Last week, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois, released a clear, truthful guide on gender identity that does a great service for Catholic schools in his diocese. Catholic educators everywhere should follow his lead in implementing similar policies in their schools.
The timing of the guide could not be better, as society embraces a sorely confused understanding of gender identity. For example, biological males are winning female events in Connecticut high school sports, and high school districts like one in Illinois are allowing biological males to use female locker rooms, and vice versa.
But the Catholic Church’s teaching on gender identity and human sexuality is clear. Catholic school policies should be consistent, as well.
For handling situations of a student facing “gender dysphoria,” Bishop Paprocki’s guide stresses the importance of “gentle and compassionate pastoral skill and concern” and condemns any sort of “discrimination or harsh treatment.”
At the same time, the guide states that sex is determined at birth. The truly loving thing to do in a situation when a person is facing gender dysphoria is to be “clear on the reality of human biology as a gift from God that we cannot change.”
As a result, students at diocesan schools must “use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their biological sex,” and they will be “addressed and referred to with pronouns in accord with their biological sex.”
Thank you, Bishop Paprocki! More than ever, Catholic schools need to teach and witness to the Truth.
The Church’s teaching on human sexuality should be steeped deeply in our Catholic schools. A Christian anthropology should guide classroom learning, student activities and all school policies.
In fact, Catholic schools might consider adopting Human Sexuality Policies, like the ones developed by The Cardinal Newman Society, that go beyond the issue of gender identity. If a school has a firm commitment to forming young people in chastity, then it is clear that the concern is for all students of every stripe, and not targeting certain students as many activists claim.
“As a Catholic institution, we believe that human bodies are gifts from God and temples of the Holy Spirit,” the resource states. “All men and women are called to a life of chastity appropriate to their vocation as single, married, or consecrated religious.”
“Because our efforts at integral formation include the integrity of body, spirit, and moral development, our school has a proper concern for each student’s behavior and development in the complex area of human sexuality,” the resource continues.
The resource offers examples of specific policies related to human sexuality, including addressing athletics, dances, dress code, facilities use, same-sex attraction and more.
In the months ahead, Catholic schools will face even more questions related to human sexuality. Catholic educators must be prepared with responses that are clear and consistent, upholding Church teaching.
Having strong policies in place will help Catholic schools to fend off attacks and legal threats. But even more important is the witness for students — they should learn the Truth about the human person in the classroom and see it lived out.
When Catholic education is done well, it benefits not only its graduates, but also society at large.
Thomas Alexander is a top leader in the Pentagon who is the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on special operations, counterterrorism, and more around the world. He credits his education at Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif., which is recommended in The Newman Guide, with preparing him with the “fundamentals” he needed to “succeed” in his work.
“You can study all of the things that you want foreign policy-wise to try to prepare for these types of positions,” explains Alexander. “But I don’t think you can do any of those things well if you don’t have the fundamentals.”
“Thomas Aquinas College gives you the ability to quickly analyze, break down a particular issue into its parts, put it all back together in a way that makes sense, reach a conclusion, and then go forward,” he explains.
Students develop this “analytical training” through the College’s great books curriculum. “By putting the original works in front of you, you’ve got sit down with Aristotle, with St. Thomas Aquinas, with other great thinkers, and figure out what they were saying, and then apply it across the board.”
The College also provided Alexander with excellent ethical training. “In policy jobs, we are answering the question, ‘Should we be doing a particular activity?’ What are the ramifications one, two, three steps down the road for doing things?”
“The good teaching at Thomas Aquinas College really prepares you for this so that you do have that good moral sounding board inside of you,” he explains. “It allows you to perform that gut-check. Yes, we can do something, but is it a good thing to do?”
As the senior-most civilian overseeing special operations, Alexander also provides advice on the manning, training and equipping for special operations, and he oversees a budget of $14 billion. Recent high-profile special operations include the Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi operation and the Osama bin Laden operation.
Helping keep our nation safe is no small task, but Alexander is up for the challenge. He has successfully climbed the ladder in his career, thanks to his strong Catholic education, both at Thomas Aquinas College and Ave Maria School of Law, hard work and the relationships he has built.
“There hasn’t been a day that I ever regretted attended Thomas Aquinas College, and receiving the education that I did.”
Are students being prepared for careers — and for life — in colleges today? Some college professors are noticing that students are “excelling academically but not necessarily in other areas of adult life,” including dating and preparing for the vocation of marriage.
