Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / Yes, we do need Catholic schools
Yes, we do need Catholic schools
by Sr. Mary Gehringer, OSM, Special to The Michigan Catholic
Published August 21, 2009
As I write this column, our office is preparing for the Intern Principals' Program. We host these sessions annually for every new administrator. We spend five days acquainting them with policies and procedures along with the resources available from our office and the other offices from Central Services. We do our best to make the principals feel more confident as they begin the new school year and, by doing so, help them form a community of support throughout the year.
For the last number of weeks I have been mentally preparing what I consider to be one of the most important presentations I give each year, namely Day One of the Intern Principal workshops. That first day is vital because it is devoted to the principal's role as the spiritual leader of the school. I spend many hours reading and praying about how to stress the importance of their role as a principal of a Catholic school. It goes far beyond that of academic and managerial leader. As the missionary priest from Africa stated at our parish recently, "It all has to do with mission effectiveness; how do we preach the way of Jesus?" This is the primary role of our administrators.
During the past weeks of preparation, I have reread the various Church documents about Catholic education along with numerous articles about Catholic school leadership. I was most impressed, however, with two brief presentations that I happened to find. The first was the acceptance speech given by Cardinal Zenon Grocholweski, prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for Education, when he received Fordham University's Catholic Leadership Award this past May. He highlighted numerous reasons why Catholic schools are so very necessary in today's society. He spoke of the fact that "... we need Catholic schools that turn globalization toward a spirit of solidarity, or real help for the needy, of respect toward every culture." He spoke of the crisis of values in the world, and stated that "...we need Catholic schools that build on values; on solid firm values; values that can renew the face of the Earth." The cardinal also stated that secular education deals with life in this world, yet Catholic education is needed to "...situate us within the full truth of our existence, and prepare us for beatitude in the eternal dimension." He went on to mention the crucial problems facing families and the great need for Catholic schools to "... be an effective help for families in their weighty task of education." Finally, the cardinal stated that the schools themselves must be concerned with "... the integral education of the human person in all his or her dimensions: human, intellectual, spiritual and religious, cultural and professional. That is to say, we need schools that concern themselves with forming humanly and spiritually mature persons - persons who critique and who want, and are able, to use what they have learned only for good." He summarized his remarks with this statement: "... we need Catholic schools that teach respect toward each person; that teach love, forgiveness, reconciliation and dialogue." After each of these statements, the Cardinal reiterated: "We need Catholic schools."
I saw the second presentation on a video posted on the Creighton University Web site. It was the commencement speech given by Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. to the May graduates of Creighton. Fr. Boyle has spent the past 25 years working with gang members, and founded a program called Homeboy Industries. The program, following the work of the Christian-base communities, is intended to assist at-risk youth and gang members with services such as counseling, tutoring and employment. It is located on the east side of downtown Los Angeles, an area with a predominately immigrant population. Many young members of each ethnic group try to assert themselves by forming gangs.
Fr. Boyle recounted instances of his encounters with these young people. He then mentioned that Martin Luther once stated that "church ... is not the place you go to. It is the place you go from." He likened Creighton, the Catholic school, to be the same when he stated "... you go from here to create a community of kinship, such that God might recognize it. You go from here to bend the world to grace. You imagine a circle of compassion. And then, you imagine nobody standing outside that circle. And, to that end, you walk to the edges of the circle and you walk with those on the margins."
Father went on to tell how one of the gang members had a conversation with a Holocaust survivor. When Father asked if the young man was trying to compare his life with this man's, the youth stated, "No, I wasn't 'competing' with him. I was 'connecting' with him." Through this story Fr. Boyle summarized the importance of what is taught at the school in this way: "The measure of your compassion lies not in your service of those on the margins, but in your willingness to see yourselves in kinship with them, connected to them - to move beyond the service of the other, to a solidarity, where your heart is in the right place - and, now finally, to a place of kinship, where your feet are in the right place ... listen to your heart, and if you listen to your heart, it'll bring you to your feet."
To me, both of these presentations summarize the importance of the role of our Catholic school administrators and teachers. Together with parents, they first present the Word of God, and then they help students develop values that "renew the face of the Earth" in whatever walk of life lies ahead of them.
It is not a task to be completed, but a mission to be lived. Yes, we need Catholic schools!
Sr. Mary Gehringer, OSM, is the archdiocesan superintendent of Catholic schools.
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