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.

catholic education

Procedure and Checklist for the Evaluation and Use of Secular Materials and Programs in Catholic Education

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Instruction in Catholic education should not be driven by any particular text or program, but rather by rich and comprehensive standards that are informed by Catholic priorities. Resources such as the Catholic Curriculum Standards and Standards for Christian Anthropology can assist in this effort.

With proper standards in place, the first goal should be to seek out excellent Catholic programs and materials to aid in instruction. Should these not exist, or if available Catholic programs and materials are found insufficient, secular programs might be considered but should be carefully evaluated for their congruence with the mission of Catholic education. The following checklist, derived from The Cardinal Newman Society’s Policy Standards on Secular Academic Materials and Programs in Catholic Education, may be helpful.

Keep in mind that all secular programs, no matter how effective, will need to be supplemented with materials that present a Catholic worldview and understanding of the subject at hand.

Procedure for Considering the Use of Secular Materials and Programs

  1. Identify and validate (especially in terms of mission impact) the motivation behind the change.
  2. Research best practices in Catholic education and available means to address program needs.
  3. Seek out faithfully Catholic programs and materials for initial review, and only if they are insufficient or non-existent, explore other types of programs.

Checklist for Evaluating the Use of Secular Materials and Programs

Determine whether the program or material:
 
Yes / No
advances positions contrary to Church teaching, causes scandal, or could be a source of confusion about Catholic teaching.
Yes / No      
promotes or encourages atheism, agnosticism, scientific materialism, or a false ideology about the human person.
Yes / No
promotes or encourages relativism or denies the existence of transcendent truth, which is knowable by reason and revelation.
Yes / No
obstructs the goal of uniting faith and reason, synthesizing faith with life and culture, and developing a Catholic worldview or a Catholic understanding of the human person.
Yes / No
is promoted or written by a person or group who might bring scandal to the Catholic institution through formal or material cooperation.
Yes / No
places excessive demands on testing, teacher formation, or another process that crowds out priorities of Catholic education (such as daily theology classes) and a strong Catholic culture.
Yes / No
encourages political and social activism that is not supported by Catholic principles or social teaching, such as subsidiarity or the universal destination of humanity in God, or suggests the permissibility to do evil or commit an injustice so that a perceived good may result.
Yes / No
suggests that man is capable of solving all his problems or attaining heaven through natural virtues and effort, without God’s grace, mercy, and salvation.
 
For any Yes response:
  • If the materials explicitly and positively raise challenges in this area, reject the program.
  • If the materials only tangentially or in a minor way raise challenges in this area, heavily supplement with Catholic instruction and provide teacher training.
  • If the materials subtly and in a minor way raise challenges to a Catholic understanding, either through omission or unevaluated assumptions, supplement with Catholic instruction or eliminate the particular area of concern.
If all responses are “No,” the program is a possibly valid resource. Regardless, it still should be supplemented with instruction to provide for a Catholic understanding of the subject at hand.
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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.

Challenges to Religious Exemption in Title IX

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The Cardinal Newman Society hosted a webinar on April 29, 2021, for selected Catholic college leaders, in which Gregory Baylor, senior counsel and director of the Center for Religious Schools at Alliance Defending Freedom, provided an update on challenges to the religious exemption in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

The following summarizes the Newman Society’s understanding of what we learned from this webinar and other sources. Educators should consult their attorneys for professional legal advice.

Title IX and Religious Exemption

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that bans sex discrimination in “any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance,” including aid to students. The law exempts religious organizations, to the extent that the “application” of the law conflicts with their religious beliefs.

The exemption states, “this section shall not apply to an educational institution which is controlled by a religious organization if the application of this subsection would not be consistent with the religious tenets of such organization.”

Equality Act

The Equality Act (H.R.5) was approved by the U.S. House and has been sent to the Senate. In his speech to Congress on April 28, President Biden urged passage. The bill would effectively bypass the religious exemption in Title IX by allowing students and employees to file sex discrimination lawsuits against Catholic schools and colleges under Title VI, which regulates all recipients of federal funding and has no religious exemption. The bill would also:

  • amend several civil rights laws including Titles II, III, IV, VI, VII, and IX, the Fair Housing Act, and others to include protection for “sexual orientation” and “gender identity;”
  • expand the definition of “public accommodations” to include schools and colleges; and
  • prevent any appeal to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) with regard to the Equality Act’s provisions.
Hunter v. U.S. Department of Education

Current and former students from 25 Christian and Mormon colleges (none Catholic) have sued the U.S. Education Department in federal court, claiming that the religious exemption in Title IX is unconstitutional. 1) It violates the Establishment Clause by giving preference to religious institutions. 2) It violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by allowing federal funding for institutions that discriminate based on “sexual orientation and gender identity.” The second claim rests on precedent barring funds for institutions that practice racial discrimination.

Alliance Defending Freedom is representing three Christian colleges that have moved to intervene in the case to ensure a strong defense of Title IX. The concern is that the Biden administration will provide a weak defense, readily agree to a settlement, or even decline to defend the law.

Maxon v. Fuller Theological Seminary

Fuller Theological Seminary is a multidenominational Christian seminary with campuses in Pasadena, Houston, and Phoenix. Two students who were expelled for violating the seminary’s rules against same-sex marriage and extramarital sexual activity sued the seminary, but in October 2020 a U.S. district court dismissed the case. It has been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Among other claims, the plaintiffs are asking the court to rule that the religious exemption in Title IX does not apply to independent and nondenominational institutions that are not legally controlled by an established church. The Cardinal Newman Society and several Catholic colleges will be joining an amicus brief that argues for the exemption.

