Catholic School Principal: ‘I Hope Our Students Discover Jesus Christ’

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Dr. Michael Pennell.
Dr. Michael Pennell

Dr. Michael Pennell is head of The Highlands School, a Catholic school in Irving, Tex., that is recognized by The Cardinal Newman Society’s Catholic Education Honor Roll for its strong Catholic identity. He has also served at another school on the Honor Roll: St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Greenville, S.C. 

It was during Dr. Pennell’s undergraduate years at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H., that the “doorway to classical and liberal learning” was swung wide open for him. He recalls that, in his freshman year, he wondered why “this treasure of learning and art” had been kept from him as a youth.

After graduating in 1987, he went on to earn his Master of Arts and Ph.D. from the University of Dallas in Irving, Tex., which is also recommended in The Newman Guide. Impacting everything from family life to career, Dr. Pennell believes that “nothing is left untouched by an authentic Catholic liberal education.”

Now students at The Highlands School benefit from Dr. Pennell’s leadership and especially the formation received at faithful Catholic colleges. Dr. Pennell urges that “faithful Catholic education is important, because arriving at the right destination is important,” and he strives to introduce his students to the “foundations of Christian wisdom.”

We are grateful for Dr. Pennell’s work for strong Catholic identity in education, and for his time in responding to our questions, as a part of our “Profiles in Faithful Catholic Education” series.

Newman Society: Can you share about your experience as an undergraduate at the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts?

Dr. Pennell: Having grown up in the 1970s attending Catholic schools – when classic literature and serious study of the liberal arts had mostly vanished, at least in my Catholic high school – I arrived at Thomas More College in the fall of 1983, suddenly reading with care and thought the encyclicals of Saint John Paul II, the documents surrounding the Protestant Reformation and the Church’s response to it, and among many other things the key works of comedy and tragedy of William Shakespeare under the tutelage of perhaps the greatest teacher of literature in any place and time: Dr. Louise Cowan.

A recent photo from The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H., which is recommended in The Newman Guide.

We had guest lectures from John Molloy (friend and colleague of the great Catholic historian Christopher Dawson), Alice Von Hildebrand (from whom we learned of her husband Dietrich’s great works of philosophy), and a personal concert from one of the great violinists of the 20th century, Yehudi Menuhin. And in weekly “kitchen chorale,” I sang tenor some of the most beautiful polyphonies of our Catholic tradition of sacred music. And that was just freshman year!

My first thought that year was why this treasury of learning and art had been kept from me as a youth? The great light of faith inspired achievement in architecture, music, theology, great literature – and these gifts of human endeavor, I thought, were gathering dust in Catholic seminaries or houses of study, as attention was turned in schooling to the so-called relevant things desired in a progressive world. I recall our philosophy teacher Dr. Mark Roberts (now professor of philosophy at [Franciscan University of] Steubenville) talking about his acquisitions of classic works for our school library for pennies a box.

A doorway to classical and liberal learning was swung wide open for me at Thomas More College, for which gratitude – to my parents and to Dr. Peter V. Sampo (founder and president of the college at the time) – is my deepest and most joyous response. Gratitude. Thanksgiving. Although I recollect finding Thomas More College almost by happenstance, with a hope that this might be an education worth dedicating oneself to – for one can hardly choose deliberately in ignorance – I would traverse the same path again all the same.

Newman Society: After earning your bachelor’s degree, you also completed your Master of Arts and Ph.D. from the University of Dallas.  How has your own education influenced your work in Catholic education?

Dr. Pennell: A Catholic liberal education forms the mind and the heart in such a way that your actions and affections might be governed by (one hopes) the light of truth, both human and revealed, or perhaps natural and supernatural. When entering marriage, in living relationships with integrity and respect for the image of God in others, in raising children, or in doing one’s work with a supernatural outlook – nothing is left untouched by an authentic Catholic liberal education.

In my profession of Catholic school leadership, I see two sides to this influence. The first influence is on my understanding of academic learning. Epistemology, knowing something of Gnosticism and nominalism, reading Josef Pieper’s Abuse of Language, and I could go on: all these experiences with learning on the topic of language and its relation to what is real have affected how I think of young students’ acquisition of language, of meaning and of the habits of living in a Christian culture. By these I am better able to identify useful strategies for reading from early childhood to 12th grade. A Thomistic metaphysics helps guide my oversight of science learning, knowing that a rigorous study of the material world need not be reductionistic or lead to materialism or Marxism. These are examples, but I could offer many more. 

