The Catholic University of America recently taught students a tough but valuable lesson about witness and responsibility. It’s a lesson the students—as well as the faculty—are unlikely to forget.
On January 30, university president Dr. Peter Kilpatrick announced the firing of a psychology lecturer following a scandalous incident in her classroom. The lecturer, teaching a course titled “Lifespan Development,” had invited an “abortion doula” to speak to the students. An abortion doula is someone who accompanies women as they undergo abortions. Reports claim that the guest not only advocated abortion but also celebrated “childbirth” by “trans” men.
Critics later accused the university of violating academic freedom by firing the lecturer, and no doubt some students and faculty members agree. But by acting swiftly and decisively—and by publicly explaining the necessity of upholding the university’s mission—the Catholic University of America set an important example for Catholic educators.
“In our rigorous pursuit of truth and justice, we engage at times with arguments or ideologies contrary to reason or to the Gospel,” Dr. Kilpatrick acknowledged in a letter to students. “But we do so fully confident in the clarity given by the combined lights of reason and faith, and we commit to never advocate for sin or to give moral equivalence to error.”
It was an excellent letter. When leaders so clearly articulate the mission of Catholic education and moral expectations for faculty members, consequences for bad behavior and false teaching no longer appear harsh. Instead, it is out of concern for truth and the formation of students that Catholic education leaders must discipline and sometimes even remove teachers when they lead students astray. False witness is contrary to the truth that is foundational to Catholic education.
“Our studies aim at producing wisdom, which includes excellence in living and sharing the truth with others,” explained Dr. Kilpatrick. “May our common study help us to understand life, to love goodness, and to promote and protect the dignity of the human person.”
Responding with heroism
In a culture increasingly hostile to Catholic morality, Catholic schools and colleges are likely to face more conflicts with employees who resist moral expectations. But if teachers uphold the faith, their witness can be all the more influential with students—lights in the darkness. And if leaders remain steadfast in the truth when conflicts arise, their heroic witness can be a valuable education for students and the broader public.
Consider the case of Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Hermosa Beach, Calif. In 2012, the school announced that teachers must obtain catechist certification to ensure the integration of Catholic teaching across all disciplines. One non-Catholic teacher, whose duties included teaching all subjects including religion, failed to get the certification and was fired.
The school’s courageous act of dismissing the teacher, rather than compromising its mission and thereby harming its students, led to a lawsuit claiming age discrimination. On the face of it, this seemed exactly the outcome that school leaders want to avoid to protect their schools. But the lawsuit eventually led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2020, upholding the ministerial exception and protecting the right of Catholic schools to choose teachers according to religious criteria without court interference.
Sadly, Gordon College lost the opportunity to obtain a similar landmark ruling for Christian higher education. The Evangelical Christian college faced a hostile Massachusetts court, when a fired sociology professor claimed that she had been unfairly denied tenure because of her public attacks on the college’s Christian views of sexuality and marriage. Gordon’s leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the case from proceeding under the ministerial exception, but when the Court declined, Gordon settled the case.
It would be unfair to judge Gordon College’s choice to settle, but standing firm for religious freedom and insisting on the moral witness of all employees is a necessary line in the sand—even if it causes some degree of martyrdom. The ultimate goal of Catholic education is evangelization, bringing students to God by reason and faith. While avoiding lawsuits may keep a school or college going for the short term, defending appropriate personnel policies is necessary to protecting Catholic education for the long term and shows students a powerful witness to fidelity.
In the amicus brief joined by The Cardinal Newman Society, urging the Supreme Court to take up the Gordon case, we attested:
“Faculty are the life-blood of every college and university, without which teaching and scholarship cannot occur. For faithful Catholic and protestant institutions, teaching and scholarship is not an end in itself. Without recognizing the ‘Word’ through whom ‘all things were made’ (John 1: 1-3), teaching and scholarship on any subject is incomplete.”
Leading dioceses
Today many dioceses across the U.S. are instituting personnel guidelines and morality clauses in employee contracts, so that the Church’s expectations are clear to employees. These also help to invite educators to more faithful witness inside and outside the classroom. Still, some employees are unwilling to abide by them.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has made a significant effort to strengthen the Catholic mission of its schools, only to face four separate cases of employees entering into civil same-sex marriages. Two dismissed counselors at Roncalli High School filed lawsuits claiming discrimination, as did a teacher at Cathedral Catholic High School. After a difficult legal fight, the archdiocese triumphed in all three cases.
