Reviving the Lost Art of Reading in Catholic Homes

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My family has always had an assortment of books around the house for our children, and now for our grandchildren as well. Fond memories recur when I hear the grandchildren squeal with delight, as they explore the vast new worlds opening before them.

Inspired by his fourth-grade cousin, the rising first-grader reads anything within reach, especially “chapter books” and stories of saints. His parents patiently clarify the words that are not yet within his vocabulary.

His younger sister is exuberant when she realizes she can form letters into words, and words into sentences. Curious George is one of her bedtime favorites.

The vast new world, contained between the covers of a book, stimulates the imagination of these young readers as they are drawn more deeply to seek the truth, beauty, and goodness of the world in which they live.

Unfortunately, this joy of reading is absent from many homes today. Jean Twenge, an academic psychologist who studies the iPhone generation (iGens), recently told the Wall Street Journal that, “The percentage of high-school students who read books or other long-form content every day has dropped from 60 percent to 15 percent since the 1980s.” This is attributed to “short attention spans,” given today’s emphasis on social media and general internet surfing.

Continue reading at The Catholic World Report…

U.S. Capitol

60 Pro-Abortion Congressmen Flunk Catholicism 101

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When 60 members of the House of Representatives — all of them baptized Catholics — issued their ultimatum last week demanding access to the Eucharist despite their pro-abortion politics, it became apparent how little they know about the Catholic faith and Christ’s invitation to communion with him.

The signers clearly hope to turn the bishops’ appeal for “Eucharistic coherency” into a partisan issue, even though it impacts Catholics of every political stripe. But regardless of which party these politicians belong to, what most concerns me is the fact that prominent Catholics displayed such ignorance of the Church’s fundamental teaching and practice concerning the Eucharist. Which made me wonder: how many attended Catholic schools and colleges?

In the past, I have lamented the number of pro-abortion members of Congress who graduated from Catholic colleges, mostly Jesuit institutions. Often they are celebrated as successful alumni, despite their flagrant opposition to the Church’s reverence for the sanctity of all human life.

The bewildering fact is that half of the 60 who signed last week’s letter received a Catholic education. Of those 30 representatives, at least 15 attended Catholic high schools and 22 attended Catholic colleges, 16 of them Jesuit institutions.

What does this say about Catholic education in recent decades? Perhaps these politicians received a good education and later turned away from the Faith — that certainly is possible. But given the abundance of evidence of the poor catechesis of Catholics, widespread dissent on abortion and contraception, and weak Catholic identity in many schools and colleges over the last five decades, the Church likely bears some responsibility for failing to properly form these men and women as saints instead of obstinate sinners.

On the other hand, the fact that 31 never had a Catholic high school or college education (I was unable to find much information about their elementary schools) also raises serious questions about the lack of adequate formation for most baptized Catholics. The consequences are clear: too many people claim to be Catholic but lack respect for the Eucharist and are unashamed of their support for abortion, same-sex marriage and other obvious moral evils. They should be ashamed — and so should we — for not doing everything possible to ensure a faithful Catholic education for every Catholic child.

We must do better. And if we do, the impact on society and the Church will be something wonderful to behold.

 

A version of this article by Patrick Reilly, president and founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, first appeared at the National Catholic Register.

Statement from the Cardinal Newman Society on amicus brief in Maxon v Fuller Theological Seminary

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The Cardinal Newman Society joined an amicus brief at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case Maxon v Fuller Theological Seminary, urging the court to protect the seminary’s right to set religious and moral standards for its students and members, regardless of the Biden administration’s interpretation of Title IX as applying to homosexuality and gender identity.

The plaintiffs, two students who were expelled for violating the seminary’s rules against same-sex unions, argue that the religious exemption in Title IX should not protect a nondenominational and independent religious institution.

“It is dangerous and un-American to deny a share in religious freedom for nondenominational and independent religious institutions,” said Patrick Reilly, president of The Cardinal Newman Society. “Such a policy would unconstitutionally discriminate against many of America’s religious schools and colleges, including those Catholic schools and colleges that are faithful to their beliefs but legally independent of the Catholic Church.”

