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“Education is integral to the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News,” said Pope Benedict XVI in his 2008 address to American Catholic educators. He repeated the Vatican’s long-held teaching that Catholic education is key to the Church’s work of evangelization.

And amid all of the recent infidelity and scandal in the Church, the secularization of Western culture, the ascent of radical ideologies rejecting the truth of man and God, and the dramatic decline of Catholic school enrollment in the U.S. (about two thirds since 1970), the need for a renewal of faithful Catholic education has never been greater.

Speaking to Catholic school and college leaders, Pope Benedict insisted that truth and fidelity must remain at the heart of Catholic education:

First and foremost every Catholic educational institution is a place to encounter the living God Who in Jesus Christ reveals His transforming love and truth (cf. Spe Salvi, 4). This relationship elicits a desire to grow in the knowledge and understanding of Christ and His teaching. In this way those who meet Him are drawn by the very power of the Gospel to lead a new life characterized by all that is beautiful, good, and true; a life of Christian witness nurtured and strengthened within the community of our Lord’s disciples, the Church.

Ex corde Ecclesiae

This vision reflects what Saint John Paul II professed nearly two decades earlier, in the Apostolic Constitution for Catholic Universities, Ex corde Ecclesiae. Inspired by this document and its conviction that Catholic education comes “from the heart of the Church,” The Cardinal Newman Society was founded with initial emphasis on Catholic higher education, now promoting faithful education across all levels and methods. Many of the principles in Saint John Paul’s constitution apply to all Catholic education, which:

…as Catholic, informs and carries out its research, teaching, and all other activities with Catholic ideals, principles, and attitudes. …Priority is to be given to those means which will facilitate the integration of human and professional education with religious values in the light of Catholic doctrine, in order to unite intellectual learning with the religious dimension of life.

Our work also draws upon the vision of our patron, Saint John Henry Newman, a lifelong educator who founded the famous Oratory School in Birmingham, England, and delivered the lectures in Idea of a University while founding a Catholic university in Dublin, Ireland. Newman argued that a genuine commitment to truth, without excluding the most important Truth that is revealed by God, requires a strong Catholic foundation and adherence to the teachings of the Church.

Such fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church is also fundamental to the work of the Newman Society, which seeks always to advance the Church’s principles of faithful Catholic education. The many Vatican documents on Catholic education deserve to be rediscovered and proclaimed, and we strive to study, teach, and witness to these teachings in all that we do.

Antidote to Secularism

Since the 1960s, Catholics have witnessed a creeping secularism in Western society and even within the Church. Many Catholic schools and colleges, which should be devoted to truth, have misled young people by turning away from Catholic teaching and practice, choosing instead a bland conformity to a secular model of instruction that neglects authentic human formation.

It is with this concern—but also with great hope in the impact of even a small number of faithful Catholic schools, homeschools, and colleges to graduate leaders who will correct these errors—that the Newman Society maintains a strong sense of urgency and importance in its work of promoting and defending faithful Catholic education.

There is a great renewal of faithful education underway, and we see fruits of the work of the Holy Spirit in the growing number of devoted Catholic educators, supported eagerly by Catholic families and under the direction of many committed bishops and diocesan school superintendents. The Newman Society strives to aid that renewal and lead Catholic educators toward an ever-stronger embrace of the divine mission to which they have been called.

(Adopted by The Cardinal Newman Society Board of Directors)

The Cardinal Newman Society (the Society) strives for an organizational culture that best serves our mission of promoting and defending faithful Catholic Education. Those who are associated with the Society in any official capacity and therefore publicly represent the organization—including the staff, the Board of Directors, advisors, and volunteers—uphold and contribute to this organizational culture of fidelity and excellence.

The Society’s mission is positive and forward-looking, rooted in serious concern about the secularization of Catholic education. Society representatives share genuine hope for renewal and strive to ensure that their statements and actions move Catholic education toward greater fidelity and service to the Church and the world, while pointing out in sharp relief certain areas of concern. Society representatives have the best intentions for Catholic education, desiring the success of Catholic educators who are committed to faithful Catholic education and the renewal of those schools and colleges that do not yet share that commitment.

Essential to the Society’s mission is fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Just as the Society urges Catholic educators to obey the Church’s call to fidelity in all of their actions and commitments, so do Society representatives strive to ensure fidelity to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church in all Society-related activities and commitments.

Those who represent the Society strive to ensure that their public statements and actions, whether as part of their official duties or not, are consistent with the Society’s dedication to Catholic values and the promotion of strong Catholic identity. This includes deference to the revelation of God and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, emphasis on teaching by word and example, calling others to fidelity in a manner that is unafraid to speak the truth while respectful and charitable, and commitment to factual accuracy.

The Cardinal Newman Society’s representatives strive for the highest quality in all Society-related activities and commitments. Recognizing the great challenges the Society faces in pursuit of its mission, Society representatives strive to balance the need for increased activity with the importance of doing things well. Society representatives show great respect and appreciation to those who make the work of the Society possible by prayer and financial contributions.

Representatives of The Cardinal Newman Society recognize the importance of all associated with the Society to uphold the fullness of teachings of the Catholic Church, especially with regard to life, marriage and chastity, even in their private lives.  Representatives must share the Church’s vision for Catholic Education and must witness to the Catholic faith and morals in their lives and work.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church and official teachings of Her Magisterium shall be the Society’s reference point on Catholic faith and morals, in consultation with the Society’s chaplain.