In the Diocese of Charlotte, a substitute teacher’s contract was not renewed after he declared a same-sex marriage and publicly opposed Church teaching. The ACLU is helping the teacher pursue a lawsuit against Charlotte Catholic High School and the diocese, and a ruling is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
These dioceses know that teacher witness is at the heart of Catholic education. In Ex corde Ecclesiae, St. John Paul II declared, “If need be, a Catholic university must have the courage to speak uncomfortable truths which do not please public opinion, but which are necessary to safeguard the authentic good of society.” This is true of all Catholic education, which “speaks” as much by the witness of its employees as by classroom instruction. Speaking, however, sometimes requires courage to uphold the truth for the good of the students and all who listen.
Ep. 17: The History & Vision of The Catholic University of America with President Peter Kilpatrick (Pt. 1)
/in Podcast Blog/by Christopher ByrnePodcast: Play in new window | Download
What goes into running the largest university on The Newman Guide and an institution known as ‘the Bishop’s University?’ We sat down with President Peter Kilpatrick of The Catholic University of America to discuss its rich history, his vision for the University, and the roll-out of its new Lead with Light campaign.
A Win for Benedictine College
/in Blog Latest/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffNothing could be more sensible: a Catholic college with a proud heritage in football invites Harrison Butker, a faithfully Catholic athlete—one of the best kickers in the NFL, whose team just won the Super Bowl—to speak at its commencement ceremony.
From any rational perspective, Benedictine College did everything right.
And what could be more appropriate, that the speaker at a Catholic college commencement ceremony would uphold Catholic morality and celebrate marriage and family above career?
From an authentically Catholic perspective, Harrison Butker did everything right.
Students of Benedictine College stood to applaud Butker’s speech—and more, they celebrated the distinctive Catholic education they had been privileged to receive at one of the very few colleges deserving Newman Guide Recommended status.
The students and their parents, in choosing education that forms young people in accord with both our Christian faith and the light of reason, did everything right.
That’s because a Newman Guide education is rooted in truth, never yielding to “political correctness” or “wokeness” that changes with every generation and at the whim of destructive political movements.
A Newman Guide college defends the freedom to seek and proclaim truth. It does not accept the radical liberty to deceive and malform students.
A Newman Guide institution chooses commencement speakers who model our Catholic faith, virtue, and wisdom—the sort of people students can emulate. In 2024, these included:
Any one of these speakers, in complete fidelity to Catholic teaching, might have said something during their commencement speech that Harrison Butker’s critics would not have liked. They probably did, but Butker was the high-profile target.
In fact, the public outcry, NFL statement, and media attacks are intended to topple something much larger than Butker or even Benedictine College. They are aimed at the Catholic Church. They project intolerance for Catholic beliefs and certain truths about the human person. Those who stand with Butker are threatened with all the fanaticism, injustice, and brutality of a totalitarian regime.
Many Catholics like those who rushed to befriend Butker’s critics are quick to compromise and eager to please those who hate them. The Cardinal Newman Society has always represented a different approach. We stand firmly with all that is true, good, and beautiful, and we proudly recommend those Newman Guide schools, colleges, and graduate programs that do the same.
The result? While it seems another private college closes every week in the U.S.—unable to compete with state-sponsored, career-oriented, woke universities on the same terms—most of the Newman Guide colleges are thriving.
Rather than apologize for their Catholic education, they embrace The Cardinal Newman Society’s standards for excellence and fidelity. They realize the importance of having firm policies in place, such as campus speaker policies that favor model Catholics like Butker and prevent those who would scandalize and deliberately mislead students into falsehood.
If there’s one lesson Catholics should learn from the Harrison Butker spectacle, it’s that the education we want is the education modeled by Benedictine College and the other Newman Guide Recommended institutions, as well as faithful Catholic homeschooling and hybrid options.
Why? Because they’re doing everything right.
High Percentage of Catholic Teachers is a Hallmark of Newman Guide Schools
/in Blog Latest, Newman Guide Articles/by Kelly SalomonPope Pius XI wrote, “Perfect schools are the result not so much of good methods as of good teachers.” He is one of the many Church leaders quoted in The Cardinal Newman Society’s resource, The Call to Teach: Magisterial Guidance for Catholic Teachers.
Pope Pius XI goes on to describe good teachers as those who are “well-grounded in the matter they have to teach; who possess the intellectual and moral qualifications required by their important office; who cherish a pure and holy love for the youths confided to them, because they love Jesus Christ and His Church…”
To be recommended in The Newman Guide, Catholic schools must provide the percentage of full-time teachers, part-time teachers, counselors and coaches who are Catholic. Faith-filled teachers are critical in Catholic education, as explained in a recent issue of Our Catholic Mission, a Cardinal Newman Society magazine.
