As the new academic year begins for students around the country, a video on Twitter caught my eye: tutors at the new East Coast campus of Thomas Aquinas College recited the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity at Convocation in front of the College’s students.
“In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of the faith in its entirety,” the tutors proclaimed before Bishop Mitchell Rozanski of the Diocese of Springfield on Aug. 24. “I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it.”
What a hopeful and profound way to begin the year!
Thomas Aquinas College, known for its academic rigor and orthodox Catholicism, is now educating students in Northfield, Massachusetts, as well as Santa Paula, California. It joins other faithful New England colleges, including Holy Apostles in Cromwell, Connecticut, Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, New Hampshire, and the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire, in bringing a renewal of Catholic faith and culture to an area of the country that is sorely in need of it.
At Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyoming, on Aug. 25, professors also made their annual Profession of Faith, and new professors made the Oath of Fidelity. The College has told The Cardinal Newman Society: “While we know that this is not strictly required, we wish to go beyond the minimum and demonstrate that all our Catholic faculty are committed to teaching all disciplines ad mentem ecclesiae.”
The profession and oath were made at a Mass celebrated by Bishop Steven Biegler of the Diocese of Cheyenne. He told faculty and students, “The formation of the whole person that Catholic education seeks—body and mind, heart and soul, faith and reason, seeks to form disciples who think and speak and act like Christ.”
Later that afternoon, freshman students also signaled their commitment to faithful Catholic education by signing their names in the official Student Register. “In signing this book,” Acting Dean Kyle Washut told the students, “you are making a public act of trust. You are announcing your intention to trust the Wyoming Catholic College community with your formation over the next four years. We are aware of the solemn duty imposed on us when you give us that trust, and we will honor it.”
The same day, the entire faculty of Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, made the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity at a Mass of the Holy Spirit celebrated by Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington.
“I want to begin by thanking you and your gifted and talented administration and faculty for providing our students with such a sacred place to continue their education, to deepen their relationship with the Lord, and to grow in Truth and be prepared to articulate that Truth wherever the Lord sends them,” Bishop Burbidge said.
Catholic college presidents, too, are expected to recite the Oath of Fidelity according to canon law. Dr. Timothy Collins, the new president of Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, recited the oath during the University’s Mass of the Holy Spirit on Aug. 28. Impressively, he was surrounded by members of Walsh’s founding order, the Brothers of Christian Instruction, and University Chaplain Father Thomas Cebula.
“When you think about the Oath of Fidelity, we think about it in terms of a covenant,” said Monsignor John Zuraw, the Mass celebrant and chancellor of the Diocese of Youngstown. “God has established a covenant with each and every one of us. And with any covenant, there are responsibilities. There are values that we hold deep within our very being.”
“As President Collins takes this Oath of Fidelity,” Msgr. Zuraw continued, “he takes it first and foremost to be faithful to God and all that he does and all that he will be. But this Oath of Fidelity also implies a relationship with each and every one of you… that he will do his best to lead this University with values and principles based on the Gospel.”
A public profession of our Catholic faith is an important witness to students and a comforting assurance about the type of education students will be receiving. While the Church does not require it of every professor at a Catholic college, canon law does require that every Catholic theology professor receive the mandatum from the local bishop, by which theologians promise that they will teach in accord with the Church. Often this is accomplished by a Profession of Faith or other similar measure.
Among the faithful colleges recommended in The Newman Guide, all theology professors have the required mandatum, and most take the Oath of Fidelity. Sadly we don’t see this everywhere, but there is an exciting renewal today at a growing number of Catholic colleges. Families seeking assurance of a faithful education have many good options.
Starting out this new academic year on the right foot is a very hopeful sign. Please keep Catholic educators in your prayers, that they will faithfully teach and witness to our students, preparing them to walk with Christ throughout their adult lives.
This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.
EWTN Radio: Newman Society Discusses Recent Pew Study Findings and More
/in Blog Latest/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffNewman Society President Patrick Reilly was recently hosted on The Good Fight with Barbara McGuigan on EWTN radio. During the first hour of the show, they discussed a number of topics, including the recent Pew Study that found that only 26 percent of U.S. Catholics under age 40 believe in Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.
Faithful Catholic education is a key solution to restoring belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. “There are a variety of ways of teaching, the point is that teaching and formation has to happen and we cannot compromise on that, ” said Reilly.
