Washington at Valley Forge and bore the brunt of battle in those awful days at Gettysburg. They sailed the seas with Barry and Jones, with Farragut and Dewey and won respect for their proud ensign in every port throughout the world. And the spirit of patriotism is as keen and fervent in our Catholic schools today. Yes, it pulsates as vigorously in this hour as in the stormy days that have passed. And should the blast of war again blow in our ears,-which may God forbid,-they will rally again from every village, town and hamlet and stand shoulder to shoulder with their comrades, prepared to carry that flag to victory or to die in its defense. Teaching Secular Subjects Without God We ask, moreover, how can even the purely secular branches be properly taught while religion is excluded from the school? Think of teaching history and ignoring Jesus Christ the central figure of all history I Of teaching nature study with no reference to nature's Godl In the non-religious school -pupils may be taught the laws of the universe but they must not hear of the Supreme Being Who 16 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ordained these laws. They may be told everything about the planets save only that God formed and fashioned them. In a pamphlet from the pen of Mr. Bird S. Coler, Com- missioner of Charities of the City of New York, we read: "The schools may deal with the faith of the Egyptian, with the Olympian deities of the Greeks, with the Manitou of the Indians, but Christmas is tabooed, Easter is a sub, ject prohibited. No man believes there was ever a Mer- cury with wings on his heels, but that may be taught in the schools. Everyone knows there was a Jesus of Nazareth but that must not be mentioned. The logical thing to do, if that be right, is to cut the name of God out of the Declaration of Independence ; to publish without it the farewell address of the Father of his Country; to leave some significant blanks in the sublime sentences of Lincoln over the dead at Gettysburg . . We must be taught that a strange faith sprang up in the bosom of Rome and spread over the area of the Roman conquest, but we must not be taught whence it came or why it spread. We must be taught that the followers of Mahomet raised the crescent flag against the cross, but we must not be taught what the cross signifies. We must be taught that the Crusades poured out the blood and treasure of Europe to take from the Mos- lem the tomb of the Carpenter, but we must not be taught what was the torch which lighted their fiery faith. We must be taught history but not the meaning of history. Some of the facts of human experience are to be allowed us, but the central fact of human history is to be barred." Bearing in mind the words of Eternal Truth: "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His justice," the Cath- olic system gives God the first place. In it the light and inspiration of religion everywhere dominates the school. I t is the basis of all moral instruction, the foundation upon which character is built, the very corner stone of the edi- CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 17 fice . It is taught not as a separate subject superadded to the curriculum, but it permeates and illumines the whole course, and is brought into vital relation with every other branch. Yes, Catholic educators believe that since educa- tion is a preparation for life, and since man's soul is im- mortal and stamped with the image of his Creator, then to be complete, education should prepare him not only for time but for eternity; nor can any process of education that does not take into account not only the present but the future life as well, claim to be complete and logical. Catholics Not Opposed to Public Schools It is in no spirit of opposition to the public schools of the land that the Catholic Church maintains a system of her own . Indeed this could not be, for she was first in the field . In providing her own system of schools she is but carrying out her divine mission. She has been entrusted with the safeguarding of the faith of Christ, with fostering His religion in the hearts of His people. She feels and she knows that this cannot be done adequately by restricting its teaching to a single hour on Sunday, as though religion were a thing to be put on and off like one's Sunday clothes. If it is to so impress the heart that its blessings may abide forever, that it will dominate life and regulate conduct, then it must form an integral part of the child's daily life, and be brought into close relation with every phase of his development. A'ld so with the wisdom of the ages behind her she builds and maintains her own schools, and although her policy demands tremendous sacrifice she never has and never will abandon her holy enterprise. Nor is she alone in this. Today there are scattered through the country schools representing a number of various beliefs, and thousands of thoughtful Protestant parents, realizing that " not by bread alone does man 18 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS live," are sending thither their sons and daughters that their lives may be molded under the saving influences of religion. Is the Catholic School un-American? We sometimes hear it said that the Catholic school, or any religious school for that matter, is un-American, that the publi.c school is the only Simon-pure American type. This is a mistake. In fact the religious