“Every adult in this building is a herald of the Gospel,” he says. “It does not matter what subject material you are teaching, or what grade level you are teaching.” His entire faculty takes the Oath of Fidelity to the magisterium of the Catholic Church. “We do everything in our school for the greater glory of God.”
“We want faithful, on-fire, vibrant Catholics who are loyal to holy Mother Church instructing our children,” Dr. Swearingen continues. He says the school partners with parents to prepare students for this life and for the eternal life to come.
Every teacher at Holy Angels Academy is Catholic. Many of the other outstanding Catholic schools recognized in The Newman Guide boast high percentages of full-time Catholic faculty:
Three Catholic alumni of another Newman Guide Recommended school, Donahue Academy in Ave Maria, Fla., are now serving as teachers and aides at the school. Dr. Marc Snyder, the Academy’s principal, thinks it’s a “beautiful thing to see how they want to give back” to the school that has provided them with so much, including a classical curriculum and access to daily Mass.
Catholic parents who are seeking a Catholic school should ask about the percentage of Catholic teachers. There are many factors to consider in finding a faithful Catholic school, but the witness of strong Catholic teachers should be a high priority.
Ep. 16: The ‘Ave Maria Law Difference’ with Dean John Czarnetzky (Pt.2)
/in Podcast Blog/by Christopher ByrnePodcast: Play in new window | Download
What is the Ave Maria Law School difference? Find out as we continue our conversation with Dean John Czarnetzky.
Ep. 15: The ‘Ave Maria Law Difference’ with Dean John Czarnetzky (Pt.1)
/in Podcast Blog/by Christopher ByrnePodcast: Play in new window | Download
Tune into our interview with Dean John Czarnetzky of Ave Maria School of Law located in Naples, Florida. We discuss the story of how the law school was founded, and the importance of sending forth Catholic lawyers in every corner of our culture armed with the ‘Ave Maria Law Difference’!
Cardinal Newman Society Files Amicus Brief on Upholding Religious Autonomy – 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
/in Blog Amicus Briefs, Public Policy and Legal (General)/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffClick here to access the amicus brief PDF.
Highs and Lows of Catholic Commencements in 2024
/in Blog Latest/by Cardinal Newman Society StaffYou can tell a lot about someone by the friends they keep. And you can tell a lot about a college by whom it chooses to honor by delivering a commencement speech or receiving an honorary degree.
The distinctly faithful Catholic colleges recognized by The Cardinal Newman Society in The Newman Guide have chosen outstanding speakers for this year’s commencement ceremonies. Many are witnesses to the Catholic faith and the sort of people graduates should emulate. Here are some examples (more will be added as they become available):
On the other hand, some Catholic colleges continue to reveal their confusion and weak commitment to the authentic mission of Catholic education by choosing commencement speakers who oppose Catholic moral teaching or otherwise model bad behaviors and advocacy. These Catholic colleges persist 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.”
Here are a few examples in 2024:
For Catholic families looking for a good Catholic college, take note of the college’s commencement speaker. It speaks volumes about a Catholic college’s identity—and might just be the deciding word on your college choice. Be sure to see the faithful colleges at The Newman Guide.
*Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this article confused Joseph Patrick Kennedy III with Patrick Joseph Kennedy II, both with similar records on abortion. We also incorrectly identified Sister Simone Campbell as a former president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; she has been an outspoken defender and informal leader within the group. We regret these errors.
Ep. 14: Finding Your Life’s Calling at Franciscan University with President, Fr. Dave Pivonka (Pt.2)
/in Podcast Blog/by Christopher ByrnePodcast: Play in new window | Download
We continue our discussion with Father Dave Pivonka, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville. We discuss the University’s growth and success, overcoming challenges, embracing his role as priest and president, and much more.
Teacher Witness Inspires Conversion
/in Academics Commentary, Teacher Formation and Witness Blog/by Kelly SalomonHoly Rosary Academy in Anchorage, Alaska, is recognized in The Newman Guide for its faithful Catholic education from Pre-K through 12th grade. All teachers make a Profession of Faith to the Catholic Church upon hiring. And the fruits are many: in the last year alone, five students came into full communion with the Catholic Church.