The brief, which the Newman Society joined with the Christian Legal Society and other religious organizations, schools, and colleges, calls on the Ninth Circuit court to recognize that an independent institution controlled by a board of trustees with deeply held religious convictions and a religious mission is “controlled by a religious organization” for the purposes of the Title IX exemption.

The Cardinal Newman Society recognizes faithful Catholic schools and colleges and invited several to join the brief, including Belmont Abbey College (N.C.), Benedictine College (Kan.), Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio), Lumen Christi High School (Ind.), Marian High School (Ind.), the Regina Academies (Penn.), and Thomas More College of Liberal Arts (N.H.).

Other signers represent a variety of beliefs, including the American Association of Christian Schools, Association for Biblical Higher Education, Association of Christian Schools International, General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Read the brief here

Newman Society Statement on Supreme Court Decision in Fulton v. Philadelphia

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The Cardinal Newman Society is heartened by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark religious freedom ruling today in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, including the protection it provides for Catholic education. The Court’s ruling echoes the central theme of Hosanna-Tabor, that no religious organization forfeits its First Amendment rights by engaging in a public service. The Biden administration must immediately end its assault on religious freedom and allow the free and faithful practice of religion that our Founders envisioned.

library hour

Why Critical Race Theory is Contrary to Catholic Education

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Catholic education offers a truthful and morally sound framework for considering issues of race, human dignity, and social justice. Yet cultural norms, historical developments, commonplace and novel assumptions, and associated passions all have some influence over Catholic education—sometimes for the good, but often distorting and even contradicting sound Catholic teaching. The human condition and social inequities and injustices can and should be addressed in Catholic education, with confidence in the Church’s wisdom and the ability of societies to respectfully unify around racial and cultural differences. In times of heightened concern and emotion, it is necessary that Catholic education inform and guide students’ understanding with great caution against divisive ideological and political influences.

Today emotional and heated discussions and protests focused on race seem to fill social media, endless news cycles, and opinion journalism. Concepts including “wokeness,” “intersectionality,” and “systemic racism” may be explicitly advocated or implicitly underlie conversation and classroom teaching. Terms such as “racist,” “hate,” “intolerance,” and “oppression” belong to the conversation, but they can at times be harmfully wielded as hasty moral judgments and powerful rhetorical weapons.

Continue reading at the Catholic World Report…

After a Tough Year, Catholic College Graduations Celebrate Blessings

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Nothing has been typical about this spring’s commencement ceremonies at Catholic colleges. Many of the ceremonies are socially distanced, outdoors, or even online. But the limitations are unlikely to dampen excitement about the distinctive achievements of the Class of 2021, who endured more than a year of COVID-19, financial struggles, and safety precautions to get to this moment.

There is also extraordinary relief about the continued vitality of Catholic higher education: every Catholic college in America survived the 2020-21 school year, and enrollment numbers at many of the most faithful Catholic colleges are looking quite good.

It’s also a welcome surprise that—according to The Cardinal Newman Society’s preliminary review of commencement speakers and honorees, with some colleges late in reporting their plans as of mid-May and others foregoing the typical celebrity pomp—there seems to be a reduced appetite for honoring public opponents of the Church’s teaching on abortion, marriage, sexuality, and other moral issues. This has been a sad trend over the past few decades at many Catholic colleges, which have largely secularized.

Continue reading at Crisis Magazine…

The Remedy for “Canceling” and Division: Catholic Education

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In the present moment, much of the popular culture is taken up with concerns about race, gender, and equity. But these questions are unfortunately complicated by radical ideologies and an intolerant “cancel culture,” a type of religion that separates the woke from the un-woke, the privileged from the oppressed.

The cancel culture surrounds us and now threatens to infect Catholic schools, colleges, and homeschooling. But we should not yield to it.

Authentic Catholic education does not cancel culture; it elevates, redeems, and transmits culture. It seeks out and celebrates truth, beauty, and goodness, wherever they are found – and if they are missing, Catholic education points that out as well. The transcendentals are not bound by culture, time, race, or gender. They do not flourish equally at all times, among all members of all cultures, but can always be celebrated in God’s Creation and the best human works.