“Every single young person who is baptized must understand the Eucharist, must love the Eucharist, must devote their life to the Eucharist. And if that’s not happening, then we are failing,” he continued.
Listen to the full recording here.
A New Year’s Resolution for Catholic Colleges
/in Blog Latest, PR Register Column/by Patrick ReillyAs the new academic year begins for students around the country, a video on Twitter caught my eye: tutors at the new East Coast campus of Thomas Aquinas College recited the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity at Convocation in front of the College’s students.
“In fulfilling the charge entrusted to me in the name of the Church, I shall hold fast to the deposit of the faith in its entirety,” the tutors proclaimed before Bishop Mitchell Rozanski of the Diocese of Springfield on Aug. 24. “I shall faithfully hand it on and explain it, and I shall avoid any teachings contrary to it.”
What a hopeful and profound way to begin the year!
Thomas Aquinas College, known for its academic rigor and orthodox Catholicism, is now educating students in Northfield, Massachusetts, as well as Santa Paula, California. It joins other faithful New England colleges, including Holy Apostles in Cromwell, Connecticut, Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in Warner, New Hampshire, and the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire, in bringing a renewal of Catholic faith and culture to an area of the country that is sorely in need of it.
At Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyoming, on Aug. 25, professors also made their annual Profession of Faith, and new professors made the Oath of Fidelity. The College has told The Cardinal Newman Society: “While we know that this is not strictly required, we wish to go beyond the minimum and demonstrate that all our Catholic faculty are committed to teaching all disciplines ad mentem ecclesiae.”
The profession and oath were made at a Mass celebrated by Bishop Steven Biegler of the Diocese of Cheyenne. He told faculty and students, “The formation of the whole person that Catholic education seeks—body and mind, heart and soul, faith and reason, seeks to form disciples who think and speak and act like Christ.”
Later that afternoon, freshman students also signaled their commitment to faithful Catholic education by signing their names in the official Student Register. “In signing this book,” Acting Dean Kyle Washut told the students, “you are making a public act of trust. You are announcing your intention to trust the Wyoming Catholic College community with your formation over the next four years. We are aware of the solemn duty imposed on us when you give us that trust, and we will honor it.”
The same day, the entire faculty of Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, made the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity at a Mass of the Holy Spirit celebrated by Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington.
“I want to begin by thanking you and your gifted and talented administration and faculty for providing our students with such a sacred place to continue their education, to deepen their relationship with the Lord, and to grow in Truth and be prepared to articulate that Truth wherever the Lord sends them,” Bishop Burbidge said.
Catholic college presidents, too, are expected to recite the Oath of Fidelity according to canon law. Dr. Timothy Collins, the new president of Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, recited the oath during the University’s Mass of the Holy Spirit on Aug. 28. Impressively, he was surrounded by members of Walsh’s founding order, the Brothers of Christian Instruction, and University Chaplain Father Thomas Cebula.
“When you think about the Oath of Fidelity, we think about it in terms of a covenant,” said Monsignor John Zuraw, the Mass celebrant and chancellor of the Diocese of Youngstown. “God has established a covenant with each and every one of us. And with any covenant, there are responsibilities. There are values that we hold deep within our very being.”
“As President Collins takes this Oath of Fidelity,” Msgr. Zuraw continued, “he takes it first and foremost to be faithful to God and all that he does and all that he will be. But this Oath of Fidelity also implies a relationship with each and every one of you… that he will do his best to lead this University with values and principles based on the Gospel.”
A public profession of our Catholic faith is an important witness to students and a comforting assurance about the type of education students will be receiving. While the Church does not require it of every professor at a Catholic college, canon law does require that every Catholic theology professor receive the mandatum from the local bishop, by which theologians promise that they will teach in accord with the Church. Often this is accomplished by a Profession of Faith or other similar measure.
Among the faithful colleges recommended in The Newman Guide, all theology professors have the required mandatum, and most take the Oath of Fidelity. Sadly we don’t see this everywhere, but there is an exciting renewal today at a growing number of Catholic colleges. Families seeking assurance of a faithful education have many good options.
Starting out this new academic year on the right foot is a very hopeful sign. Please keep Catholic educators in your prayers, that they will faithfully teach and witness to our students, preparing them to walk with Christ throughout their adult lives.