Second, as a Catholic leader, I hope I see better how to govern an organization of human persons in such a way that human dignity, the truth about men and women and the centrality of family life for children, and our work as both a response to a call and a means of our own sanctification, among so many other things, makes possible for my employees a life that can be rich in service and one of personal happiness and self-satisfaction too. I have never hesitated from saying that the things chosen for themselves or for their own sakes (Catholic learning and the virtues) can also be chosen because they are more practical and useful than what we imagine to be practical and useful without the learning and virtue. I can think of these things, be inspired by great works that I still continue to read, and govern our school in the light of the Catholic faith and the truth that can be so easily obscured in the fog of modernity.

In my field too, one sees the craziest theories about the end of human learning and the means (or arts) to achieve it, and successful navigation of the precipices I owe to my Catholic liberal education.

Newman Society: What role did teachers and mentors play in your formation? What kind of teachers and mentors do you hope students will find at the Highlands School?

Dr. Pennell: I recall my first Franklin-Covey planner. The exercise in the front of the planner asked me to record the names of those who influenced me the most and whose actions or achievements I wanted to imitate and strive for. After writing just a few names, I was not surprised to see that I was writing the names of my teachers. I remember clearly when I first learned what teleology meant and the four causes. I recall Lear holding the dead Cordelia in his arms in Act V of King Lear after receiving Cordelia’s profound but simple statement of his youngest daughter’s love for her father moments earlier. I still see the disobedience of Eve in Paradise Lost. C.S. Lewis’s recollection of the joy of his brother Warren’s discovery of a sprout in a tin container of soil or his mother’s reading of Beatrix Potter’s Squirrel Nutkin: these are memories both recounted in Surprised by Joy. 

Dr. Pennell hopes that The Highlands School will introduce students to the “foundations of Christian wisdom.” Photo via Dr. Pennell.

My teachers gave me a cosmos, or at least a vision of one. How does one not live a life that lives up to what has been transmitted? This is what I hope for students at my school. But since we are a PreK to 12th grade school, my hope is that we can introduce our students to these foundations of Christian wisdom even at their young ages. My own experience was one of waking up after a slumber of 1970s Catholic education.

Do our youth know or understand the depth of what they are receiving in a school that is intentional about the permanent things? Do the children’s parents? I’m not always sure, but I hope so.

Fundamentally, however, I hope our students discover Jesus Christ, the image of the Father, the source of goodness and grace, of eternal life and of eternal joy. All human learning and knowledge can support that path to Christ and reveal his face, as Benedict XVI says, the face of beauty I seek that is my Lord’s.

Newman Society: Why do you think that faithful Catholic education is important?

Dr. Pennell: When you have a destination and ask for directions, you want more than anything a true answer. To ask directions and then arrive at the wrong place should get one quite perturbed. Such is modernity: a labyrinth of wrong though seemingly attractive and choice-worthy answers to questions earnestly asked.

Faithful Catholic education points the way to ultimate and proximate goods and unveils for us the many possible pathways to it. We believe that one of those paths was meant for each of us: one meant for me alone. We pray that the wisdom of insight and choice be ours as we make our way. Faithful Catholic education is important because arriving at the right destination is important.

And bringing your loved ones along with you: that’s important too. Let’s go together!

New Book Offers Guidance on Living a Good Life

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Preparing for life’s journey is the mission of every young person. But too often, education is focused on accumulating skills and knowledge without fully developing the virtues and ethics that lead to sainthood.

Vaclav Rajlich, a computer programming expert with a deep love for Christ, helps refocus priorities with his brief but valuable book, How to Live a Good Life Following New Testament Ethics. He provides a roadmap through daily decisions, intricate challenges, and even outright obstacles with the timeless guidance of Scripture.

This highly readable book makes a perfect gift for people of all ages – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, spouses, friends and colleagues. It is ideal for book circles, discussion groups, dinner clubs and beyond. And it is well-suited for high school and college students, perhaps for summer reading, new student orientation or a retreat program. 

