Mission and Governance

Principles Faculty and Staff In-Service

Catholic Identity in Education: Faculty and Staff In-Service is designed to help a school’s faculty and staff reflect upon those elements the Church expects to be present in all Catholic schools and which distinguish them from other schools. The evaluation is structured upon five principles of Catholic identity derived from Church […]

Principles Selected Church Documents for Reflection

Catholic Identity in Education: Selected Church Documents for Reflection is a compilation of selections from Church guidance on education. It is intended to provide simple and structured access to highlights from the five principles that help organize the readings: Inspired by Divine Mission; Models Christian Communion and Identity; Encounters Christ in Prayer, Scripture, […]

Church Documents for Catholic School Teachers: Annotated Bibliography

  Pope Leo XIII. (1865). Spectata Fides. Retrieved from http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_27111885_spectatafides.html In these days, and in the present condition of the world, when the tender age of childhood is threatened on every side by so many and such various dangers, hardly anything can be imagined more fitting than the union with […]

U.S. Policy Priorities for Catholic Education

Catholic education provides many important benefits to American society. At a cost substantially less than public schools, Catholic elementary and secondary schools provide an outstanding education to nearly 2 million students, who tend to score high on national tests and succeed in college and career. More than 200 Catholic colleges […]

Humanae Vitae Dissenters Should Not Be Teaching at Catholic Colleges

Considering the morally corrupt and hypersexualized state of our culture, it’s not that surprising that dissenters from Blessed Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae would think now is a good time to revive their tired, old, anti-Catholic push to reverse the beautiful teachings of the Church regarding human sexuality — specifically, the […]

American Jesuits Are in a Free Fall, and the Crisis is Getting Worse

Excitement is building for Jesuits worldwide as their general congregation to elect a new superior general is quickly approaching this fall. The election presents an important opportunity for them to reflect on the future of the Society of Jesus — and to address serious concerns. Even under a Jesuit Pope, the order […]

For Catholic Schools to Survive, Their Catholicity Must Thrive

We hear a lot about the decline of Catholic schools, but maybe not enough. The numbers are staggering: Catholic school enrollment has declined more than two-thirds in the last 50 years, from 5.2 million to 1.9 million students. Even so, Catholic homeschoolers perceive significant growth in their numbers, with the freedom to explore a […]

Talk to Newman Guide College Presidents and Senior Staff

This talk was originally given at The Cardinal Newman Society Presidents’ Meeting in Washington, D.C. on January 20, 2016 Mr. Reilly, esteemed university presidents, dear friends in Christ, I want to thank you for inviting me to join you for dinner this evening, and to offer a few remarks to […]

Teach, Witness and Advocate: Catholic Education’s Response to Secularism

The Catholic Church in the United States today faces serious challenges arising from secularism and an increasingly secular society, including growing threats to religious freedom. But while Catholic education is a victim of these threats and can even—when done poorly—make matters worse, faithful Catholic education must be embraced as a key solution to the challenges that secularism poses to Christianity and as a primary means of the New Evangelization.

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 […]

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 […]

Catholic College Closes, but Other Small Colleges Thrive on Faithful Catholic Mission

A small, Massachusetts-based Catholic college will close this month, citing financial difficulties brought about by declining enrollment.  But while many similarly small colleges around the country are struggling to find their niches in order to sustain enrollment, some faithful Catholic institutions are successfully leveraging their faithful Catholic identities to attract […]

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 […]

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 […]

Maintain Schools’ Religious Character to Protect Religious Freedom

This is part of a series of research reports on the Common Core State Standards Initative and its potential impact on Catholic education. Introduction It is vital that religious educational institutions maintain their religious mission in all their programs—including standards, methods, and curriculum—if they want to avoid being subjected to federal […]