This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.
Dominican Sister Discerned Vocation in ‘Silence’ of College Chapels
/in Blog Newman Guide Articles, Profiles in FCE/by Kelly SalomonEditor’s Note: This article is part of our new “Profiles in Faithful Catholic Education” series which features graduates of faithful Catholic schools and Newman Guide colleges who are leading the renewal of the Church. Other recent profiles can be found here and here.
For one Dominican sister, two years on a faithful Catholic college campus were just what she needed to discern her vocation to religious life.
Sister Bernadette Marie of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia in Nashville, Tenn., said that during her high school years she realized that the “secular environment of a public university” would not provide her with a “strong faith-based community.” As she explored potential colleges, her wish-list included “daily Mass, times of Adoration, and a strong community.” When she visited Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., which is recommended in The Newman Guide, she “fell in love with the Catholic environment immediately.”
During college, Sr. Bernadette Marie studied theology, education and art and became involved with many activities on campus, including intramural sports and Bible studies. She formed great friendships with her peers, who encouraged her to grow in her relationship with Christ and “become a better all-around person.” She also met professors who cared about her “spiritual and academic growth.”
“At Benedictine College, I was blessed to see many adults living their vocation to the full,” said Sr. Bernadette Marie. “I recall with fondness praying early morning rosaries with President Minnis and other students… witnessing the gift and sacrificial love of families through resident hall directors and their young families. The Benedictine monks and other religious sisters studying on campus helped me to see that total dedication to God was a joyful sacrifice of love.”
There were many elements of life on the faithful Catholic college campus that helped Sr. Bernadette Marie to be open to her vocation — a vocation which she had inklings of earlier in her life. But she says that she discerned her vocation “first and foremost in the silence of the chapels on the campus.”
After just two years at Benedictine College, Sr. Bernadette Marie left campus to begin a new adventure with the Nashville Dominicans, whose apostolate is Catholic education. The sisters, who wear long white habits, are dedicated to a life of prayer and have a strong sense of community. After additional formation, Sr. Bernadette Marie taught second grade students for several years, helping prepare them for their sacraments. Now she serves in the vocations office of her community, which allows her to meet with young women on college campuses who are “thirsting for the truth and a deeper relationship with Christ.”
When it comes to her own journey, Sr. Bernadette Marie is full of gratitude and “overwhelmed by the incredible gift” she received at a faithful Catholic college. “I knew that the Lord had to be calling me to something even better in the convent because I had been so happy at Benedictine,” she said.
Catholic Schools Must Restore America’s Faith in the Real Presence
/in Blog, Student Formation Commentary, Prayer and Sacrament Latest/by Patrick Reilly“He is truly there in the Eucharist,” says Amelia Shripka. The 8th-grader at Everest Collegiate High School and Academy in Clarkston, Michigan takes delight in the Eucharistic procession that her school holds every year. It’s a “great time to reflect on what Jesus did for us,” she says.
But according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center, such strong faith is increasingly uncommon. The Pew study found that only 26 percent of U.S. Catholics under age 40 believe in Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.
So how does the Church restore faith in its most precious sacrament? One key solution is the renewal of faithful Catholic education, whether in parochial schools, lay-run schools, online programs or in the home.
Continue reading at Crisis Magazine…
Newman Society Files Amicus Brief on Title VII Interpretation – U.S. Supreme Court
/in Blog Amicus Briefs, Public Policy and Legal (General)/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffThe Cardinal Newman Society joined an amicus brief at the Supreme Court of the United States urging the court to hold that “sex” as used in Title VII does not include “sexual orientation.”
Holy Eucharist Adored at Faithful Catholic Colleges
/in Student Formation Commentary, Prayer and Sacrament Newman Guide Articles/by Kelly SalomonFor one student, visiting prospective colleges left her feeling “uncertain and worried.” Brigid Ambuul of California toured five secular universities, but she wasn’t convinced by their sole focus on “worldly success.”
Then she visited a faithful Catholic college and ducked into the perpetual Adoration chapel to say a prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It was there that she knew her college decision was made.
“It’s funny how things start to turn around, once you put God in the center of a situation,” she explains.