Each chapter concludes with open-ended questions. In less than 150 pages, the reader discovers a roadmap for life – how to drive safely, understand the rules of the road, and arrive at the destination. Throughout the journey, the reader is called to make friends, share meaningful experiences, and achieve goals while keeping in mind the biggest goal: to live a holy and exemplary life.

Along the way, there will be obstacles – which the author knows well. Raised behind the Iron Curtain in Communist Czechoslovakia, Rajlich lived in near constant fear. He was always on guard and suspicious of those around him, never sure when his conversations were being recorded – an oppressive reality of Communist rule.

One day, the author met Pavel, who at about 30 years old was dying and bedridden with terminal cancer.  He could barely move and experienced endless pain. Astonishingly, he radiated inner peace. With a wink or slight wave, Pavel comforted all who visited him, causing Rajlich to wonder how such peace is possible. Though a dying young man, Pavel exhibited no anger or resentment, only a joy about life. Rajlich, although fearful about a future crushed by the Communist regime, gained perspective from the dying man who was wise beyond his years. Pavel was far advanced in living a good and holy life.

Not long after meeting Pavel, Rajlich escaped to America and became renowned in his field of computer science. When he retired four decades later, he published this powerful little book. 

One might reasonably ask, what business does a computer programmer and professor have writing a book about ethics? The answer may surprise you.

Early in his career, Professor Rajlich realized that conveying complex software concepts to undergraduate students requires distilling information to the essentials. The fundamentals provide a firm foundation. With the fundamentals in place, Rajlich’s students created programs that have changed the world for the better. Hundreds owe their careers to his wise and patient teaching. 

In his book, Professor Rajlich tackles the fundamentals in the moral life. At Page 7, he explains the “story of the rich young man” as “an abbreviated version of the entire New Testament ethics, a kind of executive summary,” which St. John Paul II highlighted in Splendor of Truth. Rajlich draws other inspirations from the Catechism and the Splendor of Truth to present a series of practical, heartwarming and commonsense lessons – a wonderful recipe for life.

Rajlich explains, “Ethics or moral philosophy… answers the questions: ‘What is the right act in these circumstances?’ and ‘What is the best way to live?’”  He equips the reader with a reassuring way of seeing and a practical way of doing. With precision and simplicity, he offers a handy mnemonic for remembering the four pillars of living a good life: the four Ps of Prohibitions, Prescriptions, Priorities and Providence. 

Prohibitions are nonnegotiable rules of the road, while prescriptions are recommendations for a safe and fulfilling journey.  Priorities involve making wise choices.  Providence is the recognition that certain matters are beyond our control; with faith, we experience peace by relying on God’s grace and mercy.  Taken together, these ways of pondering and proceeding enable sound daily decisions, resulting in peace of mind and heart.  Rajlich’s approach sheds light and instills hope and confidence.

In an age of instant messaging and countless choices, this little book offers a timeless message at the heart of Catholic education: a celebration of the splendor of truth, as we grow in knowledge and strive to be co-workers in the truth. Rooted in faith and reason, a proper formation advances the fullness of wisdom and the realization that we are all made for more, formed in the image and likeness of God. Setting the reader on the straight and narrow path, this profound “how to” book addresses life’s most important questions in a clear and reassuring manner. 

Like all dedicated teachers, Professor Rajlich makes the complex accessible. He offers a passport for living a good life and pursuing big goals. He addresses the false routes along the way and sheds light on how to proceed with peace, fortified by authentic freedom. As a kind and wise mentor, he presents sound advice.  He encourages the reader to prioritize and live with kindness and courage amid obligations to family, neighbors and communities. 

The human journey includes suffering and setbacks, but these can be opportunities to be light and leaven. We can all learn from Pavel. Every day, no matter how challenging, is a gift. How to Live a Good Life Following New Testament Ethics presents a sound approach to living with purpose and good cheer. 

This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.

How to Make a Good Campus Visit

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We cannot overstate the importance of making a thorough campus visit before choosing to attend a college! This visit should include an official tour, during which you can ask the questions that matter to you. Try to also talk to other students and professors off the tour to get their take on various aspects of campus life. If you can, spend at least one night in the dorms on a Friday or Saturday to get a clear idea of the campus environment.

