Catholic Schools and the Common Good, by Stephen P. White

By Stephen P. White, The Catholic Thing, May 28, 2020

Stephen P. White is executive director of The Catholic Project at The Catholic University of America and a fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Note: When the world still mostly ran on Christian principles, there was no need to explain why the liberal arts and Christian learning benefit everyone. Nor was there any need to defend Christian teaching from the charge that it was a cover for “hate.” We no longer live in that world. As Steve White makes clear today, it’s largely Catholic schools that keep us from thinking of all education as merely a prelude to earning a living, important as that is. This is just one of many things that the Catholic tradition – and The Catholic Thing – must keep alive in the world today. We’re in the last few days of our mid-year fundraiser now. Now it’s up to you to get us over the finish line – and to help keep The Catholic Thing a strong voice in the Church and the world. – Robert Royal      

Aminor kerfuffle erupted earlier this month when Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York made the unforgivable mistake of saying complimentary things about the president of the United States. The occasion for this crime was a group phone call between several hundred Catholic leaders and educators, and members of the Trump administration, including the president.

The purpose of that call was to highlight the financial plight of Catholic schools, which, like so many other institutions, face immense challenges in the wake of the pandemic and economic disruption. The president, for his part, took the opportunity to boast about his pro-life credentials, calling himself the “best [president] in the history of the Catholic Church,” and reminding people on the call about the importance of “November 3.”

Rather than chastising the president for his many and various failings, the Catholic prelates on the call (Cardinal Dolan, but also Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, L.A. Archbishop Jose Gomez, and others) spoke about the importance of Catholic schools – including their importance to non-Catholics and especially to low-income and minority communities. The bishops urged the president to take action to help struggling schools beyond the immediate crisis and thanked him for his promises to do so.  ….