About the Catholic Independent Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese

The Holy See’s Teaching On Catholic Schools
ARCHBISHOP J. MICHAEL MILLER, C.S.B
The Holy See, through its documents and interventions, whether of the Pope or of other Vatican offices,
sees in Catholic schools an enormous heritage and an indispensable instrument in carrying out the
Church’s mission in the third Christian millennium. Ensuring their genuinely Catholic identity is the
Church’s greatest challenge.
Thank you very much for your kind invitation, extended through Frank Hanna and Alejandro Bermudez,
to address you this afternoon on a subject of such vital importance to the future of the Church and the
nation. It is a pleasure to be with a group so dedicated to the cause of Catholic education, and,
especially in making Catholic schools available to those whose economic means might otherwise deprive
them of one of the Church’s most valuable resources for building up the Body of Christ.
Right from the days of their first appearance in Europe, Catholic schools have generously served the
needs of the “socially and economically disadvantaged” and have given “special attention to those who
are weakest.” The vision set out by the Second Vatican Council confirmed this age-old commitment: the
Church offers her educational service in the first place, the Fathers affirmed, to “those who are poor in
the goods of this world or who are deprived of the assistance and affection of a family or who are
strangers to the gift of faith.” The Solidarity Association, with its providential name which embodies the
heritage of our beloved Pope John Paul II, is inserted in the long tradition of St. Angela Merici, St. Joseph
of Calasanz, St. Jean Baptiste de la Salle, St. John Bosco and so many other Religious and lay people who
generously dedicated themselves to Christ’s love for the poor, the humble and the marginalized in their
educational apostolate.
My intervention’s theme, “the Holy See’s teaching on Catholic education,” is vast, far too vast to be
summarized in one brief lecture. Even so, I will try to introduce into the conversation the major concerns
that can be found in the Vatican documents published since Vatican II’s landmark Decree on Christian
education Gravissimum Educationis. In this talk I shall draw on the conciliar document, the 1983 Code of
Canon Law in its section on schools, and the five major documents published by the Congregation for
Catholic Education: The Catholic School (1977); Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith (1982); The
Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School (1988); The Catholic School on the Threshold of the
Third Millennium (1997); and Consecrated Persons and their Mission in Schools: Reflections and
Guidelines (2002). Among these documents, in particular I would like to recommend for your study The
Catholic School and The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School. First I will say something
about parental and government rights, followed by some remarks on the school as an instrument of
evangelization, and then describe the five components which must be present if a school is to have a
genuinely Catholic identity.
I. Parental and State Responsibilities
It is the clear teaching of the Church, constantly reiterated by the Holy See, that parents are the first
educators of their children. Parents have the original, primary and inalienable right to educate them in
conformity with the family’s moral and religious convictions. They are educators precisely because they
are parents. At the same time, the vast majority of parents share their educational responsibilities with
other individuals and/or institutions, primarily the school.
Elementary education is, then, “an extension of parental education; it is extended and cooperative
home schooling.” In a real sense schools are extensions of the home. Parents, not schools, not the State,
and not the Church, have the primary moral responsibility of educating children to adulthood. The
principle of subsidiarity must always govern relations between families and the Church and State in this
regard. As Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1994 Letter to Families:
Subsidiarity thus complements paternal and maternal love and confirms its fundamental nature,
inasmuch as all other participants in the process of education are only able to carry out their
responsibilities in the name of the parents, with their consent and, to a certain degree, with their
authorization.
For subsidiarity to be effective families and those to whom they entrust a share in their educational
responsibilities must enjoy true liberty about how their children are to be educated. This means that “in
principle, a State monopoly of education is not permissible, and that only a pluralism of school systems
will respect the fundamental right and the freedom of individuals – although the exercise of this right
may be conditioned by a multiplicity of factors, according to the social realities of each country.”
Thus, the Catholic Church upholds “the principle of a plurality of school systems in order to safeguard
her objectives.” Moreover, “the public power, which has the obligation to protect and defend the rights
of citizens, must see to it, in its concern for distributive justice, that public subsidies are paid out in such
a way that parents are truly free to choose according to their conscience the schools they want for their
children.” This obligation of the State to provide public subsidies also arises because of the contribution
which Catholic schools make to society.
Indeed, most countries with substantial Christian majorities provide such assistance: Australia, Canada,
England, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, just to name a few. The
United States, Mexico, and Italy are exceptions in not providing any assistance. In summary fashion the
recently published Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (2005) states laconically that “the