Three key areas to explore:

  • Study the Academics

A solid core curriculum, including strong philosophy and theology courses, is essential to an authentic, well-rounded Catholic education and should prepare you for success in any field. Ask about what courses are included in the core curriculum, what’s required for your major, and try to meet some of your future professors. Ask for examples of graduates who are excelling in their careers.

  • Learn about the Dorms

It’s important to consider the quality of dorm life. You should look for single-sex dorms and dorm policies that either prohibit or greatly reduce opposite-sex visitation in the dorms. Studies have proven that single-sex dorms can help reduce binge drinking and the hook-up culture. Additionally, limiting opposite-sex visitation in the dorms can reduce the rate of sexual assault.

  • Consider Your Faith

College is a crucial time for students to either make the faith their own or lose their faith. Will this campus be a place where you will find friends who will support you in the faith? Check out what attendance is like for Mass on campus, and explore the schedule for Mass, adoration, confession and other spiritual opportunities.

library hour

Catholic College Graduate Fights Drag Queen Library Hour

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Christopher Jay

Christopher Jay studied at a faithful Catholic college and gained valuable understanding of the human person and God’s design for sexuality, but he never thought that one day he’d be fighting against a “drag queen library hour” at a New Hampshire public library. Yet, that’s exactly where he found himself just recently, not long after graduation.

“People knew that they were opposed to drag queens targeting children, but they couldn’t enunciate why,” says Jay. “They knew that this was wrong and damaging, but they haven’t received education that would enable them to analyze what is and what is not ‘freedom.’”

Jay graduated from Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyo., in 2012 and from Ave Maria University School of Law in Naples, Fla., in 2018. After passing the bar, he worked with Cornerstone Action and Policy and the Massachusetts Family Institute as a legal advisor and lobbyist for pro-life and pro-family causes.

For Jay, the drag queen event was a “shocking ‘cultural thermometer’ incident.” “I issued a public records request and discovered that the drag queen, who also performs pornography, was suggesting that he and the library should hold a similar future event targeted at 2- and 3-year-olds.”

“One of the more eye-opening things about that situation was experiencing the ‘emperor’s new clothes’ dynamic — where everyone, both opponents and supporters, knew exactly what this was about, but almost no one would talk candidly about it, either because they were afraid of backlash or because they supported a disordered view of human sexuality,” Jay continues.

“Most ended up trying to oppose the event by pretending they had some purely procedural objection (‘this is a waste of taxpayer money,’ etc.) instead of being able to articulate moral dimensions that underpin the enacted policies and laws,” he says.

Wyoming Catholic, a faithful Catholic college recommended in The Newman Guide, teaches students to “read a text, analyze it, challenge it” and involves “critical thinking over and over again.” These are the same skills that are needed for law school and for work as a lawyer, Jay explains.

His senior-year classes on Catholic social teaching and political philosophy opened a “profound philosophical arena” for him and were “central” to his decision to start working in the public sphere.

He also values the conversations he had with the College’s Dr. Jeremy Holmes about “integrating his classical learning with raising a family.” Jay married a Wyoming Catholic classmate, and they are expecting their fourth child. “Everything you’re doing should be ordered towards your vocation.”

The College’s wilderness immersion program also played an important role in Jay’s formation.

“The wilderness experience brings you back down to earth and forces you to come to grips with reality,” Jay explains, remembering some “stressful situations” outdoors that led to community building.

He may never have expected that a drag queen library hour would become a part of his reality soon after graduation, but it has emboldened Jay and taught him that there’s “no such thing as a ‘neutral’ process or human action that can be arbitrated on its own by ‘pure reason.’”

“Every procedure, principle, or policy can only be understood in relation to that which we regard as good and evil,” he said. Mainstream secular education can actually “inhibit” our “ability to understand the world.”

EWTN: Vatican Insider Interview, Part 2

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In the second segment of an interview with Vatican Insider with Joan Lewis on EWTN Catholic Radio, Newman Society President Patrick Reilly and Joan Lewis discuss the work, outreach and challenges of The Cardinal Newman Society, the experience of attending Newman’s canonization in Rome, and the importance of Newman today.

