Catholic Schools and Evangelization

In his address to the Catholic Educators of America last April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI reminded presidents of the Catholic colleges and universities that education is integral in the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News. He described a catholic educational institution as a place of encounter with the living God in the person of Jesus Christ. Yet the Pontiff spoke with grave concern about a crisis of faith where many young people show difficulty and reluctance in committing themselves to God.

This phenomenon may be due in part to what Pope Benedict himself observed as the failure of catholic schools to form the will of the young people no matter how successful they have been in engaging them intellectually. In its commitment to search for truth, sometimes scholarship tends to bend the meaning of freedom far beyond the guiding light of faith or religion. Authentic freedom is not a denial of God but in fact a participation in His Being and recognition of his reality in our life.

It is in this context that catholic schools and universities contribute to the mission of evangelization. They must provide a vibrant atmosphere where the word of God, the Church’s faith, doctrine, practice, morals are taught and well understood so that they permeate all aspects of education and formation.  Moreover, it is not just in the academic content, in outreach programs or religious activities that a catholic institution draws its identity but in its unity and participation in the life of the Church.