On this campus, “God wasn’t just an afterthought,” but rather He permeated all aspects of student life from the classroom to the chapel. The college seemed especially committed to spiritual formation, and it gave her a “newfound sense of hope and excitement” for her future.
As a result, Brigid is heading to Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, this fall to begin her studies.
A recent Pew Research study found that only 26% of U.S. Catholics under the age of 40 believe that Jesus Christ is truly present in the most Holy Eucharist. Clearly there has been a breakdown in forming young people in the Faith. But if we are looking for hope for the future, we need look no further than America’s most faithful Catholic colleges.
“Though it is tragic and deeply troubling that so many young people… do not believe or do not know that the Eucharist is Jesus, there is great hope in seeing young people who do believe this doctrine with their whole being,” says Austin Schneider, director of campus ministry at John Paul the Great Catholic University in California. The college offers Eucharistic Adoration every weekday during the school year.
“These fervent young Catholics not only inspire me, but I believe they have the capacity to draw many others into a deeper, intimate knowledge of Jesus Christ,” he continues.
Since the 1960s, there has been a decline in fidelity at many Catholic colleges. In response, the Church urges every college to “give a practical demonstration of its faith in its daily activity, with important moments of reflection and of prayer.” Students and employees should be “encouraged to participate in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist” (Ex corde Ecclesiae §39).
Dr. George Harne, president of Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in New Hampshire, takes the directive seriously. He promotes the “centrality of the Eucharist” on campus in a variety of ways, including the college’s beautiful and reverent celebration of the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter.
Another president, Dr. Bill Thierfelder of Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, built an Adoration chapel on campus as one of his first initiatives at the helm.
Students participate in Eucharistic processions at the University of Dallas in Texas, and Adoration is included in outdoor camping trips at Wyoming Catholic College. These Eucharistic activities attend to students’ spiritual formation as well as their intellectual education.
In Virginia, Christendom College is devoting its time and resources to building a magnificent new Christ the King Chapel, which will have double the seating capacity of the current chapel.
The Pew Research study found that most Catholics who attend Mass weekly do believe that the Eucharist is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Catholic families should know, then, that students at faithful Catholic colleges are more likely to attend Mass regularly. The colleges recommended in The Newman Guide provide strong faith communities that support daily Masses and well-attended weekly Masses, and most have plentiful opportunities for Eucharistic Adoration — some even offer it perpetually.
A faithful Catholic education reinforces the fundamentals of the faith and forms students for sainthood as well as earthly success, with Christ at the center. The spiritual difficulties facing young Catholics today are enormous, but there are places where college students can love and adore Jesus Christ in the Eucharist while preparing for life and the challenges ahead.
This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.
Yet Another Lawsuit Against the Church
/in Blog, Mission and Governance Commentary, Nondiscrimination and Diversity Latest, PR Register Column/by Patrick ReillyThe Archdiocese of Indianapolis is the target of yet another lawsuit — this one from a guidance counselor whose contract to help form students at Roncalli High School was not renewed for the coming school year, because she entered into a same-sex marriage.
With this and other similar disputes in Catholic schools, Archbishop Charles Thompson is clearly under assault. And the same fight is coming to every bishop and every Catholic school and college that courageously upholds the mission of Catholic education — as well as those schools and colleges that carelessly go forward without clear and consistent Catholic policies, thereby opening the doors wide to ideological activists and legal trouble.
Just last month, the Indianapolis archdiocese settled a lawsuit by a teacher who was dismissed from Cathedral High School for his same-sex marriage.
That teacher is legally married to a man who still teaches at Brebeuf Jesuit College Preparatory School, where leaders refuse to comply with archdiocesan policy requiring Catholic school teachers to avoid scandal. Now the school’s leaders have filed a canon law suit with the Vatican, challenging Archbishop Thompson’s episcopal right and duty to determine whether the school may be called Catholic.
In the latest lawsuit filed in federal court last week, plaintiff Lynn Starkey accuses Roncalli High School of discriminating against her because of same-sex attraction. But Starkey was employed at Roncalli for 39 years, and even after she violated her contract by entering into a scandalous, permanent, same-sex commitment, Roncalli did not fire her. Instead, it chose not to renew her contract.
Another counselor at Roncalli, Shelli Fitzgerald, is expected to sue in the next month or two. Fitzgerald was placed on administrative leave last fall, following (you guessed it) her same-sex marriage.