Reilly explained that after decades of secularization, an exciting renewal in Catholic education is underway, through faithful Catholic institutions and innovative programs such as homeschooling, hybrid schools, and online academies.

Amidst these hopeful times, Reilly said there is still much work to do to help Catholic institutions fully embrace their Catholic identity. Speaking on the importance of Newman, Reilly explained that Newman was very prophetic and warned of a time when the Church would not only have to confront other ideas about God but a total rejection of God altogether, which is where we are today.

“It’s a real challenge, but [Newman] saw it and prepared us for it. I strongly encourage people to read Newman because I think he gives us tools that we can use to address this.”

https://soundcloud.com/ewtn-radio/vatican-insider-110219-cardinal-newman-society-pt-ii

EWTN: Vatican Insider Interview, Part 1

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Newman Society President Patrick Reilly was recently hosted on Vatican Insider with Joan Lewis, on EWTN Catholic Radio. During this segment of the interview, they discussed a number of topics, including what inspired Reilly to begin The Cardinal Newman Society and why he chose Cardinal John Henry Newman as a patron for the organization.

Reilly discussed the timeliness of Newman’s canonization, especially in light of the Saint’s lifelong fight against liberalism in religion and the many challenges facing Catholic institutions today.  

Joan commented: “Few colleges today closely resemble his- and this is the title of something he wrote- ‘Idea of a University.’ If anything comes close to Newman’s vision today it would have to be those faithful Catholic colleges recommended in the Newman Guide… These are models for the renewal of Catholic education, largely according to Newman’s vision and their continued effort towards bringing his ideas to fruition are a blessing to the entire Church.”

Listen to the full recording below.

https://soundcloud.com/ewtn-radio/vatican-insider-102619-cardinal-newman-society

St. John Henry Newman’s Battle for the Church Continues

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Three weeks ago, my family and a group of Cardinal Newman Society pilgrims were newly arrived in Rome — and what a contradiction we seemed!

The whole world was watching the Vatican, anxious to know whether the Amazon Synod would preserve or rupture Catholic tradition.

And yet there we were at the center of it all, full of joy and excitement, eager to celebrate the canonization of the great educator and convert, Cardinal John Henry Newman — much like the Americans who, 140 years earlier, had come to Rome to celebrate Newman’s elevation to cardinal and represent the jubilant Catholics back home.

Now we prepare for the Feast of All Saints, celebrating the greatest of all promises given by Jesus to believers, amid so much unbelief across the West.

While in Rome, I reflected on this irony with our pilgrims. I realized something very important: the timing of Newman’s canonization amid the ugly synod was just right, because Newman is just right for these times.

Specifically, it seems to me that Saint John Henry’s devotion to both teaching and defending truth, together with his beloved manner of “heart speaking to heart,” provide a powerful response to those who imagine that tending to the practicalities and particularities of pastoral care must be somehow opposed to upholding the timeless truths and traditions of our faith.

Some have even warned of schism over this error, but Newman’s example could help heal the rift — or if not, then at least the unassailable reason and precision of his many writings provide a mighty defense of doctrine. In this sense, our newly declared saint promises to be more a “doctor” of the Church than we might have anticipated.

Pope Francis has called the Church a “field hospital,” and today indeed there are many wounded — in part because of the Holy Father’s own inexplicable harshness toward those who would preserve ritual and reverence while embracing the reason that is married to faith. Today’s wounded also include young people — to whom Saint John Henry devoted his educational efforts — who have been greatly harmed by the lack of a strong Christian formation and by dissent, abuse and betrayal from within and without the Church.

After his conversion, Newman saw no conflict between his popularity as a pastor and his battle for truth. Despite being one of the Church’s greatest intellectuals and theologians, the Saint’s focus was always on the immediate concerns and controversies of the people under his care. His primary interest was the authentic formation of the souls right in front of him, always speaking heart to heart, always speaking truth. He was both a loving pastor and a champion of orthodoxy.

His life’s work, Newman said, was the fight against relativism — what he called “liberalism in religion.” He insisted on the unity of faith and reason, the intellect and morality, subjective and objective reality. He proposed faithful Catholic education, precisely because he wished to “reunite” the faculties of conscience and intellect that “man had put asunder” by original sin.

