The Call to Lead: Church Guidance for Catholic Educational Leaders

 
 
PowerPoint overview of The Call to Lead
 

The Call to Lead

Church Guidance for Catholic Educational Leaders

Denise L. Donohue, Ed.D., and Daniel P. Guernsey, Ed.D.

 

About The Call to Lead

The original version of The Call to Lead was co-written in 2018 by Dr. Denise Donohue, vice president for educator resources and evaluation at The Cardinal Newman Society, and Dr. Daniel Guernsey, senior fellow and education policy editor at The Cardinal Newman Society, with input from Dr. Jamie F. Arthur. This significantly revised version was written by Drs. Guernsey and Donohue. This edition adds quotes from the most recent documents from the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education and sets of reflective questions. A facilitator guide and PowerPoint slides are available at cardinalnewmansociety.org

 

Summary: The Church encourages her educational leaders to view their executive position as a mission-focused vocation in service to Christ and to families. This vocation requires spiritual and professional formation anchored in personal witness to a life of faith. This booklet presents selections from Church documents to offer guidance and encouragement to educational leaders, in a readily accessible format. The selections are organized around five themes: Answering the Call, Fulfilling the Mission, Spiritual Formation, Professional Formation, and Personal Witness.

 

Introduction

The Call to Lead considers key aspects of leadership in Catholic education drawn from Church documents focused primarily on the role of Catholic school principal or headmaster. This guidance, however, will also aid other academic and program leaders, higher education leaders, directors and trustees, and diocesan officials who oversee Catholic education.

Throughout much of the history of America’s Catholic schools, diocesan priests and various men’s and women’s religious congregations guided a school’s culture, identity, and mission. Clergy and religious held most full-time administrative and faculty positions and integrated religious education and practices to ensure strong Catholic identity.

In the years following the Second Vatican Council, American Catholic education experienced a steady transition to lay teachers and leaders. By 2016, less than 3 percent of full-time professional staff were clergy and religious. The new challenge of properly forming lay teachers and leaders has made it necessary for the Church to discern and prescribe school leadership qualities previously assumed by clergy and religious. Within the last 60 years, the Church has issued several documents explaining how the school leader upholds and advances the mission of Catholic education.

Nevertheless, many school leaders today are unaware of this guidance, and its implementation is inconsistent across dioceses in the U.S. Increasing awareness of the Church’s vision for Catholic education is one of the goals of The Cardinal Newman Society.

The role of the Catholic principal as faith leader was highlighted in Sharing the Light of Faith (USCCB, 1977). The bishops elaborated on the relationship among Catholic identity, administrative leadership, and ways for realizing the Church’s mission for Catholic education.

Documents in the late 1980s began to highlight the ecclesial, spiritual, and pastoral dimensions of school leadership required of the laity who were now more involved in executive roles within Catholic schools:

The lay Catholic educator is a person who exercises a specific mission within the Church by living, in faith, a secular vocation in the communitarian structure of the school: with the best possible professional qualifications, with an apostolic intention inspired by faith, for the integral formation of the human person, in a communication of culture, in an exercise of that pedagogy which will give emphasis to direct and personal contact with students, giving spiritual inspiration to the educational community of which he or she is a member, as well as to all the different persons related to the educational community. To this lay person, as a member of this community, the family and the Church entrust the school’s educational endeavor. (Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith, n. 24)

The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School (1988) elaborated on guidelines for Catholic education, acknowledged the movement of laity into leadership positions, and encouraged the development of formation programs necessary to ensure that administrators obtain training comparable to religious. Research highlighted the urgent need for programs to prepare Catholic school administrators and the shortage of educational leaders who understood the concepts of theological and spiritual leadership.

From the late 1990s, Church documents emphasized the relationship between faithful Catholic leadership and Catholic identity, expressed the need for preparation and formation, and linked those who served in these positions to the long-term viability of Catholic education. It had become clear that Catholic educational leaders needed to be experienced in the professional dimension. Still, even more critically, they needed to have an understanding and commitment to the Church’s expectations for Catholic education.

At the turn of the century, the Congregation for Catholic Education acknowledged the critical role of lay administrators in evangelization, building Christian community, and pastoral care in the document The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium. And eight years later, referring to a “crisis in education,” the Congregation expressed the need to prepare Catholic educational leaders in Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium (2005):

The preparation and ongoing formation of new administrators and teachers is vital if our schools are to remain truly Catholic in all aspects of school life. Catholic school personnel should be grounded in a faith-based Catholic culture, have strong bonds to Christ and the Church, and be witnesses to the faith in both their words and actions. (p. 9)

This was repeated in Pope Benedict XVI’s 2008 address to Catholic educators in the United States:

Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church’s Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution’s life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual, or spiritual.

In 2015, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops identified leadership as a priority for the future of Catholic education:

Clarity of vision and strong leaders formed in the faith are critical to establishing a rich Catholic culture in the Catholic school. Being academically excellent is critical and necessary, but not sufficient. The schools, whether primary and secondary or colleges and universities, must be fully Catholic. Formation of this kind would include pastors, administrators, teachers, and all those serving in the Catholic schools. Faith formation that includes individual formation in prayer, sacramental life, Scripture, doctrine, and knowledge of the nature and purpose of Catholic education would appear to be component parts of the formation of future leaders and teachers.

Some dioceses have established foundations that pay for formation of leaders and teachers during the school year. Other dioceses have partnerships with diocesan programs, associations, academic institutes, and Catholic higher education to offer formation and education to teachers and staff. Bishops and pastors should be actively engaged in identifying and forming present and future leaders in the schools.

Some dioceses have established certificate and degree programs for future administrators and superintendents. Creating interest and incentive in education for the future is critical to long-term viability and success of the colleges, universities, and schools. In addition to programs of training, there should be an intentional and particular emphasis on the sacramental and spiritual lives of the future leaders. (USCCB Response to Educating Today and Tomorrow, n. III., B., a.)

In 2019, the Congregation for Catholic Education issued ‘Male and Female He Created Them’: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education to guide school leaders in confronting gender ideology, which holds that gender can be separated from biological sex. This document makes explicit the responsibility of all individuals working in Catholic education, not just teachers, to advance the mission and Christian principles, especially as evidenced by personal witness:

School managers, teaching staff, and personnel all share the responsibility of both guaranteeing delivery of a high-quality service coherent with the Christian principles that lie at the heart of their educational project, as well as interpreting the challenges of their time while giving the daily witness of their understanding, objectivity, and prudence. (48)

The importance of Catholic educational leaders, especially in close collaboration with their schools’ pastors, is highlighted in the 2020 release of The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue. In this document, school leaders and teachers are identified as having an ecclesiastical munus (or “office,” a Canon law term) (45) – something not seen before from the Congregation. This document conveys a tightening of the relationship between those who work in Catholic schools and their bishops.

Catholic leaders must be adept not only in operations, curriculum, and management but also strengthening Catholic identity by building a Catholic culture and community, fostering faith development, and integrating the Church’s traditions and doctrinal practices into all aspects of school life. Without this intense spiritual dimension, Catholic education would only mirror secular private education and fall short of fulfilling its divine mission of evangelization and sanctification.

Most of the Vatican’s documents on Catholic education focus primarily on teachers, but they still have relevance to educational leaders. Therefore, we also recommend our companion document, The Call to Teach: Church Guidance to Catholic Teachers, which can help any Catholic educator grow in understanding and appreciation of the great work before them.

 

I

Answering the Call

Overview

Leaders in Catholic education, called by God and led by the spirit of the Gospel, work for the sanctification of the world.[1] Their work is not just a profession, but a vocation, a calling to the apostolate of Catholic education.[2] Each leader must be fully aware of the importance and the responsibility of this vocation and fully respond to its demands, secure in the knowledge that their response is vital for the construction and ongoing renewal of the earthly city and the evangelization of the world.[3]

This vocational aspect requires each leader to live in faith within the communal nature of the school. As educational leaders who serve the Church, they operate in a type of ministerial function under the direction of the hierarchy[4] and participate in the threefold ministry of Christ: to teach doctrine, to build community, and to serve. This is the most effective means available to the Church for the education of children and young people.[5]

Catholic school leaders should exercise an apostolic intention inspired by faith to pursue the integral formation of the human person.[6] Through faith, they will find an unfailing source of the humility, hope, and charity needed to persevere in their work. Catholic school leaders make Christ known to others: students, teachers, families, and all those associated with the school.[7] This vocation to Catholic education demands special qualities of mind and heart, careful preparation, and continued readiness to renew and to adapt.[8]

Citations

Gravissimum Educationis (1965)

Beautiful indeed and of great importance is the vocation of all those who aid parents in fulfilling their duties and who, as representatives of the human community, undertake the task of education in schools. This vocation demands special qualities of mind and heart, very careful preparation, and continuing readiness to renew and to adapt. (n. 5)

Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982)

This call to personal holiness and to apostolic mission is common to all believers; but there are many cases in which the life of a lay person takes on specific characteristics which transform this life into a specific “wonderful” vocation within the Church. The laity “seeks the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and by ordering them according to the plan of God.” They live in the midst of the world’s activities and professions, and in the ordinary circumstances of family and social life; and there they are called by God so that by exercising their proper function and being led by the spirit of the Gospel they can work for the sanctification of the world from within, in the manner of leaven. In this way they can make Christ known to others, especially by the testimony of a life resplendent in faith, hope, and charity. (n. 7)

One specific characteristic of the educational profession assumes its most profound significance in the Catholic educator: the communication of truth. For the Catholic educator, whatever is true is a participation in Him who is the Truth; the communication of truth, therefore, as a professional activity, is thus fundamentally transformed into a unique participation in the prophetic mission of Christ, carried on through one’s teaching. (n. 16)

And if there is no trace of Catholic identity in the education, the educator can hardly be called a Catholic educator. Some of the aspects of this living out of one’s identity are common and essential; they must be present no matter what the school is in which the lay educator exercises his or her vocation. (n. 25)

A Vocation, rather than a Profession: The work of a lay educator has an undeniably professional aspect; but it cannot be reduced to professionalism alone. Professionalism is marked by, and raised to, a super-natural Christian vocation. The life of the Catholic teacher must be marked by the exercise of a personal vocation in the Church, and not simply by the exercise of a profession. In a lay vocation, detachment and generosity are joined to legitimate defense of personal rights; but it is still a vocation, with the fullness of life and the personal commitment that the word implies. It offers ample opportunity for a life filled with enthusiasm. It is, therefore, very desirable that every lay Catholic educator become fully aware of the importance, the richness, and the responsibility of this vocation. They should fully respond to all of its demands, secure in the knowledge that their response is vital for the construction and ongoing renewal of the earthly city, and for the evangelization of the world. (n. 37)

… laity should participate authentically in the responsibility for the school; this assumes that they have the ability that is needed in all areas, and are sincerely committed to the educational objectives which characterize a Catholic school. And the school should use every means possible to encourage this kind of commitment; without it, the objectives of the school can never be fully realized. It must never be forgotten that the school itself is always in the process of being created, due to the labour brought to fruition by all those who have a role to play in it, and most especially by those who are teachers. (n. 78)

Above all else, lay Catholics will find support in their own faith. Faith is the unfailing source of the humility, the hope, and the charity needed for perseverance in their vocation. (nos. 72-79)

Educating Together in Catholic Schools, A Shared Mission Between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful (2007)

Just as a consecrated person is called to testify his or her specific vocation to a life of communion in love so as to be in the scholastic community a sign, a memorial, and a prophecy of the values of the Gospel, so too a lay educator is required to exercise a specific mission within the Church by living, in faith, a secular vocation in the communitarian structure of the school. (n. 15)

Organized according to the diversities of persons and vocations, but vivified by the same spirit of communion, the educational community of the Catholic school aims at creating increasingly deeper relationships of communion that are in themselves educational. Precisely in this, it expresses the variety and beauty of the various vocations and the fruitfulness at educational and pedagogical levels that this contributes to the life of the school. (n. 37)

USCCB Response to Instrumentum Laboris: Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (2015)

Amidst the persistent call for ongoing formation, there was an emerging sense of the vocation of Catholic school leaders, almost an awakening of the apostolate for administrators, teachers, board members, and pastors. Catholic education is not just a job, it is a vocation. A school’s Catholic identity depends on effective leader formation. Competent and capable leaders are able to address other needs like finance, governance, and recruitment. Faith filled Catholic leaders keep Catholic identity strong, set a positive tone, and bring the community together. Catholic school leaders need to see themselves as part of the mission and respond to the call for co-responsibility and collaboration. These men and women need to take their own faith journey seriously. (p. 11)

Questions for Reflection

Comprehension

  1. What is the nature of the call to Catholic educational
    leadership? What is being asked?
  2. How is Catholic educational leadership “a vocation,
    rather than a profession”?

Discussion

  1. What are the “special qualities of mind and heart”
    required of a Catholic school leader?
  2. What are some challenges to accepting the call to the
    vocation of a Catholic educational leader?

Application

  1. When and how did I hear the call to Catholic leadership?
  2. How can I more fully integrate my spiritual life into my daily work?

 

II

Fulfilling the Mission

Overview

The ultimate goal of Catholic education is transmitting clearly and fully the message of salvation, which elicits the response of faith.[9] By enriching students’ lives with the fullness of Christ’s message and inviting them to Christ, educators promote most effectively the students’ integral human development and build a community of truth, faith, hope, and love.[10]

 Leaders must be committed to Catholic identity and mission. All who are responsible for Catholic education must keep sight of the mission and apostolic value of their work so that schools enjoy the conditions in which to accomplish their mission of pursuing the individual good of the student (specifically their salvation) and service to the common good.

Leaders in Catholic education, filled with deep conviction, joy, and a spirit of sacrifice,[11] share in this mission. They constitute an element of great hope for the Church, for they are entrusted with the “integral human formation and the faith education of young people… who will determine whether the world of tomorrow is more closely or more loosely bound to Christ.”[12] As members of the People of God, united to Christ through Baptism, they work not for a mere employer, but for the Body of Christ, carrying out the mission of the Redeemer.[13]

Their role is to imbue their students with the spirit of Christ, striving to excel in pedagogy and the pursuit of knowledge in such a way that they advance the internal renewal of the Church and preserve and enhance its influence upon the modern world.[14] By accepting and developing a legacy of Catholic thought and educational experience, they take their place as full partners in the Church’s mission of educating the whole person and of transmitting the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ to successive generations.[15]

Citations

Gravissimum Educationis (1965)

The sacred synod earnestly entreats young people themselves to become aware of the importance of the work of education and to prepare themselves to take it up, especially where because of a shortage of teachers the education of youth is in jeopardy. This same sacred synod, while professing its gratitude to priests, religious men and women, and the laity who by their evangelical self-dedication are devoted to the noble work of education and of schools of every type and level, exhorts them to persevere generously in the work they have undertaken and, imbuing their students with the spirit of Christ, to strive to excel in pedagogy and the pursuit of knowledge in such a way that they not merely advance the internal renewal of the Church but preserve and enhance its beneficent influence upon today’s world, especially the intellectual world. (Conclusion)

The Catholic School (1977)

If all who are responsible for the Catholic school would never lose sight of their mission and the apostolic value of their teaching, the school would enjoy better conditions in which to function in the present and would faithfully hand on its mission to future generations. They themselves, moreover, would most surely be filled with a deep conviction, joy, and spirit of sacrifice in the knowledge that they are offering innumerable young people the opportunity of growing in faith, of accepting and living its precious principles of truth, charity, and hope. (n. 87)

Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982)

The lay Catholic working in a school is, along with every Christian, a member of the People of God. As such, united to Christ through Baptism, he or she shares in the basic dignity that is common to all members. For, “they share a common dignity from their rebirth in Christ. They have the same filial grace and the same vocation to perfection. They possess in common one salvation, one hope, and one undivided charity.” Although it is true that, in the Church, “by the will of Christ, some are made teachers, dispensers of mysteries and shepherds on behalf of others, yet all share a true equality with regard to the dignity and to the activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ.” Every Christian, and therefore also every lay person, has been made a sharer in “the priestly, prophetic, and kingly functions of Christ,” and their apostolate “is a participation in the saving mission of the Church itself… All are commissioned to that apostolate by the Lord Himself.” (n. 6)

There are times in which the Bishops will take advantage of the availability of competent lay persons who wish to give clear Christian witness in the field of education, and will entrust them with complete direction of Catholic schools, thus incorporating them more closely into the apostolic mission of the Church. (n. 46)

Lay Catholic educators in schools, whether teachers, directors, administrators, or auxiliary staff, must never have any doubts about the fact that they constitute an element of great hope for the Church. The Church puts its trust in them entrusting them with the task of gradually bringing about an integration of temporal reality with the Gospel, so that the Gospel can thus reach into the lives of all men and women. More particularly, it has entrusted them with the integral human formation and the faith education of young people. These young people are the ones who will determine whether the world of tomorrow is more closely or more loosely bound to Christ. (n. 81)

When [the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education] considers the tremendous evangelical resource embodied in the millions of lay Catholics who devote their lives to schools, it recalls the words with which the Second Vatican Council ended its Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity, and “earnestly entreats in the Lord that all lay persons give a glad, generous, and prompt response to the voice of Christ, who is giving them an especially urgent invitation at this moment; …they should respond to it eagerly and magnanimously… and, recognizing that what is His is also their own (Phil 2, 5), to associate themselves with Him in His saving mission… Thus they can show that they are His co-workers in the various forms and methods of the Church’s one apostolate, which must be constantly adapted to the new needs of the times. May they always abound in the works of God, knowing that they will not labour in vain when their labour is for Him (cf. I Cor 15, 58).” (n. 82)

American Apostolic Journey to the United States of American and Canada, Meeting with the Representatives of Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools and Leaders in Religious Education, Address of His Holiness John Paul II (1987)

In recent years, thousands of lay people have come forward as administrators and teachers in the Church’s schools and educational programs. By accepting and developing the legacy of Catholic thought and educational experience which they have inherited, they take their place as full partners in the Church’s mission of educating the whole person and of transmitting the Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ to successive generations of young Americans. Even if they do not “teach religion,” their service in a Catholic school or educational program is part of the Church’s unceasing endeavor to lead all to profess the truth in love and grow to the full maturity of Christ the head (Eph. 4, 15). (n. 4)

For a Catholic educator, the Church should not be looked upon merely as an employer. The Church is the Body of Christ, carrying on the mission of the Redeemer throughout history. It is our privilege to share in that mission, to which we are called by the grace of God and in which we are engaged together. (n. 4)

The ultimate goal of all Catholic education is salvation in Jesus Christ. Catholic educators effectively work for the coming of Christ’s Kingdom; this work includes transmitting clearly and in full the message of salvation, which elicits the response of faith. In faith we know God, and the hidden purpose of his will (Cfr. Eph. 1, 9). In faith we truly come to know ourselves. By sharing our faith, we communicate a complete vision of the whole of reality and a commitment to truth and goodness. This vision and this commitment draw the strands of life into a purposeful pattern. By enriching your student’s lives with the fullness of Christ’s message and by inviting them to accept with all their hearts Christ’s work, which is the Church, you promote most effectively their integral human development and you help them to build a community of faith, hope and love. (n. 8)

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (2013)

I want to emphasize that what I am trying to express here has a programmatic significance and important consequences. I hope that all communities will devote the necessary effort to advancing along the path of pastoral and missionary conversion which cannot leave things as they presently are. ‘Mere administration’ can no longer be enough. Throughout the world, let us be ‘permanently in a state of mission.’ (par. 25)

Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (2014)

School heads must be leaders who make sure that education is a shared and living mission, who support and organize teachers, who promote mutual encouragement and assistance. (n. III., 1. b.)

USCCB Response to Instrumentum Laboris: Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (2015)

We need Catholic educators that are strong leaders committed to Catholic identity and mission. They were described as truly Catholic, well-formed in faith and morals, active in the faith, and involved in parish life. (p. 11)

Hiring for mission is essential to the future success of Catholic schools. School administrators, teachers, coaches, and staff need to be thoroughly evangelized and living vibrant Christian lives. This atmosphere begins with formation of leaders in school; principals need encouragement in personal faith formation and in encouraging faculty and staff in their faith formation. Catholic education is about making sure we do everything we can to form and educate the future leaders in our Church and society. Training for teachers in an integrated curriculum is part of Catholic identity in the schools. (p. 13)

The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue (2022)

The educational role of teachers is associated with that of school leaders. ‘School leaders are more than just managers of an organization. They are true educational leaders when they are the first to take on this responsibility, which is also an ecclesial and pastoral mission rooted in a relationship with the Church’s pastors.’ (49)

A further responsibility of the school leadership is the promotion and protection of its ties with the Catholic community, which is realized through communion with the Church hierarchy. Indeed, the ‘ecclesial nature of Catholic schools, which is inscribed in the very heart of their identity as schools, is the reason for the institutional link they keep with the Church hierarchy, which guarantees that the instruction and education be grounded in the principles of the Catholic faith and imparted by teachers of right doctrine and probity of life” (cf. Can. 803 CIC; Can. 632 and 639 CCEO). (50)

Questions for Reflection

Comprehension

  1. What are some of the roles and responsibilities of a
    Catholic school leader who works to fulfill the mission of Catholic education?
  2. What is the school leader’s relationship to the ecclesial body of the Church?

Discussion

  1. Why is hiring for mission important, and how well does your school do this?
  2. How might you respond to the challenges that “‘Mere administration’ can no longer be enough” and “Throughout the world, let us be ‘permanently in a state of mission’”? What does being “in a state of mission” look like?

Application

  1. How can I ensure that “education is a shared and living
    mission” in my school?
  2. How effective am I at creating an environment that
    transmits clearly and fully the message of salvation, which elicits the response of faith and enriches “students’ lives with the fullness of Christ’s message and …invit[es] them to accept with all their hearts Christ’s work”?

 

III

Spiritual Formation

Overview

Catholic education depends on strong leaders, well-formed in the faith,[16] who are committed to the Church’s vision for Catholic education. Through prayer, sacramental life, Scripture, doctrine, and knowledge of the nature and purpose of Catholic education, they cultivate their own spiritual formation and develop a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. These encounters awaken leaders’ love and open their spirits to others so that their educational commitment becomes a consequence of their faith, a faith that becomes active through love.

School leaders assume responsibility for the ecclesial and pastoral mission of Catholic education. As practicing Catholics in good standing, they understand and accept the teachings of the Church and the moral demands of the Gospel.[17] Their calling guides and shapes their commitment to the Church and the faith they profess. They participate simply and actively in the liturgical and sacramental life of the school and provide an example to others who find in them nourishment for Christian living.[18]

The Catholic educational leader provides spiritual inspiration for the school, the academic and cultural organizations with which the school comes in contact, the local Church, and the wider community.[19] Such inspiration will manifest itself in different forms of evangelization.[20]

Citations

Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982)

This calling, says the Second Vatican Council, speaking about educators, requires “extremely careful preparation” … The need for an adequate formation is often felt most acutely in religious and spiritual areas; all too frequently, lay Catholics have not had a religious formation that is equal to their general, cultural, and, most especially, professional formation. (n. 60)

The need for religious formation is related to this specific awareness that is being asked of lay Catholics; religious formation must be broadened and be kept up to date, on the same level as, and in harmony with, human formation as a whole. Lay Catholics need to be keenly aware of the need for this kind of religious formation; it is not only the exercise of an apostolate that depends on it, but even an appropriate professional competence, especially when the competence is in the field of education. (n. 62)

For the Catholic educator, religious formation does not come to an end with the completion of basic education; it must be a part of and a complement to one’s professional formation, and so be proportionate to adult faith, human culture, and the specific lay vocation. This means that religious formation must be oriented toward both personal sanctification and apostolic mission, for these are two inseparable elements in a Christian vocation. “Formation for apostolic mission means a certain human and well-rounded formation, adapted to the natural abilities and circumstances of each person” and requires “in addition to spiritual formation… solid doctrinal instruction… in theology, ethics and philosophy.” Nor can we forget, in the case of an educator, adequate formation in the social teachings of the Church, which are “an integral part of the Christian concept of life” and help to keep intensely alive the kind of social sensitivity that is needed. (n. 65)

The communitarian structure of the school brings the Catholic educator into contact with a wide and rich assortment of people; not only the students, who are the reason why the school and the teaching profession exist, but also with one’s colleagues in the work of education, with parents, with other personnel in the school, with the school directors. The Catholic educator must be a source of spiritual inspiration for each of these groups, as well as for each of the scholastic and cultural organizations that the school comes in contact with, for the local Church and the parishes, for the entire human ambience in which he or she is inserted and, in a variety of ways, should have an effect on. In this way, the Catholic educator is called to display that kind of spiritual inspiration which will manifest different forms of evangelization. (n. 23)

As a visible manifestation of the faith they profess and the life witness they are supposed to manifest, it is important that lay Catholics who work in a Catholic school participate simply and actively in the liturgical and sacramental life of the school. Students will share in this life more readily when they have concrete examples: when they see the importance that this life has for believers. In today’s secularized world, students will see many lay people who call themselves Catholics, but who never take part in liturgy or sacraments. It is very important that they also have the example of lay adults who take such things seriously, who find in them a source and nourishment for Christian living. (n. 40)

USCCB, Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord (2005)

Today in parishes, schools, Church institutions, and diocesan agencies, laity serve in various “ministries, offices and roles” that do not require sacramental ordination but rather “find their foundation in the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, indeed, for a good many of them, in the Sacrament of Matrimony.” (p. 9)

The term “lay ecclesial minister” is generic. It is meant to encompass and describe several possible roles. In parish life—to cite only one sphere of involvement—the pastoral associate, parish catechetical leader, youth ministry leader, school principal, and director of liturgy or pastoral music are examples of such roles. (p. 11)

The ministry is ecclesial because it has a place within the community of the Church, whose communion and mission it serves, and because it is submitted to the discernment, authorization, and supervision of the hierarchy. Finally, it is ministry because it is a participation in the threefold ministry of Christ, who is priest, prophet, and king. ‘In this original sense the term ministry (servitium) expresses only the work by which the Church’s members continue the mission and ministry of Christ within her and the whole world.’ We apply the term ‘ministry’ to certain works undertaken by the lay faithful by making constant reference to one source, the ministry of Christ. (p. 11)

Their functions of collaboration with the ordained require of lay ecclesial ministers a special level of professional competence and presence to the community. Their position often involves coordinating and directing others in the community… For these reasons, their roles often require academic preparation, certification, credentialing, and a formation that integrates personal, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral dimensions. These lay ecclesial ministers often express a sense of being called. This sense motivates what they are doing, guiding and shaping a major life choice and commitment to Church ministry. (p. 12)

National Directory for Catechesis (2005)

Principals

The Catholic school is a center for evangelization; this, its catechetical program, is essential to its distinctly Catholic identity and character. It is “an active apostolate.” Therefore, the principal of a Catholic school must be a practicing Catholic in good standing who understands and accepts the teachings of the Church and moral demands of the Gospel. As a catechetical leader in the Catholic school, the principal is called to:

  • Recognize that all members of the faculty and staff “are an integral part of the process of religious education”;
  • Recruit teachers who are practicing Catholics, who can understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the Gospel, and who can contribute to the achievement of the school’s Catholic identity and apostolic goals;
  • Supervise, through observation and evaluation, the performance of each religion teacher;
  • Provide opportunities for ongoing catechesis of faculty members;
  • Design a curriculum that supports the school’s catechetical goals and, if the school is associated with a parish, the parish’s catechetical goals;
  • Develop goals for the implementation of an overall catechetical plan for the school, and periodically evaluate progress toward these goals;
  • Foster a distinctively Christian community among the faculty, students, and parents;
  • Provide, alongside the pastor, for the spiritual growth of the faculty;
  • Collaborate with parish, area, and diocesan personnel in planning and implementing programs of total parish catechesis. (n. 231)

Educating Together in Catholic Schools, A Shared Mission Between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful (2007)

For this reason, Catholic educators need a “formation of the heart”: they need to be led to that encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others, so that their educational commitment becomes a consequence deriving from their faith, a faith which becomes active through love (cf. Gal 5:6). In fact, even care for instruction means loving (Wis 6:17). It is only in this way that they can make their teaching a school of faith, that is to say, a transmission of the Gospel, as required by the educational project of the Catholic school. (n. 25)

The transmission of the Christian message through teaching implies a mastery of the knowledge of the truths of the faith and of the principles of spiritual life that require constant improvement. This is why both consecrated and lay educators of the Catholic school need to follow an opportune formational theological itinerary. Such an itinerary makes it easier to combine the understanding of faith with professional commitment and Christian action. Apart from their theological formation, educators need also to cultivate their spiritual formation in order to develop their relationship with Jesus Christ and become a Master like Him. In this sense, the formational journey of both lay and consecrated educators must be combined with the molding of the person towards greater conformity with Christ (cf. Rm 8:29) and of the educational community around Christ the Master. Moreover, the Catholic school is well aware that the community that it forms must be constantly nourished and compared with the sources from which the reason for its existence derives: the saving word of God in Sacred Scripture, in Tradition, above all liturgical and sacramental Tradition, enlightened by the Magisterium of the Church. (n. 26)

In the perspective of formation, by sharing their life of prayer and opportune forms of community life, the lay faithful and consecrated persons will nourish their reflection, their sense of fraternity, and generous dedication. In this common catechetical-theological and spiritual formational journey, we can see the face of a Church that presents that of Christ, praying, listening, learning, and teaching in fraternal communion. (n. 33)

It is also through their formational journey that educators are called on to build relationships at professional, personal, and spiritual levels, according to the logic of communion. For each one this involves being open, welcoming, disposed to a deep exchange of ideas, convivial and living a fraternal life within the educational community itself. (n. 35)

Circular Letter to the Presidents of Bishops’ Conferences on Religious Education in Schools (2009)

A form of education that ignores or marginalises the moral and religious dimension of the person is a hindrance to full education, because “children and young people have a right to be motivated to appraise moral values with a right conscience, to embrace them with a personal adherence, together with a deeper knowledge and love of God.” That is why the Second Vatican Council asked and recommended “all those who hold a position of public authority or who are in charge of education to see to it that youth is never deprived of this sacred right.” (n. 1)

Educating in Intercultural Dialogue in the Catholic school: Living in Harmony for a Civilization of Love (2013)

For those who occupy positions of leadership, there can be a strong temptation to consider the school like a company or business. However, schools that aim to be educating communities need those who govern them to be able to invoke the school’s reference values; they must then direct all the school’s professional and human resources in this direction. School leaders are more than just managers of an organization. They are true educational leaders when they are the first to take on this responsibility, which is also an ecclesial and pastoral mission rooted in a relationship with the Church’s pastors. (n. 85)

Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (2014)

Spiritual poverty and declining cultural levels are starting to produce their dismal effects, even within Catholic schools. Often times, authoritativeness is being undermined. It is really not a matter of discipline—parents greatly appreciate Catholic schools because of their discipline—but do some Catholic school heads still have anything to say to students and their families? Is their authority based on formal rules or on the authoritativeness of their testimony? If we want to avert a gradual impoverishment, Catholic schools must be run by individuals and teams who are inspired by the Gospel, who have been formed in Christian pedagogy, in tune with Catholic schools’ educational project, and not by people who are prone to being seduced by fashionability, or by what can become an easier sell, to put it bluntly. (n. III.,1., a.)

USCCB Response to Instrumentum Laboris: Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (2015)

Clarity of vision and strong leaders formed in the faith are critical to establishing a rich Catholic culture in the Catholic school. Being academically excellent is critical and necessary but not sufficient. The schools, whether primary and secondary, or colleges and universities, must be fully Catholic. Formation of this kind would include pastors, administrators, teachers, and all those serving in the Catholic school. Faith formation that includes individual formation in prayer, sacramental life, Scripture, doctrine, and knowledge of the nature and purpose of Catholic education would appear to be component parts of the formation of future leaders and teachers. (n. III., B., a.)

… In addition to programs of training, there should be an intentional and particular emphasis on the sacramental and spiritual lives of the future leaders. (p. 5)

The Congregation for Catholic Education has stated that, “Catholic schools are at the heart of the Church.” They are a vital aspect of the Church’s mission to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and as such are important to the future and vitality of the Church in the United States. Because they are vital and important, it is critical to support new efforts to develop and form strong faith-filled leaders and teachers at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels of Catholic education. Faith formation for all involved in the mission of Catholic education is part of the New Evangelization. (p. 8)

Catholic schools depend on clarity of vision and strong leaders well formed in the faith, who are capable of establishing a rich Catholic culture in the schools. Consequently, training, both professional and spiritual, was lifted up as vitally important. Our schools need professionally prepared, competent leaders who can lead and inspire. (p. 10)

As principals, teachers, and administrators, they must know and live Catholic principles and morality. Their formation should be rooted in the vision of missionary discipleship as articulated by the Holy Father in Evangelii Gaudium. The bishops noted the significance of witness statements for Catholic teachers and administrators. It was Pope Paul VI that noted young people listen more to witnesses than to teachers, and if they listen to teachers, it is because they are also witnesses. In service to the New Evangelization the formation of school leaders and teachers must equip them to create an evangelizing culture. The schools should be centers for evangelization and catechesis. The formation of school leaders is foundational for a Catholic school. The bishops spoke most frequently of principals, pastors, and teachers. A common term used was school leader, which encompasses a broad range of people related to the school: principals, pastors, teachers, coaches, administrators, board members, and parents, Latinos and Anglos, men and women, religious and lay. Through their formation, these leaders work to integrate faith into every facet of school life. Across the country, bishops call for catechetical formation for all school leaders. (p. 11)

‘Male and Female He Created Them’: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education (2019)

The authority of an educator is therefore built upon the concrete combination ‘of a general formation, founded on a positive and professional constructive concept of life, and of constant effort in realizing it. Such a formation goes beyond the purely necessary professional training and addresses the more intimate aspects of the personality, including the religious and the spiritual.’ (48)

Questions for Reflection

Comprehension

  1. What two things must a leader’s religious formation be oriented toward?
  2. What does a “formation of the heart” entail?

Discussion

  1. One of the documents asserts: “Spiritual poverty and declining cultural levels are starting to produce their dismal effects, even within Catholic schools.” Is that evident in your experience? How? What does this look like? How should your efforts and your institution’s efforts be
    adjusted and targeted in response to this threat to Catholic education?
  2. Review the selection from the National Directory for Catechesis (2005), p. 231, and rank the top three and the bottom three duties in terms of your strengths and weaknesses and then your school’s strengths and weaknesses.

Application

  1. How can I better form my heart for Catholic leadership?
  2. How do I provide for my ongoing theological growth as a leader? Why is this critical?

 

IV

Professional Formation

Overview

Professional competence unleashes educational potential. Those who oversee Catholic education must have the ability to create and manage learning environments that provide plentiful opportunities for students and teachers to flourish. Leaders respect individual differences and guide others toward significant and profound learning.[21] Leaders accompany their students and teachers toward lofty and challenging goals, establish high expectations for them, and connect them to each other and the world.[22] A solid professional formation in cultural, psychological, and pedagogical areas will aid toward this end.[23]

The purpose of education is the development of man from within, freeing him from that conditioning which would prevent him from becoming a fully integrated human being.[24] Every school and every educator in the school should strive to form strong and responsible individuals, who are grounded in Gospel values, capable of making free and correct choices, have a clear idea of the meaning of life, are open more and more to reality, and are ready to take their place in society.[25]

It is therefore important that leaders know how to create communities of formation and study to explore knowledge in the light of the Gospel and where individuals can make their own essential contribution to society.[26]

Catholic leaders facilitate growth in knowledge and growth in humanity.[27] They support and organize teacher collaboration and community by providing encouragement and assistance so they, too, can share in the living mission of evangelization and formation.[28]

Leaders have a duty to ensure that all personnel, including themselves, receive adequate preparation to serve effectively.[29] Formational needs for Catholic school leaders and teachers extend beyond that of teachers in government-run schools, since the purpose and ends of education are different. Therefore, formational programs for teachers and school leaders focusing on Christian cultural and pedagogical approaches must also be developed and provided.[30]

Citations: Professional Formation

The Catholic School (1977)

It must never be forgotten that the purpose of instruction at school is education, that is, the development of man from within, freeing him from that conditioning which would prevent him from becoming a fully integrated human being. The school must begin from the principle that its educational programme is intentionally directed to the growth of the whole person. (n. 29)

The Catholic school must be alert at all times to developments in the fields of child psychology, pedagogy, and particularly catechetics, and should especially keep abreast of directives from competent ecclesiastical authorities. The school must do everything in its power to aid the Church to fulfill its catechetical mission and so must have the best possible qualified teachers of religion. (n. 52)

Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982) 

Faced with this reality [of extraordinary growth in science and technology], which lay people are the first to experience, the Catholic educator has an obvious and constant need for updating: in personal attitudes, in the content of the subjects, that are taught, in the pedagogical methods that are used. Recall that the vocation of an educator requires “a constant readiness to begin anew and to adapt.” If the need for updating is constant, then the formation must be permanent. This need is not limited to professional formation; it includes religious formation and, in general, the enrichment of the whole person. In this way, the Church will constantly adapt its pastoral mission to the circumstances of the men and women of each age, so that the message of Jesus Christ can be brought to them in a way that is understandable and adapted to their condition.

Permanent formation involves a wide variety of different elements; a constant search for ways to bring it about is therefore required of both individuals and the community. Among the variety of means for permanent formation, some have become ordinary and      virtually indispensable instruments: reading periodicals and pertinent books, attending conferences and seminars, participating in workshops, assemblies, and congresses, making appropriate use of periods of free time for formation. All lay Catholics who work in schools should make these a habitual part of their own human, professional, and religious life.