refusal to provide public economic support to non-public schools that need assistance and that render a
service to civil society is to be considered an injustice.”
II. The Church, Evangelization and Education
What role does the Church play in assisting Catholic families in education? By her very nature the Church
has the right and the obligation to proclaim the Gospel to all nations (cf. Mt 28:20). In the words
of Gravissimum Educationis:
To fulfill the mandate she has received from her divine founder of proclaiming the mystery of salvation
to all men and of restoring all things in Christ, Holy Mother the Church must be concerned with the
whole of man’s life, even the secular part of it insofar as it has a bearing on his heavenly calling.
Therefore, she has a role in the progress and development of education.
In a special way, the duty of educating is an ecclesial responsibility: “The Church is bound as a mother to
give to these children of hers an education by which their whole life can be imbued with the spirit of
Christ.” Note, however, that parents do not surrender their children to the Church but share a common
undertaking.
Certainly the Church was involved in education before she established schools. Nonetheless, today the
principal, but not only, help which the Church offers families is by establishing Catholic schools which
ensure the integral formation of children.
Catholic schools participate in the Church’s evangelizing mission, of bringing the Gospel to the ends of
the earth. More particularly, they are places of evangelization for the young. As truly ecclesial
institutions, they are “the privileged environment in which Christian education is carried out.” Catholic
schools also have a missionary thrust, by means of which they make a significant contribution “to the
evangelizing mission of the Church throughout the world, including those areas in which no other form
of pastoral work is possible.”
Precisely because of this evangelizing mission, our schools, if they are to be genuinely ecclesial – and
they must be that if they are to be authentically Catholic – must be integrated within the organic
pastoral activity of the parish, diocesan and universal Church. “Unfortunately, there are instances in
which the Catholic school is not perceived as an integral part of organic pastoral work, at times it is
considered alien, or very nearly so, to the community. It is urgent, therefore, to sensitize parochial and
diocesan communities to the necessity of their devoting special care to education and schools.”
The Catholic school, therefore, should play a vital role in the pastoral activity of the diocese. It is a
pastoral instrument of the Church for her mission of evangelization. The bishop’s leadership is pivotal in
lending support and guidance to Catholic schools: “only the bishop can set the tone, ensure the priority
and effectively present the importance of the cause to the Catholic people.”
III. Five Essential “Marks” of Catholic Schools
Now let’s turn to a discussion of the question to which the Holy See addresses its most serious attention.
Its documents repeatedly emphasize that certain characteristics must be present if a school is to be
considered Catholic. Like the “marks” of the Church proclaimed in the Creed, so, too, does it identity the
principal features of a school qua Catholic. For the purpose of this talk I will expand the four ecclesial
marks to five scholastic ones!
As the Holy Father reminded a group of American bishops on their most recent ad limina visit: “It is of
utmost importance, therefore, that the Church’s institutions be genuinely Catholic: Catholic in their selfunderstanding and Catholic in their identity. All those who share in the apostolates of such institutions,
including those who are not of the faith, should show a sincere and respectful appreciation of that
mission which is their inspiration and ultimate raison d’être.” It is precisely because of its Catholic
identity, which is anything but sectarian, that a school derives the originality enabling it to be a genuine
instrument of the Church’s apostolic mission. Let’s, then, look at these five non-negotiables of Catholic
identity, the lofty ideals proposed by the Holy See which inspire the Church’s enormous investment in
schooling.
1. Inspired by a Supernatural Vision
The enduring foundation on which the Church builds her educational philosophy is the conviction that it
is a process which forms the whole child, especially with his or her eyes fixed on the vision of God. The
specific purpose of a Catholic education is the formation of boys and girls who will be good citizens of
this world, enriching society with the leaven of the Gospel, but who will also be citizens of the world to
come. Catholic schools have a straightforward goal: to foster the growth of good Catholic human beings
who love God and neighbor and thus fulfill their destiny of becoming saints.
If we fail to keep in mind this high supernatural vision, all our talk about Catholic schools will be no more
than “a gong booming or a cymbal clashing” (I Cor 13:1).
2. Founded on a Christian Anthropology
Emphasis on the supernatural destiny of students, on their holiness, brings with it a profound
appreciation of the need to perfect children in all their dimensions as images of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27).
As we know, grace builds on nature. Because of this complementarity of the natural and supernatural, it
is especially important that all those involved in Catholic education have a sound understanding of the
human person. Especially those who establish, teach in and direct a Catholic school must draw on a
sound anthropology that addresses the requirements of both natural and supernatural perfection.
For Catholic schools to achieve their goal of forming children, all those involved – parents, teachers,
staff, administrators and trustees – must clearly understand who the human person is. Again and again