Students at faithful Catholic colleges, however, may be the exception. A good Catholic college will promote a campus environment that supports healthy relationships, and that’s greatly needed today.
Popular chastity speaker Jason Evert, a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, argues that there needs to be a revival of Catholic dating in our culture. He recently published The Dating Blueprint: What She Wants You to Know About Dating but Will Never Tell You, advising men to “put down their screens, look a woman in the eye, and ask her on a date.”
Michael Kenney, director of The Cardinal Newman Society’s Catholic Identity Standards Project and one of the curriculum developers for the Dating Project, agrees. “The most consequential decision a person makes is the decision concerning marriage,” he says. “A healthy dating culture is essential to building strong marriages and families. Tragically, our culture saturates the airwaves with false lyrics, images and messages concerning dating.”
If a revival of traditional courtship seems unlikely on most college campuses, students can expect something different at a faithful Catholic college. At several colleges recommended in The Newman Guide, students can still find evidence of mature, chaste relationships leading to healthy marriages.
At Thomas Aquinas College, which has campuses in Santa Paula, California, and Northfield, Massachusetts, “about 10 percent of the College’s alumni have entered the priesthood or religious life,” the college reports. “Most of the rest marry, often wedding fellow Thomas Aquinas College alumni and raising fruitful, faithful families that bear joyful witness to the Culture of Life.”
With an annual enrollment of just 500 students, Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, boasts more than 480 alumnus-alumna marriages in its 40-year history. This has something to do with the academic program, the college explains:
Students learn Pope St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body in one course, while they learn about Catholic doctrine and moral theology in other courses as well. As students complete each course, they gain a greater knowledge of the principles of the faith, especially pertaining to the Church’s teachings on sexuality, marriage and family.
But even more than the academic study, Christendom’s campus fosters healthy relationships by providing only single-sex dorms, which are totally off limits to students of the opposite sex. That’s opposite to the typical college hookup culture, but the marriages among Christendom alumni are evidence that true love is in the air.
Such is true also of John Paul the Great Catholic University, Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts and Wyoming Catholic College, where — like Christendom and Thomas Aquinas — student dorms are single-sex and opposite-sex visitation is not allowed.
Such dorm policies help combat the hookup culture and preserve the privacy of student bedrooms. A Newman Society report cites one study finding that “students living in co-ed housing were also more likely [than those in single-sex residences] to have more sexual partners in the last 12 months.” Further, those students were “more than twice as likely as students in gender-specific housing to indicate that they had had three or more sexual partners in the last year.”
Of course, reducing the hookup culture doesn’t automatically lead to healthy dating — that’s something that needs to be taught to a generation of students who see casual relationships promoted in popular entertainment — but responsible campus policies certainly can help. Student programming, such as the chastity speaking events at Franciscan University and other faithful colleges, are helpful too.
New online dating apps and other options are being created to help address the Catholic dating problem. But it helps to live in a culture that supports authentic relationships. Faithful Catholic colleges attract students with similar values, and they are uniquely positioned to help prepare Catholic students for happy and meaningful lives.
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/franciscan-chapel.jpg458682Patrick Reillyhttps://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.pngPatrick Reilly2020-02-12 04:14:262020-05-26 12:12:21True Love at Faithful Catholic Colleges
All too often, students go off to college and lose their faith on campus — but the opposite is true in the case of Mike McGrath, who is forever grateful for the influence of a faithful Catholic college on his life.
After spending a semester at a state university in New York, Mike McGrath was preparing to join the Army. An ear infection delayed his plans — during which time he went on a retreat, met a family associated with Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, N.H., and ended up enrolling in the College.
McGrath immersed himself in the Great Books curriculum provided by Magdalen College, which is recommended in The Newman Guide, and was “blown away” by the education. He remembers being introduced to Euclidean geometry for the first time, and all the subject areas that are “parallel paths to open your mind to the truth of things.”
“My whole perspective on life, on what was really true completely opened up,” he shares, noting how the students went to Mass, classes, meals, activities, and study together.
Growing up, McGrath attended mostly public schools and was raised in a nominally Catholic family. He entered Magdalen as an “un-catechized” young adult, but that quickly changed. At Magdalen, he was immersed deeply in the faith, and exposed to beautiful and reverent liturgy.