No one can deny that permanent formation, as the name itself suggests, is a difficult task; not everyone succeeds in doing it. This becomes especially true in the face of the growing complexity of contemporary life and the difficult nature of the educational mission, combined with the economic insecurity that so often accompanies it. But in spite of all these factors, no lay Catholic who works in a school can ignore this present-day need. To do so would be to remain locked up in outdated knowledge, criteria, and attitudes. To reject a formation that is permanent and that involves the whole person—human, professional, and religious—is to isolate oneself from that very world that has to be brought closer to the Gospel. (nos. 68-70)

Every person who contributes to integral human formation is an educator; but teachers have made integral human formation their very profession. When, then, we discuss the school, teachers deserve special consideration: because of their number, but also because of the institutional purpose of the school. But everyone who has a share in this formation is also to be included in the discussion: especially those who are responsible for the direction of the school, or are counsellors, tutors or coordinators; also those who complement and complete the educational activities of the teacher or help in administrative and auxiliary positions. (n. 15)

The integral formation of the human person, which is the purpose of education, includes the development of all the human faculties of the students, together with preparation for professional life, formation of ethical and social awareness, becoming aware of the transcendental, and religious education. Every school, and every educator in the school, ought to be striving “to form strong and responsible individuals, who are capable of making free and correct choices,” thus preparing young people “to open themselves more and more to reality, and to form in themselves a clear idea of the meaning of life.” (n. 17)

Each type of education, moreover, is influenced by a particular concept of what it means to be a human person. In today’s pluralistic world, the Catholic educator must consciously inspire his or her activity with the Christian concept of the person, in communion with the Magisterium of the Church. It is a concept which includes a defense of human rights, but also attributes to the human person the dignity of a child of God; it attributes the fullest liberty, freed from sin itself by Christ, the most exalted destiny, which is the definitive and total possession of God Himself, through love. It establishes the strictest possible relationship of solidarity among all persons; through mutual love and an ecclesial community. It calls for the fullest development of all that is human, because we have been made masters of the world by its Creator. Finally, it proposes Christ, Incarnate Son of God and perfect Man, as both model and means; to imitate Him is, for all men and women, the inexhaustible source of personal and communal perfection. Thus, Catholic educators can be certain that they make human beings more human. Moreover, the special task of those educators who are lay persons is to offer to their students a concrete example of the fact that people deeply immersed in the world, living fully the same secular life as the vast majority of the human family, possess this same exalted dignity. (n. 18)

The vocation of every Catholic educator includes the work of ongoing social development: to form men and women who will be ready to take their place in society, preparing them in such a way that they will make the kind of social commitment which will enable them to work for the improvement of social structures, making these structures more conformed to the principles of the Gospel. Thus, they will form human beings who will make human society more peaceful, fraternal, and communitarian… The Catholic educator, in other words, must be committed to the task of forming men and women who will make the “civilization of love” a reality. But lay educators must bring the experience of their own lives to this social development and social awareness, so that students can be prepared to take their place in society with an appreciation of the specific role of the lay person—for this is the life that nearly all of the students will be called to live. (n. 19)

A school uses its own specific means for the integral formation of the human person: the communication of culture. It is extremely important, then, that the Catholic educator reflect on the profound relationship that exists between culture and the Church…

For this reason, if the communication of culture is to be a genuine educational activity, it must not only be organic, but also critical and evaluative, historical and dynamic. Faith will provide Catholic educators with some essential principles for critique and evaluation; faith will help them to see all of human history as a history of salvation which culminates in the fullness of the Kingdom. This puts culture into a creative context, constantly being perfected. (n. 20)

To summarize: The Lay Catholic educator is a person who exercises a specific mission within the Church by living, in faith, a secular vocation in the communitarian structure of the school: with the best possible professional qualifications, with an apostolic intention inspired by faith, for the integral formation of the human person, in a communication of culture, in an exercise of that pedagogy which will give emphasis to direct and personal contact with students, giving spiritual inspiration to the educational community of which he or she is a member, as well as to all the different persons related to the educational community. To this lay person, as a member of this community, the family and the Church entrust the school’s educational endeavor. Lay teachers must be profoundly convinced that they share in the sanctifying, and therefore educational, mission of the Church; they cannot regard themselves as cut off from the ecclesial complex. (n. 24)

Professionalism is one of the most important characteristics in the identity of every lay Catholic. The first requirement, then, for a lay educator who wishes to live out his or her ecclesial vocation, is the acquisition of a solid professional formation. In the case of an educator, this includes competency in a wide range of cultural, psychological, and pedagogical areas. However, it is not enough that the initial training be at a good level; this must be maintained and deepened, always bringing it up to date. (n. 27)

New horizons will be opened to students through the responses that Christian revelation brings to questions about the ultimate meaning of the human person, of human life, of history, and of the world. These must be offered to the students as responses which flow out of the profound faith of the educator, but at the same time with the greatest sensitive respect for the conscience of each student. (n. 28)

Faced with this reality [of the expansion of science and technology; an age of change], which lay people are the first to experience, the Catholic educator has an obvious and constant need for updating: in personal attitudes, in the content of the subjects, that are taught, in the pedagogical methods that are used. Recall that the vocation of an educator requires “a constant readiness to begin anew and to adapt.” (nos. 68-70)

If the directors of the school and the lay people who work in the school are to live according to the same ideals, two things are essential. First, lay people must receive an adequate salary, guaranteed by a well-defined contract, for the work they do in the school: a salary that will permit them to live in dignity, without excessive work or a need for additional employment that will interfere with the duties of an educator. This may not be immediately possible without putting an enormous financial burden on the families, or making the school so expensive that it becomes a school for a small elite group; but so long as a truly adequate salary is not being paid, the laity should see in the school directors a genuine preoccupation to find the resources necessary to achieve this end. Secondly, laity should participate authentically in the responsibility for the school; this assumes that they have the ability that is needed in all areas and are sincerely committed to the educational objectives which characterize a Catholic school. (n. 78)

As a part of its mission, an element proper to the school is solicitous care for the permanent professional and religious formation of its lay members. Lay people should be able to look to the school for the orientation and the assistance that they need, including the willingness to make time available when this is needed. Formation is indispensable; without it, the school will wander further and further away from its objectives. Often enough, if it will join forces with other educational centers and with Catholic professional organizations, a Catholic school will not find it too difficult to organize conferences, seminars, and other meetings which will provide the needed formation. According to circumstances, these could be expanded to include other lay Catholic educators who do not work in Catholic schools; these people would thus be offered an opportunity they are frequently in need of, and do not easily find elsewhere. (n. 79)

The Religious Dimension in a Catholic School (1988)

Recent Church teaching has added an essential note: “The basic principle which must guide us in our commitment to this sensitive area of pastoral activity is that religious instruction and catechesis are at the same time distinct and complementary. A school has as its purpose the students’ integral formation. Religious instruction, therefore, should be integrated into the objectives and criteria which characterize a modern school.” School directors should keep this directive of the Magisterium in mind, and they should respect the distinctive characteristics of religious instruction. (n. 70)

Educating Together in Catholic Schools, A Shared Mission Between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful (2007)

Professional formation: One of the fundamental requirements for an educator in a Catholic school is his or her possession of a solid professional formation. Poor quality teaching, due to insufficient professional preparation or inadequate pedagogical methods, unavoidably undermines the effectiveness of the overall formation of the student and of the cultural witness that the educator must offer. (n. 21)

The professional formation of the educator implies a vast range of cultural, psychological, and pedagogical skills, characterized by autonomy, planning and evaluation capacity, creativity, openness to innovation, aptitude for updating, research, and experimentation. It also demands the ability to synthesize professional skills with educational motivations, giving particular attention to the relational situation required today by the increasingly collegial exercise of the teaching profession. Moreover, in the eyes and expectations of students and their families, the educator is seen and desired as a welcoming and prepared interlocutor, able to motivate the young to a complete formation, to encourage and direct their greatest energy and skills towards a positive construction of themselves and their lives, and to be a serious and credible witness of the responsibility and hope which the school owes to society. (n. 22)

It is not sufficient simply to care about professional updating in the strict sense. The synthesis between faith, culture, and life that educators of the Catholic school are called to achieve is, in fact, reached “by integrating all the different aspects of human knowledge through the subjects taught, in the light of the Gospel [… and] in the growth of the virtues characteristic of the Christian.” This means that Catholic educators must attain a special sensitivity with regard to the person to be educated in order to grasp not only the request for growth in knowledge and skills, but also the need for growth in humanity. Thus, educators must dedicate themselves “to others with heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of their humanity.” (n. 24)

Educating in Intercultural Dialogue in the Catholic School: Living in Harmony for a Civilization of Love (2013)

The formation of teachers and administrators is of crucial importance. In most countries, the state provides the initial formation of school personnel. Good though this may be, it cannot be considered sufficient. In fact, Catholic schools bring something extra, particular to them, that must always be recognized and developed. Therefore, while the obligatory formation needs to consider those disciplinary and professional matters typical of teaching and administrating, it must also consider the cultural and pedagogical fundamentals that make up Catholic schools’ identity.

The time spent in formation must be used for reinforcing the idea of Catholic schools as being communities of fraternal relationships and places of research, dedicated to deepening and communicating truth in the various scholarly disciplines. Those who have leadership positions are duty-bound to guarantee that all personnel receive adequate preparation to serve effectively. Moreover, they must serve in coherence with the faith they profess, and be able to interpret society’s demands in the actual situation of its current configuration. This also favors the school’s collaboration with parents in education, respecting their responsibility as first and natural educators. (nos.76-77)

Hence, it is important that schools know how to be communities of formation and of study, where relationships among individuals color relationships among academic disciplines. Knowledge is enhanced from within by this reclaimed unity, in the light of the Gospel and Christian doctrine, and so can make its own essential contribution to the integral growth of both individuals and the evermore heralded global society. (n. 80)

Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (2014)

The importance of schools’ and universities’ educational tasks explains how crucial training is for teachers, managers, and the entire staff that has educational responsibilities. Professional competence is the necessary condition for openness to unleash its educational potential. A lot is being required of teachers and managers: they should have the ability to create, invent, and manage learning environments that provide plentiful opportunities; they should be able to respect students’ different intelligences and guide them towards significant and profound learning; they should be able to accompany their students towards lofty and challenging goals, cherish high expectations for them, involve and connect students to each other and the world. Teachers must be able to pursue different goals simultaneously and face problem situations that require a high level of professionalism and preparation. To fulfil such expectations, these tasks should not be left to individual responsibility and adequate support should be provided at institutional level, with competent leaders showing the way, rather than bureaucrats. (n. II., 7)

USCCB Response to Instrumentum Laboris: Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (2015)

Catholic schools depend on clarity of vision and strong leaders well formed in the faith, who are capable of establishing a rich Catholic culture in the schools. Consequently, training, both professional and spiritual, was lifted up as vitally important. Our schools need professionally prepared, competent leaders who can lead and inspire. These leaders need to be well-formed and able to teach, govern, recruit, and set the tone. They need to engage and invite minorities while making a clear case for the value of Catholic schools. (pp. 10-11)

Questions for Reflection

Comprehension

  1. What facets of professional development are school
    leaders required to provide Catholic teachers?
  2. What is integral formation?

Discussion

  1. How might the notion of integral formation result in a greater need for broader professional development among the faculty?
  2. How do you understand and seek to further the notion, “It must never be forgotten that the purpose of instruction at school is education, that is the development of man from within, freeing him from that conditioning which would prevent him from becoming a fully
    integrated human being. The school must begin from the principle that its educational programme is intentionally directed to the growth of the whole person” (The Catholic School, 1977, 29)? What professional development might be helpful toward this end?
  3. A recent Church document cited in this section states: “Each type of education, moreover, is influenced by a particular concept of what it means to be a human
    In today’s pluralistic world, the Catholic educator must consciously inspire his or her activity with the
    Christian concept of the person, in communion with the Magisterium of the Church.” What Catholic concepts of the human person are most controversial or rejected by the current common culture? How can you assist students in negotiating these troubled waters?

Application

  1. What are my strengths and weaknesses in providing
    professional development for teachers?
  2. How well do I account for my own professional and
    spiritual formation?

 

V

Personal Witness

Overview

Living out a vocation as rich and profound as that of a Catholic educational leader requires a mature spiritual life expressed in a profoundly lived Christian witness.[31] Leaders are called in a special way to make the Church present and operative so she might become the salt of the earth.[32] Catholic leaders must proclaim the Gospel message through their words and witness.[33] Helping to bring about the cooperation of all, as a witness to Christ, is the cornerstone of the community. The Catholic leader becomes a living example of one inspired by the Gospel.[34]

Conduct is even more important than speech in the formation of students.[35] Integrity of lived witness requires modeling Christianity in all aspects of the school’s life and both inside and outside the classroom.[36] The more completely the leader gives concrete witness to the model of Christ, the more the leader will be trusted and imitated.[37]

The project of the Catholic school is effective and convincing only if carried out by people who are deeply motivated to give witness to a living encounter with Christ, in who alone the mystery of man truly becomes clear.[38] Authentic witness to the school’s values creates a community climate permeated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and love.[39]

Citations

The Catholic School (1977)

By their witness and their behavior teachers are of the first importance to impart a distinctive character to Catholic schools. It is, therefore, indispensable to ensure their continuing formation through some form of suitable pastoral provision. This must aim to animate them as witnesses of Christ in the classroom and tackle the problems of their particular apostolate, especially regarding a Christian vision of the world and of education, problems also connected with the art of teaching in accordance with the principles of the Gospel. (n. 78)

Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982)

It seems necessary to begin by trying to delineate the identity of the lay Catholics who work in a school; the way in which they bear witness to the faith will depend on this specific identity, in the Church and in this particular field of labour. In trying to contribute to the investigation, it is the intention of this Sacred Congregation to offer a service to lay Catholics who work in schools (and who should have a clear idea of the specific character of their vocation), and also to the People of God (who need to have a true picture of the laity as an active element, accomplishing an important task for the entire Church through their labour. (n. 5)

Therefore, “the laity are called in a special way to make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances where only through them can she become the salt of the earth.” In order to achieve this presence of the whole Church, and of the Savior whom she proclaims, lay people must be ready to proclaim the message through their words and witness to it in what they do. (n. 9)

Conduct is always much more important than speech; this fact becomes especially important in the formation period of students. The more completely an educator can give concrete witness to the model of the ideal person that is being presented to the students, the more this ideal will be believed and imitated… Without this witness, living in such an atmosphere, they may begin to regard Christian behavior as an impossible ideal. It must never be forgotten that, in the crises “which have their greatest effect on the younger generations,” the most important element in the educational endeavor is “always the individual person: the person, and the moral dignity of that person which is the result of his or her principles, and the conformity of actions with those principles.” (n. 32)

Professional commitment; support of truth, justice, and freedom; openness to the point of view of others, combined with a habitual attitude of service; personal commitment to the students, and fraternal solidarity with everyone; a life that is integrally moral in all its aspects. The lay Catholic who brings all of this to his or her work in a pluralist school becomes a living mirror, in whom every individual in the educational community will see reflected an image of one inspired by the Gospel. (n. 52)

The concrete living out of a vocation as rich and profound as that of the lay Catholic in a school requires an appropriate formation, both on the professional plane and on the religious plane. Most especially, it requires the educator to have a mature spiritual personality, expressed in a profound Christian life. (n. 60)

The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School (1988)

The Church, therefore, is willing to give lay people charge of the schools that it has established, and the laity themselves establish schools. The recognition of the school as a Catholic school is, however, always reserved to the competent ecclesiastical authority. When lay people do establish schools, they should be especially concerned with the creation of a community climate permeated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and love, and they should witness to this in their own lives. (n. 38)

 Apostolic Journey to the United States of America and Visit to the United Nations Organization Headquarters, Meeting with Catholic Educators, Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI (April 2008)

Teachers and administrators, whether in universities or schools, have the duty and privilege to ensure that students receive instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This requires that public witness to the way of Christ, as found in the Gospel and upheld by the Church’s Magisterium, shapes all aspects of an institution’s life, both inside and outside the classroom. Divergence from this vision weakens Catholic identity and, far from advancing freedom, inevitably leads to confusion, whether moral, intellectual, or spiritual.

Educating Together in Catholic Schools, A Shared Mission Between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful (2007)

The project of the Catholic school is convincing only if carried out by people who are deeply motivated, because they witness to a living encounter with Christ, in whom alone the mystery of man truly becomes clear. These persons, therefore, acknowledge a personal and communal adherence with the Lord, assumed as the basis and constant reference of the inter-personal relationship and mutual cooperation between educator and student. (n. 4)

Educating in Intercultural Dialogue in the Catholic School: Living in Harmony for a Civilization of Love (2013)

Catholic schools develop, in a manner wholly particular to them, the basic hypothesis that formation covers the whole arc of professional experience and is not limited to the period of initial formation or formation in the early years. Catholic schools require people not only to know how to teach or direct an organization; they also require them, using the skills of their profession, to know how to bear authentic witness to the school’s values, as well as to their own continuing efforts to live out ever more deeply, in thought and deed, the ideals that are stated publicly in words. (n. 80)

Educating Today and Tomorrow: A Renewing Passion (2014)

Hence, one of the most important challenges will be to foster a greater cultural openness amongst teachers and, at the same time, an equally greater willingness to act as witnesses, so that they are aware and careful about their school’s peculiar context in their work, without being lukewarm or extremist, teaching what they know and testifying to what they believe in. In order for teachers to interpret their profession in this way, they must be formed to engage in the dialogue between faith and cultures and between different religions; there cannot be any real dialogue if educators themselves have not been formed and helped to deepen their faith and personal beliefs. (n. III,1., i.)

‘Male and Female He Created Them’: Towards a Path of Dialogue on the Question of Gender Theory in Education (2019)

School managers, teaching staff, and personnel all share the responsibility of both guaranteeing delivery of a high-quality service coherent with the Christian principles that lie at the heart of their educational project, as well as interpreting the challenges of their time while giving the daily witness of their understanding, objectivity, and prudence. (48)

The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue (2022)

Everyone has the obligation to recognize, respect, and bear witness to the Catholic identity of the school, officially set out in the educational project. This applies to the teaching staff, the non-teaching personnel, and the pupils and their families. (39)

Questions for Reflection

Comprehension

  1. According to the selections provided, why is personal
    witness important in the life of a Catholic school teacher or leader?
  2. Is personal witness only required from a teacher or school leader? Who else is called to witness to the faith in a Catholic school?

Discussion

  1. Why is being a faithful witness inside and outside of school important for the Catholic school leader? Who have you seen do this well? What did it look like?
  2. How can leaders assist teachers to be better witnesses? How to motivate them? How to evaluate them? How to challenge them? How to confront them when they fall dangerously short of the goal?

Application

  1. How can I become a more effective witness?
  2. Of these five elements in this document (answering the call, fulfilling the mission, spiritual formation, professional formation, and personal witness), which am I most comfortable with? Which will require the most effort from me?

 

Conclusion

The Church’s guidance conveys the immense responsibility that Catholic school leaders assume in the ministry of Catholic education. Theirs is a special call, a vocation to the apostolate of Catholic education where it is demanded of them to live lives of Gospel witness, fully and integrally. Not only are they entrusted with the human formation and education of young people, but they are also called on to model and witness the Catholic faith on a daily basis and to edify and bolster the faith of their colleagues and peers. A school’s Catholic identity depends on effective and formed faith-filled leaders who set the tone for a vibrant, worshiping community of believers who collaborate with the Church to fulfill the mission of evangelization and sanctification of its faithful.

[1] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982) 7.

[2] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 37.

[3] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 37.

[4] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Co-workers in the Vineyard of Christ (2005) 11.

[5] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Teach Them (1976) II, par.1.

[6] Congregation for Catholic Education, Educating Together in Catholic Schools: A Shared Mission Between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful (2007) 30.

[7] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 7.

[8] St. Paul VI, Gravissimum Educationis (1965) 5.

[9] St. Paul VI, 8.

[10] St. Paul VI, 8.

[11] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, The Catholic School (1977) 87.

[12] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 81.

[13] St. John Paul II, Apostolic Journey to the United States and Canada (1987) 4.

[14] St. Paul VI, Conclusion.

[15] St. John Paul II (1987) 4.

[16] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB Response to Educating Today and Tomorrow (2015) p. 5, at https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/how-we-teach/catholic-education/k-12/upload/15-076-Final-World-Congress.pdf; Congregation for Catholic Education, Educating Today and Tomorrow (2015) n. III., 1., a.

[17] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Directory for Catechesis (2005) p. 231.

[18] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 40.

[19] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 23.

[20] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 23.

[21] Congregation for Catholic Education (2015) 7.

[22] Congregation for Catholic Education (2015) 7.

[23] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 27.

[24] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1977) 29.

[25] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 17.

[26] Congregation for Catholic Education, Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools: Living in Harmony for a Civilization of Love (2013) 80.

[27] Congregation for Catholic Education (2007) 24.

[28] Congregation for Catholic Education (2015) n. III, 1., b.

[29] United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2015) p. 10.

[30] Congregation for Catholic Education (2013) 76-77.

[31] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 60.

[32] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 9.

[33] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 9.

[34] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 52.

[35] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 32.

[36] St. John Paul II (1987) 3.

[37] Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (1982) 32.

[38] Congregation for Catholic Education (2007) 4.

[39] Congregation for Catholic Education (1988) 38.

 

Faith and Morals Language in Catholic School Teacher Employment Documents: A Compilation from Diocesan Statements, Handbooks and Contracts


This compilation is a companion to the Cardinal Newman Society’s analysis, Faith and Morals Language in Catholic School Teacher Employment Documents: Best Practices Brief. It provides additional source material for the reader to consider when researching and reviewing faith and morals clauses in diocesan employment documents for Catholic school teachers.

Diocesan policies and statements regarding teachers were collected in the second quarter of 2015 primarily from documents publicly available on the Internet, and in some cases by direct contact with a diocese.  This compilation reflects materials from more than 125 dioceses.  If a diocese is not included in this sample, it does not necessarily mean that the diocese does not address faith and moral issues in its employment documents, but only reflects our inability to obtain such documents.  An additional thirty-four dioceses, not represented in this compilation, have faith and morals statements referenced in their “Safe Environment” policies.  As these are relatively generic statements clarifying that employees and volunteers must reflect Catholic teaching and morality in their work and in their interactions with others, only a few examples of this type are presented.  Those dioceses that are not fully represented in this compilation, have revised the cited documents, or have created new documents are invited to share their corrections, updates, or additions by contacting ddonohue@newmansociety.org.

The following excerpts have been taken from longer documents and formatted for consistency.  Because referenced documents are likely to change over time, direct contact with a diocese is the only way to ensure up-to-date accuracy.

The Cardinal Newman Society’s researchers are currently using this collection in forthcoming research on this topic.  The hope is that by making this raw, compiled data readily available to Church officials, it might prove helpful for them as they evaluate their own practices.  This document is not presented as legal advice.  Catholic school leaders are encouraged to speak with each other and with their attorneys about their approaches to critical employment issues.  As a corollary to this piece, the Newman Society has published a comprehensive overview of the Magisterium’s expectations of its Catholic teachers, The Call to Teach: Expectations for Catholic Educators in Magisterial Teaching.

The sections herein mirror the section dividers for the companion piece, Faith and Morals Language in Catholic School Teacher Employment Documents: Best Practices Brief, as follows:

  1. Pre-Application and Application Statements
  2. Stand-Alone Faith and Morality Documents
    1. Bishops’ Statements Incorporated into Employment Agreements
    2. Morality Statements
    3. Witness Statements
    4. Belief Statements/Oaths
  3. Contract and Handbook Language
    1. Generic Morals Clause Language: Positive and Negative
    2. Specific Language within Employment Documents
    3. Addendums
  4. Handbook-based policies
  5. Description of Teachers as “Ministers” and Ministry Clauses
  6. Safe Environment Documents

Pre-Application and Application Statements

Diocese of Arlington1 Application Attestation The Catholic Diocese of Arlington, an equal opportunity employer, does not—because of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, age, sex, martial status, national origin, physical or mental disability or handicap, or veteran status—fail or refuse to hire qualified applicants. The Diocese reserves the right, however, to determine whether and under what circumstances priority should be given to Catholics for certain employment positions. In addition, for Catholic employees, conformance with religious tenets of the Catholic faith is a condition of employment, and all employees are prohibited from performing, teaching, or advocating any practices or doctrines which are inconsistent with religious tenets of the Catholic faith.

Diocese of Evansville2 Teacher Application

Please read carefully: The Catholic Diocese of Evansville is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate or deny services on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age. Because of their participation in teaching the religious precepts of the Catholic Church and duty to serve as role models for their students, teachers in the schools of the Catholic Diocese of Evansville are required to maintain a lifestyle, including marital status, in harmony with the teachings of the faith of the Catholic Church. For example, if an applicant for a teaching position is living in a marriage that is not recognized as valid according to the law of the Church, that applicant will not be hired before the prior marriage has been declare null or dissolved so that the present marriage can be validated in accord with Church law. These provisions also apply to one’s present spouse. If a teacher already employed by the Diocese attempts a marriage or enters a lifestyle that cannot be recognized as valid according to Church law, he or she will be terminated. Teachers are expected by their actions to be a Catholic example to students including demonstrating their faith as practicing Catholic (which includes regular Catholic Church attendance). Catholic teachers, who renounce by their word or acts the teachings of the Catholic Church (including, for example, becoming a member of another church) will be subject to termination for cause or non-renewal of contract for the next school year. The requirement that a teacher’s marital status be in harmony with the teaching and faith of the Church applies to non-Catholic as well as Catholic. The Church recognizes a first marriage of two persons who are not Catholic and the presumption of validity applies to the first marriage until the contrary is proven. The prior valid bond is a natural law impediment and would render a subsequent marriage invalid according to the law of the Catholic Church.

Diocese of Ogdensburg3 Application Attestation

I recognize that this position involves ministry in the Roman Catholic Church and requires me to proclaim the Gospel and the authentic teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.  This ministry and proclamation requires my own faithful witness to the Gospel and teachings of the Church.  In particular, I understand and accept that by my own example and lifestyle I must be faithful to the Church’s teachings.  Accordingly, I promise to fulfill the functions of the position faithfully according to the manner determined by law, Diocesan policy or by the Bishop and to model my own life according to the Gospel and teachings of the Church.  Specifically, I uphold and will continue to affirm the Church’s teaching that God’s gift of sexuality is sacred and finds its proper context within the Sacrament of Marriage, as defined by Gospel and the Roman Catholic Church as being a union between one man and one woman.

Diocese of Orange4 Teacher Application

Every Catholic School teacher or principal is expected to be a strong faith witness and a teacher of the Catholic tradition. It is expected that they conduct themselves in a manner that reflects a strong commitment to the mission of Jesus Christ and to the Diocese of Orange. It is required that every teacher or principal obtains and maintains certification as a catechist through the Institute for Pastoral Ministry sponsored by the Diocese. If certification is not been obtained prior to employment, it must be completed within three years.

Diocese of Sacramento5

Employment/Ministry in the Church Pre-Application Statement

“Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.”

(Mark 16:15)

Mission Statement of the Diocese of Sacramento

We, the People of God of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, guided by the Holy Spirit, are called by Christ to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God through prayer, praise and sacraments and to witness the Gospel values of love, justice, forgiveness and service to all.

All Christ’s faithful, by virtue of their baptism, are called by God to contribute to the sanctification and transformation of the world.  They do this by fulfilling their own particular duties in the spirit of the Gospel and Christian discipleship.  Working in the Church is a path of Christian discipleship to be encouraged.  Those who work for the Church continue the mission and ministry of Christ.  Their service is unique and necessary for the life and growth of the Church.  This has been our tradition from the beginning, as echoed in the words of St. Paul who worked with and relied on other men and women in the work of spreading the Gospel.  St. Paul was known to acknowledge and thank them, at times calling them, “my co-workers in Christ Jesus” (Romans 16:3-16).

The Church needs the services of dedicated lay persons who have a clear knowledge and proper understanding of the teachings of the Church and a firm adherence to those teachings, and whose words and deeds are in conformity with the Gospel.  All who seek employment or ministry in the Church are expected to continue their formation and their willingness to learn and grow and to deepen their desire to serve the Lord with excellence and generosity.  Those employed by the Church in our Catholic schools, parishes and institutions, as coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord, are rightly expected to be practicing Catholics whose faith is an essential part of their daily lives and who participate fully in the communal worship and life of the Church.

We recognize that persons who are non-Catholic Christians are also called by the Lord to stand before the world as a witness to his life and resurrection.  We, therefore, welcome collaboration with such persons of good faith who share our Catholic vision on important social, moral and ethical issues.  It is important for anyone interested in collaborating with us in our work and ministry to have an understanding of the Catholic Church and her teachings.

Our Catholic religious beliefs provide the basic framework for our moral, ethical and social teachings.  It is important for anyone interested in collaborating with us in our work and ministry to have an understanding of these teachings.

The Catholic Church has a special commitment to the poor, the oppressed, and the immigrant.  We are committed to promoting a “Culture of Life” from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.  We believe in the inherent dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God, and possessing basic rights endowed by God, including the right to life, the right to religious liberty, and the right to be treated justly with dignity and respect.  We believe human sexuality and human procreation are gifts from God to be shared through the risen Christ only by those joined in marriage, an institution that is itself instituted by Almighty God.  We believe that all persons are called by God to live chaste lives by virtue of their own dignity and according to their state of life.  We believe in the rights of workers to just working conditions, just wages and benefits, as well as the right to organize and join unions or other associations.  We oppose all forms of oppression and exploitation, including racism, sexism, pornography, sexual abuse and harassment, and unlawful discrimination.

As a community of believers, we embrace as a matter of faith, the teachings, policies and beliefs of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, as defined in the Deposit of Faith.  We, therefore, reject anything which is contrary to that teaching, including:

    • Abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, artificial contraception, voluntary sterilization, and the unnecessary use of capital punishment;
    • Pornography and obscenity, adultery, cohabiting in sexual relationships of any nature outside of marriage, homosexual activity, the notion of “gay marriage,” and the adoption or placement of children in anything other than a traditional family setting;
    • Secularism, the paring back of religious freedom rights, or the restriction of religious liberty and liberty of conscience, anti-Catholicism, or anti-Catholic biases;
    • The abuse of alcohol or the use of illegal narcotics or other controlled substances; and
    • Violence or the use of force to resolve social, political or religious problems.

Must the Church’s employees share the Church’s vision and witness the Catholic faith in their life and work?

Yes.  Every member of the Church must stand before the world as a witness to the life and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  This is particularly important for those person who work and minister in the name of the Church.  In our daily affairs and our work, we, as faithful disciples of the risen Christ, must be guided by a Christian conscience, since even in secular business there is no human activity that can be withdrawn from God’s dominion.

The Diocese, in its role as an employer, expects all employees to be persons, who by word and deed, support and advocate the positions of the Catholic Church.  We understand that employment by the Roman Catholic Church is not for everyone, because there are people of good faith who disagree with our teachings and views.

Those unable to authentically witness the Catholic faith by their lives may wish to reflect and seek pastoral guidance before applying for employment or ministry in the Church.

Does the obligation to share the Church’s vision also pertain to employees who are not Catholic?

Yes. As Catholics, we believe that our Faith is universal — that’s what the word “Catholic” means.  Thus, even if a person is not Catholic he or she remains called by the Lord to stand before the world as a witness to Christ’s life and resurrection.  Persons whose lives do not witness the teachings of the Catholic faith by virtue of their own objections or disbelief, or are unable to witness the Catholic faith by virtue of their lifestyle choices or public conduct, do not meet the basic criteria to work or minister in the name of the Church.

After you have carefully reflected on what is contained in this Pre-Application Statement, we invite you to complete the Acknowledgement and Applicant Questionnaire, if you are interested in seeking employment with the Diocese of Sacramento.

Acknowledgment

By signing below, I hereby acknowledge that I have received and read the foregoing Pre-Application Statement of the Diocese of Sacramento.  After reading and reflecting upon the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic Church, and the manner in which those matters impact lay employees of the Diocese, I wish to apply for employment with the Diocese, with a full understanding of the religious nature of the Diocese as an employer.  I understand the Diocese’s expectations that if my application for lay employment results in my being hired, I will be subject to standards of conduct that incorporate the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic Church as set forth in the Pre-Application Statement, and that these performance expectations will be a material condition of my employment.

Diocese of San Diego6

Pre-Application Statement Toward Employment in the Church

The Church needs the service of dedicated lay persons who have a clear knowledge and proper understanding of the teachings of the Church with a firm adherence to those teachings, and whose words and deeds are in conformity with the Gospel.  Those employed by the Church in our parishes, Catholic schools and other institutions, as co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord, are rightly expected to be practicing Catholics whose faith is an essential part of their daily lives, and who participate fully in the communal worship and life of the Church.

To be employed by the Church, persons of good faith who are not Catholic must have an understanding of the Catholic Church and her teachings and respect the Catholic vision on important social, moral and ethical issues.

The Catholic Church has a special commitment to the poor, the oppressed and the immigrant.  It is committed to promoting a “Culture of Life” from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.  It believes in the inherent dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God, and possessing basic rights endowed by God, including the right to life, the right to religious liberty, and the right to be treated justly with dignity and respect.  It believes that conjugal love and human procreation are gifts from God to be shared only by those joined in marriage as established by God himself.  It believes that all persons are called by God to live chaste lives by virtue of their own dignity and according to their state of life.  It believes in the rights of workers to just working conditions, to just wages and benefits as well as the right to organize to their benefit.  It opposes all forms of oppression and exploitation, including racism, sexism, pornography, sexual abuse and harassment, and unlawful discrimination.

The Catholic Church embraces everything contained in God’s word, written or handed down in Sacred Tradition and proposed as divinely revealed and calling for faith and, as well, all authoritative teaching on faith and morals.  It rejects anything to the contrary, including:

    • Abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and the unnecessary use of capital punishment;
    • Pornography and obscenity, adultery, cohabiting in sexual relationships of any nature outside of marriage and homosexual activity;
    • Any restriction of religious liberty;
    • Violence or the use of force to resolve social, political or religious problems.

Persons who do not respect the teachings of the Church, either by virtue of their own objections or disbelief, or by virtue of their lifestyle choices or public conduct, do not meet the basic criteria to work in the Church.

After you have carefully reflected on what is contained in this Pre-Application Statement, if you are interested in seeking employment in the Diocese of San Diego, please complete the Pre-Application Acknowledgment.

Stand-Alone Faith and Morality Documents

Bishops’ Statements Incorporated into Employment Agreements

Diocese of Cleveland7

Statement on the Purpose of Catholic Schools and the Role of Teachers and Administrators in Catholic Schools

By the Most Reverend Richard G. Lennon

Dear Administrators and Teachers,

The Catholic Church teaches that Catholic schools are more than just places of learning, but in fact serve the primary purpose of developing each student as a whole person based on the model of Christ, who is God made flesh and humanity perfected.  The Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis, said as much when it stated:

“The Church is bound as a mother to give to these children of hers an education by which their whole life can be imbued with the spirit of Christ and at the same time do all she can to promote for all peoples the complete perfection of the human person, the good of earthly society and the building of a world that is more human.”  Gravissimum Educationis, Section 3.

This teaching is reflected in numerous Church documents as well as the Code of Canon Law, which states in Canon 794 Sec. 1 that, “The Church has in a special way the duty and the right of educating, for it has a divine mission of helping all to arrive at the fullness of Christian life.”  Saint John Paul II gave witness to this core belief regarding the nature and purpose of Catholic schools in his 1979 message to the National Catholic Education Association of the United States, wherein he wrote: “Catholic education is above all a question of communicating Christ, of helping to form Christ in the lives of others.”

As such, it is clear that the effectiveness of a Catholic school in fulfilling its mission is not simply dependent upon the quality of the religious curriculum utilized or the religious instruction or catechesis that occurs there.  Instead, a Catholic school succeeds in its mission only if every aspect of the school is inspired and guided by the Gospel and only if instruction across the entire spectrum of studies is authentically Catholic.  As Archbishop J. Michael Miller, C.S.B., then Secretary for the Holy See’s Congregation for Catholic Education, rightly observed in his 2005 keynote address on the subject of the Holy See’s teachings on Catholic schools at a conference at the Catholic University of America:

“The Gospel of Christ and his very person are, therefore, to inspire and guide the Catholic school in its every dimension: its philosophy of education, its curriculum, community of life, its selection of teachers, and even its physical environment.”

Likewise, the Church has long recognized the uniquely important and true ministry of teachers and administrators in fulfilling this mission.  Gravissimum Educationis addressed this notion specifically when it stated:

“But let teachers recognize that the Catholic school depends upon them almost entirely for the accomplishment of its goals and programs.  They should therefore be very carefully prepared so that both in secular and religious knowledge they are equipped with suitable qualification and also with a pedagogical skill that is in keeping with the findings of the contemporary world.  Intimately linked in charity to one another and to their students and endowed with an apostolic spirit, may teachers by their life as much as by their instruction bear witness to Christ, the unique Teacher… The work of these teachers, this sacred synod declares, is in the real sense of the word an apostolate most suited to and necessary for our times and at once a true service offered to society.”  Gravissimum Educationis, Section 8 [emphasis added].

Furthermore, the example set by teachers and administrators through their actions and their lives is considered by the Church to be even more important than what they say.  As stated by the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education:

“The more completely an educator can give concrete witness to the model of the ideal person that is being presented to the students, the more this ideal will be believed and imitated.  For it will then be seen as something reasonable and worthy of being lived, something concrete and realizable.  It is in this context that the faith witness of the lay teacher becomes especially important.  Students should see in their teachers the Christian attitude and behavior that is often so conspicuously absent from the secular atmosphere in which they live.”  Lay Catholics in Schools, Witnesses to Faith, Section 32.

Consequently, each and every teacher and administrator in a Catholic school, whether they teach religion as a subject or not, is called by the Church to model Jesus Christ, the perfect teacher, and to bear witness to the Gospel “through their lives as much as by their instructions” (Gravissimum Educationis, Section 8).  It is for this reason that Canon 803 Section 2 of the Code of Canon Law requires that, “Formation and education in a Catholic school must be based on the principles of Catholic doctrine, and the teachers must be outstanding in true doctrine and uprightness of life.”

As a teacher or administrator in a Catholic school, you are engaging a beautiful and uniquely important vocation and ministry of Christ’s Church.  You are instrumental in the development of each and every student as a whole and authentically Catholic person.  Indeed, it is primarily through you that the school is able to cultivate the love of Christ and kindle the light of Christ in the hearts of its students.  As such, it is a great honor and privilege to play such a special and important role in the life of the Church through your ministry.  It is also a significant responsibility.  Please know that you have my blessings, my prayers, and my gratitude for the important work you do in building up the Body of Christ.

Diocese of Santa Rosa8 (Excerpts from 15-page employment document)

Code of Ethics for the Teacher in a Catholic School

PREAMBLE

“GO TEACH!”  With these words, Christ sent His first disciples on mission.  Since the beginning of Christianity, Catholic education has been one of the most important ways in which the mission of the Church is carried out.  This education manifests a foundational anthropology, a basics sense of the human being, namely (that) all persons are created in the image and likeness of God, are fallen in view of original sin, and are redeemed by Jesus Christ.  To understand, to teach and to model this anthropology are particular requirements of those entrusted with the Church’s educational mission.  Thus, in large part the success of Catholic education depends upon the professional competence, quality, and above all, the commitment of the teacher to Christ.

The Code of Ethics for the Teacher in a Catholic School is a description of a person who is growing in various dimensions of experience.  The Code specifies the attitude and the practice of the teacher in relation to the Church, the student, the parent, the community, and the profession.  In relationship to the Church in particular, the teacher is not called to an unrealistic perfection but rather to continual growth in understanding and in appreciation for the Church in all Her dimensions.  Here, what is meant by ‘continual growth’ also includes ongoing spiritual conversion (i.e., a more complete turning toward God) in one’s soul.  This kind of conversion can include a humble acceptance of the standing offer of God’s mercy, which acceptance always moves a person deeper into the heart of the Church.  In any case, conversion is like ‘professional development’.  That is, just as every teacher recognizes a responsibility to grow so as to keep abreast of developments in the profession, so too the teacher in a Catholic school recognizes a responsibility to grow in efficacy regarding the Church.  In sum, whether personally or professionally, the Code of Ethics for the Teacher in a Catholic School represents a guide by which to live, a goal toward which to strive and a promise of lasting success.

The Diocese of Santa Rosa recognizes and claims its Catholic Elementary and High Schools as educational institutes established to promote and foster the teachings and values of the Catholic Church.  The Diocese recognizes that these Institutions have an integral and significant role in the positive presentation of the Catholic faith to the hearts of their students and to our society.  The primary purpose of our Schools, without minimizing others, is evangelization.  Catholic Schools, in the course of their educational efforts, provide an essentially ecclesiastical ministry.  “The duty and right of educating belongs in a unique way to the Church which has been divinely entrusted with the mission to assist men and women so that they can arrive at the fullness of the Christian life” (Canon 794, § 1).

Preamble by +Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa

Principle I: Commitment to the Church

Presidents, principals and teachers are employed, either directly or indirectly, by the Catholic Church for the express purpose of assisting “men and women so that they can arrive at the fullness of the Christian life”.  Thus, in addition to specific employee duties, they also share in the mission of the Church and therefore have the responsibility of fostering-through their positions and in the lived reality of their lives—the values, principles, doctrines and teachings of the institutional Catholic Church or, at least, of never publicly contradicting them.  In fulfilling our obligation to the Church, we are called to:

    1. Recognize that we are part of the overall educational ministry of the Catholic Church even when some of the persons instructed are not adherents of the Catholic faith.
    2. Recognize that as human beings, we are called by God to a life of holiness. We recognize that, without diminishing our freedom, this call orients us to heed God in our thoughts, words and deeds. We further recognize that this call is all the more compelling for us since, in our lives and vocations as teacher/administrators in a Catholic school, we have been entrusted with the task of helping students “arrive at the fullness of the Christian life” (Canon 794, § 1).
    3. Recognize that we must be models of “exemplary life both personally and professionally” (cf. employment contract). Thus, whether we are at school or outside of school, our public behavior is to be in conformity with Church teaching as expounded in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.
    4. Recognize our duty, to the best of our ability, to know “Church Teaching” (cf. contract) and, if Catholic, to believe in accord with what the Catholic Church holds and professes.
    5. Recognize that we have a responsibility to continue to seek a fuller understanding of the Faith that the Catholic Church professes. Accordingly, we are to take advantage of opportunities offered by the Diocese or Parish to foster Faith, to properly form conscience and to deepen understanding of the Church’s teaching.
    6. Recognize that, in its entirety, The Catechism of the Catholic Church constitutes the source and standard according to which all the ethical matters stated or implied in this Commitment and in the contract are understood and adjudicated.