Challenges to Religious Exemption in Title IX

Efforts to dismantle or undermine the Title IX exemption focus on three key areas:

  • Control: The exemption can be interpreted to exclude nondenominational and independent religious colleges (the latter includes most Catholic colleges) that have no legal ownership by established churches. This, however, raises constitutional concerns, since the interpretation would discriminate against religions based on their ecclesiology.
  • Beliefs: A plaintiff could argue that certain activities related to “sexual orientation and gender identity” are not, in fact, violations of the institution’s religious tenets. This too raises constitutional concerns if a court is asked to determine an institution’s beliefs.
  • Timing: The Education Department could refuse to apply the religious exemption if an institution has not previously applied to the Department for a determination of religious status—a procedure that some religious institutions completed in recent years.

Recommendations:

  • Strengthen Catholic identity: Firmly ground policies in Catholic teaching and explain in writing why they are necessary according to Catholic teaching. Clearly state expectations for employees and what will happen if violated.This allows a strong appeal to religious freedom.
  • Sexuality policies: Be explicit about the institution’s religious beliefs and policies regarding “sexual orientation and gender identity.” Avoid listing “sexual orientation,” “gender identity,” or religion in nondiscrimination statements, and declare your legal right to base decisions on religion. No employee benefits for “gender reassignment” or same-sex unions.

Catholic Identity Standards Project: The Newman Society is working on policy standards to help Catholic schools and colleges stay firmly grounded in Catholic identity while establishing the best protection against legal threats. This work depends on the assistance of a large number of expert reviewers. If you would like to assist, please contact the Newman Society.

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…

After Crazy 2020, Students Seek No-Nonsense Catholic Colleges

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During uncertain and troubling times, what’s a Catholic high school senior to think about attending college?

Christ promised, “I am with you always, until the end of the age.” For young people across America, the year 2020 was tumultuous and often difficult, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the election, racial tensions and violence. Did any of this affect students’ resolve to attend a faithful Catholic college?

That was the question posed to high school seniors competing for scholarships in The Cardinal Newman Society’s annual essay contest, and the responses we received give me great hope for the future. Indeed, the events of the past year have made me even more certain of the need for wise and virtuous graduates of faithful Catholic schools and colleges. We rely on them to renew our culture.

Trinity Chester, a homeschooled student in California, writes that the “challenges of the past year” left her with the conviction that she “could not possibly settle for anything less” than a faithful Catholic college.

“As colleges across the country have shut down or taken classes completely online, faithful Catholic colleges have gone above and beyond to minister to their students in these trying times and keep classes in-person, if at all possible,” Chester reflects in her winning essay. “These schools are truly almae matres — nourishing mothers who care for their children’s physical, emotional, and spiritual welfare.”

She looks forward to attending a college where “Christ is at the heart” of campus and the education “seeks knowledge of the true, the good and the beautiful.” She believes a liberal arts education is practical, too:

In a post-COVID economy … graduates will need a holistic education that will equip them for life and give them a versatile skillset. Catholic colleges, with their strong focus on the Liberal Arts, give students the knowledge, critical thinking skills and flexibility to succeed in any venture.

Chester will use her $5,000 scholarship to attend Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California, where students are being prepared “each in their own way … to live lives of service.” About 10 percent of the College’s alumni have entered the priesthood or religious life, a third of the graduates have gone on to graduate studies or other advanced education, and others have pursued a wide variety of careers.

“Faithful Catholic colleges equip their students to be missionaries for the faith by carrying Christ with them into the world after graduation,” Chester writes.

“The events of the past year have taught us that our broken world desperately needs young people with a love for the Lord and a missionary spirit, who will dedicate their lives to service and evangelization,” says Chester.

Praise God for faithful Catholic colleges and for the students who attend them! They are a great light in the darkness of our culture today. May God bless Trinity and all her fellow students who are preparing to attend college this fall.

This article first appeared at the National Catholic Register.

More information about the Essay Scholarship Contest:

The Newman Society’s annual Essay Scholarship Contest is open to high school seniors in the United States who participate in the Newman Society’s Recruit Me program and use The Newman Guide in their college search. The innovative Recruit Me program invites Newman Guide colleges to compete for students while providing information about faithful Catholic education. Rising high school seniors who wish to enter next year’s essay contest can sign up for Recruit Me online at https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/the-newman-guide/recruit-me/.

Trinity Chester describes her use of The Newman Guide:

The Newman Guide was incredibly helpful to me in my college search. I found it so encouraging to read the winning essays from past years and know that there were other young people out there who wanted the same things I wanted in a college experience. The Newman Guide website made it easy for me to compare faithful Catholic colleges and narrow down the factors that were important to me. I also enjoyed the student takeovers on the Newman Society’s Instagram account because they allowed me an inside look at campus culture and student life.

Chester’s $5,000 scholarship is made possible thanks to the generosity of Joseph and Ann Guiffre, supporters of The Cardinal Newman Society and faithful Catholic education.

“We are grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Guiffre for enabling this scholarship,” said Newman Society President Patrick Reilly. “They understand the unique value of a truly Catholic education, and they are thrilled to help a student experience all that a Newman Guide-recommended college can provide.”

The winner of the annual contest also has the opportunity to receive an additional $15,000 from participating colleges over the course of their college education. Sixteen of the Newman Guide colleges have agreed to supplement the Newman Society’s scholarship with additional $5,000 grants over three additional years, under certain conditions including full-time enrollment and academic progress.