Continue reading at The Catholic Thing…

Benedictine­ College Raises the Bar in Fight Against Porn Addiction

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Students at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., made national headlines in 2019, when they petitioned the university to block pornographic websites on the campus Wi-Fi network. The university administration readily agreed, joining the growing number of faithful Catholic colleges that realize just how damaging pornography use is for students and therefore block pornography on their campus networks.

But in the past year, the social isolation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic has only solidified the place pornography websites hold as among the most trafficked in the world, reminding even the most devout Catholic institutions that this evil is more rampant now than it has ever been.

A thousand miles to the west of D.C., at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, administrators have embraced a much broader approach to tackling this crisis of health and virtue, driven by the knowledge that “personnel is policy.” Instead of simply blocking websites, the college has developed a multi-pronged approach to tackling the issue, providing a model for other Catholic institutions to follow.

In an ever-changing digital and social media landscape, leaders at Benedictine understand that the social and personal ills from pornography consumption will never be fully quashed, especially since most students have been exposed or addicted prior to attending college. Benedictine has developed a robust support system designed to help students struggling with pornography and sex addiction, while also encouraging healthy social behaviors that limit the opportunities to slip into temptation.

And while these policies have been effective and have proved immensely beneficial to the student body, Benedictine’s dean of student life, Joseph Wurtz, says they would be nothing without the right staff implementing them.

“Having the right people who can interpret … policies and create the right culture is critically important to maintaining the Catholic identity of an institution,” Wurtz said. “This does not diminish the need for sound policy. As administrators committed to Catholic identity, we should have clear and unambiguous polices that support the Church’s teachings — intellectual, moral and social.”

The “hiring and promotion of personnel who ‘strive to live a life of virtue guided by the teachings of the Catholic Church’ must be one of the highest institutional priorities,” Wurtz said, citing The Cardinal Newman Society’s recommended Human Sexuality Policies. “Culture is most effectively transmitted by people. To the degree Catholic institutions can attract personnel who themselves are committed to creating a strong Catholic culture, and model it joyfully, then good policy can be generated and successfully implemented.”

The Newman Society last year highlighted the efforts of Benedictine College and other faithful Catholic colleges in a report that offered a blueprint for combatting pornography on campus. For Benedictine, the effort began two years ago with a committee of religious leaders, campus staff and counselors who were tasked with establishing a strategy to combat pornography use among the student body.

Benedictine’s approach follows extensive research showing that, in order to overcome addiction and dependency, students greatly benefit from group therapy, an accountability partner and counseling.

Benedictine has both a male and a female counselor trained in pornography and sex addiction at the campus counseling center. It hosts a presentation on the topic at least once a semester, and single-sex group therapy is available, with tailored approaches to men and women.

Encouraging healthy and chaste behaviors, establishing an emotional and spiritual support system, and developing healing programs are all essential tools in the fight against pornography addiction in a world that promotes it. Benedictine College’s embrace of these tools — in addition to regular access to the sacraments, especially confession — has yielded positive results.

Catholic colleges would do well to emulate Benedictine’s approach to promoting virtue, healing and forgiveness. It is precisely this sort of Christian communion that Catholic families seek in authentic Catholic education.

This article first appeared at the National Catholic Register.

Belmont Abbey College Exhibits ‘Faith, Hope and Love’ During Unusual Year

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The 2020-21 academic year was challenging for colleges across the country, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, N.C., which is recommended in The Newman Guide for faithful Catholic education, made the decision to “trust completely… in Divine Providence” and be “prudent” in decision making.

Dr. Bill Thierfelder

The Newman Society recently asked Dr. Bill Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey, about the college’s Catholic identity, how it influenced the decisions that were made this year, and how it will continue to impact the College in the years ahead.

Newman Society: While many Catholic and public colleges opted for online learning this fall, why did Belmont Abbey College decide to move forward with in-person learning? How did the Benedictine hallmark of “community” influence this decision?