Morality Statements

Dioceses of Billings, Great Falls and Helena9

Catholic Moral Standards
for All Catholic School Employees and Volunteers

A signature is required below to acknowledge that the Catholic school employee (teacher, support staff, coach, etc.), or volunteer has read and understands the Catholic Moral Standards as an essential expectation to his/her position with the Catholic school.

As a Catholic school employee or volunteer, I understand …

_____ that I will not engage in any conduct or lifestyle, whether in my personal or public life, that would be at variance with or contrary to the moral and religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church

______ that I will not engage in any conduct or lifestyle, whether in my personal or public life, that would be at variance with or contrary to the moral and religious standards as described in Catholic school polices, Diocesan policies, or my employment contract

Please Note: These standards have been and will continue to be printed in the Catholic Schools’ personnel handbooks, as well as on the teacher’s contract.

I understand the terms of the Catholic Moral Standards and recognize that any personal conduct or lifestyle (public or private) that violates the Catholic moral standards may result in personnel discipline up to and including dismissal from employment.

I also understand that if I have any questions regarding the Catholic Moral Standards, I will submit them to the school administration, in writing and the school administration will provide a response in a timely manner.

Diocese of Columbus10

Adherence to Catholic Church Teachings

All school personnel who serve in Catholic schools shall be examples of Catholic moral behavior and professionalism.  As explained by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops:

The integration of religious truth and values with the rest of life is brought about in the Catholic school not only by its unique curriculum but, more important, by the presence of teachers [personnel] who express an integrated approach to learning and living in their private and professional lives.

All school personnel, regardless of their religious affiliation, are therefore required to abide by the moral values advanced by the teachings of Christ, the tenets of the Catholic Church, and the policies and regulations of the Diocesan Department for Education, the Diocese and the employing school.  School personnel may be disciplined or terminated for violations of these standards, or any conduct which is contrary to, or rejects or offends the teachings, doctrines, or principles of the Catholic Church.  While there may be others not mentioned below, examples of conduct that may result in termination of employment include:

Public support of activities or beliefs contrary to Catholic Church teaching;

Public statements disparaging or causing contempt against religion in general or the Catholic Church in particular;

Entry into a marriage which is not recognized by the Catholic Church;

Having an abortion or publically supporting abortion rights;

Sexual relations (same or opposite sex) outside the institution of marriage as recognized by the Catholic Church;

Pursuing or publically supporting in vitro fertilization.

Diocesan Department for Education policies and regulations are available online at www.cdeducation.org/Policies.  The teachings of the Catholic Church can be found in The Catechism of the Catholic Church which is online at www.vatican.va/archive/Eng0015/_INDEX.

Witness Statements

Dioceses of Arlington11, Peoria12, and Providence13 and Archdiocese of St. Louis14

Witness Statement for Those Who Serve in Catholic Education

The mission of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is the mission of the Catholic Church, to reveal God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to all people and to teach them about the fullness of His love.  “Indeed the primordial mission of the Church is to proclaim God and to be His witness before the world” (GDC).  Catholic education shares in a special way in the Church’s mission by proclaiming and witnessing Jesus Christ and His teachings.

Catholic education, which includes education, formation, and transformation, exists in order to evangelize.  Two important elements that make up the process of evangelization are proclamation and witness.  It is essential, therefore, that those who serve in Catholic education proclaim Jesus Christ, His life and ministry, present the Catholic faith in its fullness and be Christ’s witness to the world.

Initially those being evangelized will be attracted to and listen to those who are good witnesses.  “The Good News proclaimed by the witness of life sooner or later has to be proclaimed by the word of life” (Evangelii Nutiandi).  Some in Catholic education—religion teachers, PSR catechists, educational and catechetical leaders—are called to be explicit proclaimers of the Word.  But all who serve in Catholic education are called to be witnesses to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.  Therefore, the following Witness Statement applies to all who serve in Catholic education.

All who serve in Catholic education in the parish and school programs of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis will witness by their public behavior, actions, and words a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Only those persons who can support this Witness Statement are to be employed by pastors, principals, and directors/coordinators of religious education.

All who serve in Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis should be made aware that support of this Witness Statement must be reflected in their public behavior.

All who serve in Catholic education should:

    • believe in God
    • support belief in Jesus Christ
    • engage in prayer
    • respect ecclesiastical authority
    • possess a basic knowledge of the Catholic Church
    • not take a public position contrary to the Catholic Church
    • demonstrate a public life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church
    • practice respect and reverence for others and prudence with regard to confidential information related to work
    • if Catholic, have not publicly rejected the Catholic Church be active members of the Catholic Church, or of their own Church
    • if not Catholic practice exemplary stewardship and ethical behavior with regard to Church property and funds.

The above is a thorough but not all-inclusive listing of the implications of this Witness Statement.

Implementation of the Witness Statement by Local Parishes and Schools

All who serve in Catholic education should be provided with opportunities to have the basic and essential teachings of the Catholic Church, applicable to the Witness Statement and its implications, explained so that they may be open to an understanding and appreciation of them.

This Witness Statement and its implications should be used in interviewing and hiring applicants who will serve in Catholic education to determine their openness to its message.

The pastor, principal, president, and director/coordinator of religious education should use this Witness Statement and its implications as part of the discussions in the initial offering and renewal of contracts.

This Witness Statement and its implications should be included in the various publications of the parish and/or the educational institution: faculty handbook, student handbook, marketing brochures, policy statements, etc.

Reflection on and discussion of this Witness Statement and its implications should be integrated by the pastor, principal, and director/coordinator of religious education into appropriate gatherings of those who serve in Catholic education: commissioning services, faculty meetings, faculty homilies, prayer days, etc.

Diocese of Trenton15

CHRISTIAN WITNESS STATEMENT

Educational Mission of the Church: ‘Proclaiming the Gospel is a perennial task and joy for the Church of Jesus Christ. Catholic education is an expression of the mission entrusted by Jesus to the Church He Founded.’ (To Teach as Jesus Did, 6.7).

Pre-Eminence of Catholic Schools: ‘The Catholic school strives to relate all human culture to the news of salvation, so that the life of faith will illumine the knowledge which students gain of the world, of life and of humanity. (National Directory for Catechesis, 232).

Educator in the Catholic School: ‘Beautiful indeed and of great importance is the vocation of all those who undertake the task of education in Catholic schools. This vocation demands special qualities of mind and heart, very careful preparations, and continuing readiness to renew and to adapt..’ (Declaration on Christian Education, 4).

The Catholic school fulfills an authentic ministry. Therefore, to work in this apostolate means rendering a unique, challenging and invaluable work for the Church. The nobility of the position to which teachers in the Catholic school…respond requires that they communicate the message of Christ not only in their teaching and their participation in the sacramental life of the Church but also in every expression of their behavior. In truth and in fact, herein lies the difference between a school whose education is penetrated by the Christian spirit and one in which religious in an academic subject like any other. ‘By their witness and their behavior teachers are the first importance to impart a distinctive character to Catholic schools.’ (The Catholic School, 78).

It follows then, that the teacher in Catholic education must be a person of prayer, one who frequently reflects on the scriptures, and whose Christ-like living testifies to deep faith, and who is a practicing Catholic who understands and accepts the teaching of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the Gospel and who can contribute to the achievement of the school’s Catholic Identity and apostolic goals. (National Catechetical Directory, 207, 231).

Essentially, the Catholic school educator is one:

    • Called to proclaim, to live, to celebrate the message of Christ in His Gospel.
    • Chosen to create, to enter into and to build community that is at the heart of Christian education
    • Committed to the growth, development, and well-being of one’s educational family in the form of serve and love.

This individual truly witnesses to and fully shares in the mission of Christ and His Church in bringing about the Kingdom of God.

    1. Belief Statements/Oaths

Diocese of Phoenix16

Profession of Faith

(For newly hired Catholics in schools, catechetical or youth leadership positions)

I, N., with firm faith believe and profess each and every thing that is contained in the symbol of faith, namely:

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.  I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.  God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.  For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.  For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.  He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.  I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.  I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

With firm faith I also believe everything contained in God’s word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the Church, whether by way of solemn judgment or through the ordinary and universal magisterium, as divinely revealed and calling for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed definitively by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.

Moreover, I shall always teach in the accord with the Official Magisterium of the Church as it is proclaimed by the Pope and the College of Bishops.

Profession of Faith

(For newly hired Non-Catholics in schools)

I accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed definitively by the Catholic Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.

I shall always teach in accord with the official teachings of the Church as it is proclaimed by the Pope and the College of Bishops.

III. Contract and Handbook Language 

Generic Morals Clause Language: Positive and Negative

Samples of positive and negative moral clauses from various dioceses:

Negative statements.

Obviously, individual representatives of the Church—clergy as well as laity—have every right to hold opinions on these matters. They are obliged, however, to ensure that their private opinions are never expressed as the official position of the Catholic Church, or the Diocese of Alexandria, or the particular ecclesial parish or organization which they may represent or to which they may belong. (Diocese of Alexandria)17

To take a position directly contrary to the Church’s teaching—whether by lifestyle or speaking publicly against Church teachings—has serious consequences, in view of the impact made on the students by the teacher. (Diocese of Pueblo)18

Involvement in the commission of any serious crime, public scandal, or conduct substantially impairing the Teacher’s professional effectiveness or the Teacher’s portrayal of an example for pupil emulation; promulgation of teachings inconsistent with established Catholic teachings; or adoption of a way of life inconsistent with Catholic moral standards. (Diocese of Salina)19

…whenever, by public example, an employee engages in or espouses conduct which contravenes the doctrine and teaching of the Church, such employee may, at the sole discretion of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield, be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. (Diocese of Springfield, IL)20

Does not promulgate teachings inconsistent with established Catholic teachings; openly adopts a way of life or conducts self in a manner inconsistent with Catholic moral standards. (Diocese of Wichita, KS)21

Positive statements.

Church personnel will exhibit the highest Christian ethical standards and personal integrity. Church personnel will conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with the discipline and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. (Diocese of Burlington)22

Maintains exemplary adherence to correct doctrine, the teachings of the Church, and integrity of life in accordance with Canon 803 Sec. 2. (Diocese of Colorado Springs)23

All staff shall respect the religious and ethical teachings to which the school is committed as a Catholic school… Will faithfully represent the teachings of the Catholic Church with integrity in word and action. (Diocese of Fresno)24

Administrators, faculty and staff shall be qualified, supportive of the teachings of the Church and imbued with a strong sense of the mission of Catholic schools and act in ways that promote the best interests of the Church and do not violate the principles or tenets of the Catholic faith….All school administrators and all faculty shall adhere to Catholic faith, teaching and moral discipline… (Diocese of Joliet)25

Teachers must share the Gospel message announced by Jesus Christ and lived out in the Catholic church. Teachers, as educational leaders, must give witness to the truths and values of Catholic education. (Diocese of Louisville)26

The teacher in a Catholic school is a moral presence, a representative of the school’s mission to teach the Catholic values found in Scripture and tradition… Each teacher who accepts a position in a Catholic school commits to recognizing the unique character of Catholic education and to supporting its mission. (Diocese of Manchester)27

Exhibit the highest Christian ethical standards and personal integrity, and will accept the responsibility to witness in all relationship the chastity appropriate to their state of life, whether celibate, married, or single; Conduct themselves in a manner that is consistent with the discipline and teachings of the Catholic Church. (Archdiocese of Mobile)28

Embracing our varied callings of service and witness requires all to act in humility, in charity, and in justice. We are called to love and serve as Jesus loves and serves, and as such, aspire to the noblest of standards, most especially in service to children, young people, and the vulnerable. (Diocese of Owensboro)29

…it is recognized that there are certain positions within the diocese which require membership and active participation in the Catholic Church and a life style consistent with Church teachings in order to fulfill the responsibilities of the position. (Diocese of Rapid City)30

The principal shall select faculty and staff who live their lives to reflect ‘the fourfold dimensions of Catholic education: message, community, worship and service’. (Diocese of Salina)31

The diocese represents to its people and to the local community an organization based on strong moral and ethical principles. Employees are to be aware of their responsibilities to conduct themselves in harmony with these principles, and at all times reflect the Church’s teachings, integrity, and Christian concern for others. (Diocese of Shreveport)32

We expect teachers to maintain high ethical and professional standards and to accept supervision. (Diocese of Springfield IL)33

To reflect in both personal and professional life a commitment to Gospel values and the Christian tradition… To maintain standards of professional and personal conduct which reflect the values, principles, and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. (Diocese of Stockton)34

He or she gives witness every day to the distinctive character of the Catholic school, not only teaching according to gospel principles and moral values, but modeling the Church’s values and beliefs through word and action. (Diocese of Wichita, KS)35

Specific Language within Employment Documents

Archdiocese of Atlanta36 (Policy Manual)

The Christian dimension and the teacher’s role in promoting it are to be given priority when interviewing and making employment decisions.  “All members of the faculty, at least by their example, are an integral part of the process of religious education. …Teachers’ life style and character are as important as their professional credentials.” (National Directory for Catechesis)… They must be persons whose attitudes and values are consistent with the Catholic philosophy of education.  Each prospective teacher, regardless of religious affiliation, shall accept responsibilities in the educational ministry of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.  The professional character of the responsibilities accepted by the teacher includes responsibilities to the Christian community served by the school, and above all, to the students attending the school and their parents.  This responsibility requires the teacher’s personal life to be conducted in accordance with the teachings and principles of the Catholic Church and in such a manner as to set a proper example for students; employees who choose to lead their lives outside of the teachings of the Catholic Church jeopardize continued employment with Archdiocesan schools.

Diocese of Austin37(Statement in Letter of Acknowledgement for Employees)

    1. Employees must agree to adhere to the social, ethical and moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and conform their professional and personal conduct to those teachings.

Diocese of Austin38 (Employment Agreement)

Job Description of Principal: a. Ministerial Character – The principal is the visible principle and foundation of unity in the school which the Bishop has entrusted to the principal.  The principal makes Christ’s mission present and enduring in the school.  In order to fulfill the principal’s mission, the principal employs suitable, chosen collaborates (clerics, religious, or lay people).  The principal shares with them the principal’s mission and entrusts various responsibilities to them.  Positions employed in the school help to extend the ministry of the principal in particular ways as outlined in the job description.  Therefore, the employee in this position is closely connected to and assists the principal in the performance of the principal’s ministry and thereby engages in ministry for the church.

Archdiocese of Baltimore39(Contract 2015-16)

    1. Duties. …

2.3. Teacher acknowledges that TEACHER’s duties under this Agreement are an expression of the educational mission and ministry of the Church.  TEACHER agrees that TEACHER’S primary duties consist of teaching and spreading the Catholic faith.  Accordingly, TEACHER is expected to consistently exhibit a style of living and relating to others that is consistent with the Church’s tradition. …

    1. INCORPORATION OF POLICIES Teacher agrees as a condition of employment to comply in the performance of his or her duties under this Agreement with the following: …

5.2 Teachings, doctrines, ethics, and morals of the Roman Catholic Church as may be promulgated and interpreted from time to time by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore. …

TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT 11.2.1 …

    1. d) rejection of official doctrine or laws of the Roman Catholic Church in the performance of duties, …
    2. g) conduct or actions which are offensive to the community or which tend to embarrass the SCHOOL or the Archdiocese;
    3. h) behavior that seriously and publicly violated the official teachings of the Catholic Church as interpreted in the sole judgment of the Roman Catholic Archbishop…

Diocese of Baton Rouge40(Contract 2015-16)

4.a. Immorality: violation of law involving moral turpitude or unprofessional conduct reflecting great discredit on the teacher or the school…

    1. Any personal conduct or lifestyle which would be at variance with, or contrary to diocesan policies and/or the moral or religious doctrines or teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as stated by the Holy Father and the local Ordinary in collegial union with the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ on earth.

This conduct does not have to occur within the course and scope of employment for it to be an offense which will result in termination.

Diocese of Belleville41 (Code of Conduct Policy)

As personnel (as defined in the Child Protection Policy), I certify and voluntarily agree to abide by the following CODE OF CONDUCT:

I will exhibit the highest Christian ethical standards and personal integrity.  I will conduct myself in a manner that is consistent with the discipline and teachings of the Catholic Church.

Diocese of Birmingham42 (Contracts)

The Diocese considers each and every Diocesan employee, by association or design, as a representative of the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama.  Consequently, the Diocese expects its employees to be cognizant of this most important responsibility and conduct their lives, both professional and private, in accordance with the teachings, beliefs and spirit of the Roman Catholic Church. …

TERMINATION. …failure to perform services expected under the contract, conduct or omissions in the personal or professional activities of the Employee which in the opinion of the Superintendent do not reflect credibly on the school, the Diocesan system, the parish or are in violation of regulations of the Diocese or the Diocesan school system or failure to provide complete and accurate information regarding credentials etc.

Diocese of Boise43(Personnel Policies and Procedures and Human Resource Manual)

[The Principal must] be an appropriate role model as a practicing Catholic, be a person of high moral standards with a reputation for integrity, vision and imagination, and a lifestyle in conformity with the philosophy and teachings of the Catholic Church. A strong believer in the doctrines and teachings of the Catholic Church and the ideals and traditions of Catholic education.

Archdiocese of Chicago44 (Handbooks)

It is the responsibility of every member of the staff to act in an honest and forthright manner in all workplace concerns; to treat co-workers, supervisors, volunteers, parishioners and visitors with respect; and to conduct oneself in a moral and ethical manner consistent with Catholic principles.  Some of the actions which violate this policy on standards of conduct include, but are not limited to: …

    1. immoral or unethical conduct when such conduct has an adverse impact on the Church.

Archdiocese of Cincinnati 45(Contract)

Teacher-Minister agrees to comply with all policies, handbooks, rules and regulations of the School and of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.  Teacher-Minister also agrees to exemplify Catholic principles in a manner consistent with Teacher-Minister’s relationship with the Catholic Church and to refrain from any conduct or lifestyle which would reflect discredit on or cause scandal to the school or be in contradiction to Catholic social doctrine or morals.  While not meaning to infer that Teacher-Minister is involved in such conduct or lifestyle, by way of example, such conduct or lifestyle that is in contradiction to Catholic social doctrine or morals includes, but is not limited to: cohabitation outside marriage; sexual activity out of wedlock; same-sex sexual activity; use of abortion; use of a surrogate mother; use of in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination; advocacy (defined as presenting or promoting as acceptable- for conduct, lifestyle, positions, policies, programs, causes or movements in contradiction to Catholic social doctrine or morals; and/or flagrant deceit or dishonesty.  Teacher-Minister further agrees to teach and act consistently in accordance with the mission statement of the School and to strive to aid in the formation of students by personal witness so far as conscience allows to the stated philosophy and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church (these can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM, which is incorporated herein by reference).

Diocese of Cleveland46(Employment Agreement)

(see also Bishops’ Statements)

Role as Minister and Role Model of the Faith.  The Teacher-Minister, in signing this Agreement, represents that he/she has read and understands the Statement on the purpose of Catholic Schools and the Role of Teachers and Administrators in Catholic Schools by the Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, which is attached to this Agreement as Exhibit A and incorporated into this Agreement by this reference.  The Teacher-Minister understands and acknowledges that the Roman Catholic Church views the primary purpose of a Catholic school as a means of building up the Kingdom of God through the holistic and authentically Catholic formation of each student and that such development can only truly be fostered in a wholly Catholic environment.  The Teacher-Minister further understands and acknowledges that it is the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that teachers in a Catholic school are truly and in a very real sense engaged in a special ministry, or apostolate, of the Roman Catholic Church and that such teachers should bear witness to Christ in their lives as much as in their classroom instruction.  For this reason, Canon 803 of the Code of Canon Law requires that teachers of a Catholic school must be “outstanding in true doctrine and uprightness of life.”  As such, the Teacher-Minister agrees to act, speak, and live at all times in a manner consistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as expressed by the Magisterium of the Church including, without limitation, as found in the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church, which is available online at http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM and which is incorporated into this Agreement by this reference.  The Teacher-Minister understands that actions and speech that are contrary to Catholic teaching shall be grounds for disciplinary action up to and including termination.  The following, although in no way an exclusive list, represents by way of example certain speech or actions that are considered to be contrary to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church:

    1. Public support of positions contrary to Roman Catholic Church teaching (including, but not limited to, publically supporting abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, surrogate parenthood, direct sterilization, or so-called homosexual or same-sex marriage or unions).
    2. Procuring or assisting another in procuring an abortion.
    3. Making use of or participating in artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, or surrogate parenthood.
    4. Preparing for or engaging in a same-sex marriage or union.
    5. Engaging in or publicly supporting sexual relations outside or marriage (which shall be understood for purposes of the Agreement as being the marriage between one man and one woman).
    6. Living with another as husband or wife without the benefit of a marriage recognized as valid by the Roman Catholic Church or cohabitating outside of marriage.
    7. Engaging in or supporting transvestitism, transgenderism, or sex reassignment.
    8. Membership in any organization that is anti-Catholic or whose philosophy is in any way contrary to the ethical or moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
    9. Indecent or lewd behavior (including, but not limited to, the unlawful use of drugs, substance abuse, or use of pornography).
    10. Serious dishonesty.
    11. Entering into a marriage with a person when one of the parties to the marriage is validly married to another person in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church (e.g., entering into a marriage if one of the parties has entered into marriage previously and has not received an annulment from the Roman Catholic Church).
    12. Use of social media or electronic means of communication (e.g., email and texting) in an improper, immoral, or scandalous manner (including, but not limited to, use of social media or electronic means to communicate, post, share, or send material that is lewd, indecent, sexually suggestive, or pornographic).
    13. Any other actions or speech that are considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be immoral or evil or which might cause scandal, as such terms is understood by the Roman Catholic Church (i.e., and attitude or behavior which leads or tempts another to do that which the Roman Catholic Church considers evil or immoral).

Diocese of Colorado Springs47 (Policy)

PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR. Teachers in the Diocese of Colorado Springs have been placed in a position of trust and as such are expected to maintain professional relationships at all times with their students, parents and other staff both in and out of school, including vacation periods. By virtue of their position in the community, all teachers, principals and directors have an obligation to maintain Catholic, professional decorum at all times.

Diocese of Columbus48 (Policy)

ADHERENCE TO CHURCH TEACHINGS: All school personnel who serve in Catholic schools shall be examples of Catholic moral behavior and professionalism.  As explained by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops: The integration of religious truth and values with the rest of life is brought about in the Catholic school not only by its unique curriculum but, more important, by the presence of teachers [personnel] who express an integrated approach to learning and living in their private and professional lives.  All school personnel, regardless of their religious affiliation, are therefore required to abide by the moral valued advanced by the teachings of Christ, the tenants of the Catholic Church, and the policies and regulations of the Diocesan Department of Education, the Diocese and the employing school.  School personnel may be disciplined or terminated for violations of these standards, or any conduct which is contrary to, or requests or offends the teachings, doctrines, or principles of the Catholic Church.  While there may be others not mentioned below, examples of conduct that may result in termination of employment include: Public support of activities or beliefs contrary to Catholic Church teaching; Public statements disparaging or causing contempt against religion in general or the Catholic Church in particular; Entry into a marriage which is not recognized by the Catholic Church; Having an abortion or publically supporting abortion rights; Sexual relation (same or opposite sex) outside the institution of marriage as recognized by the Catholic Church; Pursuing or publically supporting in vitro fertilization.

Diocese of Columbus49(Contract)

    1. The Teacher serves as a Catholic role model both inside and outside of the school. Part of the Teacher’s duties is to convey the message and principles of the Catholic Church to students of the School, and thus the Teacher serves the role of a faith minister to youth. As such, Teacher shall refrain from conduct or lifestyle which would be in contradiction to Catholic doctrine or morals.  Teacher shall comply and act in accordance with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and the rules, regulations and policies of the School, the Diocesan Department for Education, and the Diocese of Columbus now in effect or that may be hereinafter adopted governing this employment, including but not limited to the Diocesan School Policy 4116.1 (“Adherence to Catholic Church Teachings”).  (Diocesan Department for Education policies and regulations are available on line at www.cdeducation.org/Policies.)   School has the right to dismiss Teacher for violation of these standards, thereby terminating any and all rights the Teacher may have to continued employment.

Diocese of Columbus50 (Employment Letter of Understanding)

#2. Employee understands that as an employee of a Catholic institution employee is expected to abide by Catholic Church teachings, both within and outside their employment duties, and regardless of her/his religious affiliation.  As such, Employee agrees to refrain from conduct or lifestyle which would be in contradiction to Catholic doctrine or morals.  Employee also agrees to comply with and act consistently in accordance with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and the rules, regulations, and policies of the employing agency and the Diocese of Columbus now in effect, or that may hereinafter be adopted governing this employment, including but not limited to the attached Adherence to Church Teachings policy Employee understands and agrees that the Employer has the right to dismiss Employee for violation of these standards, thereby terminating any and all rights Employee may have to continued employment.

Archdiocese of Denver51(Contract)

Ministering to students in their Catholic formation by infusing the cultural, academic, and liturgical life with Catholic values, tradition, and belief: grounding each Parish School in principles consistent with Catholic doctrine and practice; personally exemplifying the characteristics of Catholic living; and refraining from taking any public position or conducting himself or herself in a manner contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church. …

Cause for termination… Moral turpitude or failure to bear witness to Catholic life; Failure to teach and act in accordance with Catholic doctrine and moral teaching.

Diocese of Dubuque52(Policy Manual)

The distinctive Catholic identity and mission of the Catholic school also depend on the efforts and example of the whole faculty. “The integration of culture and faith is mediated by the other integration of faith and life in the person of the teacher. The nobility of the task to which teachers are called demands that, in imitation of Christ, the only Teacher, they reveal the Christian message not only by word but also by every gesture of their behavior.” All teachers in Catholic schools share in the catechetical ministry. “All members of the faculty, at least by their example, are an integral part of the process of religious education… Teachers’ life style and character are as important as their professional credentials.” Their daily witness to the meaning of mature faith and Christian living has a profound effect on the education and formation of their students.” While some situations might entail compelling reasons for members of another faith tradition to teach in a Catholic school, as much as possible, all teachers in a Catholic school should be practicing Catholics.

Diocese of Fargo53(2014-15 Handbook)

Teacher Responsibilities

    1. Duties and responsibilities as related to the Mission and Vision of the John Paul II Catholic Schools:
    2. Recognize and support the unique Catholic mission of our school
    3. Speak, act and instruct in a manner that is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.
    4. Integrate Catholic values and attitudes into classroom and all school activities.
    5. Make prayer a living, dynamic part of the school day.
    6. Maintain a classroom which reflects the Catholic identity of the school.
    7. Welcome all members to the community with openness and acceptance.
    8. Model an attitude of service.

Diocese of Fargo54(Contract)

SECTION ONE: The Teacher Agrees:

    1. That teaching, in the JPII Catholic Schools, is both by word and example and is a special calling. The Code of Canon Law reads: “It is necessary that the formation and education given in a Catholic School be based upon the principles of Catholic doctrine; Teachers are to be responsible for their correct doctrine and integrity of life.”  (Revised Code of Canon Law, Can. 803 #2).  Therefore, the Teacher agrees to teach, advocate, encourage, counsel, and witness in keeping with the beliefs and practices of the Catholic faith and teachings.

Diocese of Fort Worth55 (Contract)

The PRESIDENT agrees to be a practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church, to act in faithful accordance with the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church, to provide leadership in building the Catholic Faith Community in the SCHOOL, to show respect for Catholic beliefs, to work for the achievement of the goals of Catholic education, and to aid in the Catholic formation of the students by exemplifying in his/her own actions the characteristics of Catholic living.  The PRESIDENT agrees to become certified as a catechist.  Catholic Educational Ministry.  The PRESIDENT hereby accepts responsibilities in the educational ministry of the Diocese of Fort Worth.  The professional character of the responsibilities accepted by the PRESIDENT includes responsibilities to the Catholic community served by the SCHOOL, and above all, to the students attending the SCHOOL and to their parents.

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston56(Employment Agreement)

Termination for Cause: Conduct is immoral or insubordinate in the sole discretion of the Principal, …

    1. Unprofessional or inappropriate conduct reflecting negatively on TEACHER or SCHOOL, or conduct seriously impairing the continued usefulness or ability of TEACHER to function in his/her capacity as TEACHER, in the sole discretion of the Principal, and within the guidelines of the Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office.
    2. Any personal conduct or lifestyle that would be inconsistent with or contrary to, the policies, procedures and rules of the ARCHDIOCESE and/or the moral or religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as stated by the Bishop of Rome and/or the Bishop of Galveston-Houston, in the sole discretion of the Principal, and within the guidelines of the Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office. …
    3. Catholic Educational Ministry: TEACHER hereby acknowledges his/her responsibility in the educational ministry of the ARCHDIOCESE, through his/her interactions with the students attending school and with their parents. TEACHER agrees that an essential function of his/her position is to promote the Catholic-Christian ministry, beliefs, teachings, message and faith within SCHOOL, to exhibit respect at all times, through his/her individual conduct and behavior (whether on or off campus and whether on or off duty) for the Catholic-Christian ministry, beliefs, teachings, message and faith, and to aid in the development of the students attending SCHOOL by exemplifying the Catholic-Christian ministry, beliefs, teachings, message and faith, through all aspects of the performance of his/her duties. Likewise, TEACHER agrees to promote and spread the ministry, beliefs, teachings and message of the ARCHDIOCESE and its Catholic-Christian principles.  TEACHER further agrees to refrain from engaging in any conduct that may reflect discredit on, or tarnish the reputation of SCHOOL, or that is inconsistent with the ministry, beliefs, message, teachings and faith of the Roman Catholic Church.  In addition, TEACHER agrees at all times to abide by all policies, procedures and rules of the Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office.  The foregoing responsibilities and obligations apply whether TEACHER is on or off campus and whether TEACHER is on or off duty.  Any violation of the foregoing responsibilities and obligations is grounds for immediate termination of employment for cause.

Diocese of Gary57 (Contract)

(See also Teacher/Minister Contracts and Language)

    1. Ministerial Duties/Morals Clauses
    2. To teach in a Catholic school is to accept a ministry. The teaching ministry must clearly reflect the Catholic Christian spirit of love, understanding and humility. This ministry is witnessed not only in the manner in which the teacher performs his/her task of teaching, but also in the example the teacher sets for the students both in and outside the classroom.  This witness extends beyond the teacher’s individual classroom to include everyone associated with the school, parish, and diocese.
    3. Because the teaching ministry is exercised in the context of the Catholic Church, it is hierarchical in nature. Respect for the authority and earnest cooperation with the principal and administration of the school are essential. Therefore, the teacher understands, accepts, and agrees to maintain at all times, the proper Catholic Christian attitude and spirit of cooperation as an essential element of complying with the terms of this contract.
    4. Furthermore, in carrying out his/her duties under this agreement, the teacher agrees to faithfully reflect the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, in mind and in deed, and at all times, both in and out of school, to abide by the official teachings of the church, as interpreted by the Bishop of the Diocese of Gary. Teacher understands that Catholic theology is part of every subject taught in the school and that part of teacher’s ministry in the school is to apply the theological doctrine and teachings of the Catholic Church. Failure to comply may result in the immediate termination of this contract. …
    5. Termination of Contract.
    6. A) The School may terminate this contract for reasons including, but not limited to, the following: Failure to abide by the terms of Part A “Ministerial Duties/Morals Clauses” above… The determination that the teacher is involved in an offensive behavior or has taken a public position against any of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church… In the case of members of a religious congregation this contract shall be considered terminated if the herein named teacher ceases to function as a member of that religious congregation.

Diocese of Gaylord58(Contract)

(See also Teacher/Minister Contracts and Language)

The Teacher/Minister hereby accepts the terms of this Contract and the accompanying job description and agrees to perform the services required of the School and will assist the School in carrying out its Catholic educational ministry and policies during the entire term of this Contract.  The Teacher/Minister recognizes and accepts the fact that the School is an apostolate of the sponsoring Parish; that every teacher in the School is a minister in that apostolate, and that contracting to teach in a Catholic School implies understanding its special mission and orientation.  Accordingly, the Teacher/Minister agrees to conduct him/herself personally and professionally so as to reflect plainly and consistently the values, ministerial, and operational principles of the Parish/School, the Diocese of Gaylord, and the Universal Church.  The Teacher/Minister also recognizes and acknowledges the fact that there is within the Catholic Church a body of officially taught and commonly accepted beliefs, the communication of which is a fundamental purpose and mission of a Catholic School and that its students have a right to expect such communication implicitly and explicitly from its teachers regardless of the subject areas, grades, or courses being taught, and the Teacher/Minister agrees not to make any communications to students that in any way contradict or reject those teachings or commonly held beliefs.  The Teacher/Minister further understands and agrees that it is her or his duty to teach/administer and live in accord with what the Catholic Church holds and professes, and agrees to loyally observe the general rules and regulations applicable to those who minister in Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Gaylord as well as such special regulations or decrees as have been fixed and promulgated by the Parish, School or Ordinary of the Diocese of Gaylord.

Diocese of Grand Rapids59 (2012 Employee Policy Handbook)

Personnel 4130 Religious Standard in Employment (revised September 2008):

Teachers and principals hired to serve in our Catholic schools are expected to be Catholics in good standing and endowed with a Catholic philosophy.

The distinctive and unique purpose of the Catholic schools is to create a Christian educational community that is enlivened by a shared faith among administrator(s), students and parents.  The teachers and principals employed in the schools of the Diocese must have knowledge of and a respect for the Catholic faith and a commitment to Christian living.  Further, all teachers and principals are expected to spread the Catholic faith and supervise/participate in religious ritual and worship in propagation of that faith, including the observance and conduct of liturgy.  As such, teachers and principals employed occupy a position and share duties of religious significance that is connected and important to the Diocesan doctrinal mission.

Diocese of Great Falls-Billings60 (School Policy Manual 2014)

(Same as Diocese of Helena)

    1. All employees are expected to respect all the moral and religious teachings and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church and not to engage in any personal conduct or lifestyle that would be at variance with or contrary to the policies of the diocese, its parishes and schools, or the moral and religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.…

10-104.1 CATHOLIC MORAL STANDARDS.  Employee will live a lifestyle compatible with Catholic moral values.  They must exercise conduct consistent with Catholic teachings and not engage in any practice, whether in their personal life or their employed capacity that may be in conflict with the Catholic Church teachings on faith and morals. …

10-704 CAUSES FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION.  Personal conduct or lifestyle at variance with or contrary to the policies of the Diocese, its parishes and schools, or the moral and religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Diocese of Green Bay61 (Teacher Contract)

#14. The following Diocesan Board policy is set forth herein as an integral part of the contract.  A teacher may be dismissed for incompetence, cruelty, negligence, immorality, or whenever in the interests of the school such dismissal may be required.  Other justifiable grounds for dismissal include, but are not limited to: frequent absenteeism, unreasonable tardiness, unprofessional attitude, inability to deal cooperatively with administrator, students or parents, conduct not in keeping with Catholic principle and any applicable code of conduct. …

#17. The teacher, in a Catholic educational program, agrees as a condition of employment, he/she will support and exemplify in conduct both Catholic doctrine and morality as determined by the Diocesan Bishop.  He/She must be consistent, in expression and example, with the teaching and practice of the Catholic faith and shall not teach, advocate, encourage or counsel beliefs or practices contrary to the Catholic faith.

Diocese of Harrisburg62(Contract)

The vocation of every Catholic school Professional Employee is to engage in the sacred work of forming the human person through the communication of Truth. The achievement of this specific aim depends upon the person of the teacher. The Professional Employee, in addition to being well-prepared in the subject matter, is called upon to be a good example for the students. By teaching and example, the Professional Employee guides the students to the heart of total Truth.

The Professional employee is expected to conduct himself or herself in accordance with the accepted code of morality and professional ethics for a teacher in a Catholic school and to avoid any embarrassment to the individual school or the diocese.

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOL EDUCATORS. ‘The nobility of the task to which teachers are called demands that, in imitation of Christ, the only Teacher, they reveal the Christian message not only by word but also by every gesture of their behavior.’63 Commitment to the student – ‘Students should be able to recognize authentic human qualities in their teachers. They are teachers of the faith; however, like Christ, they must also be teachers of what it means to be human. This includes culture, but it also includes such things as affection, tact, understanding, serenity of spirit, a balanced judgment, patience in listening to others and prudence in the way they respond and finally, availability for personal meetings and conversations with students. A teacher who has a clear vision of the Christian milieu and lives in accord with it will be able to help young people develop a similar vision, and will give them the inspiration they need to put it into practice.’64

Archdiocese of Hartford65 (Policy Manual 2013)

3.101. All applicants and employees are expected to uphold and to act in accord with the religious, moral, and ethical principles of the Roman Catholic Church.  Publicly advocating positions or engaging in activities that violate the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church are sufficient grounds to decline to hire an applicant, or to terminate or otherwise discipline an employee. …

3.108. RELIGIOUS STANDARDS FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. It is recognized that administrators and teachers are engaged in a school conducted by the Roman Catholic Church for the express purpose of education in the academic, social, moral and religious values promulgated by that Church.  Administrators and teachers therefore are expected to conduct themselves both in teaching and example in a manner consistent with the academic, social, moral and religious teaching of the Catholic Church.  Public conduct which is contrary to Church teachings and is of sufficient magnitude may be found for disciplinary action, including termination. …

3.110 EMPLOYEE CONDUCT: The following acts are very serious in nature, and therefore, these acts, or acts of a similarly serious nature, shall constitute grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including immediate termination: Any willful act or conduct detrimental to the operations of the schools, parishes, administrative offices, or agencies of the Archdiocese of Hartford.  Public violation of the moral and ethical teachings of the Catholic Church.

Diocese of Helena66 (School Policy Manual 2014)

(Same as Diocese of Great Falls-Billings)

    1. All employees are expected to respect all the moral and religious teachings and beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church and not to engage in any personal conduct or lifestyle that would be at variance with or contrary to the policies of the diocese, its parishes and schools, or the moral and religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. …

10-104.1 CATHOLIC MORAL STANDARDS.  Employees will live a lifestyle compatible with Catholic moral values.  They must exercise conduct consistent with Catholic teachings and not engage in any practice, whether in their personal life or their employed capacity that may be in conflict with the Catholic Church teachings on faith and morals. …

10-704 CAUSES FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION.  Personal conduct or lifestyle at variance with or contrary to the policies of the Diocese, its parishes and schools, or the moral and religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Diocese of Honolulu (Article March 28, 2014)67

The Diocese does not release its teacher contract forms per the superintendent (Personal communication, April 17, 2015).  The article states that part of the contract language is, “‘The school expressly reserves the right to terminate the employment of any Teacher, who by word or example, denies the teachings or authority of the Church, or whose personal life or conduct is, based on Catholic teaching, immoral’… The Contract is called the ‘Standard Teacher Employment Agreement’ and the contract states that ‘homosexuality’ and ‘same sex unions’ are not permitted.”