school is the more American of the two. Let me explain. The very first schools in America were religious schools and they re- mained religious schools until the present system was brought into vogue about 1840 by Horace Mann. Our forefathers in this blessed land were deeply religious. Indeed it was their love for religion free and untrammeled that brought them here. "They sought," says Webster, "to incorporate the principles of Christianity with the elements of their so- ciety, and to diffuse its influence through all their institu- tions, civil, political and literary." The ordinance of the Northwest Territory passed in 1787 states that "religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good govern- ment, schools and the means of education shall fort'ver be encouraged." Are not the schools here implied, religious schools? Indeed no school is quite as much in accordance with the oldest and most sacred traditions of this republic as the school that teaches religion. Know you well that it is not the school teaching religion that marks the great departure in our American life, but rather the school that eliminates it altogether. Yale and Harvard for example were originally schools of divinity, and many another of our great universities today were inaugurated to prepare men for the sacred ministry. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 19 Training in Habits of Industry In our Catholic schools we endeavor to strengthen char- acter by training our pupils to habits of industry and sound application. Sometimes we feel that there is too much coddling of children. Too much is done for them, and not enough efforts exacted of the pupils themselves. We refer to the growing practice of expecting the least possible amount of work on the part of the child. It is found not only in the elementary school but in the college as well. In the endeavor thus to make everything easy and pleasant, is there not a real danger of missing an impor- tant aim of education, i. e., the power to grapple with dif- ficulties and to master them? Is it the best method of forming a strong character and a firm will? In later life unpleasant tasks will have to be encountered; duties de- manding grit and perseverance will have to be performed. Why not prepare our pupils now for those things as far as we may by teaching them the meaning of duty, work, and self-reliance, and training them to feel the joy of meeting difficulties and triumphing over them? The custom, so familiar to all of us, of children preparing the next day 's studies at home, is greatly on the decline, and in some cases, pupils are even forbidden to take books home or to do any studying upon their own initiative out of school hours. This is partly made up for by study periods in school, but surely not entirely. The preparation at home of a reasonable amount of school tasks gives the child healthy and valuable lessons of industry, and trains him, when school days are over, to utilize a good share of his leisure time for self-improvement. Lessons of this kind no one will question, are a part of the school's function . Our well stocked libraries offer magnificent opportunities for self-improvement to the industrious boy or girl, man or woman, and our children should be taught to appreciate 20 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS and embrace these advantages. Why not bring our chil- dren to see early in their careers that life is earnest, life is real; that there is little place in this busy world for the man or woman of weak character and irresolute will, for the namby-pamby or the butterfly. That labor is a blessed thing and conquers all obstacles; that both in the intellec- tual and spiritual spheres, the sweetest things of life, the things most worth having, have always been bound up with difficulty, requiring on our part real, determined, persistent effort if we would ever hope to gain them. That "the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence and the violent bear it away." Unless these truths are deeply impressed during school days there is real danger that they will never sink into the mind in such a manner as to dominate life. Teaching Religion in the Home There are those who readily admit the importance of religion in education, but claim that it can be adequately taught in the home. Now as a matter of fact, in how many American homes, today is religion systematically taught? Let us be honest with ourselves. Few parents are capable of properly teaching religion, and fewer still have the disposition to teach it. After the toil of the day most parents seek rest, diversion, recreation; nor at that hour do we find children favorably disposed toward a task which in their minds has nothing to do with their school life. It requires skill and training systematically to teach religion, and the very best methods and devices that pedagogy can supply. Parents would not dream of taking over the labor and responsibility of teaching their children outside of school all the English and arithmetic they are expected to know; are the lessons of religion and morality of less im- portance? CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 21 The Sunday School But how about the Sunday School? Does not this seem a way out? Alas, for a veritable army of youth the Sun- day School in fact does not exist, for they do not and will not come to it. But should they come to it, what