the Holy See’s documents repeat the need for an educational philosophy built on the solid foundation of
sound Christian anthropology. How do they describe such an anthropological vision? In Lay Catholics in
Schools: Witnesses to Faith the Vatican proposes a response:
In today’s pluralistic world, the Catholic educator must consciously inspire his or her activity with the
Christian concept of the person, in communion with the Magisterium of the Church. It is a concept
which includes a defense of human rights, but also attributes to the human person the dignity of a child
of God; it attributes the fullest liberty, freed from sin itself by Christ, the most exalted destiny, which is
the definitive and total possession of God himself, through love. It establishes the strictest possible
relationship of solidarity among all persons; through mutual love and an ecclesial community. It calls for
the fullest development of all that is human, because we have been made masters of the world by its
Creator. Finally, it proposes Christ, Incarnate Son of God and perfect Man, as both model and means; to
imitate him, is, for all men and women, the inexhaustible source of personal and communal perfection.
All this says nothing more than the words from Gaudium et Spes so often quoted by Pope John Paul II:
“it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of man truly becomes clear.”
The Holy See’s documents insist that, to be worthy of its name, a Catholic school must be founded on
Jesus Christ the Redeemer who, through his Incarnation, is united with each student. Christ is not an
after-thought or an add-on to Catholic educational philosophy but the center and fulcrum of the entire
enterprise, the light enlightening every pupil who comes into our schools (cf. Jn 1:9). In its
document The Catholic School, the Congregation stated:
The Catholic school is committed thus to the development of the whole man, since in Christ, the perfect
man, all human values find their fulfilment and unity. Herein lies the specifically Catholic character of
the school. Its duty to cultivate human values in their own legitimate right in accordance with its
particular mission to serve all men has its origin in the figure of Christ. He is the one who ennobles man,
gives meaning to human life, and is the model which the Catholic school offers to its pupils.
The Gospel of Christ and his very person are, therefore, to inspire and guide the Catholic school in its
every dimension: its philosophy of education, its curriculum, community life, its selection of teachers,
and even its physical environment. As John Paul II wrote in his 1979 Message to the National Catholic
Educational Association of the United States: “Catholic education is above all a question of
communicating Christ, of helping to form Christ in the lives of others.”
That Christ is the “one foundation” of Catholic schools is surely not news to anyone here. Nevertheless,
this conviction, in its very simplicity, can sometimes be overlooked. Having a sound, anthropology
enables Catholic educators to recognize Christ as the standard and measure of a school’s catholicity,
“the foundation of the whole educational enterprise in a Catholic school,” and the principles of the
Gospel as guiding educational norms.
3. Animated by Communion and Community
A third important teaching on Catholic schools that has emerged in the Holy See’s documents in recent
years is its emphasis on the community aspect of the Catholic school, a dimension rooted both in the
social nature of the human person and the reality the Church as a “the home and the school of
communion.” That the Catholic school is an educational community “is one of the most enriching
developments for the contemporary school.” The Congregation’s Religious Dimension of Education in a
Catholic School sums up this new emphasis:
The declaration Gravissimum Educationis notes an important advance in the way a Catholic school is
thought of: the transition from the school as an institution to the school as a community. This
community dimension is, perhaps, one result of the new awareness of the Church’s nature as developed
by the Council. In the Council texts, the community dimension is primarily a theological concept rather
than a sociological category.
Ever more Vatican statements emphasize that the school is a community of persons and, even more to
the point, “a genuine community of faith.”
I would like to mention three particular ways in which the Holy See would like to see the development
of the school as a community: the teamwork or collaboration among all those involved; the interaction
of students with teachers and the school’s physical environment.
Elementary schools “should try to create a community school climate that reproduces, as far as possible,
the warm and intimate atmosphere of family life. Those responsible for these schools will, therefore, do
everything they can to promote a common spirit of trust and spontaneity.” This means that all involved
should develop a real willingness to collaborate among themselves. Teachers, Religious and lay, together
with parents and trustees, should work together as a team for the school’s common good and their right
to be involved in its responsibilities. The Holy See is ever careful to foster the appropriate involvement
of parents in Catholic schools. Indeed, more than in the past, teachers and administrators must often
encourage parental participation. Theirs is a partnership directed not just to dealing with academic
problems but to planning and evaluating the effectiveness of the school’s mission.
A Catholic philosophy of education has always paid special attention to the interpersonal relations
within the educational community of the school, especially those between teachers and students.
“During childhood and adolescence a student needs to experience personal relations with outstanding
educators, and what is taught has greater influence on the student’s formation when placed in a context
of personal involvement, genuine reciprocity, coherence of attitudes, lifestyle and day to day behavior.”