Archdiocese of Indianapolis68 (Contract 2015-16)

Defaults: …

    1. Unprofessional conduct,
    2. Insubordination, …
    3. Cohabitation (living together) without being legally married,
    4. Any conduct in or out of school tending to reflect great discredit on the teacher or the school or tending to seriously impair the teacher’s continued effectiveness as a teacher; and, any personal conduct or lifestyle at variance with the policies of the Archdiocese or the moral or religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Diocese of Jefferson City69(Series 4000 Manual Revised 2012)

Faith Commitment

All persons within the Catholic school setting share in the basic mission of Catholic education.  For that reason, all shall demonstrate by their attitudes, words, actions, and the integrity of their lives that they support the beliefs and values that underlie Catholic education.  Personnel, as employees in a Catholic educational system, agree that, as a condition of employment, they will support and exemplify in conduct both Catholic doctrine and morality.  Personnel must be consistent, in expression and example, with the teaching and practice of the Catholic faith and shall not teach, advocate, encourage or counsel beliefs or practices contrary to the Catholic faith.

Personnel shall be either Catholics in good standing, who are committed to the Catholic faith and to Christian living, and who are registered members of a Catholic parish, or others who have a positive attitude toward the Catholic faith and a commitment to Christian living as well as having a lifestyle that is consistent with Church teaching and are registered members of their particular non-Catholic parishes.  They shall work with others within and beyond the school setting in a spirit befitting a Christian faith community.

PERSONNEL: Defaults

A teacher shall be deemed to be in default under the contract in the event of any breach of duty hereunder, including, but not limited to the following: …

    1. Cohabitation without being legally married…
    2. Any conduct, in or out of school, tending to reflect discredit or scandal on the teacher or the school or tending seriously to impair the teacher’s continued effectiveness as a teacher, any personal conduct or lifestyle at variance with the policies of the Diocese of Jefferson City or the moral or religious teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.

Diocese of Kalamazoo70 (Policy Manual)

The school administrator shall select the person who is the best qualified (includes being a practicing Catholic in good standing) to fulfill the responsibilities of the position and who will contribute greatly to the development of the Catholic faith community. …

TERMINATION: (same for teacher and administrator) …

    1. The undertaking by teacher of activities, within or outside of the employer/employee relationship, which are detrimental to the fundamental purpose and mission of the employer or constitute a failure to support and exemplify Catholic Faith and Morals as taught by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. …
    2. The teacher engages in any conduct in or out of the workplace which, in the judgment of the employer, constitutes serious or public immorality, sacrilege, lewd conduct, endangerment of health or safety, abusive conduct, public scandal or rejection of, or the holding up to doubt or question of the official teaching, doctrine, or laws of the Catholic Church.

Diocese of Lafayette71 (Addendum to Principal and Teacher Contracts 2013)

This addendum is made part of the Diocese of Lafayette (Principal/Teacher) contract.  The following non-exhaustive and non-exclusive list of acts is deemed to be at variance and inconsistent with the moral and religious doctrines and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Diocese of Lansing72 (Handbook)

Ministry.  The employer is a religious institution, and its efforts are directed toward the glory of God and the salvation of souls.  Employees of the Diocese of Lansing are commissioned to live and proclaim the Gospel always and everywhere.  While employees are asked to serve in a variety of roles, each employee’s duties and responsibilities are primarily religious.  That is, by word and deed, each employee is involved in spreading the faith and other key works of the Church.  Each employee’s position is vital to the spiritual and pastoral mission of the Church, and is inherently religious… Within the structure of federal and state law, the employer will deem as “ministerial” any employee whose duties are, to any significant degree, liturgical, evangelical, or educational, or pertain to the corporal works of mercy…

    1. Catholic Fidelity. In both personal and professional life, an employee must exemplify the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. The employee must not teach, advocate, model, or in any way encourage beliefs or behaviors that are contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church. …

TERMINATION: …

    1. Behavior or advocacy that is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Diocese of Lincoln73 (Contract)

THAT WHEN A JUST CAUSE (*) EXISTS, the Employer may immediately terminate this contract and the Employer shall be released of all obligations and liabilities of this contract…  * A just cause as used herein may include any one or more of the following:  Contradiction or rejection, by word or action, of doctrines, laws or norms of the CATHOLIC CHURCH; incompetence; immorality; cruelty; neglect of duty; general neglect of the business or policies of the SCHOOL; unprofessional conduct; physical or mental incapacity; any violation of law involving moral turpitude; any conduct tending to reflect grave discredit upon the school or the Catholic Church; or any conduct which interferes substantially with the continued performance of duties; or any breach of this AGREEMENT.

Diocese of Little Rock74(2014 Policy Manual)

3.05. …employees in the schools should meet the following criteria: Be willing to uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church, have a commitment to Christian living, be willing to mirror the Gospel values.

Archdiocese of Los Angeles75(Employment Agreements)

FACULTY EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

    1. …You understand and accept that the values of Christian charity, temperance and tolerance apply to your interactions with supervisors, colleagues, students, parents, staff and all others with whom you come in contact at or on behalf of the School. Accordingly, you are expected to model, teach, and promote behavior in conformity with the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. …
    2. Termination. …
    3. c) Unprofessional or unethical conduct…
    4. d) Any criminal, immoral or unethical conduct that relates to your duties as a teacher or brings discredit upon the school or the Roman Catholic Church.

ADMINISTRATOR EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

    1. …The Administrator understands and accepts that the values of Christian charity, temperance, and tolerance apply to his/her interactions.
    2. While all faculty and staff are expected to model, teach and promote behavior in conformity to Christian living, the Administrator in particular serves as a model of Roman Catholic teaching. The Administrator recognizes that the school is an apostolic ministry of the Roman Catholic Church and that the role of the Administrator in such a ministry is to offer a positive example and support to the students and the community. The Administrator agrees to further his/her professional growth and faith formation by continuing to study and to aid in the Christian formation of the School’s students by exemplifying Christian characteristics in his/her own actions. …
    3. The Administrator agrees to conduct himself/herself with due regard to public conventions and morals, and agrees not to do or commit any act or thing that will tend to degrade the Administrator in society or bring the Administrator into public hatred, contempt, scorn or ridicule, or that will tend to shock, insult or offend the community, or tend to embarrass the School, the Archdiocese or the Roman Catholic Church. …

TERMINATION (ADMINISTRATOR)

16.b. Unprofessional or unethical conduct…

    1. Any criminal, immoral or unethical conduct that relates to the Administrator’s duties or that brings discredit to the School, the Archdiocese or the Roman Catholic Church.

Archdiocese of Los Angeles76(Handbook)

5.11.1…School staff are called to be role models and witnesses to the Gospel of Christ and therefore, they shall adhere to proper conventions and Christian morals.  They shall maintain by words and actions a position that is in conformity with the teaching, standards, doctrines, laws, and norms of the Roman Catholic Church as interpreted by the ordinary/diocesan archbishop of the archdiocese.

5.11.2.  Teachers are called to strive toward the ideals and qualities desired in persons engaged in the ministry of Catholic education.  Those who are members of the Catholic Church are called to live in accordance with the teachings and precepts of the Church.  Those who are not Catholics are called to live according to the Gospel values that apply to all Christians.

Teachers will model qualities and attitudes that strengthen the school as a faith community by:

Living their commitment to Gospel values and Catholic tradition

Integrating faith and prayer in both private and professional life

Understanding that teaching in a Catholic school is a participation in the Church’s ministry of education. …

5.11.5  Recruitment and Hiring of Teachers: In both the teacher’s professional and private life, the teacher is expected to model and promote behavior in conformity to the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church in matters of faith and morals.

Diocese of Louisville77(Handbook 2014)

Personnel in Catholic schools must understand their connection to the parish and the Archdiocese. Church and school employees accept the mission of the Catholic Church to witness the message of Gospel values, to serve, to form community and to worship together as a faith community. School employees must understand and believe the basic doctrines of the church and follow a Christian code of ethics. Adults who work in schools must model basic beliefs and values of the Catholic Church. Catholic school employees are role models for children and parents.

Diocese of Madison78 (Teacher Contract 2010)

Teacher Responsibilities and Obligations.  A. Conduct himself or herself as a moral person who upholds the highest standards and ecclesiastical teachings of the Catholic Church and laws of the State of Wisconsin and acts accordingly at all times.

Diocese of Manchester79(Schools Handbook 2015)

    1. Principals and Catholic Identity. All principals or chief administrators shall be practicing Catholics who uphold the teaching of the faith and are committed to Catholic education that is academically excellent and rooted in Gospel values.
    2. Teachers and School Staff. Catholic teachers and Catholic staff shall be hired whenever possible. Administrators, faculty, and staff shall be qualified, supportive of the teachings of the Church, and imbued with a strong sense of the mission of Catholic schools. They shall act in ways that promote the best interests of the Church and do not violate the principles or tenets of the Catholic faith. All staff shall be responsible for integrating Catholic identity and Church teaching across the curriculum and in all school activities. All school administrators and all faculty members shall adhere to Catholic faith, teaching, and moral discipline, and shall not contradict the Catholic faith, teaching, and moral discipline either publicly or privately, and shall not harm communion with the Church.
    3. School Sponsored Guests and Activities. School sponsored guests, public statements, public events, and community activities of all Catholic schools shall not contradict the Catholic faith, teaching, and moral discipline, and shall not harm communion with the local Church.

Diocese of Marquette80(Contract)

The Teacher also recognizes and acknowledges the fact that there is within the Catholic Church a body of officially taught and commonly accepted beliefs, the communication of which is a fundamental purpose and mission of a Catholic School and that its students have a right to expect such communication implicitly and explicitly from its Teacher regardless of the subject areas, grades or courses being taught.  The Teacher agrees that he/she will be consistent in expression and example with the teaching and practice of the Catholic Faith and shall not teach, advocate, encourage or counsel students in beliefs or practices contrary to those teachings or commonly held beliefs of the Catholic Faith.

Archdiocese of Miami81 (Employee Handbook)

Standards of Conduct: The Archdiocese is a community devoted to promoting the mission of the Roman Catholic Church in South Florida.  Employees are seen as members of this community.  They are expected to have an interest in and be personally committed to the Archdiocese’s mission, goals and objectives.  Employees are expected to conduct themselves in a moral and ethical manner consistent with Catholic principles… Employees will witness by their public behavior, actions and words a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.  All employees should note that, because of the Church’s particular function in society, certain conduct, inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, could lead to disciplinary action, including termination, even if it occurs outside the normal working day and outside the strict confines of work performed by the employee for the Archdiocese… Public support or advocacy of positions, or conduct, which conflict with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.  …

Termination of Employment: …Reasons for Termination…

    1. Engaging in conduct contrary to or detrimental to the religious and professional character of the Archdiocese or its policies…

Diocese of Monterey82 (Master Employment Agreement Teachers)

Philosophy.  It is understood that the mission of the school is to develop and promote a Catholic School Faith Community within the philosophy of Catholic education as implemented at the School, and the doctrines, laws and norms of the Catholic Church.  All duties and responsibilities of the Teacher shall be performed within this overriding commitment…. I understand and agree that as an employee of the Diocese of Monterey Education and Welfare Corporation, I am an apostolic worker of the Roman Catholic Faith.

Archdiocese of New Orleans83 (Teacher-School Contract)

    1. The teacher agrees to abide by all rules and regulations of the School and/or applicable policies of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans…

4…the following shall constitute sufficient and just cause for immediate discharge

    1. Immorality, intemperance, insubordination, physical or mental incapacity, violation of law involving moral turpitude, unprofessional conduct reflecting great discredit on the Teacher or the School or seriously impairing the continued usefulness or ability of the Teacher to teach.
    2. Any personal conduct or lifestyle which would be at variance with, or contrary to the applicable policies of the Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and/or moral or religious doctrines or teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as stated by the Holy Father and the local Ordinary in collegial union with the Holy Father, the Vicar of Christ on earth.

Diocese of Oakland84(Contract 2015)

The teacher agrees to respect Catholic values and to aid students in Christian formation by exemplifying Catholic living, both in and out of the classroom… Bound by love to each other and to their pupils and imbued with the apostolic spirit, administrators and teachers bear witness by their life and teaching to the one teacher Christ. …

    1. The Teacher agrees to serve in a professional manner and to act in accordance with the Catholic doctrine and moral teachings.
    2. The teacher agrees to implement the teachings of the Catholic Church in the Catholic educational community. …

4 (i). Refrain from conduct which is inappropriate, unprofessional, unlawful or otherwise harmful to the Diocese, the School and/or the school’s students, parents/legal guardians, faculty, staff and administration.

4 (j). Demonstrate a public life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and refrain from taking a public position contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Archdiocese of Oklahoma City85(Code of Conduct)

All Archdiocesan Personnel are to uphold the standards of the Catholic Church in their day-to-day work and personal lives. Archdiocesan Personnel and leaders are expected to be persons of integrity and must conduct themselves in an honest and open way, free from deception or corruption and in a manner consistent with the discipline and teachings of the Catholic Church. Archdiocesan personnel are expected to follow rules of conduct that will protect the interests and safety of all, including the standards and policies set forth in this Code of Conduct and other Archdiocesan Policies and Guidelines.

Archdiocese of Omaha86 (Contract)

Personnel shall be either Catholics in good standing, who are committed to the Catholic faith and to Christian living, and who are registered members of a Catholic parish, or others who have a positive attitude toward the Catholic faith and a commitment to Christian living as well as having a lifestyle that is consistent with Church teaching and are registered members of their particular non-Catholic parishes.  They shall work with others within and beyond the school setting in a spirit befitting a Christian faith community.

Diocese of Orlando87(Handbook)

Employees are expected to conduct themselves in a moral and ethical manner consistent with Catholic principles… All employees should note that, because of the Church’s particular function in society, certain conduct, inconsistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, could lead to disciplinary action, including dismissal, even if it occurs outside the normal working day and outside the strict confines of work performed by the employee for the Diocese.

Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee88 (Handbook)

In order for the Diocese to carry out its mission to the people it serves, it is dependent upon the performance and conduct of each of its employees. Therefore, it is your responsibility to conduct your business dealings and personal behavior in a manner consistent with the ethics and moral standards set by the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Diocese of Peoria89 (Witness Statement)

…Catholic education, which includes education, formation and transformation, exists in order to evangelize.  Two important elements that make up the process of evangelization are proclamation and witness… But all who serve in Catholic education are called to be witnesses to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.  Therefore, the following Witness Statement applies to all who serve in Catholic education.  “All who serve in Catholic education in the school programs of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria will witness by their public behavior, actions and words, a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church”  Only those persons who can support this Witness Statement are to be employed by pastors and principals in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.  All who serve in Catholic education in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria should be made aware that support of this Witness Statement must be reflected in their public behavior.

All who serve in Catholic education should:

Believe in God;

Support belief in Jesus Christ;

Engage in prayer;

Respect ecclesiastical authority;

Possess a knowledge of the Catholic Church;

Not take a position contrary to the Catholic Church;

Demonstrate a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church;

If Catholic, have not rejected the Catholic Church;

Be active members of the Catholic Church, or of their own church if not Catholic.

Archdiocese of Philadelphia90 (Manual, brief statement in Union Agreement)

Article I, Section 7.  The System retains the sole right and duty to operate its school system in accordance with the philosophy of Christian education, the doctrines, laws, and norms of the Catholic Church.  Notwithstanding grievance and arbitration procedures hereinafter specified, any grievance arising from dismissal of a teacher for serious and public immorality and/or public rejection of official doctrine or laws of the Church shall be first discussed orally with the Principal and/or the System.  The charge shall then be reduced to writing and presented to the teacher.  The teacher or the Association may then file a grievance at the System level.  If the grievance is not resolved at the previous level, the teacher or the Association may request arbitration by the Ordinary of the Archdiocese or his designee whose decision shall be final and binding on all concerned.

Diocese of Phoenix91 (Policy Manual)

3-1.3.01 The Principal must be a practicing Catholic in full communion with the Catholic Church, who evidences knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, and who is a registered member of a parish or mission within the Diocese.

    1. The Principal shall give active witness to the Catholic Tradition, including the teachings of the Church and the Sacred Scriptures …

3-1.3.03 Elementary and high school teachers and counselors are models for the faith development of the students. As such, they are expected to be people of faith who uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church. …

    1. Professional Behavior. …

2b. Promoting and living according to gospel values and Catholic moral teaching; and

    1. upholding the doctrinal teachings of the Catholic Church. …
    2. All school personnel shall maintain an awareness of their role as a Catholic educator and of the impact that their behavior has on the students and the Catholic community.
    3. No school personnel shall do anything that is illegal or that might cause public scandal to the school.
    4. School personnel act as role models for the faith development of the students… be people of faith who uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church and who live according to those teachings.
    5. All school administrators and teachers must make a profession of Faith, in which they promise, among other things, to firmly accept and hold each and everything that is professed definitively by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals, and to live their lives according to the Catholic faith…
    6. Termination

1a. A serious violation of Church law that violates the Profession of Faith or that results or may result in public scandal.

    1. Unprofessional conduct or conduct that violates the Diocese’s Code of Ethics or the Employee’s contract.

Diocese of Pittsburgh92(“Cardinal’s Clause”)

The employee recognizes the religious nature of the Diocese of Pittsburgh and agrees that the employer has the right to dismiss an employee for serious public immorality, public scandal, or public rejection of the teachings, doctrine or laws of the Roman Catholic Church, thereby terminating any and all rights that the employee may have hereunder, subject, however, to the personal due process promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church.

Examples of the violation of this clause would include, but are not limited to, entry by an employee into a marriage which is not recognized as being valid by the Roman Catholic Church, support of activities which espouse beliefs contrary to Catholic Church teachings an laws such as advocacy of a practice such as abortion, or the holding up to doubt or question the official teachings, doctrine or laws of the Catholic Church.

Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon93(Contract)

By accepting employment in a Catholic School, the employee agrees to respect Catholic values and to aid in Christian formation by exemplifying a lifestyle of Christian principles both in school and out of school. The employee shall exhibit a lifestyle that is compatible with Catholic moral values and professional conduct consistent with Catholic teaching, and shall not do, commit, or permit any act that will tend to demean or degrade him/her in society or bring the employee or the School into public disrepute.

Diocese of Pueblo94

LIFESTYLE POLICY FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOL EDUCATORS

All Catholics in the education ministry in the Diocese of Pueblo must be in good standing with the Catholic Church and be aware that support of Church teachings must be reflected in their public behavior. Non-Catholics who teach in Catholic schools, although they do not necessarily have a commitment to Catholicism, must uphold in their teaching and lifestyle basic Catholic teachings and practices, so as not to misdirect their students.

To take a position directly contrary to the Church’s teaching — whether by lifestyle or speaking publicly against Church teachings — has serious consequences, in view of the impact made on the students by the teacher. Should any situation arise that is contrary to or at variance with this diocesan policy, a pastoral approach will be taken to insure the best possible benefit to the children, and to foster the spiritual well-being of the individual in question. However, all educators employed by the school or the parish should be aware that words, conduct or action contrary to or at variance with this policy may result in discipline, including but not limited to termination.

Certain specific acts which violate the spirit of the Gospels and the Church’s teachings and which may lead to discipline and/or termination include:

    1. Contracting a marriage in violation of the rules of the Catholic Church.
    2. Living with another as husband and wife, without benefit of a valid marriage.
    3. Conviction of a felony crime which involves moral turpitude.
    4. Obtaining or assisting another to obtain an abortion.
    5. Actively engaging in homosexual activity.
    6. Immoral or dishonest conduct impairing one’s effectiveness as a teacher.
    7. Becoming pregnant, out of wedlock, while teaching/working in a Catholic school.
    8. Membership in any organization which is anti-Catholic, and whose philosophy is racist and/or any way contrary to the Church’s teaching on social justice.
    9. Engaging in any activity, immoral or illegal, which would show bad example to the students (e.g. illicit use of drugs, alcohol abuse, pornography, indecent behavior or abuse of any kind).
    10. Maintaining by word or action a position contrary to the teaching standard, doctrines, laws and norms of the Catholic Church.

The foregoing is not an exhaustive list. The school or the parish reserves the right to make a determination in each case whether or not an educator’s actions or lifestyle violate the moral or religious doctrines or teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Some dioceses have attached this policy to the employment contract, included the policy in the employment contract, or inserted the policy into the teacher’s job description. A sample is included in Appendix F.

Diocese of Raleigh95 (Employee Handbook)

TERMINATION: …

    1. i. Behavior in violation of the Code of Conduct for Church Personnel for the Diocese of Raleigh…
    2. Personal conduct or life style contrary to the moral and religious doctrine or teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as interpreted by the Bishop of Raleigh. …

APPENDIX – CODE OF CONDUCT FOR CHURCH PERSONNEL …

1.4 …Church personnel in the Diocese of Raleigh agree to abide by this Code of Conduct and understand that disregarding these principles through personal conduct or life style contrary to the moral and religious doctrines or teachings of the Roman Catholic Church may lead to corrective and/or disciplinary action.

CODE OF CONDUCT SECTION 2: Principles

2.1 Church personnel of the Diocese of Raleigh shall: a. Respect the teachings and precepts of the Catholic Church. …

TERMINATION: …

    1. The employee is determined to have engaged in ethical misconduct or committed a serious infraction of Diocesan rules including, but not limited to: …
    2. Behavior in violation of the Code of Conduct for Church Personnel for the Diocese of Raleigh…
    3. Personal conduct or life style contrary to the moral and religious doctrines or teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as interpreted by the Bishop of Raleigh.

Diocese of Richmond96 (Handbook)

NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY

In addition, for Catholic employees, conformance with religious tenets of the Catholic faith is a condition of employment, and all employees may be prohibited from performing, teaching or advocating in the workplace any practices of doctrines which are inconsistent with religious tenets of the Catholic faith.

CATHOLIC SCHOOL DECORUM POLICY

    1. Faculty members are expected to provide sound formation in the Catholic faith and academic excellence in secular subjects.
    2. Faculty members are expected to promote the purpose of Catholic education through their personal lives, professional skills, word and example, both in and outside of school.
    3. Faculty members are expected to uphold and propagate the doctrinal and moral teachings of the Catholic Church; they should be devoted to the implementation of these teachings in their daily lives.

HIRING PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS

    1. In the interview process the Principal shall clearly explain and discuss the role and nature of the Catholic school and the Catholic schoolteacher in the Church’s education mission.
    2. Prospective teachers should be asked whether they understand the philosophy, goals and objectives of the school, in particular its Catholic identity and mission, and if they can work in and promote the same.

Diocese of Rockford97 (Contract)

DUTIES: A. Teacher agrees to teach in accordance with the religious faith and moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church as determined by the ordinary of the Diocese or his designee: to abide by the philosophy, goals, mission, objectives, rules and regulations of SCHOOL; and to be bound by the written policies of the Diocese of Rockford and SCHOOL…

    1. TEACHER agrees that, both at work and away from work, TEACHER will abide by and live in accordance with the religious faith and moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, as determined by the Ordinary of the Diocese or his designee, and that failure to do so shall entitle SCHOOL to cancel this contract and void any and all obligations under it. …

TERMINATION OF CONTRACT: Notwithstanding the above, any act or conduct at or away from work which is non-remediable, as determined in the sole discretion of SCHOOL; or which is not consistent with TEACHER’s position…or the religious faith and/or moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, as determined by the Ordinary of the Diocese or his designee, warrants immediate discharge and termination of this contract or other disciplinary action…

Diocese of Sacramento98 (Pre-Application Statement)

(See also Pre-Application Statements)

As a community of believers, we embrace as a matter of faith, the teachings, policies and beliefs of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, as defined in the Deposit of Faith. We, therefore, reject anything which is contrary to that teaching, including: abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, artificial contraception, voluntary sterilization, and the unnecessary use of capital punishment, pornography and obscenity, adultery, cohabiting in sexual relationships of any nature outside of marriage, homosexual activity, the notion of ‘gay marriage,’ and the adoption or placement of children in anything other than a traditional family setting; …Those unable to authentically witness the Catholic faith by their lives may wish to reflect and seek pastoral guidance before applying  for employment or ministry in the Church…Persons whose lives do not witness the teachings of the Catholic faith by virtue of their own objections or disbelief, or are unable to witness the Catholic faith by virtue of their lifestyle choices or public conduct, do not meet the basic criteria to work or minister in the name of the Church.

Archdiocese of St. Louis99(Hiring Policies and Procedures)

Qualifications for Catholic School Educators:

Commitment to the educational mission of the Catholic Church.

Public witness of a lifestyle consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church

Religion certified by the Archdiocese (for teachers of religion)…

Ability to support and implement the philosophy of education for the Archdiocese of St. Louis and to contribute to the unique climate of a Catholic school

Commitment to quality education for youth

Archdiocese of St. Louis100(Application)

(See also Witness Statements)

WITNESS STATEMENT …Catholic education, which includes education, formation and transformation, exists in order to evangelize. Two important elements that make up the process of evangelization are proclamation and witness…  But all who serve in Catholic education are called to be witnesses to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church. Therefore, the following Witness Statement applies to all who serve in Catholic education.

All who serve in Catholic education in the school programs of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria will witness by their public behavior, actions and words, a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Only those persons who can support this Witness Statement are to be employed by pastors and principals in the Catholic Diocese of Peoria. All who serve in Catholic education in the Catholic Diocese of St. Louis should be made aware that support of this Witness Statement must be reflected in their public behavior.

All who serve in Catholic education should: Believe in God; Support belief in Jesus Christ; Engage in prayer; Respect ecclesiastical authority; Possess a knowledge of the Catholic Church; Not take a position contrary to the Catholic Church; Demonstrate a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church; If Catholic, have not rejected the Catholic Church; Be active members of the Catholic Church, or of their own church if not Catholic.

Diocese of Salt Lake City101(Religious Qualifications)

Because the distinct purpose of the Catholic school is “to create a Christian educational community where knowledge is enlightened and enlivened by faith”, teachers employed in the diocesan school system should:

    1. Be practicing Catholics who have knowledge of the Catholic faith adequate to teach its content.
    2. Live and model the principles and moral values which are part of Catholic school curriculum.
    3. Understand and be dedicated to the ministry of Catholic education.

EXCEPTION: If a Catholic teacher is not available, or when deemed otherwise appropriate, a non-Catholic may be employed. Teachers of other faiths can make valuable contributions as members of the teaching staff.

    1. An exception may be made by the superintendent with the advice of the principal.
    2. They may be hired on the condition that they understand and are fully committed to the distinctive purpose, philosophy, and spirit of Catholic school education.
    3. Non-Catholic teachers should live within the Catholic spirit and teachings regarding lifestyle.
    4. A non-Catholic may not teach a Catholic religion class.

Diocese of San Diego102 (Pre-Application Statement)

[A]s coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord, are rightly expected to be practicing Catholics whose faith is an essential part of their daily lives, and who participate fully in the communal worship and life of the Church… It believes that conjugal love and human procreation are gifts from God to be shared only by those joined in marriage as established by God himself… It rejects anything to the contrary, including: Abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and the unnecessary use of capital punishment; Pornography and obscenity, adultery, cohabiting in sexual relationships of any nature outside of marriage and homosexual activity; Any restriction of religious liberty; …Persons who do not respect the teachings of the Church, either by virtue of their own objections or disbelief, or by virtue of their lifestyle choices or public conduct, do not meet the basic criteria to work in the Church.

Archdiocese of San Francisco (Press Release Feb. 3, 2015)103

The Archdiocese of San Francisco is proposing three new clauses to the contracts for the teachers in the Archdiocesan high schools.  The purpose is to further clarify that Catholic schools—as the first clause states—“exist to affirm and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ as held and taught by his Catholic Church.” The Archdiocese is also adding detailed statements of Catholic teaching on sexual morality and religious practice—taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church—into the faculty and staff handbooks…

Archdiocese of Santa Fe104 (Code of Ethics)

The following fundamental principles from Church teachings and traditions apply to the behavior of all Archdiocesan personnel as they: Strive to exhibit the highest Christian ethical standards and personal integrity in their day-to-day work and personal lives, supporting the teachings, discipline and traditions of the Catholic Church; Strive to conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner in both Church and work environments avoiding any flagrant or public misconduct.

Diocese of Santa Rosa (Article Feb. 13, 2015)105

Santa Rosa’s Bishop Vasa puts forward new ethics code for diocese teachers

…The ethics code “reminds diocesan school employees they are both educators and ministerial agents of the Catholic Church”… the new contract and code relies on the Catechism of the Catholic Church—a foundational document promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1992—to clarify the church’s moral code, including its objection to contraception, abortion, same-sex marriage and euthanasia. …

The new contract [2015], like previous contracts, contains a reference to an updated ethics code for Catholic school principals and teachers. The diocesan “code of ethics” states that the church’s catechism is the source for all references to Catholic teaching, values, and morals. …

Diocese of Santa Rosa (Article Feb. 19, 2015)106

Bishop revises Catholic school teacher contracts

The ethics code “outlines personal and professional commitments and details acceptable understandings and corresponding behaviors for those entrusted with delivering Catholic education”, said a news release from Vasa.

Diocese of Santa Rosa107 (Code of ethics)

PRINCIPLE I: Commitment to the Church. Presidents, principals and teachers… have the responsibility of fostering—through their positions and in the lived reality of their lives—the values, principles, doctrines and teachings of the institutional Catholic Church or, at least, of never publicly contradicting them. …

2… to heed God in our thoughts, words and deeds…

    1. …must be models of “exemplary life both personally and professionally” (cf. employment contract). Thus, whether we are at school or outside of school, our public behavior is to be in conformity with Church teaching as expounded in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.
    2. …to know “Church Teaching” (cf. contract) and, if Catholic, to believe in accord with what the Catholic Church holds and professes…
    3. Recognize that, in its entirety, The Catechism of the Catholic Church constitutes the source and standard according to which all the ethical matters stated or implied in this Commitment and in the contract are understood and adjudicated.

Diocese of Santa Rosa108 (Employment agreement)

    1. The Catholic teacher [Principal] in a Catholic school must be a model of Catholic living and adhere to Catholic teachings in both personal and professional life. The non-Catholic teacher in a Catholic school must be a model of exemplary life both personally and professionally. The teacher in a Catholic school must not teach, advocate, model or in any way encourage beliefs or behaviors contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church…
    2. Cause for discharge of a teacher …public conduct-whether in personal or professional life – that violates the teachings of the Catholic Church or that reflects discredit on the school.

Diocese of Savannah109 (Contract)

TERMINATION (P.61) …

(b) The Principal may suspend and/or dismiss the Teacher for good cause, including, but not limited to, misconduct, neglect of duty, failure to comply with the matters contained within this agreement, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, violation of the terms of this Agreement, or any conduct tending to reflect discredit upon the School or tending to impair the Teacher’s usefulness as a Teacher. The contract will, also, be terminated if the Teacher’s lifestyle is incompatible with Catholic moral values or if professional conduct is at variance with Catholic teaching.

Archdiocese of Seattle110(Covenant)

 (See also Teacher/Minister Contracts and Language)

The teacher agrees to respect Catholic values and to aid students in Christian formation by exemplifying Catholic living, both in and out of the classroom. Catholic schools educate their pupils to promote efficiently the good of the earthly city, and prepare them for the service of spreading the kingdom of God, so that by the exercise of an exemplary and apostolic life they may become, as it were, the saving leaven of human society. Bound by love to each other and to their pupils and imbued with the apostolic spirit, administrators and teachers bear witness by their life and teaching to the one teacher Christ (Gravissimum Educationis 8). This is the spirit that characterizes the covenantal relationship between the employer and the employee in the Catholic School. The following items of agreement are meant to give specific delineation to certain aspects of the relationship.

This covenant may also be terminated if the teacher’s life-style is incompatible with Catholic moral values or if his/her conduct is at variance with Catholic teaching.

Diocese of Spokane111(Policy manual)

    1. 4111. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION. Great care shall be taken to secure the most highly qualified teachers and other personnel. Principals are the chief administrative personnel officers for the school. Principals shall follow diocesan policies and regulations in regard to personnel matters. 5. Only those teachers who are committed to the philosophy reflected in the document to Teach as Jesus Did shall be hired. Competent practicing Catholics shall be preferred.

4111.7. CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHINGS. All Catholic school employees are expected to respect, support, and publicly model the traditions and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.

Diocese of Springfield IL112(Policy)

For catechesis to be effective, the catechist must be fully committed to Jesus Christ. Faith must be shared with conviction, joy, love, enthusiasm and hope. “The summit and center of catechetical formation lies in an aptitude and ability to communicate the Gospel message.”3 This is possible only when the catechist believes in the Gospel and its power to transform lives. To give witness to the Gospel, the catechist must establish a living, ever-deepening relationship with the Lord. He or she must be a person of prayer, one who frequently reflects on the scriptures and whose Christ-like living testifies to deep faith. Only men and women of faith can share faith with others, preparing the setting so that people can respond in faith to God’s grace.

The fulfillment of the unique goals of Catholic education rests largely in the hands of the catechists. The beliefs and values of each person, exemplified through his/her professional and private lives, play an essential part in the educational process. It is important, therefore, that all engaged in the catechetical ministry of the diocese give assurance that they understand what it means to be a catechist in the catechetical mission of the Church. This section sets policy for all individuals ministering within the diocese in any of the programs listed in Policy §1101. (NB: See section 1101: Includes personnel in Catholic schools)

Diocese of Springfield MA113(Employee handbook)

3-19 … employees are, in their actions, expected to share, appreciate and uphold the teachings, principles, policies and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Springfield in word and example. Grounds for discipline or discharge include teaching, promoting or living a lifestyle in contradiction to the teachings of the Catholic Church, publicly advocating for a position contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church, and proven violations of sexual morality standards taught by the Catholic Church, such as cohabitation, adultery, publicly advocating or practicing homosexuality and child molestation.

3-20. Whenever, by public example, an employee engages in or espouses conduct, which contravenes the doctrine and teaching of the Church, such employee may, at the sole discretion of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield, be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. We expect our employees to be ethical in their conduct. It affects our reputation and success.

Diocese of Springfield MA114(Faculty agreement)

I know I must possess and demonstrate consistently such important qualities as ethical and moral integrity, cooperation, honesty, and resourcefulness.

Diocese of Tucson115 (2011 Handbook and Contract)

3200 PERSONNEL QUALIFICATION:

    1. Administrators …

(B) Be a person of faith who upholds the teachings of the Catholic Church. A Catholic educator’s first legal duty is to be true to the teachings of the Catholic Church. A Catholic educator is an agent of the Catholic Church and must hold to its teachings. (Shaughnessy).

    1. Teachers As role models for students, Catholic schoolteachers shall meet the following minimum requirements:

(A) Same as Administrators (B) above …

3500 Professional Conduct. Teachers in a Catholic school have been placed in a position of trust and are expected to maintain professional relationships at all times with their students both in and out of school, including vacation periods.

3510 A. Administrators, teachers, and staff shall not cause or allow any practice, activity, decision, or circumstance which:

    1. Violates the educational tradition, teachings, and mission of the Diocese
    2. Violates Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church. …
    3. Administrators, teachers and all staff shall not cause or allow conditions, activities, or decisions that endanger or adversely affect the school’s public image or credibility, particularly in ways that would hinder the accomplishment of its mission.

Diocese of Tucson116(Contract)

CONTRACT: The Teacher agrees to conduct himself or herself at all times in accordance with Catholic morality and the rules and regulations of the Diocese of Tucson and the Parish so as to avoid any embarrassment or scandal to the Diocese or the Parish.  The Teacher agrees that if he or she should engage in any conduct in or out of the workplace which, in the judgment of the Parish, constitutes serious or public immorality, sacrilege, lewd conduct, endangerment of health or safety, abusive conduct, public scandal, or rejection of, or the holding up to doubt or question of the official teaching, doctrine or laws of the Roman Catholic Church, the Teacher may be dismissed immediately by the Parish without prior notice.  If the Teacher’s employment is terminated pursuant to this Clause, he or she may, within seven (7) days of his or her dismissal, petition the Parish Pastor to, at his discretion, review the termination decision.  Petition to the Parish Pastor shall be the sole and exclusive means of review of dismissals for violation of this Clause.

Diocese of Tulsa117(Contract)

3b. To, as a minister of the Catholic faith, teach and act in strict accordance with the precepts and teachings of the Catholic Church…

Diocese of Tulsa118 (Code of Ethical Standards)

Code of Ethical Standards. …

Section III1. …

    1. Sexual Conduct

3.1 Church leaders who have made a commitment to celibacy or who have made a marital commitment are called to fidelity to their promises, and to witness to this fidelity in all their relationships. Unmarried Church leaders are expected to exercise chastity in keeping with their state in life.

3.2. Any sexual activity with persons who are not the spouse of the Church leader is in violation of this code.

3.3 It is the personal and professional obligation of the Church leader to be knowledgeable about what constitutes sexual exploitation of another and to be familiar with the laws of the State of Oklahoma regarding sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, and sexual assault. …

3.5 Any allegation of sexual misconduct will be taken seriously and reported to the Vicar General of the Dioceses.

Diocese of Victoria119 (Policy)

…a condition of employment will include the obligation to support the distinctive character of the Diocese of Victoria by appropriate personal conduct and respect for the Catholic faith.

Diocese of Wichita120(Application)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: I understand that active membership in the Catholic Church is a bona fide occupational qualification for employment as a teacher in Catholic schools. For this reason, preference may be given to hiring practicing Catholic who are in good standing with the Catholic Church, or to persons whose moral convictions and behavior support and emulate the teachings of the Catholic Church. 2. The Catholic Church teaches that each marriage is sacred and permanent. Therefore, I understand that persons who are living together as though the conjugal relationship existed, or who have remarried without an annulment dissolution of the first marriage may not be hired or retained in employment. 6. I understand that if it is found that I am, or have been involved in the commission of any serious crime, public scandal, or other conduct substantially impairing my professional effectiveness, or that I have promulgated teachings inconsistent with established Catholic teachings, or that I have openly adopted a way of life inconsistent with Catholic moral standards, or that I have otherwise portrayed myself in a way that is not appropriate for student emulation in a Catholic school, I may not be hired or retained in employment with the Catholic Diocese of Wichita.

Diocese of Yakima121  (Policy manual and contracts)

1.8(A). All employees of a Catholic school must act in an honest and forthright manner in all workplace concerns…by conducting themselves in a moral and ethical manner consistent with Catholic principles. …

1.9. The principal must be a practicing Catholic, live a life style consistent with Catholic moral values, and exercise professional conduct consistent with Catholic teaching…

3.1(A) All employees who work in a Catholic school of the Diocese of Yakima agree to live a life style compatible with Catholic moral values, exercise professional conduct consistent with Catholic teaching, and promote the Catholic identity of the schools through personal example…

3.21(B) …2. Conduct, behavior or interpersonal relationships inconsistent with the mission of the Church, as determined by the principal or pastor;

    1. Public support or advocacy of issues/organizations that oppose the teachings of Church. …

Diocese of Yakima122 (Teacher Contract)

#10. The contract may also be terminated if the teacher’s life-style is incompatible with Catholic moral values or if professional conduct is at variance with the policies of the Diocese of Yakima.

Diocese of Yakima 123 (Principal Contract)

#6. Cause for discharge related to Principal conduct shall include, but is not limited to, the following: public rejection of the official teachings, doctrine, or laws of the Roman Catholic Church

Diocese of Youngstown124(Manual)

    1. Policy: All employees who work in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Youngstown must agree to respect Catholic values and help students in their faith formation by exemplifying Catholic living both in and out of the school. This includes Adherence to Catholic Teaching. This is the spirit which guides the relationship between the employer and employee in Catholic schools.

CODE OF CONDUCT: A. Professional Standards

Faculty members will provide their students solid formation in the Catholic religion and academic excellence in secular subjects.