“When you go to confession regularly, when you go to Mass daily, when you’re praying the rosary, your life is going to get great,” he explains, noting the infusion of grace from the sacraments. “It’s night and day between who I was as a person before and after attending Magdalen College.”
“Magdalen College has a rich history of liturgy and music,” explains McGrath. Even though he studied vocal performance at the state university, he said that he never delved deep into the music in the way that he did at Magdalen College. At the state university, “we never asked the question, ‘what is music?’” and he was pleasantly surprised to be introduced to an “incredible repository of music” at Magdalen.
“My life is so rich now because of my Catholic faith,” McGrath continues. “Magdalen College played a significant role— it changed my life.”
The College altered McGrath’s life in nearly every way, including propelling him into his successful career of the past 20-plus years in the software sales industry. Through the College’s Socratic style classes, McGrath learned “how to listen,” which is essential to becoming a business leader.
“You listen to the master thinkers, and then you discuss the truth of that work whether it’s Aquinas, Aristotle or Nietzsche,” says McGrath about the courses at Magdalen. “When you stop talking and start listening, you learn so much.”
He also gained hands-on leadership experience. “Because it was a small campus and a small community, there were a lot of opportunities for leadership.”
In McGrath’s experience and as countless studies now show, employers today are desperately in need of liberal art graduates who are “well-rounded.” The ideal candidates are “versatile” and don’t just know a particular subject area, but can “think critically, learn how to work within and lead a team, are strong writers, delegate tasks, listen, and grow organically in their career.”
Today, McGrath serves on the board at the Magdalen, and has two children who attend the College. He is excited about the changes Magdalen has made in recent years, the direction it’s headed, and its emphasis on “forming the whole human person.”
“Magdalen really helped me grow as a person,” McGrath says. “The students there today are afforded similar opportunities to lead, to grow in community, to grow in their faith, to grow as a human person.”
“The College will prepare students with the foundation they need to remain faithful and serve the Church and world in whatever capacity they’re called to.”
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/Academics-1-730x458-1.jpg458730Kelly Salomonhttps://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.pngKelly Salomon2020-02-11 18:16:002020-05-26 12:13:09Successful Businessman Says Faithful Catholic College ‘Changed My Life’
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.png00Cardinal Newman Society Staffhttps://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.pngCardinal Newman Society Staff2020-02-10 15:43:112025-07-08 15:44:08CNS Joins Amicus Brief Upholding Ministerial Exception – Our Lady of Guadalupe School v Morrissey-Berru, U.S. Supreme Court
Again this January, huge numbers of young people from around the country showed up in Washington, D.C., to demand an end to abortion. Many were from faithful Catholic schools and colleges that bused students to the annual March for Life.
Seeing all those schools and colleges represented made me very proud of our Catholic educators and their continued renewal of Catholic identity. And so, how perfect was it that we celebrated National Catholic Schools Week (Jan. 26-Feb. 1) just following the March?
The two events should remind us: when Catholic education is done well, it prepares its students to be ethical leaders and to transform the culture. And nothing could be more important than defending the weakest among us, the innocent baby in the womb.
Two pro-life leaders with Students for Life of America, one of the most dynamic pro-life organizations, say that their Catholic education prepared them for the work they do today.
Katie Portka credits her faithful Catholic education at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, with strengthening her pro-life convictions. Portka learned about Benedictine through The Newman Guide, and then, while a senior in high school, saw the College’s students carrying the banner at the head of the March for Life.
“I loved how energetic they were — this huge group of young adults who were so full of life and passionate,” says Portka. She had been involved in pro-life efforts with her family, but she didn’t often see large groups of young people standing for life as a high school student. Shortly after the March for Life, Portka signed her acceptance letter to attend Benedictine.
On campus, Portka immediately got involved in the large Respect Life Ravens Group. “The school at large was a very pro-life campus,” she says, “in the dorms, in classes, and in the faculty.”
Benedictine “really did embody the Church’s teaching on life and the dignity and sanctity of life,” says Portka. “In college was when I realized why I was pro-life and why I wanted to be pro-life.”
Stephanie Stone works for Students for Life of America as regional coordinator in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. She credits her faithful Catholic education with helping her discover that pro-life work was part of her “mission.”
As a high school student, Stone visited The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and “fell in love with how proudly the school wore its Catholic identity.”