Dr. Thierfelder: The reason we committed to returning to in-person learning in August of 2020 was grounded in our Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and our call to emulate Him by sharing our real presence with others. As a Catholic college, we believe in educating and forming the whole person in mind, body and soul. It is far from the secularistic and materialistic philosophy of simply exchanging or sharing information. Although technology can be a useful adjunct or tool to enhance learning, it can never be a substitute for real presence.

Newman Society: Belmont Abbey’s return to campus included practical measures to help prevent and slow the spread of the virus on campus, including quarantining and isolating students as needed. But what role did trusting in God play in the plans?

Dr. Thierfelder: Jesus, I trust in You! At Belmont Abbey College, we trust completely and absolutely in God’s Divine Providence and, at the same time, we realize our obligation and desire to fully cooperate with His grace that is raining down on us. Giving our 100 percent requires being prudent in all that we do. Jesus makes clear in the parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30) that we are called to double the talents that He has given to us.

Newman Society: How did Belmont Abbey lean on the monks and their prayers during this time?

Dr. Thierfelder: The 1,500-year Benedictine monastic tradition that helped build and preserve Western Civilization is foundational to our community. Belmont Abbey College is their apostolate. It is their ora et labora. Every day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, for their entire lives, they are praying throughout the day, offering Mass, confession and spiritual direction to our students, faculty and staff. The Monastic community’s stability, peace and life of welcoming every person as Christ, in persona Christi, is ever present. The Monks continually remind us that Mary, Help of Christians, the Abbey’s Patroness, continually surrounds us with her mantle of protection.

Newman Society: What do you think Belmont Abbey’s leadership during this unusual time says about the College to prospective students?

Dr. Thierfelder: Be not afraid! We are people of faith, hope and love. Belmont Abbey has survived two world wars, the Spanish flu, the Great Depression and so much more, and we are confident that by the grace of God, and our cooperation with it, we will overcome every challenge including COVID-19.

Newman Society: How do you expect the College’s strong Catholic identity to shine in the weeks and years ahead?

Dr. Thierfelder: Our strategic plan, BAC2030 Love in Truth, has three goals. The first is to secure financial freedom and eliminate dependence on federal funding, through strategic institutional growth in development, enrollment, retention, academic entrepreneurship and brand recognition. The second is to be active contributors to, and influencers of, culture, society and education by contributing to the common good and evangelizing through faith, reason, excellence and virtue. And third is to prepare students to seek the good, the true and the beautiful. Guided to live lives rooted in objective truth and animated by authentic love, they will come to know their purpose in life and the true meaning of friendship, professional success and love of God, family and country.

Through objective truth and authentic love, we will melt hearts, enlighten minds and win souls so that the world and each one of us becomes what God is calling us to be!

Putting an End to Catholic Commencement Controversies

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Spring is here, with pomp and circumstance. It is also the season of controversies over the choice of commencement speakers and honorary degree recipients at America’s Catholic colleges. Will the annual conflicts ever end?

Perhaps there is a way. And it would be none too soon.

More than a decade after the University of Notre Dame venerated President Barack Obama at its commencement ceremony, sparking a public outcry from 83 bishops, Notre Dame could soon honor President Biden – a dissenting Catholic who is stridently opposed to the Church on abortion, gender ideology, and religious freedom. The university claims a tradition of inviting sitting U.S. presidents to deliver commencement addresses. But alumni are urging the school not to repeat the 2009 fiasco.

It’s not just a problem at Notre Dame, of course. Many Catholic colleges have persisted in violating the U.S. bishops’ policy forbidding Catholic organizations from giving “those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. . .awards, honors or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.”

My organization, The Cardinal Newman Society, has been even more vocal than the bishops in decrying these honors. Nevertheless, there has been little progress toward resolving disagreements between the Church and academia over academic freedom and whether such public honors constitute scandal.

Perhaps there is a way of bypassing these disputes – at least temporarily. For the good of their students and of the Church, Catholic college leaders need to put a halt to the commencement controversies. We Catholics face increasingly strident attacks on our morals and religious freedom. We need unity within the Church, not division. College leaders can set the example by voluntarily honoring only the best exemplars of moral virtue, regardless of whether they claim the freedom to do otherwise.

Continue reading at The Catholic Thing…