is it at best? A one-hour session once a week. Five hours a day for five days in the week given to secular studies- the things of time-and one hour a week for God and the things of eternity? What estimate, think you, will chil- dren place upon the relative importance of religion under such a plan? Surely it will not loom as large in their minds as geography or history-and yet we know it is at the very foundation of character, the only safe guarantee of the child's eternal happiness. Religion is not a study, or an exercise, to be restricted to a certain place or a certain hour. It is more than a code to be believed, it as a life to be lived, and its influence is to be felt always and everywhere. If men would not consider for a moment the suggestion to limit the teaching of spelling, geography, English or his- tory to a single hour a week, and to segregate the teaching of that branch from the whole content of the child's school life, why in the name of God would they consent to a plan which does this very thing in the case of religion and moral instruction? "Is not the life more than the food and the body more than the raiment?" . "To Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's." If religion is to truly register with the child as a thing of real importance, then it must be given at least as much prom- inence as his secular studies and must be correlated with them. It cannot be taught apart and separated from his school life. The laws of psychology, and the unity of the educative process forbid this. 22 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS Catholic School and Catholic Teacher There is nothing strange or mysterious about a Catholic school. In the main it looks quite like any other. It is organized the same, graded the same and equipped the same. Beside the pictures of our national heroes on the walls will be found pictures and images of the Church's heroes-the saints of God. Each is there for a purpose. To stimulate the young to the noblest civic impulses, and to train them at the same time to emulate those chosen souls who have heard the "Well done!" of their heavenly Master. At the desk before the pupils sits the teacher, a Sister or a Brother, clothed in the humble habiliments of his or her order, teachers trained and practiced in spir- ituality and self-denial, teachers who have heard and answered the divine call of Christ Himself to leave all things and to follow Him, teachers who have hearkened to the voice of Him Who said: "Suffer the little children to come unto Me." To this sublime calling, without the slightest hope or desire for earthly recompense, they have conse- crated their lives. Their pupils love them, and because they love them, they soon learn to imitate their virtues. Over and above all things else in that classroom hangs the image of the Crucified, the Saviour of mankind, im- parting hope and light and love and inspiration to those that dwell within its walls. Religion is taught in that room not merely during the catechism hour but throughout the whole day, by the very presence of the religious teacher, by music, the image of Christ and His Saints, its correla- tion with the lessons in reading, history, nature study and the rest. The very atmosphere of the room is religious. The mind, will, memory, imagination, emotions, the esthetic sense, all the child's faculties receive the impress of reli- gion. The pedagogues would call it teaching religion through the multiple sens.e method. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 23 Apart from its religious side the course of study in our Catholic elementary schools is substantially the same as that followed in the public schools round about them, i. e., the course prescribed by the State Department of Edu- cation. In the higher grades our pupils voluntarily take the Regents' examinations, and it is a matter of public rec- ord that their success in these tests reflect high honor upon themselves and their teachers. We are always willing that our pupils be judged by the standards of the State. Training Youth to be "Doers of the Word" The religion taught in our schools is believing and do- ing. Catholicism is a system of beliefs and a system of practices. To eliminate either one is to destroy the very essence of religion. The Catholic Church never held that religion consisted merely in knowing the truth, in sub- scribing to certain formulae of belief. She has insisted always that religion means the carrying out into life those things that are implied in the faith that we profess. With- out faith, the Apostle tells us, it is impossible to please God. But he also says, "Faith without works is dead." "If you know these things," says our Divine Lord, "blessed are you if you do them ." Therefore to believe, and to act in accordance with that belief-that is religion. And so in our schools we labor not only to store the child's mind with the saving truths of faith but also to retain his will and mold his heart to act at all times in conformity with that faith . We strive to make them "doers of the word and not hearers only." Our Teachers and Their Training Of the 40,000 teachers who preside over our elemen- tary schools in the United States the vast majority are 24 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS nuns, members of our teaching Sisterhoods; noble souls, women of refinement and true culture, who robed in the simple garb of the