Faculty and staff members must be willing to promote the purpose of Catholic Education through their personal lives, professional skills, word and example, both in and outside of school.

Faculty and staff members must uphold and propagate the doctrinal and moral teachings of the Catholic Church; they must be devoted to the implementation of these teachings in the daily conduct of the students.

Faculty and staff members who are Catholic must be in good standing with the church. All married faculty members must be in marriages recognized as valid by the Catholic Church. Faculty and staff members will not engage in behavior or make statements which are in conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church. Faculty members will promote and encourage frequent liturgical celebrations as well as prayer before and after class. Faculty and staff members will encourage students to follow standards of behavior that promote academic excellence, the dress code of the school, and Christian respect for all persons, property, and lawful authority, especially the authority of the Catholic Church.

    1. Addendums

Diocese of Lafayette125

Principal/Teacher Contract

Addendum

This addendum is made part of the Diocese of Lafayette Principal (Teacher) Contract.  The following non-exhaustive and non-exclusive list of acts is deemed to be at variance and inconsistent with the moral and religious doctrines and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church:

    1. Contracting a marriage in violation of the rules of the Catholic Church. CCC Nos. 1603; 1614; 1650-51: 2384.
    2. Living with another as husband and wife, without benefit of a valid marriage. CCC Nos. 2350; 2353; 2390; 2391.
    3. Conviction of a felony or a crime which involves moral turpitude. CCC Nos. 2268; 2284-5; 2297ff; 2353-56; 2387-89.
    4. Obtaining or assisting another to obtain an abortion. CCC Nos. 2271; 2272.
    5. Actively engaging in homosexual activity. CCC Nos. 2357-59.
    6. Immoral or dishonest conduct impairing one’s effectiveness as a principal. CCC Nos. 1952; 2039; 2284-85; 2408.
    7. Becoming pregnant out of wedlock while teaching/working in a Catholic school; fathering a child out of wedlock while teaching/working in a Catholic School. CCC Nos. 1935; 1947; 2284-85.
    8. Membership in any organization which is anti-Catholic, and whose philosophy is racist and/or any was contrary to the Church’s teaching on social justice.
    9. Engaging in any activity, immoral or illegal, which sets a bad example for students (e.g. illicit use of drugs, alcohol abuse, pornography, indecent behavior or abuse of any kind). CCC Nos. 2284-85; 2354; 2335.
    10. Maintaining by word or action a position contrary to the teaching standards, doctrines, laws and norms of the Catholic Church. CCC Nos. 2030; 2032; 2044; 2072-3. NOTE: References are to the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).
    11. Handbook-Based Policies

Archdiocese of Kansas City126 (Handbook)

After a discussion of the qualities of a Catholic school, Archbishop Joseph Naumann inserts a letter to his “Co-Workers in Catholic Education”. Within the letter the Archbishop describes the mission of Catholic education as emanating from Jesus Christ and states that teacher have a “special ministry” a “vocation” in the Catholic school. He states, “You are ‘called’ and ‘sent’ by Jesus, through the Church, as were the apostles. You are, as the apostles, privileged to teach and to lead. You bear witness to the TRUTH; you bring LIFE, as Jesus did.” He concludes, “May you find great joy and peace in being a ‘co-worker’ with Jesus and the Church in your vocation of providing Catholic education for our youth and young people.”

Qualifications and Expectations for Teachers. Teachers have a special calling to personal holiness and apostolic mission. They reveal the message of Christ not only by word but also by every action of their lives. It is important, therefore, that teachers understand that first and foremost they are catechists, regardless of their teaching assignment. To fulfill this religious ministry, the Catholic school teacher must be a person of faith; he/she must be one who believes in God and strives to live a life of virtue, following the example of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church*. A Catholic school teacher cannot personally be a part of a group or organization that advocates for activities that are contrary to the moral teaching of the Catholic Church*. Except under extreme and unusual circumstances, all teachers should be practicing Roman Catholics. As such they should be active in their parishes with respect to time, talent and treasure.

All teachers in Catholic schools must be able to accept and convey both the religious and educational goals of the Catholic school and to give service in accord with the Sacred Scriptures and teachings of the Church*. They must model Christian behaviors and attitudes; display professional attitudes and a dedication to Church teaching; participate in ongoing spiritual and professional formation; use instructional strategies that are most effective in promoting mastery learning; communicate effectively with students, parents/guardians, teachers and administrators; present content using a variety of methods that are sensitive to the individual needs of our students as well as the Archdiocesan curriculum outcomes; and maintain a classroom conducive to learning.

Faith Development. As a component of this faith formation, teachers shall participate in the school-provided review of Catholic Church teachings that are described in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and various documents from the Vatican and United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including but not limited to, Church teachings related to the dignity of life from conception to natural death, sanctity of marriage, and the beauty of chastity. Specific Church teachings related to abortion, InVitro Fertilization, sterilization, contraception, homosexual lifestyle, marriage, and chastity, as well as Church teachings regarding social issues such as racism, care for the poor, religious liberty, and sharing of goods shall be included in this review.

Diocese of Syracuse127(Teacher Handbook, 2014)

Qualities of Catholic School Educators. We set forth here the qualities and attitudes which should be a part of the life style of all Catholic School educators. These characteristics should stimulate all who are involved in the educational ministry to integrate religious truths and values as they strive to develop the full intellectual, religious, social, physical and emotional potential of each student. The Catholic school educator is a person of faith: Who reflects the Gospel message and professes that message in action and personal attitudes: Whose own prayer life is ‘living, conscious and active’; Who is truly committed to and enthusiastic about being part of Catholic education and, therefore, constantly strives toward excellence in teaching and in dedication to the Catholic School system; Who makes students aware of the need to be ministers of the faith as they grow into adulthood as lay persons, as priests, or members of the religion; Who accepts and supports the faith community not only as a concept to be taught but a reality to be lived. The Catholic school educator is a person who builds community: Who works to form a strong community with understanding, cooperation and support among faculty, students and parents: Who promotes social justice and peace in the school and the local community; Who is aware of the human worth and dignity of students and so maintains a classroom and school where the environment is conducive to the growth and development of students; and who helps to develop student potential for Christian leadership within the parish, school and the civic community. The Catholic School educator is a person who serves: Who is generous and unselfish in responding to the needs of the administrators, faculty, parents, students and the Church; Who strives to create ways for students to help each other in all school activities; Who fosters apostolic consciousness and commitment in himself/herself and in students, helping them to be aware of the need to be active and concerned about others in their family, in their community and in their parishes; Who helps students develop skills necessary for adjusting in a changing world and society; Who instills in students those human values necessary to community-trust, freedom and fairness.

Philosophy and Principles. Each Catholic School Teacher and Administrator shall treat students, parents, and colleagues in a manner consistent with the Gospel message and the Catholic Church’s teaching. Each Teacher and Administrator is also expected to be familiar with the philosophy and principles set forth in the below-listed documents, which set forth the Church’s philosophy and teachings regarding Catholic education and the essential convictions and commitments of Catholic educators:

    • To Teach as Jesus Did: A Pastoral Message on Catholic Education (Washington, DC: USCCB, 1973).
    • Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2d ed. (Washington, DC: USCCB Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997), available at http://www.vatican.va/archive/ ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM (last accessed July 28, 2010.
    • Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982), www.vatican.va/…/rc_con_ ccatheduc_doc_19821015_lay-catholics_en.html (last accessed July 28, 2010). 10/27/14 Page 9
    • Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium (Washington, DC: USCCB, 2005), available at http://www.usccb.org/bishops/schools.pdf (last accessed July 28, 2010).

Diocese of Boise128(Human Resource Handbook)

Because the parish/school is a church employer, the job description should also recognize that there is not simply a “job” function to the particular position, but also a “mission” to the ministry performed, and this mission should be consistent with the vision of the ministry provided. Even clerical and administrative positions are a ministry contributing to the overall well-being of the parish’s/school/s overall mission. The descriptions should be written with this thought in mind, and, if possible, articulate the position’s relationship to the overall ministry of the parish.

Diocese of Davenport129(Covenantal language, Call, and Commissioning)

    1. CONTRACTS, AGREEMENTS AND COMPENSATION
    2. A Covenant Relationship.

The contract/agreement in the educational system of the Diocese of Davenport established a covenant relationship for a definite period between the individual employee and the Catholic educational community. It documents a call and a commissioning to share in the educational mission of proclaiming the Good News to all of creation. The contract is an agreement between the board of education and the employee. It specifies the nature of the services to the Catholic community intended by the board in exchange for a specified compensation. In addition to the terms of employment usually contained in contracts specifying accountabilities and compensation for same, the contract should say in a simple way the expectations with regard to our Catholic beliefs, attitudes, and behavior. It is desirable that the contract affirm that all parties concerned are to endeavor to live ideals of Catholic life including the building of Catholic community and the fostering of social justice. For boards and administrators, social justice includes such things as a just wage, fairness in decision making, the treatment of employees with dignity and respect. For employees it means “a day’s work for a day’s pay.” It means living not only the letter but the spirit of the goals and ideals of the Catholic educational program.

Diocese of Gary130 (Teacher Employment Agreement)

THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT is made and entered into this ____ day of ____________, 2015, in _________________, Indiana by and between ________________________________________________ (hereinafter called “school”), and _______________________________, (hereinafter called “teacher”).  The School and teacher agree as follows:

    1. Ministerial Duties/Morals Clauses
    2. To teach in a Catholic school is to accept a ministry. The teaching ministry must clearly reflect the Catholic Christian spirit of love, understanding and humility. This ministry is witnessed not only in the manner in which the teacher performs his/her task of teaching, but also in the example the teacher sets for the students both in and outside the classroom.  This witness extends beyond the teacher’s individual classroom to include everyone associated with the school, parish, and diocese.
    3. Because the teaching ministry is exercised in the context of the Catholic Church, it is hierarchical in nature. Respect for the authority and earnest cooperation with the principal and administration of the school are essential. Therefore, the teacher understands, accepts, and agrees to maintain at all times, the proper Catholic Christian attitude and spirit of cooperation as an essential element of complying with the terms of this contract.
    4. Furthermore, in carrying out his/her duties under this agreement, the teacher agrees to faithfully reflect the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, in mind and in deed, and at all times, both in and out of school, to abide by the official teachings of the church, as interpreted by the Bishop of the Diocese of Gary. Teacher understands that Catholic theology is part of every subject taught in the school and that part of teacher’s ministry in the school is to apply the theological doctrine and teachings of the Catholic Church. Failure to comply may result in the immediate termination of this contract…
    5. Termination of Contract. This contract is a contract for employment at-will and may be terminated by the teacher, the pastor of the parish, the principal of the school, and/or the Superintendent of Catholic Schools (hereinafter called “Superintendent”), at any time, for any reason.
    6. a) The School may terminate this contract for reasons including, but not limited to, the following:
    • Failure to abide by the terms of Part A “Ministerial Duties/Morals Clauses” above.
    • A shift of enrollment which eliminated the need for employing the teacher.
    • The determination that the teacher has not competently fulfilled his/her teaching duties.
      • The determination that the teacher is involved in an offensive behavior or has taken a public position against any of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
      • The determination that the teacher is unable to perform his/her duties in the classroom.
      • In the case of members of a religious congregation this contract shall be considered terminated if the herein named teacher ceases to function as a member of that religious congregation.
      • For any other justifiable cause.

Diocese of Gaylord131(Parish Ministry Contract-Parochial School Teacher Revised 5/14)

This PARISH MINISTRY CONTRACT made this _____ of, by and between Parish of _______, (hereinafter referred to as “Parish”), and _______, (hereinafter referred to as “Teacher/Minister”).

WITNESSETH:

The Parish hereby agrees to hire the above-named Teacher/Minister to engage in educational ministry in School (hereinafter referred to as “School”) for one (1) school year beginning _____, 20__ and ending _____, 20__. The Teacher/Minister needs to be present in school from _____, 20__ to _____, 20__. This Employment Contract is not automatically renewable. The School will pay the Teacher/Minister an annual salary of $_____________, in equal installments, payable (time of payment – i.e. biweekly), and subject to payroll deductions required by law and other deductions authorized by the Teacher/Minister. Any additional benefits will be set forth in a supplement and attached to this Contract.

The Teacher/Minister hereby accepts the terms of this Contract and the accompanying job description and agrees to perform the services required of the School and will assist the School in carrying out its Catholic educational ministry and policies during the entire term of this Contract. The Teacher/Minister recognizes and accepts the fact that the School is an apostolate of the sponsoring Parish; that every teacher in the School is a minister in that apostolate, and that contracting to teach in a Catholic School implies understanding its special mission and orientation. Accordingly, the Teacher/Minister agrees to conduct him/herself personally and professionally so as to reflect plainly and consistently the values, ministerial, and operational principles of the Parish/School, the Diocese of Gaylord, and the Universal Church. The Teacher/Minister also recognizes and acknowledges the fact that there is within the Catholic Church a body of officially taught and commonly accepted beliefs, the communication of which is a fundamental purpose and mission of a Catholic School and that its students have a right to expect such communication implicitly and explicitly from its teachers regardless of the subject areas, grades, or courses being taught, and the Teacher/Minister agrees not to make any communications to students that in any way contradict or reject those teachings or commonly held beliefs. The Teacher/Minister further understands and agrees that it is her or his duty to teach/administer and live in accord with what the Catholic Church holds and professes, and agrees to loyally observe the general rules and regulations applicable to those who minister in Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Gaylord as well as such special regulations or decrees as have been fixed and promulgated by the Parish, School or Ordinary of the Diocese of Gaylord. This Contract takes the place of and supersedes any and all prior existing contracts between the parties to this Contract.

The Teacher/Minister represents that all information submitted in any application materials is truthful and accurate and he/she holds all necessary certificates and other qualifications required by law.

It is mutually agreed between the parties hereto that this Contract shall terminate upon expiration of the School year term herein contracted for. Nothing in this Contract may be construed as a promise of employment after the end date. Nothing in this Contract may be construed as a promise of tenure. An offer to renew this Contract with the same or similar terms may be made at the end of the employment period at the sole discretion of the Principal and Pastor.

Within the school year, this Contract may be terminated for any one of the following reasons:

    1. Uncertain financial conditions within the School or Diocese;
    2. Complete or partial closing of a Teacher’s department, office or position;
    3. Unwillingness of a Teacher to abide by the policies, procedures and rules of the School, Parish or Diocese;
    4. Work performance that does not manifest competency or the fulfillment of basic expectations and requirements of the position;
    5. Excessive use of sick leave;
    6. Inability to work within the basic philosophy, goals and purposes of the School, Parish and Diocese of Gaylord;
    7. Chronic tardiness, chronic/problematic substance abuse, professional or criminal violations;
    8. Insubordination, intimidation, or failure to follow instructions of superiors;
    9. Misrepresentations in a Teacher’s application, resume, evaluations, or work records or reports;
    10. Personal practices; malpractice; unethical practice; conflicts with fellow workers or attitudes or behaviors within or without the work place which are contrary to the teachings and doctrinal practices of the Catholic Church, or affect the morale, job performance or rights of other workers or reflect negatively upon the Parish, School or Diocese or colleagues; or lessen respect for lawful authority in the Church at the parish, diocesan or universal levels, or conflict with the mission of the sponsoring parish.
    11. By mutual consent at any time;
    12. The teacher may resign at any time by submitting at least fifteen (15) days written notice to the Principal of the School.

The foregoing items for which the School may determine that a Teacher/Minister’s services shall be terminated are not complete or exclusive of other reasons not articulated here. There may be other conduct or circumstances which would cause the School to determine that a Teacher/Minister’s services are no longer required or desired. The Teacher/Minister agrees that, in the event of termination of this Contract, he/she shall not be entitled to any compensation from and after the date of such termination. The amount of compensation shall be determined on a pro rata basis based on the date of termination.

During the Contract term, the Teacher/Minister has the right to present to principal and/or pastor any matter of personal concern or dissatisfaction regarding their employment or dismissal. After all informal efforts to resolve the issue have proved ineffective the complaint will be handled according to the formal complaint policy as listed in the Diocesan Employee Manual. Non-renewal of the contract is not a matter of formal complaint.

Diocese of Salina132 (Contract)

Teachers understand that they are ministerial employees subject to a morals clause requiring them to live in accordance with Catholic teachings, inside and outside the classroom, regardless of their own personal faith.

Archdiocese of Seattle133(Standardized Teacher Ministerial Covenant)

Be the shepherds of the flock God gave you, and look after it willingly as God would want you to, and not unwillingly. Do not work for mere pay but from a real desire to serve. Do not try to rule over those who have been given into your care, but be examples to the flock (1Peter 5:2-3).

The teacher agrees to respect Catholic values and to aid students in Christian formation by exemplifying Catholic living, both in and out of the classroom. Catholic schools educate their pupils to promote efficiently the good of the earthly city, and prepare them for the service of spreading the kingdom of God, so that by the exercise of an exemplary and apostolic life they may become, as it were, the saving leaven of human society. Bound by love to each other and to their pupils and imbued with the apostolic spirit, administrators and teachers bear witness by their life and teaching to the one teacher Christ (Gravissimum Educationis, 8).

This is the spirit that characterizes the covenantal relationship between the employer and the employee on the Catholic School.

The following items of agreement are meant to give specific delineation to certain aspects of the relationship. This covenant is entered into this day of ___, for the academic year 20____- 20____ beginning September 1, 20___ and concluding August 31, 20___ by and between, hereinafter referred to as “teacher” and , hereinafter referred to as “employer”…

    1. The teacher agrees to comply with all terms of this covenant; demonstrate general competency; perform the duties incumbent upon him/her as a teacher and give professional evidence of effective teaching.

This covenant may also be terminated if the teacher’s life-style is incompatible with Catholic moral values or if his/her conduct is at variance with Catholic teaching.

Safe Environment Documents

Diocese of Amarillo134 (Code of Conduct excerpt)

As leaders in the Church founded by Christ, those who minister within our parishes and institutions must always seek to uphold Christian values and conduct. In addition to following the Gospel and its mandates, they will want to act properly at all times in the light of contemporary society and its needs.

Diocese of Beaumont135 (Ethical and Responsible Conduct Policies)

ETHICAL AND RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT POLICIES: Basic ethical and moral standards. This policy establishes basic standards of ethical and moral conduct for all church personnel associated with the Diocese of Beaumont. Fundamental to our mission is the personal integrity and the highest ethical standards of all those who represent the diocese. The intent of this policy is to insure that all personnel follow the traditional strong moral and ethical standards of the Catholic Church. Church personnel enjoy a public trust and confidence. It is essential that they view their own actions and intentions objectively to assure that no observer would have grounds to believe that any irregularity in conduct exists. All church personnel have a responsibility to uphold the standards of the Catholic Church in their day-to-day work and personal lives. These include, but are not limited to:

Prohibited Conduct: All church personnel are to exhibit the highest ethical standards and personal integrity, therefore church personnel should not engage in the following: Formally rejecting the teachings of the Catholic Church or the Christian way of life; Exhibiting actions that are disruptive to the ministry and public worship; Procuring or participating in abortion, homicide, or euthanasia; Engaging in behavior contrary to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church; Adultery, promiscuity, illicit co-habitation…

Diocese of Wilmington136(Safe Environment Principles)

PRINCIPLES. These Standards are based on three principles of integrity found in all effective ministerial leaders. Principle one is reflective of a basic understanding of self, especially in respect to one’s spiritual vocation. Principle two, reflecting the Lord’s command to love neighbor as self calls for a deep sensitivity and respect for others. Principle three, addresses the responsibility for balanced ministerial relationships. All trust-based relationships depend on each individual’s ability to balance these two principles of self-knowledge and a keen regard for others. In ministerial relationships, this burden always falls on the minister, the individual being sought for service, help and advice. Nearly all breaches of integrity and morality are ruptures of this trust-based relationship.

    1. Church Personnel will exhibit the highest Christian ethical Standards and personal integrity reflective of the teachings of the Gospel. Church Personnel will at all times conduct themselves in a professional manner including developing and maintaining the level of professional competence commensurate with their ministerial duties.
    2. Church Personnel will witness God’s love showing sensitivity to, reverence and respect for each individual with and to whom they minister.
    3. Church Personnel will be conscious of the unique power they have in relationships due to the trust they are given and the visibility of their witness and leadership.
    4. Church Personnel assume the full burden for setting and maintaining clear, appropriate physical and emotional boundaries in all ministerial relationships.
    5. Church Personnel will avoid taking unfair advantage of ministerial relationships for the benefit of themselves or others.
    6. Church Personnel will not physically, sexually or emotionally abuse or neglect any person.
    7. Church Personnel have a duty to report their own ethical and professional misconduct and the misconduct of others.

 

 

 

Faith and Morals Language in Catholic School Teacher Employment Documents: Best Practices Brief

In an effort to encourage discussion and to assist educational leaders as they ensure the Catholic identity of their schools, The Cardinal Newman Society has compiled these best practices in Catholic school employment agreements from Catholic dioceses in the United States.  Statements included represent strong examples of different mechanisms dioceses are using to articulate the expectations they have of their teachers in the area of faith and morals.  Best practice in invoking a faith or morals clause involves ensuring the teacher understands and participates in the school’s religious mission and is aware of areas of potential moral concern.

Diocesan policies and statements regarding teachers were collected in the second quarter of 2015 primarily from documents publicly available on the Internet, and in some cases by direct contact with a diocese. This brief presents but a few selected examples from a much larger gathering of employment documents from more than 125 dioceses, which are published in our companion report, Faith and Morals Language in Catholic School Teacher Employment Documents: A Compilation from Diocesan Statements, Handbooks and Contracts.  If a diocese is not included in either report, it does not necessarily mean that the diocese does not address faith and moral issues in its employment documents, but only reflects our inability to obtain such documents.

Excerpts have been taken from longer documents and formatted for consistency.  Because referenced documents are likely to change over time, direct contact with a diocese is the only way to ensure up-to-date accuracy.

The Cardinal Newman Society’s researchers are currently using the more extensive collection in forthcoming research on this topic.  The hope is by making this raw, compiled data readily available to Church officials, it might prove helpful for them as they evaluate their own practices.  This document is not presented as legal advice.  Catholic school leaders are encouraged to speak with each other and with their attorneys about their approaches to critical employment issues. As a corollary to this piece, the Newman Society has published a comprehensive overview of the Magisterium’s expectations of its Catholic teachers, The Call to Teach: Expectations for Catholic Educators in Magisterial Teaching.

Selected exemplar resources in this brief include:

  1. Pre-Application and Application Statements
  2. Stand-Alone Faith and Morality Documents
    1. Bishop’s Statements Incorporated into Employment Agreements
    2. Morality Statements
    3. Witness Statements
    4. Belief Statements/Oaths
  3. Contract and Handbook Clauses
    1. Generic Morals Clause Language: Positive and Negative
    2. Specific Language within Employment Documents
    3. Addendums
  4. Handbook-based policies
    1. Formative Language
    2. Dealing with infractions
  5. Description of Teachers as “Ministers” and Ministry Clauses
  6. Safe Environment Documents

Pre-Application and Application Statements

One tool some dioceses are using to ensure from the onset of employment that prospective Catholic teachers understand the faith-based nature of their responsibilities is referred to as “pre-application statement.”  This no-nonsense approach has the benefit of ensuring that future employees will not be surprised to discover that they are working for the Catholic Church, or that being a Church employee requires remaining a credible witness to the faith.

The Dioceses of Sacramento and San Diego (included in compilation) both have strong examples of “Pre-Application Statements” which prospective employees read and sign prior to completing an application.  The Diocese of Sacramento’s statement is longer by two pages and includes a narrative on the mission of the Church and the expectation of employees to share in that mission and give public witness to the Catholic faith through their life choices. The Diocese of Sacramento specifies that “the notion of ‘gay marriage’, and the adoption or placement of children in anything other than a traditional family setting, secularism, the paring back of religious freedom rights, or the restriction of … liberty of conscience, anti-Catholicism, or anti-Catholic biases, [and] the abuse of alcohol or the use of illegal narcotics or other controlled substances” are contrary to the teaching of the Church.  Both Dioceses clarify that living a life of integrity and personal witness is a requirement for employment.  They give clear notice that “employment by the Roman Catholic Church is not for everyone” and that “Those unable to authentically witness the Catholic faith by their lives may wish to reflect and seek pastoral guidance before applying for employment or ministry in the Church”.

Also included in this section is a “Non-discrimination Clause” from the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, which clearly articulates the right of the Church to prefer Catholic candidates and that faithfulness to Catholic faith and morals is a criterion of employment selection and retention.

Sample “Pre-Application Statement” for the Diocese of Sacramento1:

Employment/Ministry in the Church Pre-Application Statement

“Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.”

(Mark 16:15)

Mission Statement of the Diocese of Sacramento

We, the People of God of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, guided by the Holy Spirit, are called by Christ to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God through prayer, praise and sacraments and to witness the Gospel values of love, justice, forgiveness and service to all.

All Christ’s faithful, by virtue of their baptism, are called by God to contribute to the sanctification and transformation of the world.  They do this by fulfilling their own particular duties in the spirit of the Gospel and Christian discipleship.  Working in the Church is a path of Christian discipleship to be encouraged.  Those who work for the Church continue the mission and ministry of Christ.  Their service is unique and necessary for the life and growth of the Church.  This has been our tradition from the beginning, as echoed in the words of St. Paul who worked with and relied on other men and women in the work of spreading the Gospel.  St. Paul was known to acknowledge and thank them, at times calling them, “my co-workers in Christ Jesus” (Romans 16:3-16).

The Church needs the services of dedicated lay persons who have a clear knowledge and proper understanding of the teachings of the Church and a firm adherence to those teachings, and whose words and deeds are in conformity with the Gospel.  All who seek employment or ministry in the Church are expected to continue their formation and their willingness to learn and grow and to deepen their desire to serve the Lord with excellence and generosity.  Those employed by the Church in our Catholic schools, parishes and institutions, as coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord, are rightly expected to be practicing Catholics whose faith is an essential part of their daily lives and who participate fully in the communal worship and life of the Church.

We recognize that persons who are non-Catholic Christians are also called by the Lord to stand before the world as a witness to his life and resurrection.  We, therefore, welcome collaboration with such persons of good faith who share our Catholic vision on important social, moral and ethical issues.  It is important for anyone interested in collaborating with us in our work and ministry to have an understanding of the Catholic Church and her teachings.

Our Catholic religious beliefs provide the basic framework for our moral, ethical and social teachings.  It is important for anyone interested in collaborating with us in our work and ministry to have an understanding of these teachings.

The Catholic Church has a special commitment to the poor, the oppressed, and the immigrant.  We are committed to promoting a “Culture of Life” from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death.  We believe in the inherent dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God, and possessing basic rights endowed by God, including the right to life, the right to religious liberty, and the right to be treated justly with dignity and respect.  We believe human sexuality and human procreation are gifts from God to be shared through the risen Christ only by those joined in marriage, an institution that is itself instituted by Almighty God.  We believe that all persons are called by God to live chaste lives by virtue of their own dignity and according to their state of life.  We believe in the rights of workers to just working conditions, just wages and benefits, as well as the right to organize and join unions or other associations.  We oppose all forms of oppression and exploitation, including racism, sexism, pornography, sexual abuse and harassment, and unlawful discrimination.

As a community of believers, we embrace as a matter of faith, the teachings, policies and beliefs of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, as defined in the Deposit of Faith.  We, therefore, reject anything which is contrary to that teaching, including:

  • Abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, artificial contraception, voluntary sterilization, and the unnecessary use of capital punishment;
  • Pornography and obscenity, adultery, cohabiting in sexual relationships of any nature outside of marriage, homosexual activity, the notion of “gay marriage,” and the adoption or placement of children in anything other than a traditional family setting;
  • Secularism, the paring back of religious freedom rights, or the restriction of religious liberty and liberty of conscience, anti-Catholicism, or anti-Catholic biases;
  • The abuse of alcohol or the use of illegal narcotics or other controlled substances; and
  • Violence or the use of force to resolve social, political or religious problems.

Must the Church’s employees share the Church’s vision and witness the Catholic faith in their life and work?

Yes.  Every member of the Church must stand before the world as a witness to the life and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  This is particularly important for those person who work and minister in the name of the Church.  In our daily affairs and our work, we, as faithful disciples of the risen Christ, must be guided by a Christian conscience, since even in secular business there is no human activity that can be withdrawn from God’s dominion.

The Diocese, in its role as an employer, expects all employees to be persons, who by word and deed, support and advocate the positions of the Catholic Church.  We understand that employment by the Roman Catholic Church is not for everyone, because there are people of good faith who disagree with our teachings and views.

Those unable to authentically witness the Catholic faith by their lives may wish to reflect and seek pastoral guidance before applying for employment or ministry in the Church.

Does the obligation to share the Church’s vision also pertain to employees who are not Catholic?

Yes. As Catholics, we believe that our Faith is universal — that’s what the word “Catholic” means.  Thus, even if a person is not Catholic he or she remains called by the Lord to stand before the world as a witness to Christ’s life and resurrection.  Persons whose lives do not witness the teachings of the Catholic faith by virtue of their own objections or disbelief, or are unable to witness the Catholic faith by virtue of their lifestyle choices or public conduct, do not meet the basic criteria to work or minister in the name of the Church.

After you have carefully reflected on what is contained in this Pre-Application Statement, we invite you to complete the Acknowledgement and Applicant Questionnaire, if you are interested in seeking employment with the Diocese of Sacramento.

Acknowledgment

By signing below, I hereby acknowledge that I have received and read the foregoing Pre-Application Statement of the Diocese of Sacramento.  After reading and reflecting upon the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic Church, and the manner in which those matters impact lay employees of the Diocese, I wish to apply for employment with the Diocese, with a full understanding of the religious nature of the Diocese as an employer.  I understand the Diocese’s expectations that if my application for lay employment results in my being hired, I will be subject to standards of conduct that incorporate the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic Church as set forth in the Pre-Application Statement, and that these performance expectations will be a material condition of my employment.

Sample Application Statement of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend2

The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Inc. maintains a policy of nondiscrimination in its hiring and employment practices.  Hiring and employment practices are based on job-related criteria including, but not limited to, one’s fidelity to the Catholic faith, comporting oneself in a manner that is not detrimental to the Catholic Church or inconsistent with its teachings or principles, individual merit, ability, experience, performance, education, and training.  This policy extends to all aspects of employment including recruitment, selection, compensation, reasonable accommodation, promotion, transfer, training, retention, and termination.  Since the distinctive and unique mission of the Diocese is primarily religious, the Diocese will, whenever possible, hire a Catholic in good standing to perform work for the Diocese.

  1. Stand-Alone Faith and Morality Documents

To address the faith and morals of teachers currently employed in their schools and to make Church teachings more explicit, several dioceses have created specific documents expressly related to this topic.  Some helpfully refer to the Catechism of the Catholic Church as a reference point for non-acceptable behavior.  Direct reference to the entire Catechism is a best practice, because it not only solves the potential legal question of where to find authoritative, clearly articulated, and binding theological and moral norms for use in adjudication, but also has the added benefit of addressing a much broader scope of possible flashpoints in a deeper context than can be addressed in an employment document.  This helps clarify two important legal questions in a termination related to morality clauses: Was the employee aware of what was expected (did they know that their behavior violated expectations), and how is immorality defined or understood in particular instances so as to avoid an arbitrary enactment of the clause by the employer?  These stand-alone documents seek to attend to such issues and take several forms including: formal teachings by the bishop incorporated into employment agreements, moral standards documents, witness statements, and professions of faith.  Examples of each are below.

Bishop’s Teachings Incorporated into Employment Agreements

Because of the highly contentious nature of faith and morals issues, some pastorally minded bishops have issued specific instruction on what is expected from their teachers.  The Bishops of Santa Rosa and Cleveland have both followed this route.

The revised contract (2015) for teachers in the Diocese of Cleveland3 presents a detailed listing of moral norms expected of Catholic school teachers who, whether certified catechists or not, are expected to model, as well as teach, the Catholic faith.  The Cleveland Diocese also includes a Statement on the Purpose of Catholic Schools and the Role of Teachers and Administrators in Catholic Schools4written by Bishop Richard Lennon and incorporated as an attachment to each contract.  The document describes the mission of Catholic education and forcefully emphasizes the elevated-employee/ministerial nature of administrators and teachers within a Catholic school.  The Bishop states it is “primarily through you [the teacher] that the school is able to cultivate the love of Christ and kindle the light of Christ in the hearts of its students” and “[a]s such, it is a great honor and privilege [for teachers] to play such a special and important role in the life of the Church”.  The document emphasizes the importance of personal integrity, calling on numerous magisterial documents such as Gravissimum Educationis (section 8) and Lay Catholics in Schools, Witnesses to Faith (section 32) to address the necessity of modeling Christ, the perfect teacher.

Below are excerpts from Bishop Robert Vasa of Santa Rosa, which demonstrate that while much of the employment language must, ipso facto, be legalistic, the greater effort being pursued by the Church is one of pastoral sensitivity, instruction, and clarity. (See also Bishop Vasa’s April 2004 letter titled Giving Testimony to the Truth.)5

Sample comprehensive teaching document for the Diocese of Santa Rosa6 (excerpts from 15-page employment agreement):

Code of Ethics for the Teacher in a Catholic School

PREAMBLE

“GO TEACH!”  With these words, Christ sent His first disciples on mission.  Since the beginning of Christianity, Catholic education has been one of the most important ways in which the mission of the Church is carried out.  This education manifests a foundational anthropology, a basics sense of the human being, namely (that) all persons are created in the image and likeness of God, are fallen in view of original sin, and are redeemed by Jesus Christ.  To understand, to teach and to model this anthropology are particular requirements of those entrusted with the Church’s educational mission.  Thus, in large part the success of Catholic education depends upon the professional competence, quality, and above all, the commitment of the teacher to Christ.

The Code of Ethics for the Teacher in a Catholic School is a description of a person who is growing in various dimensions of experience.  The Code specifies the attitude and the practice of the teacher in relation to the Church, the student, the parent, the community, and the profession.  In relationship to the Church in particular, the teacher is not called to an unrealistic perfection but rather to continual growth in understanding and in appreciation for the Church in all Her dimensions.  Here, what is meant by ‘continual growth’ also includes ongoing spiritual conversion (i.e., a more complete turning toward God) in one’s soul.  This kind of conversion can include a humble acceptance of the standing offer of God’s mercy, which acceptance always moves a person deeper into the heart of the Church.  In any case, conversion is like ‘professional development’.  That is, just as every teacher recognizes a responsibility to grow so as to keep abreast of developments in the profession, so too the teacher in a Catholic school recognizes a responsibility to grow in efficacy regarding the Church.  In sum, whether personally or professionally, the Code of Ethics for the Teacher in a Catholic School represents a guide by which to live, a goal toward which to strive and a promise of lasting success.

The Diocese of Santa Rosa recognizes and claims its Catholic Elementary and High Schools as educational institutes established to promote and foster the teachings and values of the Catholic Church.  The Diocese recognizes that these Institutions have an integral and significant role in the positive presentation of the Catholic faith to the hearts of their students and to our society.  The primary purpose of our Schools, without minimizing others, is evangelization.  Catholic Schools, in the course of their educational efforts, provide an essentially ecclesiastical ministry.  “The duty and right of educating belongs in a unique way to the Church which has been divinely entrusted with the mission to assist men and women so that they can arrive at the fullness of the Christian life” (Canon 794, § 1).

Preamble by +Robert F. Vasa, Bishop of Santa Rosa

Principle I: Commitment to the Church

Presidents, principals and teachers are employed, either directly or indirectly, by the Catholic Church for the express purpose of assisting “men and women so that they can arrive at the fullness of the Christian life”.  Thus, in addition to specific employee duties, they also share in the mission of the Church and therefore have the responsibility of fostering-through their positions and in the lived reality of their lives—the values, principles, doctrines and teachings of the institutional Catholic Church or, at least, of never publicly contradicting them.  In fulfilling our obligation to the Church, we are called to:

  1. Recognize that we are part of the overall educational ministry of the Catholic Church even when some of the persons instructed are not adherents of the Catholic faith.
  2. Recognize that as human beings, we are called by God to a life of holiness. We recognize that, without diminishing our freedom, this call orients us to heed God in our thoughts, words and deeds. We further recognize that this call is all the more compelling for us since, in our lives and vocations as teacher/administrators in a Catholic school, we have been entrusted with the task of helping students “arrive at the fullness of the Christian life” (Canon 794, § 1).
  3. Recognize that we must be models of “exemplary life both personally and professionally” (cf. employment contract). Thus, whether we are at school or outside of school, our public behavior is to be in conformity with Church teaching as expounded in The Catechism of the Catholic Church.
  4. Recognize our duty, to the best of our ability, to know “Church Teaching” (cf. contract) and, if Catholic, to believe in accord with what the Catholic Church holds and professes.
  5. Recognize that we have a responsibility to continue to seek a fuller understanding of the Faith that the Catholic Church professes. Accordingly, we are to take advantage of opportunities offered by the Diocese or Parish to foster Faith, to properly form conscience and to deepen understanding of the Church’s teaching.
  6. Recognize that, in its entirety, The Catechism of the Catholic Church constitutes the source and standard according to which all the ethical matters stated or implied in this Commitment and in the contract are understood and adjudicated.
  7. Moral Statements

Jointly, the Dioceses of Helena and Great Falls-Billings in Montana have created a stand-alone document called Catholic Moral Standards for all Catholic school employees and volunteers.  After the employee reads, agrees, and signs this acknowledgement form, it is placed in their personnel file.  By requesting a signature on a separate document as opposed to simply signing a handbook or contract, the issues related to moral and theological matters are placed front and center in the employment agreement.  They are therefore less likely to be violated accidentally and preclude the employee from claiming insufficient notice about potential violations.

Sample Catholic Moral Standards Document for Montana Catholic Schools7:

Catholic Moral Standards
for All Catholic School Employees and Volunteers

A signature is required below to acknowledge that the Catholic school employee (teacher, support staff, coach, etc.), or volunteer has read and understands the Catholic Moral Standards as an essential expectation to his/her position with the Catholic school.

As a Catholic school employee or volunteer, I understand …

_____ that I will not engage in any conduct or lifestyle, whether in my personal or public life, that would be at variance with or contrary to the moral and religious teachings of the Roman Catholic Church

______ that I will not engage in any conduct or lifestyle, whether in my personal or public life, that would be at variance with or contrary to the moral and religious standards as described in Catholic school polices, Diocesan policies, or my employment contract

Please Note: These standards have been and will continue to be printed in the Catholic Schools’ personnel handbooks, as well as on the teacher’s contract.

I understand the terms of the Catholic Moral Standards and recognize that any personal conduct or lifestyle (public or private) that violates the Catholic moral standards may result in personnel discipline up to and including dismissal from employment.

I also understand that if I have any questions regarding the Catholic Moral Standards, I will submit them to the school administration, in writing and the school administration will provide a response in a timely manner.

Witness Statements

Similar to a stand-alone faith and morality statement, but perhaps offering greater emphasis on the evangelical nature of teaching in a Catholic school, some dioceses, such as the Dioceses of Peoria8 and Arlington9 and the Archdiocese of St. Louis10 require teachers to sign a witness statement attesting to the fact that they have been “called to be witnesses to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.”  Teachers agree that they will “witness by their public behavior, actions and words, a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church” and that they “believe in God, support belief in Jesus Christ, engage in prayer, respect ecclesiastical authority, possess a knowledge of the Catholic Church, [will] not take a position contrary to the Catholic Church, [will] demonstrate a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church, have not rejected the Catholic Church, and [are] active members of the Catholic Church.”