With this heart of an educator, Saint John Henry Newman was devoted to truth and to bringing others to the truth. That is what the word today so greatly needs!

Newman was also, at times, prophetic about the challenges we face today. Already in 19th century Europe, Newman saw the makings of what would be the “age of infidelity,” when the Church would be confronted by a culture unlike anything it had ever seen before: a culture that simply does not tolerate religious belief, except as a private matter. Newman also predicted increased scrutiny of Catholics by secularists, who eagerly seek evidence of hypocrisy. The sins of our priests, he predicted, would become a spectacle to the news media and disbelievers.

That’s surely where we are today — and yet, truly, Newman’s canonization was also a happy moment! One of the Church’s greatest intellectuals and a beloved convert is certainly in heaven. Saint John Henry Newman encourages and inspires the Church at a time when it is under sustained assault.

Sainthood itself refreshes our hope in the mercy of God and the promise of heaven. It is a great blessing to know that a dutiful and faithful man has received God’s great mercy and the reward of heaven.

By his canonization, Newman has become even more capable, by his example and because of our prayers for intercession, to help us once again follow the Kindly Light of Christ. Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

(This article is adapted from comments delivered in Rome on the day of Saint John Henry Newman’s canonization, Oct. 13, 2019.)

This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.

Sean Kay

Big Business Advisor Is ‘Big Believer’ in Faithful Catholic Education

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It was more than 20 years ago, when Sean Kay graduated from a faithful Catholic college—and today the presidents, board members and top financial officers of some of the nation’s highest ranked colleges and universities look to him for guidance.

Kay is a partner at PwC, the brand name of PricewaterhouseCoopers, one of the largest professional services firms in the world. As the firm’s national endowment leader, Kay meets with chief executives about the “risks and issues that are impacting their industries” as they consider investment options.

“When I have a really challenging conversation—even if it’s on a technical, business matter—I find that I’m drawing upon experiences that I gained during my undergraduate years,” says Kay, who is a 1997 graduate of Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., a faithful Catholic college recommended in The Newman Guide. “I’m able to use those skills much more frequently than the ones I learned in graduate school.”

“Graduate school gave me the credentials, but it is my undergraduate Catholic, liberal arts experience that allows me to be successful in what I’m doing today,” Kay explains. He benefitted from Christendom’s strong core curriculum and majored in English and economics.

His clients “don’t want to talk about debits and credits,” Kay explains. Instead, he articulates the big picture: the concerns that he sees in the marketplace, and how these issues are affecting his clients’ peer institutions.

PwC employs more than 250,000 people worldwide, but Kay is part of the four percent of employees who have been named a partner. PwC doesn’t sell any products, and so Kay’s national clients are paying for his expertise, which he says comes with “knowledge and experience”—and is built upon the foundation he received at Christendom College.

“For the first time in my life as an undergraduate student, I met people who so badly wanted to do the right thing,” says Kay, remembering groups of students who would pray the rosary together or go out in groups for dates. “Faith was critically important to everyday life.”

Students can take their Catholic, liberal arts experience and use it for building a career and raising a family, he said. “We can be great examples out in the marketplace and out in the world,” and we don’t need to “hide our talents,” says Kay, who married a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville and now has ten children.

The Kay Family.
The Kay Family. Photo via Sean Kay.

Another key element of Kay’s time at Christendom was a mentorship that helped propel him into his career. The late Dr. Philip Crotty, who was a College board member, met with Kay individually about four times a year and asked him, “What would you like to do after graduation?”

“As a member of the Board, I found it extremely impressive that Dr. Crotty would go and meet with a student that he had never met before,” says Kay. Dr. Crotty pointed out graduate schools that emphasize the value of a liberal arts foundation, such as Northeastern University. It was there that Kay earned his Master’s in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Accounting.

“I was incredibly blessed” through the mentorship with Dr. Crotty, a dedicated Catholic and generous philanthropist, says Kay. The two ended up becoming close friends and met frequently throughout the rest of Dr. Crotty’s life. 

Today, Kay is following in Dr. Crotty’s footsteps. He is a supporter of faithful Catholic education and a board member at The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H., which is also recommended in The Newman Guide.