Direct and personal contact between teachers and students is a hallmark of Catholic schools. A learning
atmosphere which encourages the befriending of students is far removed from the caricature of the
remote disciplinarian so cherished by the media. In measured terms the Congregation’s document Lay
Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith describes the student-teaching relationship:
A personal relationship is always a dialogue rather than a monologue, and the teacher must be
convinced that the enrichment in the relationship is mutual. But the mission must never be lost sight of:
the educator can never forget that students need a companion and guide during their period of growth;
they need help from others in order to overcome doubts and disorientation. Also, rapport with the
students ought to be a prudent combination of familiarity and distance; and this must be adapted to the
need of each individual student. Familiarity will make a personal relationship easier, but a certain
distance is also needed: students need to learn how to express their own personality without being preconditioned; they need to be freed from inhibitions in the responsible exercise of their freedom.”
Catholic schools, then, safeguard the priority of the person, both student and teacher; they foster the
proper friendship between them since “an authentic formative process can only be initiated through a
personal relationship.”
A brief word on the school’s physical environment is in order to complete this discussion on the school
community. Since the school is rightly considered an extension of the home, it ought to have “some of
the amenities which can create a pleasant and family atmosphere.” This includes an adequate physical
plant and equipment. It is especially important that this “school-home” be immediately recognizable as
Catholic.
The Incarnation, which emphasizes the bodily coming of God’s Son into the world, leaves its seal on
every aspect of Christian life. The very fact of the Incarnation tells us that the created world is the means
chosen by God through which he communicates his life to us. What is human and visible can bear the
divine. If Catholic schools are to be true to their identity, they should try to suffuse their environment
with this delight in the sacramental. Therefore they should express physically and visibly the external
signs of Catholic culture through images, signs, symbols, icons and other objects of traditional devotion.
A chapel, classroom crucifixes and statues, signage, celebrations and other sacramental reminders of
Catholic ecclesial life, including good art which is not explicitly religious in its subject matter, should be
evident.
4. Imbued with a Catholic Worldview
A fourth distinctive characteristic of Catholic schools, which always finds a place in the Holy See’s
teaching is this. Catholicism should permeate not just the class period of catechism or religious
education, or the school’s pastoral activities, but the entire curriculum. The Vatican documents speak of
“an integral education, an education which responds to all the needs of the human person.” This is why
the Church establishes schools: because they are a privileged place which fosters the formation of the
whole person. An integral education aims to develop gradually every capability of every student: their
intellectual, physical, psychological, moral and religious dimensions. It is “intentionally directed to the
growth of the whole person.”
To be integral or “whole,” Catholic schooling must be constantly inspired and guided by the Gospel. As
we have seen, the Catholic school would betray its purpose if it failed to take as its touchstone the
person of Christ and his Gospel: “It derives all the energy necessary for its educational work from him.”
Because of the Gospel’s vital and guiding role in a Catholic school, we might be tempted to think that
the identity and distinctiveness of Catholic education lies in the quality of its religious instruction,
catechesis and pastoral activities. Nothing is further from the position of the Holy See. Rather, the
Catholic school is Catholic even apart from such programs and projects. It is Catholic because it
undertakes to educate the whole person, addressing the requirements of his or her natural and
supernatural perfection. It is integral and Catholic because it provides an education in the intellectual
and moral virtues, because it prepares for a fully human life at the service of others and for the life of
the world to come.
Thus, instruction should be authentically Catholic in content and methodology across the entire program
of studies.
Catholicism has a particular “take” on reality that should animate its schools. It is a “comprehensive way
of life” to be enshrined in the school’s curriculum. One would comb in vain Vatican documents on
schools to find anything about lesson planning, the order of teaching the various subjects, or the relative
merit of different didactic methodologies. On the other hand, the Holy See does provide certain
principles and guidelines which inspire the content of the curriculum if it is to deliver on its promise of
offering students an integral education. Let’s look at two of these: the principle of truth and the
integration of faith, culture and life.
4.1 Search for Wisdom and Truth
In an age of information overload, Catholic schools must be especially attentive to the delicate balance
between human experience and understanding. In the words of T.S. Eliot, we do not want our students
to say: “We had the experience but missed the meaning.”
On the other hand, knowledge and understanding are far more than the accumulation of information.
Again T.S. Eliot puts it just right: “Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the
knowledge we have lost in information?” Catholic schools do far more than convey information to
passive students. They aspire to teach wisdom, habituating their students “to desire learning so much