Sample witness statement for the Archdiocese of St. Louis:

Witness Statement for Those Who Serve in Catholic Education

The mission of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is the mission of the Catholic Church, to reveal God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to all people and to teach them about the fullness of His love.  “Indeed the primordial mission of the Church is to proclaim God and to be His witness before the world” (GDC).  Catholic education shares in a special way in the Church’s mission by proclaiming and witnessing Jesus Christ and His teachings.

Catholic education, which includes education, formation, and transformation, exists in order to evangelize.  Two important elements that make up the process of evangelization are proclamation and witness.  It is essential, therefore, that those who serve in Catholic education proclaim Jesus Christ, His life and ministry, present the Catholic faith in its fullness and be Christ’s witness to the world.

Initially those being evangelized will be attracted to and listen to those who are good witnesses.  “The Good News proclaimed by the witness of life sooner or later has to be proclaimed by the word of life” (Evangelii Nutiandi).  Some in Catholic education—religion teachers, PSR catechists, educational and catechetical leaders—are called to be explicit proclaimers of the Word.  But all who serve in Catholic education are called to be witnesses to the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.  Therefore, the following Witness Statement applies to all who serve in Catholic education.

All who serve in Catholic education in the parish and school programs of the Archdiocese of Saint Louis will witness by their public behavior, actions, and words a life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Only those persons who can support this Witness Statement are to be employed by pastors, principals, and directors/coordinators of religious education.

All who serve in Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis should be made aware that support of this Witness Statement must be reflected in their public behavior.

All who serve in Catholic education should:

  • believe in God
  • support belief in Jesus Christ
  • engage in prayer
  • respect ecclesiastical authority
  • possess a basic knowledge of the Catholic Church
  • not take a public position contrary to the Catholic Church
  • demonstrate a public life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church
  • practice respect and reverence for others and prudence with regard to confidential information related to work
  • if Catholic, have not publicly rejected the Catholic Church be active members of the Catholic Church, or of their own Church
  • if not Catholic practice exemplary stewardship and ethical behavior with regard to Church property and funds.

The above is a thorough but not all-inclusive listing of the implications of this Witness Statement.

  1. Belief Statements/Oaths

These are highly personal yet publicly made statements attesting to deeply held beliefs. They require the employee not only to acknowledge and work in the context of truths held by the faith but also to affirm that they hold those truths interiorly.  In the Diocese of Phoenix, teachers and administrators must be active witness of the Catholic tradition, knowledgeable about the Catholic faith, and willing to promote, live, and uphold doctrinal teachings and Catholic morals.  All personnel, whether Catholic or non-Catholic, must make and sign a Profession of Faith.  For Catholics, this is the Creed, and for non-Catholics this is a statement attesting to the fact that they will “hold each and every thing that is proposed definitively by the Catholic Church regarding teaching on faith and morals” and that they “shall always teach in accord with the official teachings of the Church as it is proclaimed by the Pope and the College of Bishops.”

Sample profession of faith for the Diocese of Phoenix11:

Profession of Faith

(For newly hired Catholics in schools, catechetical or youth leadership positions)

I, N., with firm faith believe and profess each and every thing that is contained in the symbol of faith, namely:

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.  I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.  God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.  For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.  For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.  He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.  I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.  I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

With firm faith I also believe everything contained in God’s word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the Church, whether by way of solemn judgment or through the ordinary and universal magisterium, as divinely revealed and calling for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed definitively by the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.

Moreover, I shall always teach in the accord with the Official Magisterium of the Church as it is proclaimed by the Pope and the College of Bishops.

Profession of Faith

(For newly hired Non-Catholics in schools)

I accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed definitively by the Catholic Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.

I shall always teach in accord with the official teachings of the Church as it is proclaimed by the Pope and the College of Bishops.

III. Contract and Handbook Clauses

Some dioceses simply include faith and morals clauses as part of their basic employment handbooks and/or contracts.  As part of the paperwork associated with the HR process, teachers sign off on a package of employment expectations with the morality and faith statements embedded therein.  Another alternative some dioceses are moving toward includes more explicit language in their contracts and handbooks, either with existing documents or as more robust addendums.

Generic Morals Clause Language: Positive and Negative

A significant number of dioceses use basic morals clauses sometimes called “conscience clauses”.  Some of the dioceses include examples of what employees should do and be, such as “uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church” and “personally exemplify the characteristics of Catholic living”.  Others make general statements regarding prohibited behaviors and actions, such as publicly speaking out against the teachings of the Church.  Some dioceses have combined both acceptable and non-acceptable behavior in their morals clauses, and many of them use the disclaimer that the list is not exhaustive of all types of actions that might prompt disciplinary action.

A common statement used by many dioceses is, “the teacher agrees to teach, advocate, encourage, counsel, and witness in keeping with the beliefs and practices of the Catholic faith and teachings.”  Some express this in the negative, stating that a teacher “shall not teach, advocate, encourage or counsel beliefs or practices contrary to the Catholic faith.”  Another popular phrase utilizes the word “lifestyle” in either a positive or negative connotation, such as “living a lifestyle in conformity (or not in conformity) to Church teaching”.  The use of the word “lifestyle” takes into consideration behaviors that are exhibited during the workday as well as outside the confines of the school environment.  It also includes vacation time and the overall general comportment of the teacher.  Many dioceses use the term “personal conduct” as well, but this could be interpreted as personal conduct only during normal school hours.

Samples of positive and negative moral clauses from various dioceses:

            Negative statements.

“Any personal conduct or lifestyle which would be at variance with, or contrary to the applicable policies of the Roman Catholic Church…”  (Diocese of Baton Rouge)12

“…refraining from taking any public position or conducting himself or herself in any manner contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.”  (Archdiocese of Denver)13

“TERMINATION. The undertaking by teacher of activities, within or outside of the employer/employee relationship, which are detrimental to the fundamental purpose and mission of the employer or constitute a failure to support and exemplify Catholic Faith and Morals as taught by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church… The teacher engages in any conduct in or out of the workplace which, in the judgment of the employer, constitutes serious or public immorality, sacrilege, lewd conduct, endangerment of health or safety, abusive conduct, public scandal or rejection of, or the holding up to doubt or question of the official teaching, doctrine, or laws of the Catholic Church.”  (Diocese of Kalamazoo)14

“…contradiction or rejection, by word or action, of doctrines, laws or norms of the Catholic Church.”  (Diocese of Lincoln)15

“The contract may also be terminated if the teacher’s life style is incompatible with Catholic moral values or if professional conduct is at variance with the policies of the Diocese of Yakima… public rejection of the official teachings, doctrine, or laws of the Roman Catholic Church”  (Diocese of Yakima)16

            Positive Statements.

“This responsibility requires that the teacher’s personal life to be conducted in accordance with the teachings and principles of the Catholic Church and in such a manner as to set a proper example for students…”  (Archdiocese of Atlanta)17

“…teacher agrees to teach, advocate, encourage, counsel, and witness in keeping with the beliefs and practices of the Catholic faith and teachings.”  (Diocese of Fargo)18

“…uphold and to act in accord with the religious, moral, and ethical principles of the Roman Catholic Church… Administrators and teachers therefore are expected to conduct themselves both in teaching and example in a manner consistent with the academic, social, moral and religious teaching of the Catholic Church”  (Archdiocese of Hartford)19

“Personnel shall be either Catholics in good standing, who are committed to the Catholic faith and to Christian living, and who are registered members of a Catholic parish, or others who have a positive attitude toward the Catholic faith and a commitment to Christian living as well as having a lifestyle that is consistent with Church teaching and are registered members of their particular non-Catholic parishes.  They shall work with others within and beyond the school setting in a spirit befitting a Christian faith community.”  (Archdiocese of Omaha)20

“…respect Catholic values and to aid in Christian formation by exemplifying a lifestyle of Christian principles both in school and out of school.  The employee shall exhibit a lifestyle that is compatible with Catholic moral values and professional conduct consistent with Catholic teaching…”  (Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon)21

Specific Language Within Employment Documents

Instead of adding complete new documents to their teacher contracts and handbooks, some dioceses have elected to bolster their generic morality clauses by explicitly listing a series of faith and moral areas that may come to public attention with negative consequences.

Sample specific language within employment contract from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati22:

Teacher-Minister also agrees to exemplify Catholic principles in a manner consistent with Teacher-Minister’s relationship with the Catholic Church and to refrain from any conduct or lifestyle which would reflect discredit on or cause scandal to the school or be in contradiction to Catholic social doctrine or morals.  While not meaning to infer that Teacher-Minister is involved in such conduct or lifestyle, by way of example, such conduct or lifestyle that is in contradiction to Catholic social doctrine or morals includes, but is not limited to: cohabitation outside marriage; sexual activity out of wedlock; same-sex sexual activity; use of abortion; use of a surrogate mother; use of in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination; advocacy (defined as presenting or promoting as acceptable- for  conduct, lifestyle, positions, policies, programs, causes or movements in contradiction to Catholic social doctrine or morals; and/or flagrant deceit or dishonesty.  Teacher-Minister further agrees to teach and act consistently in accordance with the mission statement of the School and to strive to aid in the formation of students by personal witness so far as conscience allows to the stated philosophy and teachings of the Roman Catholic (these can be found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is incorporated herein by reference)

Addendums

The Diocese of Lafayette23 has a full-page addendum containing 10 statements (with Catechism references) that it considers to be violations of moral living and “at variance and inconsistent with the moral and religious doctrines and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church”.  They are:

  1. Contracting a marriage in violation of the rules of the Catholic Church. CCC Nos. 1603; 1614; 1650-51: 2384.
  2. Living with another as husband and wife, without benefit of a valid marriage. CCC Nos. 2350; 2353; 2390; 2391.
  3. Conviction of a felony or a crime which involves moral turpitude. CCC Nos. 2268; 2284-5; 2297ff; 2353-56; 2387-89.
  4. Obtaining or assisting another to obtain an abortion. CCC Nos. 2271; 2272.
  5. Actively engaging in homosexual activity. CCC Nos. 2357-59.
  6. Immoral or dishonest conduct impairing one‘s effectiveness as a principal. CCC Nos. 1952; 2039; 2284-85; 2408.
  7. Becoming pregnant out of wedlock while teaching/working in a Catholic school; fathering a child out of wedlock while teaching/working in a Catholic School. CCC Nos. 1935; 1947; 2284-85.
  8. Membership in any organization which is anti-Catholic, and whose philosophy is racist and/or any was contrary to the Church‘s teaching on social justice.
  9. Engaging in any activity, immoral or illegal, which sets a bad example for students (e.g. illicit use of drugs, alcohol abuse, pornography, indecent behavior or abuse of any kind). CCC Nos. 2284-85; 2354; 2335.
  10. Maintaining by word or action a position contrary to the teaching standards, doctrines, laws and norms of the Catholic Church. CCC Nos. 2030; 2032; 2044; 2072-3.
  11. Handbook-based Policies
  12. Formative Language

A review of diocesan employment documents indicates that many have drafted entire sections of their employee/school handbooks to address expectations for teachers in the areas of faith and morals.  These more extensive efforts allow for a clear articulation of the school’s mission, goals, and objectives and the teacher’s role in achieving them.  They thus play an important formative role for the faculty.  Especially strong are handbooks by the Diocese of Kansas City, Kan.,24 and the Diocese of Syracuse25.  The Diocese of Davenport has also created an exemplary document, sections of which are below.

Sample language from the Diocese of Davenport26

Catholic Identity. A Catholic school consists of a group of people—students, parents, faculty—lay and /or religious, priests, and board members—who explicitly and directly assert together belief in our basic relationship with God—created, redeemed, inspired – as stated in the Scriptures and developed by Catholic tradition.  These people seek together to grow and share in understanding, appreciating, and living Christianity in a technological, complex, urban and world society.  Together, they create the Catholic environment of the school.

Professional Believing Educators.  Catholic schools are unique because a community of believers permeate the curriculum with love of Jesus Christ as they help students grow to full potential as children of God.  These believers who are teachers educate students not for money, power or prestige, but for Catholic responsibility, inner freedom and goal-oriented lives for the Kingdom here and now and for eternity. (Pages 2, 17)

Dismissal on Grounds of Immorality

(a) Rationale: In our society and cultural tradition the profession of teaching has carried with it a special trust by parents, children, the public, and the Church.  An educator is in a position of significant influence and sacred trust. Like other professions (e.g. medicine, law, psychiatry, religion, etc.) there is a privileged relationship of influence between educator and students that demands qualities of character and morality, as well as teaching competencies.  This position of influence places a special moral responsibility not only on the educator but also on those responsible for his/her employment.

For believers, the Bible gives guidance:

He said to his disciples: “Scandals will inevitably arise, but woe to him through whom they come.  He would be better off thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck than giving scandal to one of these little ones.”

Be on your guard. If your brother does wrong, correct him; if he repents, forgive him.  If he sins against you seven times a day and seven times a day turns back to you saying, “I am sorry,” forgive him. – Luke 17:1-4

Recent Catholic documents state:

The achievement of the specific aim of the Catholic school depends not so much on the subject matter or methodology as on the people who work there.  The extent to which the Christian message is transmitted through education depends to a very great extent on the teacher.  The integration of culture and faith is mediated by the other integration of faith and life in the person of the teacher.  The nobility of the task to which teachers are called demands that, in imitation of Christ, the only Teacher, they reveal the Christian message not only in word but also by every gesture of their behavior.  This is what makes the difference between a school whose education is permeated by the Christian spirit and one in which religion is only regarded an academic subject like any other. The Catholic School, #43

The new awareness that all members of the faculty, at least by their example, are an integral part of the process of religious education has brought with it a more conscientious approach to the selecting of teachers and the professional development of staff. Teachers’ life-style and character are as important as their professional credentials27…(c) Actions Considered Moral Grounds for Dismissal

Actions that are considered moral grounds and may be judged as cause for dismissal include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Violations of criminal law considered as aggravated misdemeanors and felonies.
  • Teaching or publicly advocating principles contrary to the dogmatic and moral teaching of the Church and the judgment of the bishop (i.e. newspaper, TV, radio, public demonstrations). If there is a conflict as to the teaching of the Church, the judgment of the bishop shall be the final arbiter.
  • Violations of the teachings of social justice as taught and commonly viewed by the Catholic Church, with the judgment of the bishop as final arbiter. Such violations include unjust aggression against persons, abortion, unlawful discrimination, breach of contract, theft, perjury, defamation of character and similar violations.
  • The continued abuse of alcohol or other chemical substances when proper treatment has been refused or has been unsuccessful and the functioning of the person is impaired; advocating the use of alcohol or other chemical substances in an abusive manner.
  • Public violations or publicly advocating violations of the standards of sexual morality taught by the Catholic Church, with the judgment of the bishop as final arbiter. Such violations include cohabitation, sexual relations outside a legal marriage, advocating or practicing homosexuality, child molestation and similar violations.

Habitual abuse by Catholic Christians of the precepts of the Church.

(d) Precepts of the Church, such as:

  • To keep holy the Lord’s Day.
  • To observe the sacramental life of the Church.
  • To observe the marriage laws of the Church; to give religious training, by example and word, to one’s children; to use parish schools and catechetical programs.
  • To strengthen and support the Church—one’s own parish community and parish priests, the worldwide Church and the Pope.
  • To do penance, including abstaining from meat and fasting from food on the appointed days.
  • To join in the missionary spirit and apostolate of the Church, such as being an active member of a parish and participating in parish/inter-parish programs. (Pages 37- 40)
  1. Dealing with Infractions

The enforcement of faith and morals clauses is not a pleasant business.  Such situations are likely to be painful, emotionally and socially charged, and potentially litigious.  Charity, clarity, humility, and justice will all need to come into play in aiming for a peaceful resolution with the employee.  The Diocese of Davenport describes in their Catholic Educators’ Handbook a rationale and process for possible faith or morals-based termination based upon principles of Christian charity.

Sample disciplinary language from the Diocese of Davenport28

(b) Norms of the Diocese of Davenport: Employees in Catholic educational programs hold a unique public position of importance and dignity within the Catholic community.  Indeed, appropriate public ceremonies are encouraged which proclaim and celebrate their special role.  The commitment to forgiveness and reconciliation is essential to the Church.

While we profess that all members of the Catholic community are sinners in need of redemption, it is also true that immoral behavior by educators carries with it additional gravity because of their special position in the community.  Some immoral actions or habits because of their nature or circumstances may disqualify a person, at least for a time, from holding an office, role or function within the Catholic community.  This is true for Catholic educators.

The board and administration do not pass judgment on subjective morality.  In assuming their rightful responsibilities, the board and administration do properly consider behavior which in their judgment is publicly and manifestly inconsistent with the moral standards of the community and the school/educational program.  Teaching or living a life-style in contradiction to the teachings of the Church can disqualify one as an employee of our educational system, at least for a time, particularly when this is done deliberately, publicly, without contrition, and/or without an openness to repair any scandal resulting from his/her actions.  People of good will approach reconciliation with mutual respect, personal integrity and freedom of conscience.  In some cases the parties concerned come to reconciliation with common understanding and mutual acceptance. In such a case reinstatement may follow.  In other cases the parties concerned come to reconciliation without common agreement but with mutual respect.  The parties “agree to disagree” and to go their separate ways with love and good will. In such a case reinstatement does not follow.  For example, an educator may come to disagree in conscience with the teaching of the church as interpreted by responsible authority.  The school/educational program cannot be expected to retain or reinstate an educator who would not have been hired initially had the conflict in conscience existed and been known at that time.  On the other hand, the educator cannot be expected to teach or live contrary to deeply-held conscience convictions (Cf. Vatican II: Declaration on Religious Liberty.)

When there are actions contrary to this moral policy, the board and administration reserve the option to release or retain/reinstate the employee having considered the following:

  • The public action of the employee was, in fact, immoral as outlined in (3) below.
  • The openness of the employee to be responsible for both his/her actions and their effects. (See pages 33-35)
  • The openness of the employee to make a commitment to the ideals of the community. (See page 33-35)
  • The nature and extent of the public scandal according to “Norms” on page 35.
  • The willingness of the employee to repair any scandal, public or private, insofar as possible. (See (3) below)
  • The pastoral circumstances which affect the welfare of the community and the welfare of the individual as judged by the board and administration. (See point (3) (e) below)

Description of Teachers as “Ministers” and Ministry Clauses

The description of Catholic teachers as “ministers” and not as simply “teachers” or “employees” may serve two related ends for dioceses.  First, it provides pastoral guidance to the teachers themselves and clarifies and prioritizes that all teachers are called to participate in the Catholic school’s fundamental mission of evangelization.  Secondly, the use of the term may also provide some access to legal protection under “ministerial exemption” case law.  The ministerial exemption is a First Amendment protection which allows religious organizations to supervise and determine the worthiness and suitability of their ministers with a significant degree of freedom and limited governmental and legal entanglement.  Catholic school leaders should work closely with legal counsel on issues of employment law related to the use of this possible exemption.

Initial research conducted by The Cardinal Newman Society suggests that approximately nine dioceses currently refer to their teachers as ministers in their employment language.  Dioceses, such as Monterey29, refer to a teacher as “an apostolic worker of the Roman Catholic Church.”  The Diocese of Tucson30 calls Catholic educators “agents” of the Catholic Church and states that as such they must uphold the teachings of the Catholic Church.  The Diocese of Oakland uses both “minister and steward of the Catholic faith”. An example of ministerial language is provided below from the Diocese of Cleveland.

Sample of Teacher/Minister Contracts and Language from the Diocese of Cleveland:31

Role as Minister and Role Model of the Faith:  The Teacher-Minister, in signing this Agreement represents that he/she has read and understand the Statement on the Purpose of Catholic Schools and the Role of Teachers and Administrators in Catholic Schools by the Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland, which is attached to this Agreement as Exhibit A and incorporated into this Agreement by this reference.  The Teacher-Minister understands and acknowledges that the Roman Catholic Church views the primary purpose of a Catholic school as a means of building up the Kingdom of God through the holistic and authentically Catholic formation of each student and that such development can only truly be fostered in a wholly Catholic environment.  The Teacher-Minister further understands and acknowledges that it is the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that teachers in a Catholic school are truly and in a very real sense engaged in a special ministry, or apostolate, of the Roman Catholic Church and that such teachers should bear witness to Christ in their lives as much as in their classroom instruction.  For this reason, Canon 803 of the Code of Canon Law requires that teachers of a Catholic school must be “outstanding in true doctrine and uprightness of life.”  As such, the Teacher-Minister agrees to act, speak, and live at all times in a manner consistent with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church and understands that actions and speech that are contrary to Catholic teaching will not be tolerated by the Parish and shall be grounds for disciplinary action up to and including termination.  The following, although in no way an exclusive list, represent by way of example certain speech or actions that are considered to be contrary to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church:

  1. Public support of positions contrary to Roman Catholic Church teaching (including, but not limited to, publically supporting abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, surrogate parenthood, direct sterilization, or so-called homosexual or same-sex marriage or unions).
  2. Procuring or assisting another in procuring an abortion.
  3. Making use of or participating in artificial insemination, in-vitro fertilization, or surrogate parenthood.
  4. Preparing for or engaging in a same-sex marriage or union.
  5. Engaging in or publically supporting sexual relations outside of marriage (which shall be understood for purposed of this Agreement as being the marriage between one man and one woman.)
  6. Living with another as husband or wife without the benefit of a marriage recognized as valid by the Roman Catholic Church or cohabitating outside of marriage.
  7. Engaging in or supporting transvestitism, transgenderism, or sex reassignment.
  8. Membership in any organization that is anti-Catholic or whose philosophy is in any way contrary to the ethical or moral teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.
  9. Indecent or lewd behavior (including, but not limited to, the unlawful use of drugs, substance abuse, or use of pornography).
  10. Serious dishonesty.
  11. Entering into a marriage with a person when one of the parties to the marriage is validly married to another person in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church (e.g., entering into a marriage if one of the parties has entered into marriage previously and has not received an annulment from the Roman Catholic Church).
  12. Use of social media or electronic means of communication (e.g., email and texting) in an improper, immoral, or scandalous manner (including, but not limited to, use of social media or electronic means to communicate, post, share, or send material that is lewd, indecent, sexually suggestive, or pornographic).
  13. Safe Environment Documents

Many dioceses include faith and morals language in their Safe Environment Documents referring to “Codes of Conduct” that focus generically on the need for employees to adhere to Catholic faith and morals in all conduct with others.  Other Safe Environment documents are more expansive, identified by terms such as “Principles of Ethics and Integrity,” and more fully integrate language from traditional faith and morals statements into an “all inclusive” set of statements embedded within the Safe Environment process.  In this case, employees should be made aware that they are signing more than just an affirmation to protect children from child abuse; that they are signing a comprehensive statement about witnessing to the Catholic faith in their professional and private lives.

Sample of a Safe Environment Document with additional morals clause criteria from the Diocese of San Angelo:32

VII. Prevention of Immoral Conduct: Guidelines for Ethical and Moral Behavior
Because Church personnel enjoy a public trust and confidence, it is essential that Church personnel view their own actions and intentions objectively to assure that no observer would have grounds to believe that irregularity in conduct exists. All Church personnel are to uphold the standards of the Catholic Church in their day-to-day work and personal lives.

  1. Definitions
  2. Immoral conduct is defined as behavior that is contrary to the discipline and teachings of the Church and may result in scandal to the faithful or harm to the ministry of the Church. Specific standards of the diocese are defined below.
  3. Scandal is an attitude or behavior, which leads another to do evil. Scandal damages virtue and integrity. It is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2284).
  4. Standards of the Diocese
  5. It is fundamental to the mission of the Diocese of San Angelo for Church personnel to exhibit the highest ethical standards and personal integrity. The purpose of this policy is to insure that all Church personnel follow the traditional strong moral and ethical standards of the Catholic Church. Church personnel should not engage in the following:
  6. Formally rejecting Catholic Church teachings or the Christian way of life.
  7. Exhibiting actions that are disruptive to the ministry and public worship.
  8. Procuring or participating in abortion, homicide or euthanasia.
  9. Possessing or viewing pornographic materials.
  10. Engaging in adultery or flagrant promiscuity
  11. Abusing alcohol or abusing gambling.
  12. Possession or use of illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia.
  13. Stealing or any other form of theft, including misappropriation of Church funds.
  14. Sexual harassment, exploitation or abuse.
  15. Physical assault and fighting.
  16. Disclosing the serious faults or failings of others to persons who have no cause to know them or making false allegations against another

Conclusion

Examples presented in this document are intended to inform discussion and should not be taken as particular legal advice.  Church officials should work with local attorneys for determination of appropriate employment language and any approaches applicable to their local situation.

As these exemplars have shown, there are different options for Catholic leadership to approach the presentation and enforcement of faith and morals clauses for Catholic school teachers.  In seeking to implement faith and morals clauses, it is prudent for the school to ensure that 1) it has properly highlighted the fundamental religious nature of all of its efforts, 2) it has made all teachers aware of their responsibility to advance the religious mission of Catholic education, and 3) it seeks to ensure that the teachers understand the scope of faith and morals transgressions that might result in termination of employment.

The larger companion document presents texts and exemplars from over a hundred and twenty-five dioceses.  Additional published research on this topic will be presented in the fall.  Those dioceses not yet represented in the sample are encouraged to share whatever they think might be helpful to other Catholic dioceses in an effort to further discussion.

Please feel free to send comments, inquires, contacts, corrections and additions to:

Dr. Denise Donohue, Director of the Catholic Education Honor Roll, The Cardinal Newman Society, ddonohue@cardinalnewmansociety.org

Dr. Dan Guernsey, Senior Fellow, The Cardinal Newman Society, dguernsey@cardinalnewmansociety.org

Additional research provided by Dr. Jamie Arthur, formerly Cardinal Newman Society Senior Fellow and Director of the Catholic Education Honor Roll.

 

 

 

Private Affairs and Private Institutions

This article is part of a collaborative series between The Cardinal Newman Society and the Culture of Life Foundation on Catholic education policy from the perspective of theology, ethics and the moral law.

With government’s growing efforts to create a new norm for human sexuality, it should not be surprising that those who engage in sexual activity outside of the bonds of traditional marriage are becoming increasingly bold in disclosing their lifestyles.  While the impact of some of these disclosures may be limited to immediate family, friends, and perhaps neighbors, others reach a great deal further as the persons involved, teachers, for example, have formative roles with children.  While the response among public officials and school systems appears to be one of acceptance, if not celebration, there are, of course, many parents and colleagues who have concerns.  The media gives little traction to such concerns, pushing us to believe that the trend is towards openness to all variations of lifestyle, with no clear sense of where lines, if any, should be drawn.  Ignored completely are ample data demonstrating that a disproportionate number of those living alternative lifestyles engage in behaviors that place their physical health and wellbeing at higher risk.

The debate above is interesting enough, but add to it charged arguments respecting religious liberty and you have an interesting intersection making headlines of its own.  Two Catholic dioceses this year have faced the dilemma of teachers who are planning to marry same-sex partners, one going public via Facebook and the other directly contacting his school leadership to inform it of his plans.  These disclosures have raised a great debate.  What is the right thing for a diocese to do when an employee openly violates church teaching?  How do we balance justice and mercy, knowing that neither is possible without the other?  It should be noted that this is not only an issue of same-sex attracted persons, as heterosexual cohabitation presents a similar dilemma.

My colleague E. Christian Brugger will be addressing the proper ethical and moral reasoning that is central to this issue in coming briefs.  Today, I will reflect on how one might think about this issue with respect to its impact on the psychological development of the affected students.

Are You A Role Model?

Does it really matter what the teachers of our youth do in their personal lives?  Are the teens actually paying attention to their teacher’s lifestyle choices?  Research and theory would say “Yes.”

Psychological theory and research, originally articulated by Albert Bandura’s social learning theory, have long recognized that the examples set by significant adults have a great influence on the youth around them.  Adolescents are particularly apt to be influenced by adults because adolescence is the age of identity formation.  Positive role models have been found to have protective effects, especially for those adolescents who are exposed to negative adult behavior in the home.  What is critical for this discussion are the mechanisms through which this role modeling occurs.

Through a process known as “vicarious reinforcement,” people tend to model the behavior of individuals whose actions they see being rewarded, rewards being either praise or attention from others.  It is as if the observers were actually receiving the rewards themselves.  This creates a real problem then when a public figure who behaves poorly, rather than being publicly reprimanded, is publicly praised.  Vicarious learning will occur in either case.  The only question is what will be learned.  Therefore, how leaders address those situations where a teacher or principal chooses to violate the standards, or ignore the mission of the organization for which he works, is critical.

Researchers Brown and Trevino’s work on ethical leaders in business led them to conclude that in order to be perceived as an ethical leader, the individual must be seen as a moral person: a person who is honest, trustworthy, caring about people, open to input, respectful, and able to make principled decisions.  These last two factors, showing respect and being principled in making decisions, I suggest, are the weak links in our current culture.  Whatever other seemingly-positive character attributes might be demonstrated by an individual taking a provocative stand, the promotion of his own self-interest over that of the community’s needs disrupts his ability to meaningfully convey those attributes as strengths.

Supportive commentaries with respect to the teachers who have pursued same-sex marriage (teachers who, by the way, have acknowledged and consented to the prohibition against such acts in their employment contracts with the Catholic diocese for which they work) have focused exclusively on how caring and supportive these teachers are of students, highlighting their excellent teaching records and popularity in the school.  Mainstream media reports and current political trends take a similarly sympathetic view.

And herein lay the problem.  While not presuming to know, and certainly not judging, the motivations of the teachers involved in these particular cases, there are critical principles and dynamics at play that must be understood in order for the students in these schools to receive justice.

Defining The Role Model

To the extent that youth are persuaded by the popular notion that such behavior is a normal variation—free of any adverse consequences—and to be at least tolerated, if not fully embraced, they will be unable to see that in “coming out” the teacher has failed: he has failed to respect and uphold the integrity of the Church which he has agreed to serve.  Instead, students will see these teachers as besieged heroes and role models to be emulated.  Teens are already developmentally predisposed to challenge authority as they explore with their maturing minds, abstractions and ideas that were heretofore hidden.  This is a normal and healthy process.  However, it needs guidance and boundaries.  Historically, these have come from family, school, and church communities.  If these institutions begin to equivocate, then our youth are cast adrift on stormy seas.  Youth need and, research suggests, actually prefer, ethical role models.  It is in our nature as human persons to desire the good and to seek the truth.  Our youth thirst for this.  To deny them such goods is not only perilous, it is unjust.

While students might learn from the “teachable moment” of a teacher who is involved in a pregnancy out of wedlock, but then places the child for adoption or marries the other parent of the child, permanent, premeditated actions taken against known values and agreed contractual obligations is a different matter.  Although it is unpopular in the moment, and certainly challenging interpersonally, to dismiss a beloved teacher, the risk of confusion is too great to do otherwise, and, in the long run, the many adolescents who are better formed as a result will be grateful for it.

Catholic Schools, Firing Policies and Teacher Misconduct

This publication is the first in a collaborative series between The Cardinal Newman Society and the Culture of Life Foundation on complex moral issues in Catholic education policy.  These papers are intended to inform discussion and should not be regarded as definitive statements of policy or practice.  The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Cardinal Newman Society or the Culture of Life Foundation.

The question which has been in the news recently is as follows: Should teachers, faculty members or school administrators be terminated if they are found to be guilty of grave moral misconduct in their private lives?

Because each Catholic school has elements unique to itself—mission statements, constituencies, financial needs—and each employment situation is unique, and the circumstances surrounding each instance of misconduct is unique, there is no “one-size-fits-all” answer to this question.  But certain consistent principles can be considered and practical measures taken to assist schools in responding well to the problem of employee misconduct.  This essay discusses both.

What’s the Fuss?

Why is this even a difficult question?  Why not just sack any employee guilty of misconduct, clean the slate and move on?  Or why not be merciful and always offer employees a second chance?  Both options could be licit; at the very least, neither is intrinsically evil.

It’s a difficult question because school officials, in seeking to do what is right, are aware that both alternatives—firing and not firing—risk causing unintentional harms that they are not interested in bringing about, and that could be very impacting on the welfare of the school and the Church.

Making a good decision means not only being realistic about unintentional harms, but assessing whether or not tolerating (but not intending) one or more of them might either violate some moral duty or be an obligation in virtue of some other duty.  Public relations (PR) concerns are often foremost on the minds of school authorities, and they are certainly not irrelevant.  But they are by no means the only—and usually not the most important—concerns, the foremost of which are a true concern to avoid scandal and to maintain the integrity of a school’s Christian witness.

The Fuss Is about Souls!

What’s at stake is ultimately the good of souls, especially the souls of students, and the integrity of the Catholic Church’s apostolic mission.  The first duty of a Catholic school is to bear witness through educational means to the splendor of truth, especially the truths of the Christian faith.  Fund raising, prestige, academic ranking and successful sports programs are important, but if school authorities forfeit their school’s true Catholic identity in their effort to achieve them, they fail in their first duty to their constituencies and to the Church, and worse, they betray Christ.

When it comes to considering termination, making a good decision can be difficult and laborious.  But as I tell my seminarians, moral decision-making is about loving.  And for those who exercise authority, loving means seeing and assessing all the relevant harms caused by one’s action or inaction.  Why?  Because every relevant harm is ultimately a harm to some human being.  And it is human beings who constitute “the foundation, the cause and the end of every social institution” (John XXIII, Mater et Magistra, no. 219).  Although some or even many of the foreseeable harms may not be decisive for settling questions concerning misconduct, no harm is irrelevant to these questions’ assessment.

With Whom Does Responsibility for this Decision Rest?

The development and execution of school policy fall to whoever has authority over the school’s employees, and over the school itself: e.g., members of the school’s senior administration, members of the board of directors; the superintendents of Catholic schools; and, ultimately, the diocesan bishop.  There will obviously be differences in the authority structure with non-diocesan Catholic schools, but the point here is clear: those who exercise authority bear responsibility.  At universities, senior faculty are sometimes also consulted, or committees set up to deal with grievances brought against faculty members.

Critical Importance of Hiring Procedures and Conduct Policies

While no set of procedures and no policy can anticipate every possible situation, schools can and should develop hiring procedures and conduct policies that establish a base-line for acceptable conduct for all employees, especially teachers, and specify clearly the results of violating the policies.  In dealing with the problem of employee misconduct, this is arguably the most important practical measure a Catholic apostolate can take to guard its religious identity.

Catholic Apostolates and Mission-Centered Hiring Policies

An “apostolate” is a community of Christian witnesses.  A “mission” is the community’s work.  Catholic schools and universities are—or ought to be—apostolates of the Church.

Hiring procedures should be in place to ensure that all employees support the apostolic identity and mission of the institution.  This is what the term “hiring for mission” means.  Although some jobs are more closely associated with the oral and public communication of the school’s mission, all employees share responsibility for protecting and promoting it.

This does not mean that all employees must be practicing Catholics.  However, it does mean, ordinarily, that a majority of employees should be practicing Catholics.  Otherwise, it will be difficult to ensure a consistent expression of the school’s mission and guarantee continuity of Catholic identity over time.  All other employees should understand, believe in, and be willing to support, the school’s mission.

It follows that:

School authorities ought to hire only people capable of cooperating in carrying out the school’s mission, and that means that they cannot be known to be persisting in any behavior or commitment objectively incompatible with Catholic moral teaching.

This is especially important for the hiring of faculty, as well as administrators who work closely with students (e.g., counselors).

Conduct Policies

This requirement should be supported by a clearly defined, written moral conduct policy.  It should be built into the job description and be an essential and legally binding part of any and every employment agreement.

If the school’s policy is:

  • clearly published and consistent with Catholic Church teaching;
  • closely keyed to the institutional mission statement; and
  • consistently and non-arbitrarily applied,

then there will be structures in place to guide decision making in circumstances where polices are violated.  Absent such a policy, each case will likely be treated differently, depending on the matter at issue and what sort of employment agreement and undertaking exists.  This leaves the institution much more vulnerable to running afoul of the law or being open to a civil suit.

Private vs. Professional Misconduct

My analysis is principally concerned with what school authorities should do in cases of grave misconduct in the private lives of employees.  By “private” I mean life outside of professional employment.  There will be different degrees of private misconduct (e.g., acts one doesn’t want known vs. ones that are flaunted even though they are not on “company time”); this essay concerns all degrees of “private” misconduct.  Once questionable behavior comes to the attention of someone who has authority over the individual, at that point the private becomes public for our purposes.

This essay does not consider misconduct in one’s professional life (e.g., sexual harassment on the job), though that also needs to be handled with consistency and good judgment.  Nor does it address the duties of school authorities to comply with law enforcement in cases where employees are undergoing criminal investigation.

“Grave” Misconduct: Serious Sin, Intransigence, Scandal

In moral theology, referring to a sin as “grave” implies it is a mortal sin.  I am using the term grave here more restrictively.  By “grave misconduct” I am referring to deliberate behavior that meets the following three conditions: first, it is gravely wrong (serious or mortally sinful in type); second, the employee is intransigent in doing it; and third, the situation is potentially an occasion of scandal.

In general, I think that actionable instances of private misconduct should meet all three conditions.

The first condition needs no explanation.  But the next two deserve comment.

Intransigence means that some misconduct is unapologetically habitual.  Some examples of behavior meeting the condition of intransigence could include:

  • Single employees who get pregnant or get someone pregnant and defend their behavior; cohabitating in sexually-active, non-marital relationships;
  • Employees engaged in promiscuous activities with same sex partners or with partners of the opposite sex;
  • Employees engaged in an adulterous relationship;
  • Employees who advocate for public policies explicitly aimed at advancing or defending abortion rights, same sex marriage, polygamy, euthanasia, experimenting on, freezing or destroying human embryos, cloning, or other gravely immoral acts.

Intransigence is not met if an employee engages in some misconduct, but expresses a sincere desire and resolve to change.  For example, if a female employee gets pregnant out of wedlock, or a single male gets a woman pregnant, but she or he sincerely repents, resolves to keep and raise or support the child according to Christian principles, or place the child for adoption, and is willing publicly to support the Church’s moral teaching on marriage and sexual morality, intransigence is not a factor.

Scandal means that the private behavior, if known, could destroy people’s faith, undermine the school’s Catholic identity and be an inducement to sin, especially to the students.  Some sins today are particularly dangerous to the welfare of souls.  Abortion and promiscuity—especially homosexual behavior—because they represent evils that many say are goods, can easily be occasions for scandal.  Since the indissolubility of marriage is also widely rejected, and even doubted by some Catholics, another act especially apt to give scandal could be actively dating when divorced without an annulment or dating an un-annulled divorced person.  If school authorities appear to be indifferent to these behaviors, the consequences can be unacceptable.

Intransigence is not absolutely necessary

As I said, I think that the three conditions ordinarily should be met before instances of misconduct become subject matter for dismissal.

Is this to say that grave misconduct by employees who do not express intransigence is not subject matter for dismissal?  No.  If school authorities have good reason to believe that an immoral act committed by an employee will cause scandal, then even if the employee is repentant, the welfare of the school may require dismissal.  Obviously, the greater the risk of scandal, the more seriously dismissal must be considered.

However, just as it is true that there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Lk. 15:7), so it is true that Christians rejoice when their brothers and sisters repent.  It seems to me that evil-doing that is frankly, publicly and sincerely rejected through true repentance is rarely an occasion for another’s sin; and very often it is an occasion of moral growth for wrongdoers and those around them.

It follows that:

If school authorities think that scandal in the case of a repentant employee can be reasonably obviated by measures short of dismissal, they should adopt those measures.  If they do not think scandal can be avoided, then they may be obligated to terminate the employee’s employment.

Two Moral Requirements: Due Diligence and Moral Certitude

School authorities can come to suspect an employee of grave misconduct in several ways.  Employees might publicize their behaviors (including their views) on social media, by email or in scholarly publications.  Or, a member of the school community or somebody outside of it might accuse them of misconduct.

In either case, school authorities ought to carry out due diligence and only act when reasonable doubt has been removed.