“I love that graduate who has a Catholic, liberal arts perspective, because that individual has a discipline associated with seeking the truth,” says Kay. “They have a set of skills around having a view, articulating that view and defending that view.”

“That skill set is so far superior to someone who has four years of business, or some very specific, technical experience,” Kay explains. 

From his perspective as a graduate, donor and parent, Kay is eager to promote the value of faithful Catholic education. “I am a big believer in this core group of schools that is committed to orthodoxy.”

church

We Are Losing Young Catholics

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A new study by the Pew Research Center shows that less than half of American millennials—those young adults from age 23 to 38—call themselves Christians. This is the second recent study that should wake up Catholics to the very serious dangers of our secular culture and the urgent need to renew faithful Catholic education.

The other recent Pew study found that only 26% of self-professed Catholics under the age of 40 believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

These results are devastating! But sadly, they are not shocking. Our culture has rapidly fallen into that “age of infidelity” that Saint John Henry Newman predicted, and too may Catholic institutions have been complicit in the slide from faith and tradition.

It’s a clear generational decline. The Pew study shows that the Silent Generation currently identifies as 84% Christian; the Baby Boomers, 76%; and Generation X, 67%.

Now we find ourselves with young adults who are only 49% Christian, which raises the question: Where do we go from here? If the trend continues, the current youth of our country will be less than 36% Christian as adults.

Catholic parents, educators, and bishops must together renew our commitment to the Catholic formation of young people. The statistics are clear: if you go with the flow of secular society, there is a good chance that your child will lose his faith.

Public schools are controlled by governments that are no longer neutral to the faith, and they certainly do not provide formation in the most important things a child must learn and do. Lukewarm Catholic schools are a scandal, doing more harm by their example than they do by teaching some degree of values that are acceptable to the non-Catholics they strive to recruit. The Catholic faith simply cannot be taught as an add-on to life — not believably, anyhow — or it will quickly be discarded by students when confronted by reality.

The same goes for secular colleges — and the large number of secularized Catholic colleges. They actively push progressive agendas that are anti-Christian, chipping away at the faith and hope of young people.

Perhaps even worse than what students are learning in the classroom may be the hedonistic lifestyle on many Catholic college campuses. The drinking and hook-up culture is well-documented and well-ignored by many Catholic leaders and parents alike.

On the other hand, the best Catholic education shows students the unison of faith and reason, not only in studies but in life. It forms young people in mind, body and soul. They receive a solid grounding in Catholic thought, prayer, sacrament and morality. A faithful education includes participation in beautiful and reverent liturgy and authentic Christian community.

If this sounds out of reach, take a look at the Catholic schools and colleges that are getting it right. Take a look at Catholic homeschoolers, who give their children so much that is lacking from our schools, without any benefit of the resources that are wasted on poor schooling. The stakes are too great to not provide our children with a faithful Catholic education!

Of course, there is no guarantee that any student will keep the faith after graduation, especially in this toxic culture. But we must give them the very best chance of keeping it, and they cannot keep what we fail to teach them. With the souls of our young people at stake, it is essential to do everything that we can, and pray for God to lead them on the path to heaven.

This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary

Faithful College Graduate Defends Celibacy for Priests

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Amid new challenges to priestly celibacy at the Vatican’s Amazon Synod and from other corners of the Church, the graduates of faithful Catholic education—by their deep formation and understanding of Church tradition—are well-prepared to dispel errors and misconceptions about this important discipline of Catholic priests.

One such graduate is Father Gary Selin, S.T.D., author of Priestly Celibacy: Theological Foundations and formation advisor and assistant professor at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, Colo. He argues that celibacy “allows the priest to give himself more freely to the Church in imitation of Christ.”

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif., which is recommended in The Newman Guide, Fr. Selin says the College helped him “acquire the virtues necessary in becoming a disciple before learning to be a leader.”

When asked about his time at the College, Fr. Selin recounts how he was “impressed with the way that the students gravitated toward the chapel for Holy Mass and personal prayer.” He also remembers a fire that once surrounded the campus and how the flames “stopped in their tracks” after one of the College chaplains “blessed a hillside with the Blessed Sacrament.”