These suits join a growing number of attacks against Catholic schools and colleges across the country, because the Church prescribes morality standards in Catholic education. Why are so many Catholic school and college employees eager to challenge such standards? It may be that the standards are not stated clearly enough, or that they are not consistently applied, so that employees are genuinely surprised to lose their jobs. Surely there is also the hope that courts today are willing to support discrimination claims instead of upholding religious freedom. In Starkey’s case, it is especially astounding that a guidance counselor at a Catholic school could fail to appreciate that teaching and witnessing to Catholic moral principles are essential to her job.
Catholics should not be naïve in thinking that there is anything substantially unique about Indianapolis. Catholic education nationwide faces serious threats from within and without, and too many schools and colleges are insufficiently prepared for the legal battles.
The best thing that school and college leaders can do — immediately, without hesitation — is to ensure that every internal policy and practice is consistent with the formation of students in complete fidelity to Catholic teaching, and that employees embrace this mission without compromise. That makes lawsuits unlikely, resists the corruption of Catholic identity, and allows for a vigorous defense of religious freedom in court.
In the weeks and months ahead, there will be more lawsuits. We must pray for our bishops and school leaders to have the fortitude to make a strong stand for faithful Catholic education. Only if Catholic educators get back to their roots and defend their foundations, will they preserve their most important mission of forming students in the faith.
This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.
EWTN Video: Newman Society Discusses Latest Threats to Catholic Education
/in Blog Latest/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffNewman Society President Patrick Reilly was recently hosted on EWTN News Nightly to discuss the latest threats facing Catholic schools and colleges.
“We’ve been seeing many exciting things happening in Catholic education,” Patrick Reilly shared with EWTN News Nightly host, Wyatt Goolsby. “But because our culture is going in a different direction, we’re seeing many lawsuits. Some of them are even coming from teachers within Catholic schools who lose their jobs because they’re not witnessing to the faith.”
“Catholic schools have to be very careful that in their Catholic identity they are consistent across the board,” Patrick explained. “They need to have very clear policies and ensure that everyone understands what is required from a Catholic institution.”
Catholic College ‘Shaped Who I Am,’ Says Nashville Dominican
/in Blog Newman Guide Articles, Profiles in FCE/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffSister Scholastica Niemann of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tenn., is one of many religious sisters whose vocation was nurtured by faithful Catholic education.
Affectionately known as the “Nashville Dominicans,” her order was founded more than 150 years ago and has grown to nearly 300 sisters, with approximately 50 sisters in their initial four years of formation. The sisters, who wear the traditional Dominican habit, teach in 33 schools in the United States and several more abroad.
The Newman Society is grateful to Sister Scholastica for sharing her story and testifying to the influence of the faithful Catholic education that she received.
Newman Society: Sister Scholastica Niemann, can you tell us about yourself? Where are you from? What was the role of Catholic education in your life growing up?
Sister Scholastica Niemann:I grew up in a small town in East Tennessee and first met the Sisters at the grade school I attended, St. Mary’s School in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Prior to living in Tennessee, though, my family moved around the country a lot because my dad was in the Air Force. One constant in the midst of all those changes was our Catholic faith. We knew the faith was important, because we saw the sacrifices my parents made to send us all to Catholic schools. I am the youngest of eight children, so that was quite a sacrifice.
So much of our life revolved around the parish and school, we were always involved in youth groups, in after-school activities and clubs, not to mention all the parish functions… the faith was so much at the heart of our family. The only Catholic high school in the area was about 50 minutes away, but there was never any question about whether we would go there or not. We just knew.
Catholic education was a priority in our house. Though it was never said aloud, I always understood how important the intellectual part of the faith was in our family.
Newman Society: Why did you choose to attend a faithful Catholic college? What was its impact on your life and your vocation?
Sister Scholastica Niemann:As a senior in high school I had just experienced a renewal of my own faith, a deeper conviction that friendship with the Lord was not only possible, but desirable. I had always loved learning, and now I was realizing that faith, and truth, and learning, and prayer all go hand in hand. And although I couldn’t have articulated it in these words, it is because the human person is made for the Truth who is Jesus Christ.