religious have consecrated their lives to the holy calling of leading the little ones to Christ, and whose holy sacrifices for the cause are known only to God Himself. I shall enter upon no encomium of them here. Many of you already know their sterling worth. Many per. haps of my readers have received their earliest training at the hands of these good women. If so, I am sure your respect and admiration for them has grown with the years. And here I wish publicly to congratulate both our Brothers and Sisters upon their magnificent work. For their patient, persevering toil, for their gentle, refining in- fluence over those entrusted to their care, especially for the shining example of their holy lives, I extend to them my most sincere respects and compliments. In order that they may be well equipped for their ex- alted calling as teachers of the young, each community maintains at · its motherhouse a normal school where expe- rienced instructors conduct courses in the history and prin- ciples of education and the art of practical pedagogy. Large numbers attend graduate courses at the Catholic University at Washington, where within the past few years hundreds have received collegiate degrees. Realizing that no school is better than its teacher, that the teacher makes the school, religious superiors are providing every oppor- tunity that our teaching orders may obtain the best pos- sible training for their life work in the classroom. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice and all these things shall be added unto you." This is the cardinal principle in Catholic education, and we are happy to say today that these other things have been added, and in good measure. Weare proud of the progress of our pupils not only in their knowledge of faith and their prac- CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 25 tical piety, but in the success that has crowned their efforts in the secular branches as well. The success they have attained in meeting the requirements of the course of study prescribed by the State is a constant source of gratifica- tion and pride to priests and people, as well as to those devoted, self-sacrificing teachers, whose only aim is to train in the best possible manner the lambs of Christ's flock both for this world and the next. The Church and Science "But," we are told, "say what you will about the Cath- olic notion of true education, nevertheless it is a fact now and always has been, that your Church opposes scientific progress, is indeed the avowed enemy of science." How often have we heard this charge! So long and so persis- tently has it been made that to some minds it amounts to an axiomatic truth requiring no further demonstration. Our critics inform us that the Church has always striven to keep her children in the dark, in the bondage of ignorance; that she fears nothing quite so much as knowledge on their part of the truths of science, that she uses her highest power and authority to discourage her members from scien- tific pursuits. Let us look into this indictment and see if it has any foundation in fact. Let us examine the evidence, and in order that we may be thoroughly "scientific" in our own inquiry we shall trust nothing to hearsay; we shall find out the truth for ourselves. Now in the first place why should the Church be op- posed to science? The Church is founded upon divine revelation, science upon human reason . But both of these come to us from Almighty God Who is the God of truth. So how then can the dictates of true science ever be at vari- ance with the laws of revelation? Surely the God of truth cannot contradict Himself. 26 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS Moreover if the Church were bent upon the suppres- sion of scientific study, then I say she went about her task in a very strange way. If her design were to keep her children in darkness then I ask you why has her whole history been so intimately interwoven with the history and progress of education? We have already seen that from her very earliest days she built her catechetical and monas- tic schools and these schools were taught by her priests and monks; and they were the first schools. Education has been her watchword from her very foundation. If she were opposed to the enlightenment of her children then why did she dot the old world with the famous universities-Salerno, Padua, Bologna, Paris, MontpeIlier, Salamanca, Louvain, Leipsic, Fribourg, Oxford, Cambridge and Glasgow? His- tory surely must place these pearls in her diadem of honor. Even while cruelly persecuted by Roman emperors she opened a school of philosophy at Alexandria, where an Origen, a Clement and a Catharine allowed no intellectual precedence to the most learned masters of the pagan academies. When days of peace and prosperity dawned she built schools as we have said by the side of her monasteries and cathedrals. Monte Cassino spread its light over Italy. Lerins gathered scholars from Gaul and Germany. Under Patrick's magic touch Ireland became the isle of schools, of scholars, yes, and of saint. Isn't it a strange way, I say, of keeping the people in darkness, to multiply the most efficient agencies of education. Why in the very univer- sities whence comes this charge against us the system of academic degrees so long in vogue was inaugurated by the Catholic Church. Copernicus So the Catholic Church is the enemy of science, is it? Well, let