“Catholic University helped me to dive deeper into my faith and experience how faith is applied to the world around us,” says Stone. “It also gave me a number of opportunities to become more active in the pro-life movement, eventually leading me to understand that pro-life work was my mission.”
On campus, Stone served as president of the Cardinals for Life club and was instrumental in organizing the first Pep Rally for Life for students ahead of the March for Life. Stone also found that studying in Washington, D.C., was a great place to learn about politics and grow in her pro-life beliefs.
“In my experience, having a Catholic education really solidified my understanding of the value of the human person,” explains Stone. “It helped me form a deep respect and radical love for all of God’s people, which is what ultimately encourages me to do this work.”
Whether at the elementary, secondary or higher education level, the fruits of Catholic education can be seen in the witness of its graduates. Many alumni of faithful Catholic schools and colleges are doing important work in rebuilding a culture of life in our country.
Hopefully, last week’s celebration of Catholic Schools was a reminder to Catholic educators everywhere to redouble their focus on the most important things that distinguish Catholic education from a secular program. Students should be prepared to follow God’s will for their lives and impact the world.
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/IMG_0240-scaled.jpg19202560Patrick Reillyhttps://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.pngPatrick Reilly2020-02-06 03:41:552020-05-26 12:13:47Celebrate the Students Who Marched for Life
In 2017, Katrina Gallic was a senior at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D, who gave a beautiful speech at the March for Life Rally in Washington, D.C. After the speech, Gallic and her classmates had the honor of leading the March.
The year before, University of Mary students found themselves caught in massive snowstorm and stopped traffic on their way home from the March for Life. Their joyful witness while they waited on the bus garnered national media attention for the pro-life cause.
Today, Gallic works for the March for Life full-time. She credits her experience at the University of Mary and attending the March for Life with opening her heart to working in the pro-life movement. We are thankful for her time in responding to our questions as a part of our “Profiles in Faithful Catholic Education” series.
Newman Society: How did your education and experience at the University of Mary help prepare you to become a leader in the pro-life movement?
Katrina Gallic
Katrina Gallic: When students arrive at the University of Mary as freshmen, the first address they hear from President Monsignor Shea can be summarized by the phrase: “your life is not about you.” Your life, he explains, will only find fulfillment when it is given away in loving service to others. Each of us then has a distinct mission, a unique and necessary gift that only we can give, a gift that is not so much about what we do, but about who we are. I can say for my part that his message, which was repeated through all my years there, instilled in me a greater respect for each person’s life. No matter how small, no matter how seemingly “insignificant,” each person is a profound gift made in the image of God. And who is smaller, who is more seemingly “insignificant” than the little one in the womb? It was my experience traveling with the University of Mary students to the March for Life as a junior, and then leading the March for Life as a senior, that opened my heart to God calling me to serve Him by working full-time in the pro-life movement. I am profoundly grateful to the many, many people at the University of Mary who have so greatly impacted my life, and the lives of my classmates.
Newman Society: Can you tell us about the work you do today, and what excites you the most about it?
Katrina Gallic: Today, I am the Director of Development for the March for Life! That means I have the privilege of sharing the life-saving mission of the March for Life with pro-life people across the country and inviting them to join us in our mission. This is an exciting time for the pro-life movement and for the March for Life in particular. We are seeing passion for the cause of life building, as more eyes are opened to the horrible agenda of pro-abortion activists and politicians, and we have responded by bringing the inspirational power of the March for Life’s state march program to state capitals across the country. In 2020, we will march in Virginia on February 13th, in Connecticut on April 15th, and in Pennsylvania on May 18th. I’m excited to see the energy and positive impact that these local marches will bring to the pro-life movement at the state level!
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/MFL-2019-Youth-Rally-Mark-Story-Photos-INSTA-FORMAT-185-1.jpg10801620Kelly Salomonhttps://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.pngKelly Salomon2020-01-23 20:08:042020-05-26 12:14:28March for Life Leader: Catholic Education Instilled ‘Greater Respect’ for All Life
Nearly every year of Simone Kelly’s life, she attended the Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, California, with her family. As the president of her high school’s pro-life club, she was intimately involved in the planning of the trip.
This year, Kelly has a different but exciting project on her hands. As a sophomore at the recently opened east coast campus of Thomas Aquinas College (TAC) in Northfield, Massachusetts, Kelly volunteered to help plan the college’s first trip to the March for Life in the nation’s capital.