All I knew at that time was that I wanted to study the liberal arts in a faithful, Catholic environment. At the University of Dallas [a Newman Guide-recommended institution in Irving, Tex.] I got that… and a whole lot more than I bargained for. From my first English class, to the theology and philosophy courses, to Western Civ., I was receiving a vast treasure of an education that truly shaped who I am.
I would say the professors and classes had the most impact on me. They were challenging and rigorous, to be sure, but also immensely rewarding in a way that I had not anticipated. Very often after class, my friends and I would discuss the lecture or the reading, and we would just marvel at the inherent value of what we were learning. It was not useful, in a worldly sense, it was not job training or marketable—but it was true, and good… and eminently useful for us as human beings. We were learning how to succeed at being good people.
And then, on top of all that, to spend a semester in Rome, in the heart of the Church, to see where early Christians were martyred and buried in the catacombs, to walk the streets where St. Peter and St. Paul traveled, to pray in the magnificent churches, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
All that time, Christ was drawing me closer to Himself.
Newman Society: How did you discern your vocation?
Sister Scholastica Niemann:As I neared graduation, I began to feel an interior tug, a nudge, a quiet invitation to consider Religious Life. I had taken a really beautiful course on Christian marriage, and part of that course examined the vows of consecrated religious life. It was there that a seed was planted—it took several years before I could respond to that call, but it was definitely a turning point.
Preparing Medical Professionals Who Reject Planned Parenthood
/in Academics, Blog Commentary, Science and Health Studies Latest, Newman Guide Articles/by Kelly SalomonThe ouster of Planned Parenthood’s president, who disappointed activists for not being aggressive enough on abortion despite her defense of horrific state laws, should be a wake-up call to Catholics to better educate future health care professionals about the reality of abortion and what true health care means. It’s a strong reason why renewing faithful Catholic education is so important to our Church and society.
Before students even arrive at medical school, the indoctrination that teaches that abortion is acceptable has already begun—and it even creeps into some of our Catholic schools and colleges. Just recently, a Catholic school teacher in South Carolina posted pro-abortion posts on her Facebook page and was appropriately removed from her teaching position. The school she was employed by is excellent—one of several recognized for strong Catholic policies by the Cardinal Newman Society. But still the teacher seems not to understand her responsibility to witness to the faith inside and outside of the classroom, and she has filed a lawsuit against the school.
Faithful Catholic schools are devoted to forming students in truth, beauty and goodness. Students learn that “reason, revelation, and science will never be in ultimate conflict, as the same God created them all” (Catholic Curriculum Standards). Catholic teachers play an important role in helping students understand moral issues like abortion and should educate them properly so that they are convicted by the truth.
In our Catholic colleges, sadly, this is not always the case. Several years ago, The Cardinal Newman Society reported on the close connections between Planned Parenthood and Catholic colleges across the country. Earlier this year, Georgetown University allowed for an abortionist to be hosted on campus who tried to justify his practice with his Christian faith. Several Catholic colleges honored pro-abortion politicians at commencement. And if we look at the Jesuit college graduates who are serving in Congress, a large majority of them are pro-abortion.
With mostly secular options for medical training, Catholics have a tough time of it. One Catholic high school student from Pennsylvania, Natalie Hyrcza, told me that while “there are many great nursing schools out there… a lot of them are not Catholic and do not even touch on ethics in nursing.”
Still, there are some good options. Natalie is excited to be going to the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., this fall to begin her nursing studies, where she hopes to “learn how to treat each and every patient… as a child of God.” She cites an example of when she volunteered at a hospital and came across a patient who was “very lonely and just wanted somebody to talk to.” After some time together, Natalie noticed the patient’s rosary, and they ended up praying it together.
Another nursing student, Kaelyn Adolph, is headed to Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, this fall. She said that it’s so important for her to “gain a solid education that reflects my Catholic values.”
“Attending a Catholic nursing school gives the nurses confidence that comes with a complete education, which includes the moral stance on modern issues,” she said. “This beautiful profession enables you to glorify and praise God through your work of caring for others.”
Over the last few decades, many Catholic medical schools have closed, but there are still many pre-medicine, nursing, biology, health care administration, physical education and related programs at faithful colleges like those recommended in The Newman Guide. With solid education not only in health care but also ethics, theology and other liberal arts, these can provide a great formation for Catholic leaders in health-related fields.
This article first appeared at The National Catholic Register.