While there are many elements of a strong Catholic education, students at Holy Rosary Academy have clearly benefitted from the faithful witness of their teachers. Below are the personal testimonies of Anabelle Pearson, a 10th-grade student who recently entered the Catholic Church, and two high school teachers at the Academy: Dr. Laura Walters and Kevin Quain.
Anabelle Pearson
Many wonderful people took part in my conversion; however, it was Dr. Walters and Mr. Quain, my Church history and medieval seminar teachers, respectively, who guided and strengthened me in faith. In these two classes specifically, I was able to reflect on my past as we studied the history of the Church and the lives of many saints and sinners.
I look up to Dr. Walters as a role model; she is incredibly talented in numerous skills, languages, and academics. Dr. Walters has accomplished a plethora of extraordinary things in all areas from science to art, yet she is the humblest person I’ve ever met. Most importantly, despite all that she has achieved and still strives for in her free time, Dr. Walters dedicates her time to come and teach us teenagers. Dr. Walters cares deeply about her students and guides us toward spiritual and academic success. Dr. Walters has never judged me for asking any questions about Catholicism and the Church, and her responses are always helpful. Her teachings in history allow me to have a firm foundation in Church knowledge, which has proved useful in many situations, including medieval seminar class.
Mr. Quain, my medieval seminar teacher, has greatly contributed to solidifying me in my faith. Mr. Quain is humorous and uplifting and can always brighten the day. In the seminar, he helps our class reflect on our lives as we analyze books containing stories of growth in character and faith such as The Confessions of St. Augustine. He is an excellent role model in Catholicism and has helped me see that believing in God is not a crutch to get through life, rather, God is the reason I have life.
Faith is a path with many twists, turns, and bumps, and rarely is it easy. This spring, Holy Rosary is organizing a trip to Assisi and Rome for Holy Week. We will be walking the pilgrimage that St. Francis completed to ask the Pope to start his order of Franciscans. In years to come, I hope to be baptized and confirmed into the Catholic Church.
Dr. Laura Walters
I view my vocation of teaching as something definitely from God.
I am a naturally shy person, and while I was completing my Ph.D., I always thought that I would spend my professional life with paintings, drawings, and manuscripts in quiet corners of archives and museums. However, when I began teaching at the University of St. Andrews [in Scotland], I ended up loving it, and when I began teaching at Holy Rosary Academy, I felt very clearly that this was something more than my will.
Teaching is a great privilege: to be able to help form students, especially in those crucial upper school years when they are becoming adults. I see my vocation of teaching as a way for me to serve others through love and charity, and thus to serve God.
The ideas of service and charity are incorporated into all I do. I always try to help students understand concepts (whether they’re in Calculus, Biology, Church, History, Art, etc.) to truly teach them and help them learn how to think, rather than what to think. I approach each student as having such great value, as he or she is made in the image and likeness of God, and is a unique and beautiful person.
Students are always learning (and so are teachers!), and I try to remind them of this, and that it’s okay to make a mistake, it’s okay to have questions on things, and that it’s how we respond to that which matters… We strive to find the truth and the heart of a matter together, students and teachers, which is a beautiful model for them to follow as they graduate and leave our halls.
Kevin Quain
I strive to give my students an example of strong character both in the classroom and on the court as a middle school basketball coach. Fundamental traits of a strong character are self-discipline and perseverance. These two traits should guide students in every aspect of their lives, whether in faith, academics, sports, etc. Embodying these traits and encouraging students are the best ways to help them build strong character and an indomitable spirit.
The beauty of Catholicism includes the belief that God created all things, and that creation will help us to know and love Him more. With this perspective, everything in the classroom is more meaningful and tangible because all the subjects, when integrated with our final end in mind, lead us closer to God.
When Teacher Witness Goes Wrong
/in Academics Commentary, Teacher Formation and Witness Blog/by Patrick ReillyThe Catholic University of America recently taught students a tough but valuable lesson about witness and responsibility. It’s a lesson the students—as well as the faculty—are unlikely to forget.
On January 30, university president Dr. Peter Kilpatrick announced the firing of a psychology lecturer following a scandalous incident in her classroom. The lecturer, teaching a course titled “Lifespan Development,” had invited an “abortion doula” to speak to the students. An abortion doula is someone who accompanies women as they undergo abortions. Reports claim that the guest not only advocated abortion but also celebrated “childbirth” by “trans” men.
Critics later accused the university of violating academic freedom by firing the lecturer, and no doubt some students and faculty members agree. But by acting swiftly and decisively—and by publicly explaining the necessity of upholding the university’s mission—the Catholic University of America set an important example for Catholic educators.