Due diligence

The first priority should be to establish beyond a reasonable doubt whether or not the suspicion is true.  Christian charity requires that school authorities should assume the best of their employees until evidence proves otherwise.

The practice of anonymous accusation, not uncommon in Catholic institutions, should be rejected in all but the most extraordinary circumstances (e.g., in cases of danger to the informer).  Although it may be fair to ask authorities to maintain confidentiality when one is revealing sensitive information about oneself, if one accuses another of grave misconduct, one should, in justice, be willing to be made known to the accused.  And the accused, also as a matter of justice, should be given the opportunity to face his or her accuser.  It is not only gravely unjust—evil—to falsely accuse another; it is also unjust for authorities to accept and act on an accusation of grave misconduct without undertaking due diligence to establish its verity.

Upon a revelation of misconduct, school authorities ordinarily should first approach the employee and ask him or her charitably and without dissembling: “Did you do X?” or “Are you doing Y?”  If rumors are flying about, but no solid evidence has been presented, it would still be acceptable to ask the employee directly whether there is anything to the rumors.

Unless school authorities have reasons to suspect an employee’s honesty, a denial of guilt should be taken as sufficiently establishing the truth.

Moral certitude

Only after guilt has been established beyond a reasonable doubt—that is, when authorities have moral certitude of their employee’s guilt—should disciplinary measures be initiated.

And I do mean should be initiated.

Schools must not close their eyes to the grave immorality of their employees hoping it will go away.  It is not uncommon for schools to ignore the private but scandalous behavior of their employees, not acting upon it until the situation grows into an ugly PR problem, at which point, scandal has probably already occurred.

Although they should not take action in the absence of due diligence and moral certitude, as soon as these are fulfilled, they should not delay action because of a fear of unpleasant results.

Confidentiality vs. Secrecy

A common cause of disunity in Catholic educational institutions is inadequate communication between administration and other employees, especially faculty.  Although every person has a right to a good name, and idle curiosity should not be fed, confidentiality should not be taken to the extreme of secrecy.

All school employees share responsibility for contributing to, and maintaining, the conditions of the common good of the institution.  Consequently, they have a right to know at least the minimal facts of serious situations that bear upon that common good.

If a teacher or administrator is convicted of, and dismissed for, misconduct, I believe it is best for school authorities to give other school employees at least minimal information about the event (e.g., “so and so has been dismissed for misconduct”).  Details ordinarily need not be divulged.  Employees should be admonished not to give over to gossip or listening to gossip, or calumny or reviling.  They should be told that if they feel the need to discuss the situation further, they are free to contact proper channels within or outside the institution.

Harmful Effects of Terminating or Not-Terminating an Employee

I said above that making a good moral decision means assessing the potential consequences of adopting, or not adopting, alternatives under consideration.  In this final section, I elaborate on the kinds of unintentional harms that may follow upon the decisions to dismiss or not dismiss an employee for misconduct.

If there is a clear school policy, as I recommend above, some of the harms (especially in clear-cut cases of misconduct) may be less material to the analysis, but no reasonably-foreseeable harm of our actions is irrelevant to conscientious moral analysis.

Therefore, this final section is included to educate readers, especially those who hold positions of authority in Catholic education, of the types of issues that should be considered when undertaking a moral assessment of complex issues such as the one we are considering here.

Not Consequentialist or Proportionalist Reasoning

It bears noting that considering the harmful consequences attendant to a decision to terminate or not terminate is not consequentialist reasoning, the aim of which is to determine by appeal to consequences whether or not intending evil (as an end or means) is licit ‘under the circumstances.’  Evil alternatives should never be chosen and consequently should not be the subject matter of moral deliberation.  As soon as we conclude that some type of behavior would be intrinsically wrongful to choose, we should exclude it from our range of potentially-acceptable choices.

But once we have done this, we must have a reasonable concern for consequences.

Effects of terminating employment

What harmful (unintended) side effects are likely to be caused by terminating an employee for misconduct?

  1. Effects on school pedagogy: perhaps lose a good teacher;
  2. Effects upon students: alienate students who feel sympathy for the teacher;
  3. Effects upon faculty/administrators/other employees: generate or strengthen unhealthy factions within the institution;
  4. Effects on institution/diocese/Church: employee becomes a cause célèbre:
  • Provides an opportunity for those outside the institution who oppose the Church’s teaching to accuse the institution of intolerance, mean-spiritedness, unmercifulness, hypocrisy, etc.
  • Provokes lawsuits with financial implications for the institution.
  1. Effects upon the teacher: stigmatizes him/her which may make it hard to find a new job; perhaps precipitates financial difficulties, relational difficulties, etc.;
  2. Effects upon the innocent:
  • If a teacher gets pregnant, termination may cause harm to the unborn child; if he/she has other children, hardship may come to them.
  • If termination is carried out in a heavy-handed way, those in the community who are weak or ignorant, but good-willed, may be alienated from the Church.

If one or another of these harms can be avoided by undertaking remedial interventions that are not gravely burdensome to the institution, then, when a decision is made to terminate an employee for misconduct, school authorities should consider ways to make those interventions.

Effects of not terminating employment

What are some foreseeable unintentional harms of not terminating employment?

  1. Possibility of scandal: continuing employment may tempt others to sin:
  • Effects upon students: Students who see the school apparently tolerating the behavior may conclude that the behavior is legitimate; may even imitate it.
  • Effects on others outside the school: not taking decisive action can make the wrongdoing seem more acceptable, provide material for rationalization and self-deception, tempt the weak, and confuse the doubtful or ignorant.

Moral principle: if school authorities have good reasons to conclude that not taking decisive action, including termination, will cause scandal, then ordinarily they have an obligation to take appropriate action.  If the risk of scandal can be obviated by measures short of termination, then fear of scandal need not be decisive.

  1. Effects upon the school’s mission: by not taking decisive action, the school may fail in its duty to bear perspicuous witness to gospel values. Catholic schools, as a matter of basic identity, have an obligation to offer credible and charitable witness against these types of wrongdoing and for the goods violated by the misconduct.

Moral principle: if school authorities have good reasons to believe that their school’s apostolic integrity (i.e., its ability to carry out its mission) will be compromised by not taking decisive action, then ordinarily they are obliged to take that action.

  1. Effects upon the school’s Catholic reputation: by not taking decisive action the school may appear to be indifferent towards certain kinds of evildoing and hence lose the respect (as a Catholic institution) that all true apostolates deserve. For schools that have already lost this respect, school leaders should consider their response to employee misconduct in light of the need to restore their good (Catholic) name.
  2. Effects upon school authorities themselves: those in authority should ask whether tolerating grave misconduct in their employees would cause themselves (or other employees) to grow psychologically coarsened in relation to the goods/persons adversely affected by the wrongdoing, or cynical towards the duty to “fight the good fight” against certain widespread kinds of evil. They should take appropriate action against such coarsening and cynicism in themselves (and in their employees, especially faculty members).
  3. Effects upon school policy: not taking decisive action may establish a dubious precedent for resolving future cases; this should be avoided.
  4. Effects upon other schools: other schools may follow the example, when in fact their situations are quite different and demand a different response.
  5. Effects upon the wrongdoer: if wrongdoers are not disciplined, they may be strengthened in their wrongdoing and carry out further wrongful acts.
  6. Effects upon community harmony:
  • Members of the wider Catholic or Christian community, who hear about wrongdoing at a Catholic school and conclude that the school is indifferent to it, may grow alienated from the school and from relevant Church authorities.
  • Disharmony may also be caused between school authorities and possible victims of the wrongdoing, e.g., a spouse who was dumped by a school employee may perceive the school’s failure to terminate the spouse as the school’s indifference towards, or support for, the wrongdoing.

Other Morally Relevant Questions

A few other questions should also be asked:

  1. Are there special circumstances that strengthen the school’s reasons to terminate or not to terminate an employee? For example:
  • Is the employee especially vulnerable at this time for reasons unrelated to the misconduct?
  • Or is the misconduct so grave and the potential harms so widespread that attending to “special circumstances” might be unfair to others?
  • Is the employee recidivist in wrongdoing or is this a first offense?
  • Does he or she as a rule publicly support Catholic teaching or criticize it?
  1. Is the employee close to retirement?
  • If so, could the retirement be moved forward in such a way as to render unnecessary a precipitous termination?
  • In some instances, however, the institution may be obliged to say something publicly about the retirement, so that others do not come away with the mistaken belief—if it is indeed mistaken—that the authorities have done nothing about the misconduct.
  1. Can termination be carried out more discreetly? Could the employee be let go at the end of the contract year, rather than immediately, without undue harmful effects being caused?
  2. Do school authorities have good reasons to believe that terminating employment may prevent or mitigate future wrongdoing by the employee?
  • Certain kinds of decisive action may be advisable, and even obligatory, if doing so is likely to prevent future evildoing.
  • If, however, the intervention is unlikely to have any positive effect on the employee, this may not be a consideration.

Conclusion

This is an analysis of Christian principles important for properly understanding issues surrounding the termination of teachers/faculty, school administrators and other employees who have been found guilty of grave moral misconduct in their private lives.

The principles are offered to assist school authorities to establish clear and consistent policies regarding moral behavior for employment contracts, faculty handbooks, or other documents, which govern the conduct of school employees.  They also may be useful as a basis for the establishment of employment law respecting both the religious freedom of Catholic educational institutions and the rights of employees.

Hiring for Mission at Catholic Colleges and Universities: A Survey of Current Trends and Practices

On the level of higher education, many of you have pointed to a growing recognition on the part of Catholic colleges and universities of the need to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service to the Gospel. Yet much remains to be done…

Pope Benedict XVI, Ad limina Address to American Bishops, May 5, 2012

Catholic higher education is heir to the greatest intellectual, moral, and cultural patrimony in human history. It has a deeply satisfying answer to who and why man is. It’s beautiful because it’s true. It has nothing to be embarrassed about and every reason to be on fire with confidence and apostolic zeal. We only defeat ourselves—and we certainly don’t serve God—if we allow ourselves ever to think otherwise.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, A Heart on Fire: Catholic Witness and the Next America

Introduction

In the post-Vatican II period, Catholic colleges and universities in the United States have experienced a marked decrease in the numbers of their Catholic faculty. As we read in The Catholic University of America’s ten-year review of its application of the norms first promulgated by the Apostolic Constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae and affirmed by the U.S. Bishops in 19991, the twenty-year period from 1975 to 1995, especially, was a time when the identity of Catholic colleges and universities was undergoing much self-criticism and redefinition. Coupled with the decreased availability of religious and clerical personnel, owing to the vocations crisis, and an increased dependence upon lay faculty, the net result for Catholic University, concludes the University’s report, “was a decrease in hires of committed Roman Catholics as well as a decreased emphasis on formally tracking the religious preference of new faculty hires.” This result was characteristic of most Catholic colleges and universities in this period.2

The promulgation of Ex corde Ecclesiae in 1990 aimed to address this crisis of identity occurring in Catholic institutions of higher learning, and in the twenty-two years since its promulgation much progress has been made toward calling these institutions back to their “privileged task,” as Ex corde puts it, of uniting “existentially by intellectual effort two orders of reality that too frequently tend to be placed in opposition as though they were antithetical: the search for truth, and the certainty of already knowing the fount of truth” (Introduction, no. 1). However, the decline in numbers of Catholic faculty has, by and large, continued unabated. While certain institutions have demonstrated admirable pro-activity in responding  to Ex corde’s norm that Catholic colleges and universities maintain a majority of Catholic faculty, others are struggling to maintain that majority as older and predominantly Catholic faculty retire. The issue, of course, is not simply about numbers; it is about sustaining the very character of Catholic institutions of higher learning. As Richard D. Breslin, professor of leadership and higher education at Saint Louis University, writes: “One can stipulate that if hiring practices are not addressed in the Catholic higher education community, some of these institutions will continue to be called Catholic and to call themselves Catholic, but they will have lost their real identity; they will have lost their souls. They will have done so precisely because their hiring practices failed to support and sustain the mission and philosophy of the university as Catholic.”3

The aim of this report is to survey current efforts by Catholic colleges and universities to avert this danger by means of their hiring practices. The institutions surveyed include twenty-five institutions included in the third edition of The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College (October 2012), as well as selected institutions not in the Guide, including, by way of comparison, some non-Catholic ones. In particular, the report will focus on how Catholic colleges and institutions are going about “hiring for mission,” that is, how they are endeavoring to recruit and hire committed Catholic faculty, faculty who unite in their persons the search for truth within their respective disciplines, and the certainty by faith of already knowing the fount of truth. As a result of this survey, a better understanding will be achieved of the current trends and practices at Catholic colleges and universities when it comes to hiring for Catholic mission. This will help facilitate the later discernment of strengths and weaknesses, and the eventual advocacy of particular policies aimed at encouraging Catholic institutions to realize ever more faithfully their mission “in the heart of the Church.”4

The report will consist of two main parts. After a brief note on sources, the first part of the report will sketch some of the most noteworthy aims and challenges that must be acknowledged by Catholic institutions in forming any robust hiring for mission policy. The second part of the report will then present a variety of specific hiring-for-mission policies, ordered according to the stages of a typical academic hiring process.

A Note on Sources

Much of the research for this report was conducted online, first by surveying the web materials of Newman Guide institutions, as well as additional Catholic and non-Catholic institutions:

Newman Guide Colleges

  1. Aquinas College (Tenn.)
  2. Ave Maria University
  3. Belmont Abbey College
  4. Benedictine College
  5. Catholic Distance University
  6. Catholic University of America
  7. Christendom College
  8. College of St. Mary Magdalen
  9. The College of Saint John Fisher & Thomas More
  10. DeSales University
  11. Franciscan University of Steubenville
  12. Holy Apostles College and Seminary
  13. Holy Spirit College
  14. John Paul the Great Catholic University
  15. Mount St. Mary’s University
  16. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy
  17. Redeemer Pacific College
  18. Saint Gregory’s University
  19. Thomas Aquinas College
  20. Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
  21. University of Dallas
  22. University of Mary
  23. University of St. Thomas (Tex.)
  24. Walsh University
  25. Wyoming Catholic College

Other Catholic Colleges

  1. Canisius College
  2. Creighton University
  3. John Carroll University
  4. LeMoyne College
  5. Loyola Marymount University
  6. University of Notre Dame
  7. University of St. Thomas (Minn.)

Non-Catholic Colleges

  1. Baylor University
  2. Bob Jones University
  3. Brigham Young University
  4. Colorado Christian University
  5. Wheaton College

Personal interviews (all but two of which by telephone) were conducted with the following key administrators and faculty:

  1. Terry Ball, Dean of the College of Religious Education, Brigham Young University
  2. Christopher Blum, Professor of Humanities and Academic Dean, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts
  3. Anne Carson Daly, Vice-President of Academic Affairs, Belmont Abbey College
  4. Michael Dauphinais, Dean of Faculty, Ave Maria University
  5. Rick Garris, Director of Human Relations, Colorado Christian University
  6. Joshua Hochschild, Dean of the College of Humanities, Mount St. Mary’s University
  7. Christopher Kaczor, Professor of Philosophy, Loyola Marymount University
  8. Rev. Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., Professor of History and former chair of the department, University of Notre Dame
  9. Lawrence R. Poos, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, The Catholic University of America
  10. Kimberly Shankman, Dean, Benedictine College
  11. Steve Snyder, Vice-President for Academic Affairs, Christendom College

In an email exchange Dr. Don Briel, Director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, furnished his forthcoming essay “Mission and Identity: The Role of Faculty,” discussed below.

At the end of this report is a linked appendix listing the institutions surveyed in the report.

Hiring for Catholic Mission: Aims & Challenges

The very concept of “hiring for mission” entails a clear understanding on the part of an institution of just what its mission is. In the next section of this report we’ll take a look at some specific examples of strong mission statements at Catholic colleges and universities. First, however, it would be useful to establish a more global view of the mission of such institutions, and further, the general sorts of hiring policies and practices entailed by it. In other words, we need to ask: what, generally speaking, is the institutional identity of a Catholic institution of higher learning, and what are the requirements this identity imposes upon the practice of hiring members to its faculty?

The best place to begin articulating an answer to this twofold question is Ex corde Ecclesiae, which outlines four “essential characteristics” of what makes a Catholic college or university truly Catholic:

  1. a Christian inspiration not only of individuals but of the university community as such;
  2. a continuing reflection in the light of the Catholic faith upon the growing treasury of human knowledge, to which it seeks to contribute by its own research;
  3. fidelity to the Christian message as it comes to us through the Church;
  4. an institutional commitment to the service of the people of God and of the human family in their pilgrimage to the transcendent goal which gives meaning to life (no. 13).

A paraphrase of these essential characteristics might read as follows:

A truly Catholic institution of higher learning is a Christian community dedicated, according to the principles and rightful autonomy of the various intellectual disciplines, to the pursuit and transmission of truth, under the inspiration and direction of the teaching authority of the Church, and in service to the Church and to the wider human family.

These four essential characteristics of a genuinely Catholic college or university can be further expounded, in particular the commitment to truth and its relationship to the institution’s evangelical mission. In an important paper addressing this very relationship, Dr. Don Briel, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, has identified three “concerns” that characterize the pursuit of truth at a Catholic college or university:

  1. a concern for the exploration of and active commitment to the ultimate complementarity of faith and reason;
  2. a sustained examination of the nature of the unity of knowledge in addition to discrete disciplinary research; and
  3. a concern for the exploration of the distinctive character and present implications of the Catholic intellectual tradition.5

Briel here directs our attention to a Catholic institution’s mission to manifest the harmony between faith and reason; the ultimate integrity of the various ways in which truth is pursued; and the need for these various pursuits of truth to take place within the ongoing series of debates and inquiries that constitute the Catholic intellectual tradition.

In order to fulfill its mission, it is evident that a Catholic institution must seek to embody the most famous norm promulgated by Ex corde Ecclesiae: that “the number of non-Catholic teachers should not be allowed to constitute a majority within the Institution, which is and must remain Catholic” (Article 4, no. 4). A Catholic institution of higher learning is, according to Ex corde, a Christian community faithful to the Christian message as it comes to us through the Church. It is a community that seeks to harmonize its pursuit of truth with what is actually accepted by faith, to aim for an integration of its various pursuits so that the unity of truth is put on display, and thus to develop the living tradition of which its efforts form a part. By definition, then, a Catholic college or university requires a largely Catholic faculty. A predominantly Catholic presence on the faculty—a presence that is vigorous and not merely nominal—is essential to the achievement of a Catholic institution’s mission. In this regard Briel cites some trenchant remarks of Rev. James T. Burtchaell:

Every quality that a college or university desires as an institutional characteristic must be embodied in its faculty; they are what most make it what it is. To seek academic excellence would be in vain, for instance, unless at every evaluation of faculty and in every personnel decision this excellence were a quality openly sought after. If an institution professes to be Catholic, not just nominally but in ways that are intellectually inquisitive and morally committed, then it is similarly imperative that faculty and administrators unabashedly pursue and articulate those interests and those commitments in the recruitment and the advancement of colleagues. Neither intellectual excellence nor religious commitment nor any other positive value will exist within an institution unless each of those qualities is candidly recruited and evaluated and preferred in the appointments of its faculty. The result of such a positive process must be a faculty among whom seriously committed and intellectually accomplished Catholics predominate.6

In light of such considerations, many Catholic colleges and universities in the United States, most notably those recommended in The Newman Guide, have in recent decades given their hiring practices a fresh impetus. They have not only striven to establish faculties predominantly comprised, in Burtchaell’s words, of “seriously committed and intellectually accomplished Catholics,” but they have  also worked hard at creating cultures within their institutions that attract and support this kind of scholar. Some institutions, like Thomas Aquinas College, Christendom College, and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, were responding to the hiring crisis in Catholic higher education long before the promulgation of Ex corde. Others, like Belmont Abbey and the University of Notre Dame, have in recent years adopted new strategies in response to Ex corde. Still others, like Wyoming Catholic College and John Paul the Great Catholic University, have been created within the last decade as direct responses to Pope John Paul II’s call for a New Evangelization of culture.

Even this partial list of Catholic institutions indicates the great variety in kinds of Catholic college and university, a variety of mission that, according to Dr. Christopher Blum, academic dean at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, impacts the way in which hiring for mission is conducted at different institutions. For example, at Thomas More College, an institution with fewer than one hundred students offering a single bachelor’s degree in the liberal arts, hiring for mission takes on a different shape than it does, say, at Belmont Abbey College, a much larger institution offering a variety of degree programs both inside and outside the liberal arts. At Thomas More, reports Dean Blum, all new hires must be prepared to teach in an interdisciplinary setting in tutorial formats with fewer than twenty students, an expectation that simply is not part of Belmont Abbey’s hiring process, which more conventionally hires to academic specialty. Because of its specific curricular approach, Thomas More—as well as similarly-structured institutions such as Thomas Aquinas College and Wyoming Catholic College—probably relies more than most institutions on an informal network of contacts when it comes to attracting candidates for open positions.

Different curricular approaches—indeed, the very differences between colleges and universities—distinguish the various approaches to Catholic higher education in the United States. For the purposes of this report we will assume that these structural differences in themselves do not negatively impact the pursuit of Catholic mission and the development of robust hiring-for-mission policies.7  A small college and a national research university can each in its own way be exemplary in all that it means to be a truly Catholic institution of higher learning. But other factors do present challenges to the mission of Catholic higher education, and thus to the hiring practices of Catholic institutions. These are challenges that arise from the lived situation of these Catholic colleges and universities: from their histories, their confrontations with and attitudes toward our increasingly secularized culture, even their geographical locations. What challenges are these?

A first and very obvious challenge is a legal one: to what degree, if any, can institutions inquire into the religious affiliation, or lack of it, of prospective candidates? It is a complex question, one outside the scope of this report. But it should be noted, at least, that, according to the Office of General Counsel at The Catholic University of America, “a common point of confusion is the idea that because equal opportunity law prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, an employer may not exhibit a preference for someone of a certain religion. Many people do not realize that an exception exists for religious employers, including religious educational institutions. Both the United States Constitution and statutory law support this First Amendment right for religious educational institutions to hire members of their own religion on a preferential basis.”8

A second challenge is demographic. In their book, Catholic Higher Education9, Morey and Piderit characterize Catholic colleges demographically according to four models:

The Immersion Model: in which a vast majority of students are Catholic, the vast majority of faculty and administrators are Catholic, there is a broad array of Catholic courses in the academic sector, and a very strong nonacademic Catholic culture.

The Persuasion Model: in which the majority of students are Catholic, a significant number of faculty and administrators are Catholic, there is a small array of Catholic courses in the academic sector, and a strong nonacademic Catholic culture.

The Diaspora Model: in which a minority of students is Catholic, few faculty and administrators are Catholic, there is a minimal number of Catholic courses in academic sector, and a consistent Catholic culture in nonacademic areas.

The Cohort Two-Pronged Model: in which there exists a small cohort of well-trained and committed Catholic students and faculty, and a much larger group of students educated to be sensitive to religious issues with a view to influencing policy.

At first blush, the mission of Catholic institutions would seem to call all Catholic institutions to be classified demographically as (more or less) “immersion” schools. A school with “a small array of Catholic courses in the academic sector,” as in the “persuasion” model, would not appear to satisfy the three criteria of the Catholic pursuit of knowledge identified by Briel10; and the “disapora” and “cohort” models, with their low percentages of Catholic faculty, fall outside the norms of Ex corde. In any event, for any kind of school other than the “immersion” school to increase the numbers of its Catholic faculty it may well court resistance, especially perhaps from those non-Catholic, non-Christian, and non-theist members of the faculty, who may take the new impetus to be a negative comment on their own hires and on the accustomed diversity of the faculty. Peter Steinfels gives voice to this resistance when he writes:

Most major Catholic universities have had religiously diverse faculties for decades now, and many, especially urban universities, have similarly diverse student bodies. Any significant initiative to hire Catholics will prove offensive to non-Catholic members of the community and their Catholic colleagues. It will require a religious test alien to the academic culture of universities and injurious to the religious presence in scholarly life that Catholic universities should represent. It will stir from the get-go a degree of resistance that will be overcome by nothing short of top-down fiat disruptive of the university community.11

While there are things to dispute in this assessment, it at least clarifies the opposition that may well be faced as non-immersive institutions pursue more robust hiring-for-mission policies. Steinfels rightly notes that anxiety about new hiring initiatives will probably be felt especially at urban universities, where a greater demographic diversity is usually to be found, both on the faculty and among the students, than at institutions in less populated areas. Whether a school exists in the South and traditionally employs a large segment of non-Catholic faculty may also present a challenge to new hiring initiatives focused on Catholic mission.

A third challenge arises from what might be termed the concern for excellence. A common objection that arises when hiring-for-mission policies are debated is that such policies, in preferring the hiring of Catholics, jeopardize the institution’s pursuit of academic excellence—which presumably should be sought in whatever scholars may be found, no matter their religious identification or lack of it. John McGreevy, dean of the College of Arts and Letters at Notre Dame, adds the point that even when institutions aim to hire Catholics, they are confronted with a dramatic shortage of Catholic scholars.12 He cites a 2006 study claiming that, when it comes to tenure-track scholars in the arts and sciences and business at the fifty top-ranked research universities, only six percent self-identify as Catholics (McGreevy admits that the percentage is slightly higher at lesser-ranked universities). In response, McGreevy’s colleague in Notre Dame’s history department, the Rev. Wilson Miscamble, C.S.C., argues:

That (6%) figure may seem low relatively—and, incidentally, might prompt a curious person to wonder why Catholics (and religious believers in general) are so under-represented at the supposed top schools—but it actually represents a substantial raw number of faculty who are possible recruits to Notre Dame.  Moreover, [McGreevy] substantially limits the recruiting pool by referencing only these major research schools. First-rate Catholic scholars also ply their trade at fine liberal arts colleges and at so-called second-tier research institutions, a group which includes Notre Dame itself. Furthermore, the community of Catholic intellectuals is hardly limited to the United States. Notre Dame has a valued tradition extending back for decades of recruiting non-American Catholic scholars like Waldemar Gurian and Stephen Kertesz which surely must be continued. (Of course, it still continues the practice of recruiting overseas but one wonders how effectively when the avowed atheist Jill Mann gained an appointment and the renowned Catholic scholar Eamon Duffy did not.) In short, the recruitment pool is significantly larger than [McGreevy] implies.13

Here, Miscamble challenges McGreevy on the fact that the six percent figure represents an actual low number of possible candidates for faculty positions at Notre Dame, while also reminding him that Notre Dame has an established tradition of hiring excellent scholars from abroad. But Miscamble also raises the deeper question of just what excellence means, both in itself and in relation to a particular institution and its academic needs. McGreevy limits the pool of acceptable Catholic scholars to those working at one of the top fifty research universities, assuming without question the criteria of that ranking as well as giving short shrift to scholars at so-called “lesser-ranked” institutions. The takeaway point is the following: when it comes to Catholic hiring, institutions have to decide what counts for them as excellent. In doing so, they must first apply the criteria set forth in Ex corde, as well as discern what sort of scholar is the best fit for their kind of curriculum. A versatile scholar with an interdisciplinary bent and a fondness for Socratic discussion will fit far better at a liberal arts school, for example, than a scholar with a highly specialized expertise.

The issue of specialization brings up a fourth challenge to Catholic hiring. Among the gravest threats to Catholic intellectual life today is the extreme amount of specialization within disciplines, and the compartmentalization that exists between disciplines. Apropos of this threat Alasdair MacIntyre observes:

The conception of the university presupposed by and embodied in the forms and activities of contemporary research universities is not just one that has nothing much to do with any particular conception of the universe, but one that suggests strongly that there is no such thing as the universe, no whole of which the subject matters studied by the various disciplines are all parts or aspects, but instead just a multifarious set of assorted subject matters.14

According to MacIntyre, the institutional form of the contemporary research university threatens the integration of human knowledge, a disintegration that in turn threatens the harmony between faith and reason that, as we have seen, is an essential aim of the Catholic intellectual quest. MacIntyre’s criticism of research universities aside, we can still admit that every institution of higher learning today has to do deal with the threat of specialization and compartmentalization. Hiring practices that seek to counteract this phenomenon must either wholly resist hiring for academic specialty or resist an ideal of academic specialization that favors the narrow intellectual furrow to the exclusion of an integrated view.

Small liberal arts-based institutions will have an easier time combating this threat of specialization and compartmentalization, but even they may well have to take up arms against it. Interestingly, Dr. Steven Snyder, vice-president for academic affairs at Christendom College, believes that when it comes to hiring for mission, the aim of acquiring a predominance of committed Catholic scholars is not enough. It is also important that the faculty share a “habit of communication in regard to common philosophical principles.” Even at a small, ideologically-driven college, remarks Snyder, intellectual divisions can arise, especially between scientists, on the one hand, and philosophers and theologians, on the other, due to their differing educational formations. A member of a biology faculty, for example, may be an exemplary Catholic, but have no sense of, perhaps even reject, the understanding of faith and reason that animates philosophy and theology. Specialization and compartmentalization are a constant, twin-headed threat to the Catholic intellectual life.

A fifth challenge to a renewal of Catholic hiring practices concerns the hiring of non-Catholic faculty. There is no question that non-Catholics can be welcome and productive members of a Catholic institution of higher learning. But there is a danger in assuming that non-Catholic scholars, in particular those whose work in some way impacts the Catholic intellectual tradition, are perfect substitutes for Catholic scholars. In his debate with Fr. Miscamble about Catholic hiring at Notre Dame, John McGreevy argues that “Miscamble’s preoccupation with the numbers also comes at the expense of ideas. Surely one responsibility of the faculty at a Catholic university is to cultivate possible areas of expertise that resonate with the long, rich heritage of Catholic Christianity.” But then McGreevy immediately adds: “This is not a confessional task. An appealing dimension of intellectual life at Notre Dame is that scholars from all backgrounds introduce our students to a range of subjects and areas not studied in such depth at other universities” (emphasis added). For McGreevy, then, as long as there are scholars on the faculty who are experts in fields that in some way “resonate with the long, rich heritage of Catholic Christianity,” then the Catholic research university has discharged its mission. But to call the assemblage of a faculty at a Catholic institution not a confessional task is surely too strong. Granted, a Catholic institution is entitled to make strategic hires of non-Catholics. But to accept a non-Catholic scholar working on a subject related to the Catholic tradition as a perfect substitute for a Catholic scholar, is to deny the supreme importance of the Catholic college or university being a community predominantly of Catholics pursuing their scholarly endeavors within the wider evangelical mission of their shared faith

A sixth and final challenge has to do with how to identify qualified Catholic candidates. Everyone agrees that when it comes to hiring Catholics, mere numbers are not enough. What an institution needs are Burtchaell’s “seriously committed and intellectually accomplished Catholics.” But how does an institution discern the religious commitment of job candidates? By having them check a box? By asking them directly? And how does it ascertain the Catholic commitment of faculty members as their careers proceed

As we turn now in the second part of the report to specific hiring-for-mission policies, it will not be the intention to show how each policy captures the essence of Catholic higher education according to the norms of Ex corde, or how each policy addresses one or more of the challenges just outlined—though much of this will be evident in the policies themselves. It will be enough if this first part of the report clearly frames some of the more important issues for those who will sift through these policies and evaluate those which will contribute to a set of best practices when it comes to hiring for mission.

Further Relevant Literature

1999 promulgation by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: The Application of Ex corde Ecclesiae for the United States:

http://old.usccb.org/bishops/application_of_excordeecclesiae.shtml

Highly recommended is Wilson D. Miscamble, C.S.C., “Meeting the Challenge and Fulfilling the Promise: Mission and Method in Constructing a Great Catholic University,” in the Hesburgh volume cited in note 1.

This is an interesting article by Rev. Robert Niehoff, S.J., president of John Carroll University, on the importance of hiring for mission, the need to balance the “ideal” and the “possible” when it comes to mission hiring, and how the issue of mission by itself can never trump the need for excellent academic qualifications:

http://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1693&context=conversations

This article by Rev. James Heft, S.M., Alton Brooks Professor of Religion and president of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California, has a nice section on hiring for mission, exposing the false dichotomy between hiring for diversity and hiring for mission:

http://marianists.com/articles/heft-commonweal-v9-10.pdf

Mission Statements, Vision Statements, and Other Kinds of Statements and
Policies Regarding Institutional Mission

Let us now turn to real initiatives being taken by Catholic colleges and universities that are successfully hiring for mission. As stated earlier, a strong hiring for mission policy presupposes a clear statement of mission as the cornerstone of its structure.

Mission Statements

Many institutions studied in preparation for this report have strong, even exemplary, missions statements. Here are some examples of the best:

Franciscan University of Steubenville Mission Statement:

The complete version of Franciscan’s mission statement is exemplary for its faithfulness to the Magisterium, its commitment to the Catholic liberal arts tradition, and its understanding of how a Catholic university should be a source of evangelical witness. Perhaps too long to quote in full, the last item in the Statement of Convictions that concludes the statement should at least be noted: “Therefore, the administration, faculty, and staff, in fostering an intellectual and faith community, are obligated to serve, lead, and guide the institution in a manner consistent with its overall mission.15

Ave Maria University Mission Statement:

Founded in fidelity to Christ and His Church in response to the call of Vatican II for greater lay witness in contemporary society, Ave Maria University exists to further teaching, research, and learning at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the abiding tradition of Catholic thought in both national and international settings. The University takes as its mission the sponsorship of a liberal arts education curriculum dedicated, as articulated in the apostolic constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae, to the advancement of human culture, the promotion of dialogue between faith and reason, the formation of men and women in the intellectual and moral virtues of the Catholic faith, and to the development of professional and pre-professional programs in response to local and societal needs. As an institution committed to Catholic principles, the University recognizes the importance of creating and maintaining an environment in which faith informs the life of the community and takes expression in all its programs. The University recognizes the central and indispensable role of the Ordinary of the Diocese of Venice in promoting and assisting in the preservation and strengthening of the University’s Catholic identity.

Christendom College Mission Statement:

Christendom College is a Catholic coeducational college institutionally committed to the Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church.

The College provides a Catholic liberal arts curriculum grounded in natural and revealed truth, the purpose of which at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is to form the whole person for a life spent in the pursuit of truth and wisdom. Intrinsic to such an education is the formation of moral character and the fostering of the spiritual life. This education prepares students for their role as faithful, informed, and articulate members of Christ’s Church and society.

The particular mission of Christendom College, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, is “to restore all things in Christ,” by forming men and women to contribute to the Christian renovation of the temporal order. This mission gives Christendom its name.

Benedictine College Mission Statement:

Benedictine College is an academic community sponsored by the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey and the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica Monastery. Heir to the 1,500 years of Benedictine dedication to learning, Benedictine College in its own time is ordered to the goal of wisdom lived out in responsible awareness of oneself, God and nature, family and society. Its mission as a Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts, residential college is the education of men and women within a community of faith and scholarship.

As a Catholic college, Benedictine College is committed to those beliefs and natural principles that form the framework of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and it is committed further to those specific matters of faith of the Roman Catholic tradition, as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and handed down in the teachings of the Church. The college embraces students and faculty from all faiths who accept its goals, seeking in its members a personal commitment to the ideals and principles of a spiritual life and the expression of these in worship and action. Benedictine College promotes the growing involvement of religious and laity in the Church’s ministries.

As a college founded on the Benedictine tradition, Benedictine College inherits the themes handed on to us by the Benedictine family: peace, the balance of activity and contemplation, and the glorification of God in all undertakings. With the ideal of a common life vitalized by the spirit of St. Benedict, the members of the Benedictine College community can share work and prayer in common, faithful participation in the life of the community, attentive openness to the Word of God, deep concern for issues of justice and peace, and the pursuit of moderation, hospitality and care for the gifts of creation.

As a liberal arts college, Benedictine College is dedicated to provide a liberal arts education by means of academic programs based on a core of studies in the arts and sciences. Through these programs, the college guides students to refine their capacity for the pursuit and acquisition of truth, to appreciate the major achievements in thought and culture, and to understand the principles that sound theoretical and practical judgment require. In addition, the college provides education for careers through both professional courses of study and major programs in the liberal arts and sciences. As an essential element in its educational mission, Benedictine College fosters scholarship, independent research and performance in its students and faculty as a means of participating in and contributing to the broader world of learning.

As a residential college, Benedictine College supports and encourages the full development of its students through a community life that expresses and proclaims the worth and dignity of each individual. In a caring and supportive atmosphere, students are helped to develop a sense of meaningful purpose in life and encouraged to participate in programs which promote sound bodies, emotional balance and dedication to the welfare of others.

These and other strong mission statements share certain characteristics; they express:

  1. fidelity to the Church’s Magisterium;
  2. commitment to the pursuit of truth within the Catholic intellectual tradition, in particular the liberal arts tradition;
  3. a desire to develop the whole person: intellectually, morally, spiritually;
  4. a spirit of service to the wider culture understood as real Christian renewal; and
  5. where relevant, a desire to promote the particular spiritual tradition of the institution’s founding (for example, the Benedictine tradition at Benedictine College and at Belmont Abbey College).

By way of comparison, it is useful to consider the most relevant portions of the mission statement of Brigham Young University:

The mission of Brigham Young University—founded, supported, and guided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—is to assist individuals in their quest for perfection and eternal life. That assistance should provide a period of intensive learning in a stimulating setting where a commitment to excellence is expected and the full realization of human potential is pursued.

All instruction, programs, and services at BYU, including a wide variety of extracurricular experiences, should make their own contribution toward the balanced development of the total person. Such a broadly prepared individual will not only be capable of meeting personal challenge and change but will also bring strength to others in the tasks of home and family life, social relationships, civic duty, and service to mankind.

To succeed in this mission the university must provide an environment enlightened by living prophets and sustained by those moral virtues which characterize the life and teachings of the Son of God. In that environment these four major educational goals should prevail [of which only the first two will be cited, as being most relevant]:

  • All students at BYU should be taught the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Any education is inadequate which does not emphasize that His is the only name given under heaven whereby mankind can be saved. Certainly all relationships within the BYU community should reflect devout love of God and a loving, genuine concern for the welfare of our neighbor.
  • Because the gospel encourages the pursuit of all truth, students at BYU should receive a broad university education. The arts, letters, and sciences provide the core of such an education, which will help students think clearly, communicate effectively, understand important ideas in their own cultural tradition as well as that of others, and establish clear standards of intellectual integrity…

In meeting these objectives BYU’s faculty, staff, students, and administrators should be anxious to make their service and scholarship available to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in furthering its work worldwide. In an era of limited enrollments, BYU can continue to expand its influence both by encouraging programs that are central to the Church’s purposes and by making its resources available to the Church when called upon to do so.

We believe the earnest pursuit of this institutional mission can have a strong effect on the course of higher education and will greatly enlarge Brigham Young University’s influence in a world we wish to improve.

And from the evangelical perspective, there is Wheaton College’s Statement of Faith and Educational Purpose; the Statement of Faith is “reaffirmed annually by its Board of Trustees, faculty, and staff….”16

Vision Statements

It is also worth noting the practice, employed for example by Christendom College and Benedictine College, of appending a vision statement to their statements of mission.

Other Kinds of Statements and Policies Regarding Institutional Mission

Following its vision statement, Christendom provides an eight-part essay that even further amplifies what it means to be a truly Catholic college.

Similarly Michael Dauphinais, dean of faculty at Ave Maria University, has produced the following message, with its accompanying video, explaining the nature of a liberal education in the Catholic tradition.

By way of introducing its faculty on its website, Franciscan University presents an overview of what it means to be a member of its faculty. There we read:

But what truly sets Franciscan’s professors apart from their peers is that they hold teaching and mentoring you as a sacred trust. They care not only about your GPA and your future career but about helping you become the man or woman God has called you to be from all eternity.

Moreover, on its website Wheaton College provides this overview of what a liberal education means in light of that institution’s evangelical mission.