that he or she will delight in becoming a self-learner.”
Intrinsically related to the search for wisdom is another idea frequently repeated in Vatican teaching:
the confidence expressed that the human, however limited its powers, has the capacity to come to the
knowledge of truth. This conviction about the nature of truth is too important to be confused about in
Catholic schooling. Unlike skeptics and relativists, Catholic teachers share a specific conviction about
truth: that they can pursue, and, to a limited but real extent, attain and communicate it to others.
Catholic schools take up the daunting task of freeing boys and girls from the insidious consequences of
what Benedict XVI recently called the “dictatorship of relativism” – a dictatorship which cripples all
genuine education. Catholic educators are to have in themselves and develop in others a passion for
truth which defeats moral and cultural relativism. They are to Educate “in the truth.”
In an ad limina address to a group of American bishops, Pope John Paul II pinpointed the importance of
a correct grasp of truth if the Church’s educational efforts are to bear fruit:
The greatest challenge to Catholic education in the United States today, and the greatest contribution
that authentically Catholic education can make to American culture, is to restore to that culture the
conviction that human beings can grasp the truth of things, and in grasping that truth can know their
duties to God, to themselves and their neighbors. In meeting that challenge, the Catholic educator will
hear an echo of Christ’s words: “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will
know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (Jn 8:32). The contemporary world urgently needs the
service of educational institutions which uphold and teach that truth is “that fundamental value without
which freedom, justice and human dignity are extinguished” (Veritatis Splendor, 4).
Closely following papal teaching, the Holy See’s documents on schools insist on the principle that
education is about discovering truth both in its natural and supernatural dimensions: “The school
considers human knowledge as a truth to be discovered. In the measure in which subjects are taught by
someone who knowingly and without restraint seeks the truth, they are to that extent Christian.
Discovery and awareness of truth leads man to the discovery of Truth itself.”
For the most part, Catholic schools conform to required curricula, but they implement their programs
within an overall religious perspective. This perspective includes criteria such as “confidence in our
ability to attain truth, at least in a limited way – a confidence based not on feeling but on faith . . . [and]
the ability to make judgments about what is true and what is false.” Convictions about truth are at home
in authentically Catholic schools.
4.2 Faith, Culture and Life
A second principle governing all Catholic education from the apostolic age down to the present is the
notion that the faithful should be engaged in transforming culture in light of the Gospel. Schools prepare
students to relate the Catholic faith to their particular culture and to live that faith in practice. In its
1997 document, the Congregation for Catholic Education commented:
From the nature of the Catholic school also stems one of the most significant elements of its educational
project: the synthesis of culture and faith. The endeavor to interweave reason and faith, which has
become the heart of individual subjects, makes for unity, articulation and coordination, bringing forth
within what is learnt in a school a Christian vision of the world, of life, of culture and of history. Schools
form students within their own culture for which they teach an appreciation of its positive elements and
strive to help them foster the further inculturation of the Gospel in their own situation. Yet they must
also, when appropriate according to the students’ age, be critical and evaluative. It is the Catholic faith
which provides Catholic educators with the essential principles for critique and evaluation. Faith and
culture are intimately related, and students should be led, in ways suitable to their level of intellectual
development, to grasp the importance of this relationship. “We must always remember that, while faith
is not to be identified with any one culture and is independent of all cultures, it must inspire every
culture.”
The educational philosophy guiding a Catholic school also seeks to be a place where “faith, culture and
life are brought into harmony.” Central to the Catholic school is its mission of holiness, of saint making.
Mindful of redemption in Christ, the Catholic school aims at forming in its pupils those particular virtues
that will enable them to live a new life in Christ and help them to play faithfully their part in building up
the kingdom of God. It strives to develop virtue “by the integration of culture with faith and of faith with
living.” Taking the risk of being blunt, the Congregation for Catholic Education has written that “the
Catholic school tries to create within its walls a climate in which the pupil’s faith will gradually mature
and enable him to assume the responsibility placed on him by Baptism.”
A primary, but hardly only, way of guiding students to becoming committed Catholics, as we have
discussed in emphasizing the importance of an integrated curriculum, is providing solid religious
instruction. To be sure, “education in the faith is a part of the finality of a Catholic school.” For young
Catholics, such instruction embraces both knowledge of the faith and fostering its practice. Still, we
must always take special care to avoid thinking that a Catholic school’s distinctiveness rests solely on the
shoulders of its religious education program. Such a position fosters the misunderstanding that faith and
life are divorced, that religion is a merely private affair with neither a specific content nor moral
obligations.
5. Sustained by the Witness of Teaching
