The Catholic Church is doing the exact opposite of what it should be doing with respect to Catholic Education. We should be expanding and building Catholic schools, not consolidating and closing them. Catholic Education is looked at as a financial liability, with short term thinking toward saving money. It should be looked at as an investment. An investment in our children and the future of the Catholic Church.
The common cries that we hear are lack of enrollment, and the resultant financial losses that occur….therefore close or consolidate is their answer. Yet there are many successful Catholic Schools that we can learn from, that operate under a different model that while still being very Catholic are operated under a strict business model that is not micromanaged from the Archdiocese or the Diocese. These successful schools are able to meet enrollment goals and are financially self sustaining, not requiring large sums of money from the Archdiocese or Diocese, in some cases none at all.
Yet while closing and consolidating Catholic Schools we hear the cries about lack of vocations, parishioners not filling our Churches, financial difficulties, and more. It is like shooting yourself in the foot. Want more priests and those of religious life; parishioners to fill our Churches? What possibly could be more important than investing in our children through Catholic Education? They are the future of the Church, the lifeblood and fountain that feeds Catholicism.
Finally, and most important of all…what about faith? Faith that of we do the right thing with respect to our children, that God will help us. At the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin Our Lady told this young immigrant woman to teach the Catholic faith to the children of the people who are losing their faith from neglect. Our Lady told her just go forth and do it and I will help you through any problems or difficulties no matter what.
The Catholic Church today needs to return to a deep faith, and a belief that God and Our Lady will help us. We need to rethink and invest in our children and the future of the Church through Catholic Education.
Al DiLascia
Chicopee, MA