us face the facts. Copernicus, most famous of CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 27 astronomers, was a devout Catholic and probably a priest. In addition to devoting himself to astronomy and mathe- matics he both studied and practiced medicine and made it a rule to place his services as a physician freely at the disposal of the poor. He always cherished a special devo- tion to the Blessed Mother of God in whose honor he com- posed a number of beautiful poems. His great work on the revolution of the orbs of heaven, composed in 1507, was not published till the very close of the author's life in 1543 because he shrank from the storm of obloquy which was sure to arise by contradicting the received opinion of the scholars of his day in daring to suppose the earth to move. Chief among those who urged the publication was the eminent churchman, Cardinal Schomberg, who insisted upon the scientific value of this new discovery. When Copernicus consented to the Cardinal's request, he dedi- cated his work to Pope Paul III. Catholic churchmen received the book with much favor. Surely the Catholic Church offered no opposition to this scientist or to his sci- entific discovery. In the Field of Electricity Upon what grounds, pray, do those who repeat the old charge base their claim? Have they read nothing of elec- tricity? Galvani, Volta, Ampere and Ohm each has his name enshrined in the very terminology of that science, and each, mark you, was a sterling Roman Catholic. It was Galvani who used to say that "a little philosophy led men away from God, but a good deal of it led them back to Him again." In the Field of Medicine In the field of medicine Catholic leaders stand out con- spicuously. Morgagni, the father of pathology, was an 28 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ardent Catholic and gave nine of his children to the serv- ice of God in the religious life. Versalius, the father of anatomy, was also a Catholic. The nineteenth century opens with Rene Theophile Laennec, the discoverer of scientific diagnosis and auscultation, who pointed out the specific nature of tuberculosis. He enjoys a place among the world's greatest medical discoverers. The century closes with Louis Pasteur, another Catholic and a Breton, too,-the great genius renowned in biology, chemistry, physics, medicine and surgery,-the man who revolution- ized the cure and treatment of disease. Did Pasteur ever complain that his Catholicity impeded him in his scientific studies? No man ever penetrated deeper into the mys- teries of nature and the origin of life. Did he find himself hampered in his biological investigations by the mysteries of Christianity, or censured by his Church for his devotion to true learning? The record of his long life of unremitting toil in the interest of humanity prove that he even found strength and consolation in the sublime mysteries and sim- ple practices of his holy faith. Once in the noon-day of his scientific greatness he was asked if he did not feel the irksome restraint of his religion and its dogmas in the per- secution of his studies and experiments. "No," said he, "quite the contrary. With my present knowledge of science I have the faith of a Breton peasant; I am sure if my scientific knowledge were greater I would have the faith of a Breton peasant's wife." For him the fashionable ag- nosticism of his age made no appeal. Its aggressive mate- rialism offered no explanation of the mysteries of life. "Posterity will one day laugh," he says, "at the sublime foolishness of the modern materialistic philosophy. The more I study nature the more I am amazed at the work of the Creator. I say my prayers while engaged at my work in the laboratory." For Pasteur as for Lord Kelvin: "Science positively affirms creative and directive power, CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 29 which she compels us to accept as an article of belief." Pasteur, mighty genius that he was, never found the teach- ing of his Church to stand in his way; indeed, he found in his firm Catholic faith a great aid . He was able to reconcile the truths of science and the tr~ths of religion in the eternal truth of a personal, infinite Creator. At his jubilee Lord Lister said to him: "There does not exist in the entire world any individual to whom the medical sci- ences owe more than they do to you." When his work was done and the end came he faced it with Christian fortitude . Clasping his crucifix and uttering a prayer, the most bril- liant scientist of his century passed away to his heavenly reward-a man who had preserved his Catholic faith firm and unshaken in the midst of an unbelieving generation. Between Laennec at the dawn and Pasteur at the close of the nineteenth century we meet three of the world's greatest discoverers in scientific medicine, and all of them were Catholics, Johann Muller, Theodore Schwann and Claude Bernard. All lived and died in the faith and prac- tice of the Catholic Church, Muller and Schwann in Ger- many, and Claude Bernard in France. Sir William Turner, professor of anatomy in the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, said: "Italy long ago retained the distinction of giving birth to the first eminent anatomists of Europe, and the glory she acquired in the names of Mondino, Achillini, Carpi and Massa was destined to be- come more conspicuous in the labors of Fallopius and Eustachius ." These leaders in medical science were all Catholics. Dr . John Caius, founder of Key's College of Cambridge University, was the first to introduce in public the practice of dissection into England about 1573 . Dr. Caius was a Catholic and so was Madame Curie, discov- erer of radium. 