Classes are canceled at New England campus Jan. 24 so that the entire student body of 58 students, along with faculty, staff and families, can attend the March. TAC has thus joined other faithful Catholic colleges that cancel classes for the March for Life, including The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, New Hampshire, and the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire. Christendom has been doing so every year since the college’s founding, so that its entire student body can attend.
The TAC contingent will leave campus Thursday night and attend Mass, adoration and confession at a nearby parish before driving through the night to Washington, D.C. Kelly says that everyone on campus is “super excited” for the upcoming trip to defend the unborn, noting that all students raised money to help fund the trip.
Since there are no juniors or seniors on the new campus, Kelly plays a leadership role as a sophomore. Part of the reason why she transferred to the new campus is so that she could help “bring traditions” from TAC’s home campus in California, founded in 1971, while also developing “new traditions.”
The March for Life is a new tradition that Kelly is eager to organize so that “in the years to come, the details will be worked out.” At the west coast campus, the Walk for Life tradition, taking place this year on Jan. 25, is well-established — students from the college have participated in the Walk every year since the event was founded.
For Kelly, the opportunity to make a stand for the unborn makes sense with the “liberating” education she is receiving. “My education is forming me to learn the truth, know the truth and defend the truth,” says Kelly. “Attending the March for Life allows me to live out what I’m learning.”
Other Catholic colleges are making history at this March for Life, too. For the first time in many years, the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, is making an official trip to the March for Life.
“Many students have traveled the 1,300 miles on their own in recent years,” says Mary Kate Tomassi, treasurer of the Crusaders for Life Club, but this year is different. “We have 44 students officially going with UD to Washington, D.C. for the March for Life this year.”
“We have all been working hard to figure out the logistics for this trip, get approval, and fundraise. Thanks to many generous donors, and one in particular who wishes to remain anonymous who matched nearly $8,000 in gifts, we are able to make this important trip,” she continues.
Making the long journey is not for the faint of heart – and students will miss two days of classes. But Tomassi believes it’s important to “stand up” and “witness to the nearly 62 million lives lost and the 62 million families torn apart since 1973” due to abortion.
Beyond the witness of Thomas Aquinas College and the University of Dallas, there are other records being set by faithful Catholic colleges at this year’s March.
Some of the groups traveling the farthest distance with the greatest numbers of students include Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, and the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. They will both be traveling more than 1,000 miles to the March, with approximately 250 and 200 students, respectively.
Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, is sending approximately 500 students. A junior at the university, Kyle Taggart, believes that “we have a serious obligation to do everything in our power to fight legalized abortion” given the “gravity of the abortion issue.” His fellow classmates seem to be taking that message to heart.
History will be made at this year’s March for Life, in no small part due to the efforts of faithful Catholic colleges. Let’s pray that this witness leads to a change of minds and hearts — and the law — in our country, and that ultimately the lives of all unborn children will be protected.
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/UMary-Students-Leading-March-for-Life-in-DC5-copy.jpg8531280Patrick Reillyhttps://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.pngPatrick Reilly2020-01-22 04:07:362020-05-26 12:15:27Students Make History at the March for Life
Strong Catholic education is essential to the pro-life movement, because it “equips the next generations of leaders — of saints! — who are so desperately needed to restore all things in Christ,” says one of the nation’s pro-life leaders.
Lauren Merz was recently named vice president of strategic partnerships at one of the most effective national pro-life organizations today, Live Action. She is gearing up for the March for Life and for her presentation about changing hearts and minds about abortion the following day at the National Pro-Life Summit, a gathering of more than 3,000 students and adults.
The Cardinal Newman Society asked Merz to explain the impact of her education at Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., which is recommended for its strong Catholic identity in The Newman Guide. We are grateful for her time as a part of our “Profiles in Faithful Catholic Education” series.
Newman Society: How did Christendom College help prepare you for the work you do today?
Lauren Merz: Truly the most important thing Christendom College did to prepare me for my work in the pro-life movement was to strengthen me in the Faith and to fall in love with the Church, and with Christ.
Christendom refined my analytical and writing skills I now use every single day in my work. The very rigorous curriculum and expectations pushed me to pursue excellence in how to think, strategize and communicate. I remember crying over papers and the many hours poring over my studies — they were so challenging, but so worth the effort.