“In our rigorous pursuit of truth and justice, we engage at times with arguments or ideologies contrary to reason or to the Gospel,” Dr. Kilpatrick acknowledged in a letter to students. “But we do so fully confident in the clarity given by the combined lights of reason and faith, and we commit to never advocate for sin or to give moral equivalence to error.”
It was an excellent letter. When leaders so clearly articulate the mission of Catholic education and moral expectations for faculty members, consequences for bad behavior and false teaching no longer appear harsh. Instead, it is out of concern for truth and the formation of students that Catholic education leaders must discipline and sometimes even remove teachers when they lead students astray. False witness is contrary to the truth that is foundational to Catholic education.
“Our studies aim at producing wisdom, which includes excellence in living and sharing the truth with others,” explained Dr. Kilpatrick. “May our common study help us to understand life, to love goodness, and to promote and protect the dignity of the human person.”
Responding with heroism
In a culture increasingly hostile to Catholic morality, Catholic schools and colleges are likely to face more conflicts with employees who resist moral expectations. But if teachers uphold the faith, their witness can be all the more influential with students—lights in the darkness. And if leaders remain steadfast in the truth when conflicts arise, their heroic witness can be a valuable education for students and the broader public.
Consider the case of Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Hermosa Beach, Calif. In 2012, the school announced that teachers must obtain catechist certification to ensure the integration of Catholic teaching across all disciplines. One non-Catholic teacher, whose duties included teaching all subjects including religion, failed to get the certification and was fired.
The school’s courageous act of dismissing the teacher, rather than compromising its mission and thereby harming its students, led to a lawsuit claiming age discrimination. On the face of it, this seemed exactly the outcome that school leaders want to avoid to protect their schools. But the lawsuit eventually led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2020, upholding the ministerial exception and protecting the right of Catholic schools to choose teachers according to religious criteria without court interference.
Sadly, Gordon College lost the opportunity to obtain a similar landmark ruling for Christian higher education. The Evangelical Christian college faced a hostile Massachusetts court, when a fired sociology professor claimed that she had been unfairly denied tenure because of her public attacks on the college’s Christian views of sexuality and marriage. Gordon’s leaders asked the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the case from proceeding under the ministerial exception, but when the Court declined, Gordon settled the case.
It would be unfair to judge Gordon College’s choice to settle, but standing firm for religious freedom and insisting on the moral witness of all employees is a necessary line in the sand—even if it causes some degree of martyrdom. The ultimate goal of Catholic education is evangelization, bringing students to God by reason and faith. While avoiding lawsuits may keep a school or college going for the short term, defending appropriate personnel policies is necessary to protecting Catholic education for the long term and shows students a powerful witness to fidelity.
In the amicus brief joined by The Cardinal Newman Society, urging the Supreme Court to take up the Gordon case, we attested:
“Faculty are the life-blood of every college and university, without which teaching and scholarship cannot occur. For faithful Catholic and protestant institutions, teaching and scholarship is not an end in itself. Without recognizing the ‘Word’ through whom ‘all things were made’ (John 1: 1-3), teaching and scholarship on any subject is incomplete.”
Leading dioceses
Today many dioceses across the U.S. are instituting personnel guidelines and morality clauses in employee contracts, so that the Church’s expectations are clear to employees. These also help to invite educators to more faithful witness inside and outside the classroom. Still, some employees are unwilling to abide by them.
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has made a significant effort to strengthen the Catholic mission of its schools, only to face four separate cases of employees entering into civil same-sex marriages. Two dismissed counselors at Roncalli High School filed lawsuits claiming discrimination, as did a teacher at Cathedral Catholic High School. After a difficult legal fight, the archdiocese triumphed in all three cases.
In the Diocese of Charlotte, a substitute teacher’s contract was not renewed after he declared a same-sex marriage and publicly opposed Church teaching. The ACLU is helping the teacher pursue a lawsuit against Charlotte Catholic High School and the diocese, and a ruling is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
These dioceses know that teacher witness is at the heart of Catholic education. In Ex corde Ecclesiae, St. John Paul II declared, “If need be, a Catholic university must have the courage to speak uncomfortable truths which do not please public opinion, but which are necessary to safeguard the authentic good of society.” This is true of all Catholic education, which “speaks” as much by the witness of its employees as by classroom instruction. Speaking, however, sometimes requires courage to uphold the truth for the good of the students and all who listen.