30 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS In Other Fields of Science Lavosier, the father and founder of modern chem- istry, was a Catholic. It was Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 who corrected the Julian calendar and gave us the Gre- gorian, called after himself. Regiomontanus, the most re- nouned astronomer of Europe up to the fifteenth century, was Bishop of Ratisbon and the tutor of Copernicus, Gas- sendi, who first observed the transit of the planet mercury across the sun's disc, and Leverrier, the discoverer of Neptune, were Catholics. Mendel, the noted biologist of the last century, was an Augustinian Monk, and Father Secchi, who became the greatest authority on the sun, was a Jesuit priest. The discoveries of Galvani and Volta re- ferred to above laid the foundations of the telegraph and telephone. Abbe Nollet, noted physicist; Father Caselli, the inventor of the pantelegraph; Nobili, the inventor of the thermo electric . battery; Foucalt, who perfected the electric lamp; Marconi, inventor of wireless telegraphy, and Fabre, one of the greatest of entomologists, are more of the army of Catholic scientists whose work amply refutes the charge that the Church of Peter opposes the progress of science. Pascal, who demonstrated the weight of the air and invented the hydraulic press; Gioja, the inventor of the mariner's compass; Coulomb, who invented the torsion balance; Pope Sylvester II, who a thousand years ago made the first pendulum clock, and Johann Gutenberg, who in- vented the first printing press in 1438, also belong in the same noble group. In the scientific study of the laws of light we are face to face with another array. Fresnel discovered the theory of undulation, and Biot, the laws of rotary polarization; Fizeau and Foucault first measured the velocity of light. Lenses were invented by Amati in 1280 ; spectacles by de Spina, a monk, in 1285; the camera obscura by della Porta CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 31 in 1615j the magic lantern by Father Kircher in 1680j the x-ray by Roentgen. All of these were scientists of the first rank and at the same time true Catholics. In the field of exploration and discovery we cite for you, Marco Polo, the greatest traveler of any agej Colum- bus and Amerigo Vespuccij Magellan, who first sailed around the world; Vasco da Gama, who first rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reached India by sea; Balboa, who first looked upon the Pacific Ocean; Orellana, who first navigated the Amazonj Cortez, who discovered Cali- fornia and explored Mexico. Father Marquette and Joliet, who explored the Mississippi, which was discovered by another Catholic, De Soto, and the glorious army of Span- ish and French missionaries who first crossed many of the plains, mountains and forests of this continent to labor and to die among the Indians. Within recent years the best authority on seismology in Australia was Father Piggot, a Jesuit, and the best au- thority on geology and mineralogy there was Father Cur- ran. The ' largest and best equipped wireless telegraph ;tation on the island continent was long directed by Father Shaw. The submarine was invented by Holland, a Catho- lic and a Christian Brother. Michaelangelo, one of the greatest of sculptors and painters, was a Catholic. Raphael, anClther of the world's greatest painters, was a Catholic. Verdi, one of the great- est musical composers, was a Catholic, and Leonardo da Vinci, claimed by many to be the most versatile genius of all time, was a Catholic. Gladstone, the scholar and statesman, said: "Since the first three hundred years of persecution the Roman Catho- lic Church has marched for fifteen hundred years at the head of human civilization, and has driven harnessed to its chariot as the horses of a triumphal car, the chief intellec- tual and material forces of the world. Its art, the art of 32 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS the world. Its genius, the genius of the world. Its great- ness, glory, grandeur and majesty have been almost, though not absolutely, all that in these respects the world has had to boast of." The Catholic Church the enemy of science? How ab- surd in the light of what we have just reviewed and of what the world must know. No, the Church takes no issue with science. She has nothing whatever to fear from such a source. Her only quarrel is with pseudo-science that would have her endorse every new theory and novel hy- pothesis before it is scientifically tested. The Church is now and has always been the mother of art, the patron of science, the lover of learning, and the unfailing champion of everything that makes for the intellectual advancement and culture of mankind. iii.,... l ~51 827627-001 827627-002 827627-003 827627-004 827627-005 827627-006 827627-007 827627-008 827627-009 827627-010 827627-011 827627-012 827627-013 827627-014 827627-015 827627-016 827627-017 827627-018 827627-019 827627-020 827627-021 827627-022 827627-023 827627-024 827627-025 827627-026 827627-027 827627-028 827627-029 827627-030 827627-031 827627-032 827627-033 827627-034 827627-035 827627-036