Lastly I would like to close with a few observations about the vital role teachers play in ensuring a
school’s Catholic identity. With them lies the primary responsibility for creating a unique Christian school
climate, as individuals and as a community. Indeed, “it depends chiefly on them whether the Catholic
school achieves its purpose.” Consequently the Holy See’s documents pay considerable attention to the
vocation of teachers and their specific participation in the Church’s mission. Theirs is a calling and not
simply the exercise of a profession.
In a word, those involved in Catholic schools, with very few exceptions, should be practicing Catholics
committed to the Church and living her sacramental life. Despite the difficulties involved – which you
know all too well – it is, I believe, a serious mistake to be anything other than “rigorists” about the
personnel hired. The Catholic school system in Ontario, Canada, where I was raised, when pressured by
public authorities for what they regarded as reasonable accommodations, relaxed this requirement for a
time. The result was disastrous. With the influx of non-Catholic teachers, many schools ended up by
seriously compromising their Catholic identity. Children absorbed, even if they were not taught, a soft
indifferentism which sustained neither their practice of the faith nor their ability to imbue society with
authentically Christian values. Principals, pastors, trustees and parents share, therefore, in the serious
duty of hiring teachers who meet the standards of doctrine and integrity of life essential to maintaining
and advancing a school’s Catholic identity.
We need teachers with a clear and precise understanding of the specific nature and role of Catholic
education. The careful hiring of men and women who enthusiastically endorse a Catholic ethos is, I
would maintain, the primary way to foster a school’s catholicity. The reason for such concern about
teachers is straightforward. Catholic education is strengthened by its “martyrs.” Like the early Church, it
is built up through the shedding of their blood. Those of us who are, or have been, teachers know all
about that. But I am speaking here about “martyrs” in the original sense of “witnesses.”
As well as fostering a Catholic view across throughout the curriculum, even in so-called secular subjects,
“if students in Catholic schools are to gain a genuine experience of the Church, the example of teachers
and others responsible for their formation is crucial: the witness of adults in the school community is a
vital part of the school’s identity.” Children will pick up far more by example than by masterful
pedagogical techniques, especially in the practice of Christian virtues.
Educators at every level in the Church are expected to be models for their students by bearing
transparent witness to the Gospel. If boys and girls are to experience the splendor of the Church, the
Christian example of teachers and others responsible for their formation is crucial.
The prophetic words of Pope Paul VI ring as true today as they did thirty years ago: “Modern man listens
more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are
witnesses.” What teachers do and how they act are more significant than what they say – inside and
outside the classroom. That’s how the Church evangelizes. “The more completely an educator can give
concrete witness to the model of the ideal person [Christ] that is being presented to the students, the
more this ideal will be believed and imitated.” Hypocrisy particularly turns off today’s students. While
their demands are high, perhaps sometimes even unreasonably so, there is no avoiding the fact that if
teachers fail to model fidelity to the truth and virtuous behavior, then even the best of curricula cannot
successfully embody a Catholic school’s distinctive ethos.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to repeat what, I hope, has become obvious. The Holy See, through its
documents and interventions, whether of the Pope or of other Vatican offices, sees in Catholic schools
an enormous heritage and an indispensable instrument in carrying out the Church’s mission in the third
Christian millennium. Ensuring their genuinely Catholic identity is the Church’s greatest challenge.
Complementing the irreplaceable role of parents in ensuring the education of their children, such
schools, which should be available to all, build up the community of believers, evangelize culture and
serve the common good of society.
I would also like to commend your interest in promoting authentically Catholic schools, especially for
those of limited economic means. Yours is a daunting task. May the Lord who began this good work in
you bring it to completion!
Acknowledgement
Archbishop J. Michael Miller, C.S.B. “The Holy Sees Teaching On Catholic Schools.” The Catholic
University of America (Sept. 14, 2005).
Given at the Solidarity Association, Washington D.C., 14 September 2005.
The Author
The Most Reverend J. Michael Miller, CSB, was born in Ottawa, Canada, on July 9, 1946. On June 29,
1975, Pope Paul VI ordained him a priest, and on November 23, 2003 Pope John Paul II appointed him
titular Archbishop of Vertara, Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education and Vice President of
the Pontifical Work of Priestly Vocations. He became Archbishop of Vancouver on January 2, 2009.
Archbishop Miller is a member of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses and
of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People as well as a consultor to the
Congregation for Bishops.
Archbishop Miller is a specialist on the papacy and modern papal teaching, he has published seven
books and more than 100 articles, scholarly, popular and journalistic. His books include The Shepherd
and the Rock: Origins, Development, and Mission of the Papacy the Encyclicals of John Paul II, and The
Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools.
Copyright © 2005 Archbishop J. Michael Miller, C.S.B