Christendom also taught me how to learn, how to study. I carry the love for study and the search for wisdom with me always. I am constantly reading, learning and studying in my work and personal life, constantly seeking wisdom from those who know better than I, constantly seeking the Truth.
The professors at Christendom are also such beacons of virtue, examples of love and true pursuers of wisdom. Professors and Drs. Mike Brown and John Cuddeback instilled in me a love for philosophy and pursuing the virtues. The essentials we learned about human nature and ethics have been fundamental to me, as I help form Live Action’s messaging and strategy with our team. The understanding of human dignity, morality and the Church’s teachings I formed at Christendom are the roots of the pro-life work I do today.
I was also lucky enough to have a work-study in the Student Life Office for all four years (and full-time job for two summers!) of college. Tambi Spitz was the associate dean at the time, and her inspirational mentorship was invaluable. She taught me how to organize my time and prioritize many tasks at once, manage a team, how to be assertive and honest, yet kind, merciful and loving. Her belief in me that I could do great things and that I was a natural leader and her constant pouring into me truly helped set me up for success.
I volunteered with the Student Activities Council on campus for three years, giving me the event planning and execution experience that I didn’t know I would love and need for my future career.
I served as a Resident Assistant for a year and a half during my time at Christendom, building my leadership abilities. I now serve as one of the top three executives at a national pro-life nonprofit, so those skills are used every day along with all the others.
I also have to give a shout out to Professor Mike Brown for preparing me for the work I do today. I had him for Philosophy 101 (so I have him to “blame” for my major choice!) and he was my thesis director. I will never forget a conversation I had with him during my last week of finals right before I graduated. He stopped me in the parking lot and said “Lauren, what are you going to do with your life after college? You have so many talents, you have a mission to use them for. Go find it!” It really stuck with me that I had a mission I was made for from that moment on. I sought out to find it. And here I am. My deepest gratitude, Professor Brown.
Lauren Merz (middle) at her graduation from Christendom College in 2010.
Newman Society: How did your time at the college help strengthen you for the spiritual battle involved in pro-life efforts?
Lauren Merz: Most importantly, Christendom instilled an understanding of the power of prayer and a true, strong, deep, personal relationship with our dear Lord Jesus.
Before going to college, I didn’t know adoration was a regular thing Catholics did. I only remember going during Lent growing up. The regular, monthly holy hours promoted and encouraged for all to attend moved me to fall in love with our Lord in the Eucharist. My time in adoration since then has been truly life-changing. I prayed and discerned my current job in adoration. I love visiting Jesus at St. Agnes Perpetual Adoration Chapel in Arlington, Va., where I live, it’s one of the most peaceful places on earth!
Christendom also instilled in me a deep love of the Sacraments, of course, most especially Confession and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Christendom had one of the most beautifully said liturgies I had attended until then — reverent and full of the majesty and mystery which are so essential. I also become comfortable with going to Confession regularly for the first time at Christendom. Everyone talked about how they needed to go — and they went! The example of my peers and teachers impacted me so much in this.
Today, I am completely dependent upon the generous Grace of God to do this work in the fight to defend the preborn. Among all the cultural battles we are facing today, the spiritual battle is especially strong on the pro-life front. We are fighting such a horrible evil. Some days I can’t even believe that I have to fight this battle — that we are actually killing our own children in such a beautiful, bountiful country and that I have to fight to stop it. It’s mind-boggling and gut-wrenching. It’s only by God’s generous grace and mercy through the Sacraments that I am able to continue the fight every day. Without Him, the evil is too great and I would have quit long ago.
Newman Society: How can strong Catholic education benefit the pro-life movement?
Lauren Merz: Strong Catholic education doesn’t just benefit the pro-life movement — it is essential to the pro-life movement.
The Catholic Church unabashedly upholds and defends the inherent dignity of the human person from fertilization to natural death. It is always the first defender of our dear brothers and sisters in the womb. Without passing down and instilling the wisdom of the ages, the Tradition of the Catholic Church, through Catholic education, our entire culture is lost, and it will be impossible to win the fight to end the killing of children in the womb.
With strong Catholic education, we will turn our culture around and save souls. Strong Catholic education equips the next generations of leaders — of saints! — who are so desperately needed to restore all things in Christ. And who is more desperate in our culture right now than the most vulnerable little ones in the womb at odds against their own mothers?
