An examination of Conscience to Catholic Schools

Had Jan. 31 not been a Sunday this year, we would be celebrating the feast of St. John Bosco. The saint gave his life for the education and formation of the youth and thus he is rightly regarded as a patron saint of the youth. A scan in his biographical memoirs would reveal how much he valued his mission of educating and forming the youth. It was not simply in order to make them professionals, or to bring them out of poverty (as many of his students were), or to establish a school renowned for academic excellence. The primary and most important purpose of his educational work was the salvation and sanctification of the souls of children entrusted to his care.

This is why, in his schools, as we see in his memoirs, the most important thing was not that children had high grades but their sanctification. Certainly academics were important but not as important as ensuring that the children were in the state of grace, were free and far from mortal sin, had a strong devotion to Our Lady, went to confession as regularly as possible, received communion frequently, and grew in sanctity.

As we can see in his memoirs, St. John Bosco would stay up late just so that children who had unconfessed mortal sins would not sleep in that state. We also see that the saint would never be at peace if he knew (sometimes by mystical means such as revelations by the angels or dreams) that one of his boys persisted in the state of mortal sin.

This makes something very clear. The MAIN purpose of Catholic Education is not to provide stellar diplomas, academic excellence, train professionals, etc. Certainly these are of grave importance but these are only secondary to the main purpose: the salvation and sanctification of the souls of the students.

It is certainly wonderful if a Catholic School is renowned for its academic prowess, for its reputation. But a Catholic School fails at being a catholic school if it neglects the salvation and sanctification of the students in its care.

It is unsettling to realize that many of our Catholic Schools and Universities are becoming incubators of secularists, agnostics, and anti-Catholics. It is unsettling that many who come from the Catholic Education system do not have real knowledge of the Catholic Faith — only a caricature of it. It is unsettling that many Catholic Schools and Universities have become breeding grounds for ideologies and even heresies condemned by the Church such as Marxism, communism, and socialism.

What is a Catholic School if the students do not know the Catholic Faith or have lost it? What is a Catholic School if it is a breeding ground for heresy and error? What is a Catholic school if it has forgotten its most important mission: the Salvation and Sanctification of the souls of the students? — the mission to which St. John Bosco dedicated is life.

30. I, MMXXI. (vox.clara.intonat@gmail.com)