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Adhoc High Schools Committee

History of Catholic Education

Catholic schools in British Columbia were started in the middle 1800’s by the Sisters of St. Ann with the opening of St. Ann’s Academy in Victoria. Several years later, in 1861, St. Mary’s Mission School was founded by Father Leon Fouquet of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Through subsequent years, religious orders continued to play a dominant role in the Roman Catholic education system of British Columbia.

In 1872, a year after British Columbia entered Confederation, the first Common School Act was passed. Although Catholic schools had been present for several decades, the Act failed to recognize their existence. Over the next decade, Bishop Paul Durieu, an Oblate priest, wrote to the provincial government requesting recognition of Catholic schools. His cause was joined by Bishop Louis-Joseph d’Herbomez, but to no avail. In 1930, Archbishop William Mark Duke of the Archdiocese of Vancouver (the Archdiocese extended to the Alberta border, including the present Dioceses of Nelson and Kamloops) similarly requested recognition of Catholic schools. Some years later, the Rowell Commission on Education, established by the federal government, concluded that the provincial government was unfairly treating Catholic schools. Despite this report, the provincial government steadfastly refused to recognize independent schools.

Over the next decade, Catholic schools continued to survive without any form of government assistance until finally, in 1950, two Catholic schools (Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Lourdes) in Maillardville formed a joint commission and deliberately closed to protest the provincial government’s lack of recognition of Catholic schools. The government refused to budge from its policy. Both schools reopened a year later and continued their struggle for recognition.