Finally on the issue of mission, vision, and related statements, Dr. Anne Carson Daly, vice-president of academic affairs at Belmont Abbey College, stresses the importance of departmental mission statements being coordinated with the overall mission statement of the college or university. Consider in this light the mission statement of the Department of Biology at Belmont Abbey:

Department Mission: The Biology Department educates students in the discipline within the context of the Benedictine Liberal Arts tradition. In doing so, we understand biology as the study of life and life processes. The Biology Department believes that, in this modern world, knowledge of biological principles is necessary for every educated person. Such knowledge constitutes a vital part of that liberal learning whose goal, as John Henry Newman noted, is “fitness for the world.” We aim for the study of Biology to help students assess the many issues that face today’s world, enabling them to become responsible citizens and to promote the common good.

Departmental Goals: In Ex corde Ecclesiae, John Paul II states, “…a Catholic University is distinguished by its free search for the whole truth about nature, man, and God.” In biology, because of the limitations of the tools of science, we concentrate on the first two, the natural world and humans and our place in the realm of nature. It is the nature of biology to observe the fundamental symmetry of nature and the patterns and tempo in the evolution of organisms. In this way, biologists and scientists in general seek to understand the diversity, commonalities, and evolution of the natural world, and to appreciate the importance of assuming stewardship and preservation of the biological diversity of life….

Consider in this regard, too, the following mission statement of the School of Religious Education at Brigham Young:

The mission of Religious Education at Brigham Young University is to assist individuals in their efforts to come unto Christ by teaching the scriptures, doctrine, and history of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ through classroom instruction, gospel scholarship, and outreach to the larger community.

Identifying Potential Candidates

Now we want to begin to track the typical hiring process at Catholic colleges and universities, and highlight at the various stages of that process some of the more valuable policies and practices when it comes to hiring for mission.

More than one of the administrators spoken to in the preparation of this report argued that the more focused an institution’s mission is, and the more unabashedly Catholic it is, the more the institution is able to attract “seriously committed and intellectually accomplished Catholics.” Fr. Miscamble notes that three of Notre Dame’s recent hires, Bill Evans and Timothy Fuerst in economics and, a little further back, Brad Gregory in history—all top-flight scholars—came to Notre Dame precisely because of its Catholic mission. Gregory even left a tenured position at Stanford in order to do so. He also references Notre Dame’s Law School as a campus unit that over the years has built a superb faculty by aggressively hiring for mission.

Compare with this the situation at Colorado Christian University. With the administration’s support, Colorado Christian University has re-branded as an intensely religious institution, highlighting its Christian identity on its website and on job application materials. According to Rick Garris, director of human relations at CCU, this consistent emphasis on the school’s Christian identity functions as a pre-screening mechanism, attracting religious candidates and dissuading those of different or weak faiths. Applicants are further culled during the online portion of the application, which asks the potential employee to “talk about their faith.” Applicants who don’t provide an answer are automatically removed from the applicant pool.

We see in these examples of Notre Dame and CCU that a strong sense of mission distilled in the mission statement and embodied in the life of the institution is the first and foremost means of indentifying and attracting excellent Catholic job candidates. Responsibility for a strong Catholic culture starts, of course, at the top. Dr. Lawrence Poos, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at The Catholic University of America, makes this point when he credits a former president of that institution, now Bishop David O’Connell of Trenton, NJ, for changing the culture at CUA by thematizing the issue of hiring for mission. But apart from—or better, given—the existence of a robust commitment to mission on campus, how are strong mission-driven candidates identified?

Most institutions identify potential candidates informally: through professional associations, scholarly publications, the candidate’s being a student of a respected scholar, job postings, and the like.

Notre Dame, however, has gone to uncommon lengths to make the identification of potential candidates more strategic by establishing its Office of Recruitment Support, currently headed by Rev. Robert Sullivan. The primary purpose of this office is to maintain a “database of scholars who have been identified as Catholic, either by the scholars themselves or through public means.” The office makes available an online .pdf brochure that explains the purpose of the database, which is to help “identify for faculty positions academically excellent potential candidates who can advance [Notre Dame’s] Catholic identity.” There is an online signup form for those who would like to contribute their own name; but other names are collected through informal networks of professional and spiritual association.

Terry Ball, dean of the College of Religious Education at Brigham Young University, reports that BYU draws potential faculty candidates either from Church of Latter-day Saints seminary programs, or by attracting recent graduates (some of whom may have enjoyed study grants from BYU) or faculty from other institutions. In the latter case, BYU employs standing search committees to help identify pools of potential candidates. Like other institutions, it also makes use of receptions at major professional meetings. Those candidates the University is especially interested in will often be invited to campus for a trial semester of teaching.

Forming the Search Committee

At some mid-sized to smaller institutions, the college or university president is significantly involved in hiring new faculty. At Christendom, the president even serves on the search committee for each and every new hire, as does the vice-president for academic affairs. Though such a policy would be impracticable at a large research institution such as Notre Dame, it remains imperative, as Fr. Miscamble states, that the president, vice-president for academic affairs or provost, and the deans stay as involved in the hiring process as possible, especially in regard to hiring for mission.

One way for the top administration to stay involved, even if they themselves are not serving on search committees, is for the president and dean to meet with the search committee to discuss mission issues in the context of the relevant discipline, as is done at Benedictine College. Another strategy is for the vice-president for academic affairs to play a significant role in the selection of the search committee, as occurs at Belmont Abbey, where the rules governing searches require the VPAA to appoint the chair of the search committee (usually the chair of the relevant department or division). Carson Daly explains that these rules also require her to pick an additional committee member from the relevant division, as well as to select another member from a pool of three divisional faculty suggested by the search chair. At Christendom, the relevant department chair joins the president and vice-president for academic affairs to make up the trio that is the standard search committee at that institution.

Another excellent practice is found in the School of Arts and Sciences at CUA. Dean Poos requires of each department pursuing a hire to submit to him a “search strategy document,” a written explanation of the department’s reasons for wanting to hire, with emphasis upon how the proposed position relates to the University’s Catholic mission.

As a search gets underway, as Mount St. Mary’s Dean Joshua Hochschild stresses, the importance of hiring for mission must continue to be a theme of conversation in the department itself. The policies and procedures of the institution must inspire water-cooler conversations among faculty about how this charge is to be taken up by the department. Names of potential candidates will no doubt already begin to surface through friendships, associations, and encounters in the field, and discussion of these potential candidates must include how they would fit with the Catholic mission of the institution.

Further Relevant Literature

This essay by Rev. James Heft, S.M. has an interesting section on hiring for mission in which he pursues strategies to enforce the point noted just above, that hiring for mission strategies very much require a “bottom up” approach (i.e., intensive conversations with departments and department chairs about hiring for mission), just as much or more than they require a “top down” approach:

http://www.stthomas.edu/cathstudies/cst/conferences/Dayton/daytondocs/Heftfinalpaper3.pdf

Advertising the Position

Statements of Expectation

When it comes to advertising positions, some schools display a page on their website that serves both as an extension of the mission statement and as a statement of what the school expects from future faculty, such as we find on the site of John Paul the Great Catholic University:

John Paul the Great Catholic University seeks to create a spiritually stimulating campus environment where students learn about Jesus Christ based on sacred Scripture, sacred Tradition, and the Catholic Church’s magisterium (teaching authority). There is a strong emphasis on traditional and time-enduring spiritual, moral, and social values.

All faculty involved with the teaching of the Catholic faith require a mandatum from the Bishop of San Diego. The mandatum documents the professor’s commitment and responsibility to teach authentic Catholic doctrine and to refrain from putting forth as Catholic teaching anything contrary to the Church’s magisterium.

JP Catholic University seeks to effect significant societal change by producing leaders committed to the application of Christ’s principles in the marketplace and in the workplace. JP Catholic seeks to graduate leaders who will passionately implement ethical business and employment practices. Graduates must strive to create workplaces that embody the principles of Jesus Christ in their interactions with all the publics of the enterprise – employees, customers, investors, suppliers, and community.

John Paul the Great Catholic University intentionally seeks to avoid causing controversy and confusion among its students in matters of faith. JP Catholic seeks to shape and form solid Catholic leaders and innovators poised to put into action the teachings of Jesus Christ, and not to become agitators for change on matters of doctrine.

All teaching faculty commit to harmony with Catholic Church teachings (the pope and bishops) in speech and action. Faculty, staff, students or volunteers who knowingly in public speech or actions take positions against the Catholic Church compromise their relationship with JP Catholic. JP Catholic expects all trustees, faculty and staff to celebrate the positive spiritual and entrepreneurial components of its mission and to eschew betraying or obstructing what the institution is striving to build. Students, faculty and staff come from all faiths, and the university has as a fundamental belief of mutual respect for diverse beliefs.

A similar directive to future applicants can be found on the website of Benedictine College:

Our Benedictine 2020: A Vision for Greatness strategic plan has made it a campus wide priority to: “Recruit, retain, and develop one of the great Catholic college faculties in America.”

The plan continues: “We believe that Benedictine College’s educational experience is enhanced by all aspects of our mission: community, faith and scholarship…

Community: The first step to achieving academic excellence in a community of faith and scholarship is the ongoing development of one of the great Catholic college faculties in America….

Faith: Benedictine College is committed to sharing with all members of our community the beauty and mystery of the Catholic faith as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and handed down through the teachings of the Church….

Scholarship: Academic excellence at Benedictine College is driven by faculty who exhibit strong commitment in their teaching and scholarship to provide an environment that prepares students with the best that has been thought and written.  Faculty will develop graduates who are critical thinkers who read, speak, and write well, and are personally and professionally prepared for life’s challenges on a local and global scale.  As faculty at a Catholic college, we embrace the distinctive challenge of Catholic education articulated by Pope Benedict XVI: to form the will, as well as the mind, of the students within our care.”

Also pertinent are the Collegiate Statutes promulgated by Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, which set up a strong set of expectations for potential faculty:

All Fellows [i.e., faculty members] are required to uphold the teaching and ethical norms of the Roman Catholic Church and to make the annual Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity in accord with the Apostolic Constitution Ex corde Ecclesiae. Those Fellows teaching courses in Sacred Scripture or Theology are expected to seek the mandatum from the local ordinary, the Bishop of Manchester, New Hampshire.

At Mount St. Mary’s, all candidates are shown, and told they would be expected to support, the first page of the Mount’s Governing Documents, which state:

The Board of Trustees reasserts the critical importance of the Catholic identity in all operations of the University. A strong Catholic identity is central to the mission of Mount St. Mary’s University. Therefore, all faculty, staff, administrators, executive officers and Trustees are to work in concert with and support this Catholic mission. The basic tenets of this Catholic mission at Mount St. Mary’s include:

  1. The University is committed to the person and Gospel of Jesus Christ as the foundation of our values and attitudes which are reflected in our campus culture, policies and procedures.
  2. The University fully understands, respects and follows the teachings of the Catholic Church.
  3. The University is in full compliance with both the letter and spirit of Ex corde Ecclesiae.
  4. The University recognizes the authority of the Holy See and the authority vested in the Archbishop of Baltimore regarding the Catholic nature and direction of Mount St. Mary’s University.

The School of Religious Education at Brigham Young University has also taken a pro-active approach to stating their expectations of future faculty. When one clicks on the FAQ section of the School’s website and scrolls down, one finds a policy statement regarding Hiring Future Faculty in Religious Education. “What are the criteria to be used in deciding whom to hire?” the statement begins, a question that is then discussed under five headings: Orientation, Gospel Scholarship, Teaching, Training and Credentials, and Citizenship. The first of these headings, Orientation, sets the foundational expectation of all future faculty of the School:

Orientation means having a firm testimony of an unquestioned commitment to the Savior and his gospel, to Joseph Smith, the Restoration, the Church, and the prophetic destiny of Brigham Young University. Other qualifications, no matter how impressive, do not override the necessity of this criterion.

Similarly, too, at Colorado Christian University, both applicants and existing employees are required to affirm their commitment to CCU’s statements of Faith, LifeStyle Expectations, and Strategic Objectives that demonstrate the institution’s evangelical principles.

Job Postings

Turning now to job advertisements themselves, consider this advertisement for a position currently available in Christendom College’s Department of English Language and Literature:

The Department of English Language and Literature at Christendom College seeks a full-time faculty appointment to begin August 15, 2013. This is an entry-level position.

The successful candidate will teach a 4/4 load that may include any of the literature courses in the core curriculum, major-oriented courses in literary criticism and/or poetics, and courses in his field of expertise. The department especially welcomes candidates who specialize in medieval literature. A Ph.D. and teaching experience are preferred, but the department will consider particularly well-qualified ABD candidates.

Christendom College, located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, is a four-year Catholic liberal arts college whose faculty members take an annual, voluntary oath of fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church. Our faculty members enjoy being part of a community of Catholic scholars dedicated to excellence in teaching.  For more information on the Christendom Mission and Vision statements, curriculum, and student life, see www.christendom.edu.

This advertisement is typical of what one tends to find in academic job postings—except for the final paragraph, which not only links the position advertised with the overall mission of the college (“Christendom College…is a four-year Catholic liberal arts college), but also alerts potential candidates that members of the Christendom faculty take a voluntary Oath of Fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church. In alerting potential candidates to this practice, Christendom makes abundantly clear what it expects from its faculty in terms of commitment to the school’s Catholic mission. Steve Snyder, vice-president for academic affairs at Christendom, underscores that the taking of the Oath of Fidelity is voluntary, but by mentioning even this voluntary practice in its job postings, Christendom puts the hiring for mission issue at the forefront and effectively winnows out potential candidates who might apply simply in the interests of finding a job.

A current job posting for a position in the History Department at Franciscan University also “requires support for Mission of the university.”

The Catholic University of America uses similar language in every one of its job postings:

The Catholic University of America is the national university of the Catholic Church and was founded as a center of research and scholarship. We seek candidates who, regardless of their religious affiliation, understand and will make a significant contribution to the university’s mission and goals.

Here, moreover, is a current advertisement produced by Benedictine College for a position available as an experimental physicist. This is a good example of a job posting for a position outside the humanities that strongly ties in the position to the Catholic mission of the college:

The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Benedictine College invites outstanding teacher-scholars to apply for a tenure track position for an Experimental Physicist starting in fall 2012. PhD required. Benedictine is a college growing in enrollment and reputation. The Department offers bachelor degrees in physics, astronomy, engineering physics and physics secondary ed. Nearly ¾ of our graduates go on to graduate or professional schools. The successful candidate should have a strong commitment to undergraduate Liberal Arts education. Teaching areas include introductory courses for the general student body and courses and laboratories at all levels for majors. The successful candidate will be expected to establish on-campus research experiences for students participating in our Discovery Program as well as in departmental research. Candidate’s background should include experience in experimental physics, complementing current faculty strengths in astronomy and theoretical physics.

Benedictine College, which has a full-time undergraduate enrollment of approximately 1600 students, is a mission-centered academic community. Its mission as a Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts, residential college is the education of men and women within a community of faith and scholarship. Benedictine College provides a liberal arts education by means of academic programs based on a core of studies in the arts and sciences. In addition, the college provides education for careers through both professional courses of study and major programs in the liberal arts and sciences. As an essential element of its mission, Benedictine College fosters scholarship, independent research and performance in its students and faculty as a means of participating in and contributing to the broader world of learning.

Beyond disciplinary expertise, Benedictine College seeks faculty members eager to engage and support our mission. Application materials should discuss how you would contribute to the college’s Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts identity.

Likewise, Notre Dame’s College of Engineering currently has a notice on its website for prospective applicants during the 2012-13 academic year which exhibits good coordination between the mission of the university and that of the College of Engineering—especially impressive for a discipline outside the humanities:

Notre Dame invites academically gifted applicants supportive of and dedicated to enhancing its mission as a Catholic research university, particularly women, members of historically underrepresented groups, and others who will enhance the diversity of its faculty to apply….

The Application

The most common way that hiring for mission is emphasized at the application stage is in the institution’s request for the applicant to compose a response to the university’s mission statement. Dean Michael Dauphinais at Ave Maria and Dean Christopher Blum at Thomas More College both stressed the need of this statement to convincingly show how the candidate’s teaching and scholarship relate to the Catholic mission of their respective institutions. The key question that Blum likes to see the candidate answer, either in the response to the mission statement or in the on-site interview, is “How do you perceive your own pursuit of wisdom as contributing to the Catholic intellectual tradition?” Steve Snyder likes the candidate’s response to the mission statement to reveal how the mission statement of Christendom aids the scholar in his or her intellectual life.

At Mount St. Mary’s University, application materials invite the candidate to address the mission of the institution in one of three ways:

Beyond disciplinary expertise, Mount St. Mary’s seeks faculty members eager to engage and support our Catholic identity. Application materials should discuss how you might contribute to the University’s Catholic liberal arts mission, how your work engages with the Catholic intellectual tradition, or how your own faith tradition informs your vocation as teacher and scholar.

About this aspect of the application Dean Hochschild remarks:

In addition to providing some sense of what a search committee should look for, it is just fairness and a favor to candidates to invite specific engagement in a cover letter. Without that, given the different types of Catholic universities and the different kinds of views that can be represented on a search committee, it is simply unfair to mention “Catholic identity” in a generic sense and then expect candidates to say anything in a cover letter.

We find that many candidates (and not just Catholics) welcome the opportunity to speak to these issues, and I know of more than one occasion where this language actually prompted someone to apply who wasn’t otherwise going to.

Narrowing the Field

The question of mission fit perhaps comes most forcefully into play in the activities by which the search committee, in conjunction with the upper administration, narrows the field of potential candidates—a field which at least in larger research universities can reach into the hundreds for a single position.

Institutions sometimes employ “first-round” phone interviews, or interviews at meetings of professional associations, in order to help winnow the field of candidates, interviews in which mission questions can play a part. For example, Baylor University in its phone interviews asks candidates specific questions not only about their religious affiliation, but also about the degree of their involvement in their church or parish. In order to help determine a short-list of candidates, The Catholic University of America’s College of Arts and Sciences follows the practice of many institutions in asking candidates to write a response to the university’s mission statement.

On-site interviews, which customarily include a lecture or “job talk,” as well as the teaching of a course, also help manifest the candidate’s serious commitment to, or alliance with, the religious mission of the institution. At this stage of the process various strategies are employed.

The candidate’s discussions with the search committee, for example, will include specific questions on Catholic mission. As Christopher Kaczor, professor of philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, explains about his own department’s procedures:

Our department does a good job hiring for mission by asking open-ended questions like the following, “LMU is a Catholic university. How do you see yourself contributing to the distinctive mission and identity of LMU?” Then, the candidate says whatever they say but it is often revelatory. The follow up questions are key. So, we might follow up with, “Well, how does your answer differ from what might be fitting at a non-Catholic university?” Or, “How does your research/teaching/service contribute to the promotion of justice and service of faith?” We try to get the candidate to talk at length about such questions and we’ve been successful in determining who would be a good fit for us.

At Mount St. Mary’s, Dean Hochschild reviews all the applications that come in for positions available in his school, taking special note of those candidates who write a good letter about Catholic mission. Hochschild underscores that he does not try to force a department into hiring a specific candidate, but he converses with departments before invitations for on-site interviews, and must approve all candidates. In explaining negative decisions to the committee, he harkens back to earlier conversations about the importance of hiring for mission. He also depends upon the support of the president and provost in supporting his decisions (the president, when possible, also interviews all candidates invited to campus for interviews). Usually, if three candidates come to campus for interviews at the Mount, then the president expects at least two to be Catholic. For Hochschild, “it is most important that at least two be well-versed in and show personal investment in the Catholic intellectual tradition, and all three show willingness and ability to engage that tradition.”

The Catholic University of America has a requirement that the president and provost be given an opportunity to review and approve the curriculum vitae of a candidate for a faculty position before that candidate is invited for an on-campus interview. Indeed, Dean Poos meets for an hour and a half with each candidate who interviews on campus for a position in his school, and makes discussion of the University’s mission a main focus of that interview. In these interviews Dean Poos asks the key question: “How would it be different for you to be a faculty member here than at, say, Ohio State?”

Helping narrow the field of job candidates at Ave Maria University is its policy that Catholics must form a majority in every department. At Ave Maria, too, the dean of faculty meets with the search committee to determine which candidates shall be invited for on-site interviews.

At Belmont Abbey, the vice-president for academic affairs as well as the president meet separately with all candidates during their on-site visits, and make a discussion about the mission statement of the college central to those interviews. At Christendom the procedure is the same, as it is, too, at Benedictine College, where the president and dean discuss with the candidate the relevance of mission to his or her daily life as a faculty member, preparing the candidate to integrate faith and reason in the classroom.

Finally, in Brigham Young University’s College of Religious Education, the entire faculty engages in voting on the candidates. The dean, president of the university, as well as the university board of trustees, then must approve the recommended candidate—with the board of trustees, not the president, having the final say. If the recommended candidate fails to win approval from either the dean, president, or the board, then the search committee is charged to recommend another candidate.

The Contract

The issue of the candidate’s commitment to Catholic mission need not end with the offering of a contract. Indeed, the contract itself can contain language that affirms the college’s or university’s expectations of the candidate in this regard. At Christendom, for instance, it is put into the candidate’s contract that public dissent from magisterial teachings is grounds for dismissal from the College. By public dissent is meant more what is published by the scholar than what may be spoken more or less off-hand at a public venue. The school’s procedure in such cases involves a request of judgment from the local ordinary.

Also at Christendom, new hires receive one-year, probationary contracts for each of their first three years of employment, in the midst of which he or she may be dismissed without cause. These probationary years help the school confirm both the scholarly excellence and Catholic commitment of the faculty member.

At The Catholic University of America, formal offers of employment to faculty and staff are accompanied by explicit references to the expectations of employees to respect and support the University’s Catholic mission:

The Catholic University of America was founded in the name of the Catholic Church and maintains a unique relationship with it. The University’s operations, policies and activities reflect this foundation and relationship and are conducted in accordance with its stated mission. Regardless of their religious or denominational affiliation, all employees are expected to respect and support the University’s mission in the fulfillment of their responsibilities and obligations appropriate to their appointment.

Though it is not a contractual component, the statement already alluded to on the website of John Paul the Great Catholic University at least raises the specter of contractual ramifications of public dissent from Magisterial teachings or conduct otherwise undermining of the mission of the University:

All teaching faculty commit to harmony with Catholic Church teachings (the pope and bishops) in speech and action. Faculty, staff, students or volunteers who knowingly in public speech or actions take positions against the Catholic Church compromise their relationship with JP Catholic. JP Catholic expects all trustees, faculty and staff to celebrate the positive spiritual and entrepreneurial components of its mission and to eschew betraying or obstructing what the institution is striving to build.

New Faculty Orientation and Beyond

At the point in which the candidate becomes a new member of the college’s faculty, the process of actually conforming his or her scholarly activities to the college’s specific expression of Catholic mission begins. Most colleges employ some kind of new faculty orientation in which to begin this process. This orientation to mission can be a one-time event, as for example at Baylor University and Benedictine College. At Benedictine the dean makes a presentation that involves discussion of Ex corde along with an introduction to the college’s Benedictine heritage.

But the orientation can also be a longer program. Brigham Young University conducts an eight-week new faculty seminar in which mission issues play a key part. Both BYU and Baylor also assign a faculty mentor to new faculty members in order to help them adapt to the culture of the institution—a practice that was not mentioned in the discussions with Catholic administrators about their new faculty orientation programs

At The Catholic University of America, as well, the provost conducts a mandatory year-long program of orientation and socialization to the academic culture at CUA for new full-time tenure-track and tenured faculty. The program includes a three-day retreat and then six two-hour luncheon meetings spread throughout the academic year. Discussion of Ex corde forms a part of the program.

Even more significantly at Catholic University, Dean Poos meets each semester with every pre-tenured faculty member in his school. In these meetings he takes the opportunity to discuss Ex corde with the faculty member, encouraging him or her to read and study the document, especially the section on characteristics of research at a Catholic university (no. 15). This is particularly important at CUA in that, in their tenure applications, faculty must write a reflection on how their teaching and scholarship relates to the Catholic mission of the institution.

Mount St. Mary’s likewise employs a year-long faculty development seminar for tenure-track faculty, directed by various faculty members (not just deans and theologians), a seminar which involves readings on liberal education and the Catholic university. Dean Hochschild was inspired to launch this kind of seminar by his experience of a similar faculty development seminar at Wheaton College. Belmont Abbey requires that all new faculty attend a presentation on the Benedictine heritage of the College.

As noted earlier, some schools use the Oath of Fidelity and Profession of Faith, along with the mandatum for faculty members teaching theology or Sacred Scripture, as ways of confirming faculty commitment to the purpose of their hire: to adhere whole-heartedly to the Catholic mission of the institution.

Taken together, all of these post-hire practices help cultivate the kind of mission-driven Catholic culture so imperative for a successful hiring-for-mission policy.

Further Relevant Literature

This July 2009 First Things article by John Larivee, F.K. Marsh, and Brian Engelland, “Ex corde and the Dilbert Effect,” lays out some good recommendations for implementing the demands of Ex corde in hiring:

http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2009/07/ex-corde-and-the-dilbert-effect

The article by Richard D. Breslin mentioned in the Introduction outlines several advantages of hiring for mission and maintaining a strong Catholic identity. He asserts that schools which are faithful to their Catholic identity will attract more donors, which will free up capital to attract more students and employ professors with “star power.” However, achieving this “next level” of Catholic identity requires schools to hire candidates who, “establish the necessary linkage between their personal philosophy and the philosophy and mission of the institution.” He also points out that it has become unfashionable for interviews to ask about a candidate’s background, religious beliefs or philosophy. Because of these sloppy hiring practices, Breslin asserts that the institution risks “losing its soul.” Besides the aforementioned discomfort about touching on non-academic job requirements, the author also writes about the narrowness of a university’s personnel search, which is frequently carried out by a single department for a faculty member with a highly specialized skill set without any regard to the “institution as a whole.” After laying out these problems, Breslin goes on to lay out a specific series of “institutional action steps”:

  1. Conduct an internal scan: A self-evaluation, instituted by the president and the board of trustees, which establishes the health of a school’s Catholic identity. It isn’t a “witch hunt;” rather, the purpose is to discover, “whether individual hiring units have taken seriously the responsibility of seeking qualified candidates who embrace or who are respectful of the institution’s mission and philosophy.”
  2. Review Hiring Practices: Ensuring all the literature related to hiring includes a “serious segment associated with the Catholic mission.” Hiring teams should include at least one person who will inform the candidate that they are applying for a position at a Catholic institution, which entails certain responsibilities.
  3. Make a Declaration of Intent: A revised statement about the school’s hiring practices and the community’s role in solidifying an institutional Catholic identity.
  4. Develop Specific Literature: Similar to item 3, the school should revise its mission statement and policy statement to conform with its Catholic philosophy.
  5. Review the Interview Process: The institution should make sure that its dedication to a strong Catholic Identity is reflected in all stages of its hiring process, not as a “litmus test” for candidates but as an informative conversation. Asking questions about a candidate’s philosophy and values emphasizes a school’s dedication to these items.
http://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/catholic/article/view/243

Here is a link to a long document on hiring for mission produced by Loyola Marymount University. The document contains many detailed articles pertaining to hiring for mission, ranging from overviews on the importance of hiring for mission to essays explaining the kinds of questions to ask candidates and how to frame those questions. Even more importantly, there is a chart which shows the difference between legally framed questions and questions that could be considered discriminatory and therefore grounds for a lawsuit. There is also a series of questions which Marymount submits to applicants pertaining to Catholic identity.

https://www.lmu.edu/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=43866

This is a link to a 2001 article by Heft and others on hiring for mission and the conflicting attitudes held about it by administrators and faculties at Catholic institutions. (A link to the first part of this two-part article was not available online.)

http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=EJ629695&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=EJ629695

Here is a link to Creighton University’s guidelines for hiring for mission. The guidelines mention how the applicant’s interest in Catholic identity and mission is established at each stage of the hiring process (i.e., the listing for the job must mention the school’s Catholic identity, written applications should be screened based on how the candidate characterizes how they will “fit” into the mission of the school, and so on).

http://www.creighton.edu/fileadmin/user/CCAS/docs/2010_Site/Hiring_for_Mission_Guidelines.pdf

Appendix A

Linked Digest of Institutions Surveyed

Newman Guide Colleges

Aquinas College

Mission Statement: http://www.aquinascollege.edu/welcome/vision-values.php

Norms related to Ex corde Ecclesiae: http://www.aquinascollege.edu/academics/index.php

Online Application Form For Faculty:  http://www.aquinascollege.edu/main/employmentDetails.php?employmentID=36

Legal Hiring Disclaimer: http://www.aquinascollege.edu/main/legal.php

Job Listing (nursing faculty): http://www.aquinascollege.edu/main/employmentDetails.php?employmentID=36

Ave Maria University

Mission Statement: http://www.avemaria.edu/AboutAveMaria/OurCatholicIdentityandMission.aspx

Online Application Form for Faculty: http://www.avemariahr.org/docs/file/Application%20for%20Employment%20edited.pdf

Instructions to Faculty Applicants (education): http://www.avemaria.edu/Jobs/FacultyPosition.aspx

Belmont Abbey College

Mission Statement:  http://www.belmontabbeycollege.edu/Visionstatement/mission-statement.aspx

Belmont vs EEOC Details: http://www.belmontabbeycollege.edu/eeoc/

Benedictine College

Mission Statement: http://www.benedictine.edu/about/missionvalues

Norms related to Ex corde Ecclesiae:  http://www.benedictine.edu/about/missionvalues/ex-corde-ecclesiae

Online Applications Form: http://www.benedictine.edu/sites/default/files/application_benedictine_employment_fbd_072808.pdf

Instructions to Faculty Applicants (English):  http://www.benedictine.edu/english-faculty

Catholic Distance University

Mission Statement (page 2): http://www.cdu.edu/images/currentCDUcatalog.pdf

Ex corde: http://www.cdu.edu/documents/welcome/ex-corde.html

Catholic University of America

Mission Statement: http://www.cua.edu/about-cua/mission-statement.cfm

Faculty Job Description (Health Information Technology/Intelligence Analysis): http://slis.cua.edu/about/employment.cfm#Faculty

Norms related to Ex corde Ecclesiae: http://www.pageturnpro.com/The-Catholic-University-of-America/26705-Ex-Corde/index.html#1

Christendom College

Mission Statement: http://www.christendom.edu/about/mission.php

Faculty Job Description (English): http://www.christendom.edu/about/job-pdfs/job%20announcement%202013.pdf

Online Application Form: http://www.christendom.edu/about/CCapplication.pdf

College of St. Mary Magdalen

Mission Statement: http://www.magdalen.edu/about-us/mission-statement.asp

The College of Saints John Fisher & Thomas More

Coat of Arms: http://www.fishermore.edu/the-fisher-more-college-coat-of-arms/

DeSales University

Mission Statement:  http://www.desales.edu/home/about/academic-excellence/philosophy-mission

Employment Mission: http://www.desales.edu/home/about/people/employment

Catholic Identity: http://desales.edu/home/about/our-heritage/catholic-identity

Faculty Job Descriptions (bottom of page): http://www.desales.edu/home/about/people/employment

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Mission Statement: http://www.franciscan.edu/AboutFUS/Mission/

Norms Related to Ex corde Ecclesiae: http://www.franciscan.edu/PassionatelyCatholic/

Instructions for Faculty Applicants (History): http://www.franciscan.edu/EmploymentListings/History/August2013/

Passionately Catholic: http://www.franciscan.edu/PassionatelyCatholic/

Holy Spirit College

Mission Statement: http://www.holyspiritcollege.org/mission.html

Hiring for mission and Ex corde Info: http://www.holyspiritcollege.org/authentic-catholic-college.html

John Paul the Great Catholic University

Mission Statement: http://www.jpcatholic.com/about/vision.php

Online Applications: http://www.jpcatholic.com/academics/openings.php

Instructions for Faculty Applicants/Job descriptions: http://www.jpcatholic.com/about/fidelity.php

Mount St. Mary’s University

Mission Statement: http://www.msmary.edu/presidents_office/mission-statement/

Ex corde Norms: http://www.msmary.edu/presidents_office/docs/2006-07_Catholic_Iden_Mission.pdf

Hiring Guidelines: http://www.msmary.edu/administration/human-resources/pdfs2/Professional-Search_Procedures_rev%20Aug%2007.pdf

Our Lady Seat of Wisdom

Mission Statement: http://seatofwisdom.org/about_us/about_us/vision-and-values.html

Oath of Fidelity: http://seatofwisdom.org/news/latest/bishop-mulhall-presides-over-opening-mass-and-faculty-oath-of-fidelity.html

Redeemer Pacific College

Mission Statement: http://twu.ca/academics/calendar/2012-2013/affiliate-institutions/redeemer-pacific-college/purpose.html

Thomas Aquinas College

Mission Statement: http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/about/mission-history

Norms Related to Ex corde Ecclesiae: http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/a-catholic-life

Oath of Fidelity for Faculty: http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/catholic-life/oath-fidelity

Profession of Faith: http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/catholic-life/oath-fidelity

Thomas More College of Liberal Arts

Mission Statement/ President’s Message: http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/about/mission/

Ex corde info: http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/about/commitment-to-the-church/ex-corde-ecclesiae/

Fidelity to Faith: http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/about/commitment-to-the-church/

Hiring For mission: http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/about/commitment-to-the-church/mandatum/

University of Dallas

Mission Statement: http://www.udallas.edu/about/mission.html

Hiring for mission: http://www.udallas.edu/offices/provost/missionandvision.html

Online Application Form: http://www.udallas.edu/offices/hr/employmentapplication.html

University of Mary

Mission Statement: http://www.umary.edu/about/mission/missionidentity.php

Hiring for mission: http://www.umary.edu/jobs/

Applicant Info Packet About Mission Hiring: http://www.umary.edu/pdflibrary/applicantinfopacket.pdf

University of Saint Thomas

Mission Statement: http://www.stthom.edu/About_UST/Our_Story/Index.aqf

Norms Related to Ex corde Ecclesiae: http://www.stthom.edu/Public/index.asp?Friendly_Flag=1&page_ID=3778

Online Application for Faculty (theology position): http://www.stthom.edu/Offices_Services/Offices/Human_Resources/Employment/FullTime_Faculty/School_of_Theology.aqf

Walsh University

Mission Statement: http://www.walsh.edu/our-mission2

Hiring Samples: http://www.walsh.edu/faculty18

Wyoming Catholic College

Mission Statement: http://www.wyomingcatholiccollege.com/about-wcc/index.aspx

Hiring for mission: http://www.wyomingcatholiccollege.com/about-wcc/education/index.aspx

Oath of Fidelity / Profession of Faith: http://www.wyomingcatholiccollege.com/about-wcc/ex-corde-ecclesiae/index.aspx

Norms Related to Ex corde Ecclesiae: http://www.wyomingcatholiccollege.com/about-wcc/ex-corde-ecclesiae/index.aspx

Non-Guide Schools Surveyed

Bob Jones University

Doctrinal Statement: http://www.bju.edu/about-bju/creed.php

Brigham Young University

Mission Statement: http://aims.byu.edu/

Hiring for mission: http://www.byu.edu/hr/?q=job-seekers/faq/ecclesiastical-questions

Online Application for Faculty: https://yjobs.byu.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1348493161821

Liberal Arts Applications: https://yjobs.byu.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1348493161821

Job Description – English Department: http://english.byu.edu/jobs/

School of Religious Education Policy for Future Faculty: http://religion.byu.edu/questions-and-policies

Baylor University

Mission Statement: http://www.baylor.edu/profuturis/

Hiring for mission: http://www.baylor.edu/hr/index.php?id=79065

Online Liberal Arts Application: http://www.baylor.edu/hr/index.php?id=91190

http://www.baylor.edu/hr/index.php?id=81291
http://www.baylor.edu/hr/index.php?id=81295

Canisius College

Mission Statement: http://www.canisius.edu/about-canisius/mission/

Hiring for Mission: http://www.canisius.edu/about-canisius/mission/hiring/

Online Application: http://www.canisius.edu/dotAsset/4346d10f-a0b8-4bc9-83d3-7d523698c465.pdf

Job Description – Faculty Position (organizational studies): https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.canisius.edu/dotAsset/f6541fdc-7b5a-47e5-a021-ee8cde5a87a8.doc&sa=U&ei=0MltUIC5OrG70AH_xIHoAg&ved=0CAcQFjAA&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNE6I6yF4XthmMXmXwbTV1HCKC89ZQ

Colorado Christian University

Mission Statement: http://www.ccu.edu/welcome/mission.asp

“About Us”: http://www.ccu.edu/employment/about/

Job Description – Event Manager: https://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH10/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=CCU&cws=1&rid=1036

Job Description – English Affiliate Faculty: https://ch.tbe.taleo.net/CH10/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=CCU&cws=1&rid=858

Behavior Expectations: http://www.ccu.edu/employment/lifestyle.asp

Statement of Faith (required to ‘affirm their commitment’ to this): http://www.ccu.edu/welcome/webelieve.asp

Strategic Objectives: http://www.ccu.edu/strategicobjectives/default.asp

Creighton University

Mission Statement: http://www.creighton.edu/mission/

Hiring for mission: https://www.creighton.edu/ccas/facultyandstaff/hiringformission/index.php

Online Application for Faculty: https://careers.creighton.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1348499028750

John Carroll University

Job Description – Assistant Professor of Strategic Management: http://sites.jcu.edu/facultypositions/home-page/john-m-and-mary-jo-boler-school-of-business/assistant-professor-of-strategic-management/

Online Application: http://webmedia.jcu.edu/hr/files/2011/02/Application.pdf

Mission and Identity Statement: http://sites.jcu.edu/mission/pages/vision-mission-core-values-and-strategic-initiatives-statement/

Catholicity Statement: http://sites.jcu.edu/mission/pages/catholicity-statement/

Leymone College

Mission Statement: http://lemoyne.edu/tabid/482/Default.aspx

Hiring for Mission: http://lemoyne.edu/tabid/2264/default.aspx

Job Description (Director, Office for Career Advising): http://lemoyne.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp;jsessionid=49964936D123D9D88C45E9F98C1D8D4C?JOBID=32412

Online Job Application (Personal Info Form): http://lemoyne.edu/AZIndex/HumanResources/FacultyStaff/PersonalDataForm/tabid/3039/e/1/Default.aspx

Loyola Marymount University

Mission Statement: http://www.lmu.edu/about/mission/Mission_Statement.htm

Statement of Non-Discrimination: http://www.lmu.edu/Assets/Statement+of+Non-Discrimination.pdf

Faculty Job Description (Law Professor): https://jobs.lmu.edu/postings/8085

Hiring for Mission best practices document: http://www.lmu.edu/AssetFactory.aspx?vid=43866

University of Notre Dame

Mission Statement: http://www.nd.edu/about/mission-statement/

Description of hiring practices: http://hr.nd.edu/nd-faculty-staff/forms-policies/applicant-screening/

Norms Related to Ex corde Ecclesiae: http://catholicmission.nd.edu/

Faculty Position Description (photography): https://jobs.nd.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=204215

Equal Opportunity Statement: http://hr.nd.edu/nd-faculty-staff/forms-policies/about-notre-dame/

University of St. Thomas (Minn.)

Faculty Position Description (Assistant Professor, German): https://jobs.stthomas.edu/postings/13692

Mission, Vision and Convictions: http://www.stthomas.edu/aboutust/mission/

Center for Catholic Studies: http://www.stthomas.edu/cathstudies/about/director/default.html

Wheaton College

Statement of Faith and Educational Purpose: http://www.wheaton.edu/About-Wheaton/Statement-of-Faith-and-Educational-Purpose

The liberal arts in the evangelical Christian tradition: http://www.wheaton.edu/Academics/Liberal-Arts