We are grateful for Fr. Selin’s willingness to respond to the questions below, as a part of our “Profiles in Faithful Catholic Education” series.

Newman Society: Priestly celibacy is one of the topics being discussed at the current Synod in Rome. Why did you decide a few years ago to write a book on this topic, and why do you think priestly celibacy is important?

Fr. Gary Selin
Fr. Gary Selin, S.T.D.

Fr. Gary Selin: During my seminarian days, I heard Cardinal Francis Stafford give a talk about priestly celibacy, in which he argued that priestly celibacy is more than a mere ecclesial law that can be changed. Rather, it is integral to the priesthood and intrinsically related to the Eucharist. Through my research, I discovered that the principal reason for celibacy is that it perfects the configuration of the priest with Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church. Celibacy consequently allows the priest to give himself more freely to the Church in imitation of Christ. 

Priestly celibacy is important, because it reminds us that we are created ultimately for God alone. There is an interesting interplay between celibacy and marriage in reference to our journey toward heaven. That is, the celibate priest serves as a reminder that marriage is not the end-all, but a sacrament through which people can grow in holiness. Married people are to help each other get to heaven. There are plenty of opportunities to grow spiritually in marriage, as it requires much sacrifice. On the other hand, spouses can remind the celibate priest that he is called to live a life of sacrificial service, and not one of a comfortable bachelor. Married couples have inspired me through their sacrificial love for each other, in imitation of Christ’s love for His Church (Ephesians 5:25).

Newman Society: How did Thomas Aquinas College help foster your vocation to the priesthood?

Fr. Gary Selin: At the college, I found myself within a strong community of students where friendships developed organically and deeply. We were united in our desire to deepen our understanding of the truth. I found that all the streamlets of truth led to a unified vision. The overall structure and dynamism of the curriculum led to contemplation of Divine Wisdom, the Triune God. Of course, God’s grace was present during the whole time.

I was also impressed with the way that the students gravitated toward the chapel for Holy Mass and personal prayer. The many hours that I spent in prayer in that chapel helped me see how Jesus Christ is the Truth, the source of the wisdom that we discovered through our studies and on our knees in prayer.

The atmosphere of friendliness and joy on campus helped me see more clearly that God desires our happiness and beatitude.

These experiences, along with serving Mass, having holy priest chaplains on campus, and my devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, helped me be more convinced that God had given to me a vocation to the ministerial priesthood.

Newman Society: Do you have any particularly impactful memories or stories from your experience at the College?

Fr. Gary Selin: In the fall semester of 1985, a large number of students consecrated ourselves to Our Lady at the Marian grotto. I think that it was the next day that a huge fire exploded on the mountains surrounding the campus. We were not able to leave the campus, because all roads were cut off by the fire. It was quite frightening. Many of us did what we could to fight back the flames. One of our priest chaplains blessed a hillside with the Blessed Sacrament, and the flames stopped in their tracks. The campus was saved from destruction, although everything around us was burnt. I felt strongly God’s presence during that time.

I treasure the memories of the many wonderful hours in the classroom, as I learned from the sources of wisdom of the great books that formed our Western civilization, under the guidance of our well-formed tutors of the college. These excellent conversations continued over meals, during walks, and into late night in the dormitories. One can never put a price tag on these conversations that made life worth living.

One regular visitor to the campus remarked how the students at the college were always joyful. I think that this was due to the good spirit among the faculty and students, rooted in Christ as the source of all joy. The sunny southern California days certainly helped as well!

Newman Society: How does your own formation help you in the formation of seminarians?

Fr. Gary Selin: St. John Berchmans once said, “My penance is community life.” Indeed, common life in the seminary can be difficult, but the blessings of forming and building a community overcomes the challenges. But my role as a mentor of seminarians demands of me a constant spirit of charity and self-forgetfulness. My time at the College helped me begin to acquire the virtues necessary in becoming a disciple before learning to be a leader. I am very grateful to the College for giving me the environment in which I was able to grow in those virtues. In my seminary formation work, I try to be a servant-leader, following the words of Jesus in His discourse at the Last Supper. In order for me to be an instrument of the Holy Spirit in the work of forming future priests, I must learn to serve and not to be served.