By MSGR. THOMAS J. MCSWEENEY
Religion Columnist

Going back to high school—a Catholic high school—in September 2000 is sure different from my experience forty years ago. Other than the crucifix on the wall, the only familiar signs from my days are the framed icons held up to us for inspiration: John F. Kennedy, the first and only Roman Catholic president, and the Pope, now John Paul II rather than John XXIII .

Change is everywhere. The classrooms are nearly empty of nuns, priests and brothers. Priests account for less than 1 percent of the 157,000 teachers in Catholic schools. 93 percent are lay people, while nuns make up 5.5 percent and brothers less than 1 percent.

With the disappearance of Roman collars and the black-and-white habits, the once all Catholic student population has also changed dramatically. A record 13.4 percent of the 2.6 million students are non-Catholic. Not only are enrollment figures up throughout the country; 40 percent of all Catholic elementary and secondary schools report waiting lists of young people of all faiths trying to get in.

Just as Catholic schools are experiencing this extraordinary revival, many of the long established features of Catholic education are being transformed.
Corporal punishment has been decidedly rejected in favor of professional counseling techniques. Teachers still offer traditional religious principles, but where religion used to be about doctrine, the emphasis now is more on values.

Teachers encourage students to reflect and act on social justice issues, community service projects, and personal moral development.

The Ten Commandments are posted in classrooms and halls along with banners that read, “Believe in Yourself” and “Open Wide the Doors to Christ.”

Each day begins with prayer. Students regularly attend leadership courses and spiritual retreats which promote character as well as respect and consideration for different points of view.

In Milwaukee, where about 3000 students attend Catholic schools under a voucher program, students may elect not to participate in religious activities, but there has not been a single request to do so.

Yet, beyond changes and adaptations, there is something fundamentally constant in the Catholic experience. Father Bill O’Malley of Fordham Prep in the Bronx describes it as Catholic education’s enduring purpose— “to stimulate curiosity into the most fundamental of all questions: ‘What are people for?’ If we find the answer to that, we’ll be happy, successful and fulfilled.”

Indeed, my happiest memories are of teachers who believed their first task was to pique my curiosity about what being human is all about, teachers who never lost patience with my incessant “Why?” It, too, is one of the questions we were born to ask.

God created us to be curious, to wonder, to think. He wants us to use these gifts well, not just to satisfy ourselves, but to help others. Embracing people of all faiths is a sign of hope for the future. That’s why today’s Catholic school is so well positioned to train young people to go out into “the real world.”

Learning about ourselves, one another and this world we share, is key to knowing God.

For a free copy of The Christopher News Note, 2000: CHANGING TIMES, CHANGING LIVES, write to The Christophers, 12 East 48th Street, New York, NY 10017

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