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/Joanna-Lila-Lauren-March-for-Life.jpg960640Cardinal Newman Society Staffhttps://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.pngCardinal Newman Society Staff2020-01-21 19:58:002020-05-26 12:16:54Pro-Life Leader: Strong Catholic Education Can ‘Turn the Culture’
When the students and faculty of Holy Family Academy in Manassas, Virginia, attend this year’s March for Life in Washington, D.C., their group will include children with Down syndrome. It’s an important pro-life statement: in the United States, upward of 75% of preborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome are killed by abortion.
But Holy Family — a small, lay-established school that is faithful to Catholic teaching — does more than advocate for the life of these children. It helps give them an education through its beautiful St. Anne Program, launched at the beginning of the last school year.
Each Friday, students aged 8 to 18 with Down syndrome participate in academics, music and art as a cohort, joining with the remainder of Holy Family’s K-12 students for Mass, lunch and recess. Parents homeschool the children through the remainder of the week.
“As a Catholic school, we are committed to promoting the dignity of life,” says Mo Woltering, headmaster at Holy Family Academy and former executive director of The Cardinal Newman Society in the late 1990s. He believes that, while students with Down syndrome have significant intellectual challenges, they have a human right to formation in mind, body and soul — and the program has “worked really well” for other children, too.
“Students see that children with Down syndrome are welcome at the Academy, and that the school has a commitment to education for these members of our family,” Woltering says.
Unique classical model
The St. Anne Program addresses a top priority for the local Diocese of Arlington. Bishop Michael Burbidge has called for more inclusion in Catholic schools, noting that students with special needs “show others the face of Christ and bring out the best in all of us.” He recently highlighted programs at two schools on the Newman Society’s Catholic Education Honor Roll: Bishop O’Connell High School’s expanded services and Paul VI Catholic High School’s Options program.
Other schools on the Honor Roll and around the country wonderfully combine faithful Catholic education with care for students who might otherwise be excluded. But one thing that is special about Holy Family’s St. Anne Program is that students have the opportunity to partake of a classical Catholic curriculum.
“The program reflects our basic commitment to classical education: that it’s for everyone, and that it will feed the souls of students with Down syndrome, albeit in a different way,” says Woltering. These students “show us a new type of connection with the classics, and with the true, the good and the beautiful.”
Another unique aspect of the Holy Family Academy program is that it focuses exclusively on children with Down syndrome, which Woltering says serves the students well.
“Many special education programs tend to lump their students together, but there are many educational and emotional differences among various special needs children,” he says. “A feature of our program is that the needs are similar, and so we are able to address them in a consistent manner.”
For social and recreational time, other Holy Family students serve as “ambassadors” for the St. Anne children. For many students, it’s the “highlight of their week,” Woltering says, and “friendships have quickly formed.”
“It’s always so much fun to see them on Fridays, they have such big smiles,” says Woltering. “On the friendship level and on a joy level, it’s been a big success.”
Family oriented
Catholic school programs like this recognize the dignity of each human being and benefit both students with special needs and the rest of the school community. This is the mission of Catholic education in action. As Pope Benedict XVI told Catholic educators during his 2008 visit to the United States, “No child should be denied his or her right to an education in faith, which in turn nurtures the soul of a nation.”
At Holy Family, the students with Down syndrome bring so much to the school, and the Academy has been a big help to parents in forming their sons and daughters in the Faith. It is — as Catholic education should be — a service by and for families with shared needs.
Mary Radel, instructor for the St. Anne’s program, has a younger brother with Down syndrome. The youngest child of Woltering and his wife Denise, who directs the grade school curriculum and whose parents founded the Academy, also has Down syndrome but is not yet old enough for the program.
Only a year and half into the pilot project, Woltering hopes that the St. Anne Program will expand and succeed into the future. “It will be really exciting to see that, to experience that, and share that with others too,” he says.
May Holy Family Academy’s example inspire other Catholic educators to do something similar to celebrate and improve the lives of children with special needs. It is yet another piece in the renewal of faithful Catholic education, with just the right combination of traditional devotion and innovative methods that is needed to serve Catholic families.
https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Woltering-Register-photo.jpg519682Patrick Reillyhttps://cardinalnewmansociety.org/wp-content/uploads/CNS-logo-2C-450-tag2.pngPatrick Reilly2020-01-17 20:13:132020-05-26 12:17:16How This Catholic School Welcomes Children with Down Syndrome