However, that same year, a small milestone was reached when the government was petitioned by Catholics for school textbooks, the right to ride public school buses, taxation to be removed from school property and health services. Of all these requests, the government agreed only to lend textbooks, but not to schools; only directly to the students themselves. The government remained steadfast in its stand toward Catholic schools.

In the early fifties, the first mass movement of the laity started with the formation of the British Columbia Catholic Education Association (B.C.C.E.A.). In 1954, the Bishops of British Columbia presented the newly elected provincial government with a brief for support, but again without success. On the national front, the B.C.C.E.A. was lobbying the Federal Health Minister for medical health services. Their argument was based on the fact that the provincial government was distributing federal money only to public schools. Later that year, Catholic schools received, for the first time, health services.

In 1957, yet another lobby was made to the provincial government; this time for removal of taxation on school properties outside Vancouver (Vancouver schools had already won zero taxation) and the right to ride public school buses. As a result, the provincial government allowed municipalities the right to exempt school properties from taxes, but only if the school was operated by a nonprofit society. From this change in government position, the Diocesan Societies were born. Each Diocese formed a nonprofit society that operated in an identical manner. The societies held annual meetings, hired auditors for reports and technically operated the Catholic schools of the province.

The sixties and early seventies saw Catholic schools survive several changes in provincial government. In 1966, a historic meeting was held in the library of Corpus Christi School in Vancouver. Bishop Remi De Roo and eleven other independent school representatives formally founded the Federation of Independent Schools Associations (F.I.S.A.). The Association was formed as the political arm of independent schools of the province. Catholic school delegates to the F.I.S.A. were elected by the Catholic Schools Trustees Association of British Columbia – C.S.T.A.(B.C.). However, the C.S.T.A.(B.C.) was later dissolved and the F.I.S.A. delegates were elected by an Inter-Society Committee formed from the five Catholic Dioceses.

In the late seventies, after many years of lobbying, the government passed the Independent Schools Support Act (1977). The Act provided Independent Schools with financial aid that amounted to a maximum of 30 percent of the per capita grant to public schools. The Independent Schools Act (1989) increased provincial funding operating grants to a maximum of 50 percent of the per capita grant to public schools.

After over a century of struggle, Catholic schools of British Columbia were recognized educationally and financially by the provincial government.

Financing

Catholic schools save the taxpayers of British Columbia over $45,000,000 a year in operating expenses alone. Because the Province only funds Independent schools at half the rate it funds public schools, the taxpayers save half the cost of educating every student enrolled in a Catholic school. The taxpayer is also saved the enormous capital cost of buildings and equipment for students in Catholic schools because the government provides no funding for capital costs. The cost of the land, buildings and equipment of the seventy-five Catholic schools in the province would be staggering if the province had to replace them.

Capital

Catholic schools are built with a combination of parish and diocesan funds. The proportion of those funds depends on whether the school is a secondary school or an elementary school. However, no public funds are used to build Catholic schools. Once the school is built, all capital expenditures are the responsibility of the parish/es.

Operating

Catholic schools are unique in that operating funds come from three sources: government, tuition and parish (including fund-raising). The Province of British Columbia provides a per pupil grant equal to fifty percent of the per pupil grant given to public schools in the same district. The parents and parish provide the rest of the funds to cover the operating costs of the school. The parents pay tuition and participate in fund-raising activities. The parish underwrites the operating costs of the school by contributing a subsidy and by covering those costs necessary to balance the budget.

Fiscal Accountability

Taxpayers in British Columbia, who help pay for an expensive education system, expect all schools to be fiscally accountable. Catholic schools are in the unique position of having to be fiscally accountable to the three bodies from which they receive monies: the government, the parish and parents. The government ensures that the money it contributes is spent on that for which it was intended. Schools are penalized if they spend more than the allotted portion. The pastor of the parish must approve the school’s budget since the parish subsidizes the school and underwrites any expenses the school makes over the budgeted items*. Parents pay tuition fees, thereby giving a vote of confidence to the school. If they did not believe that the school was meeting the needs of their children, they would choose other schools. In effect, this means that there is a triple check on each school’s use of monies.

Because they receive public funds, teams of educators from the Ministry of Education regularly inspect all Catholic schools. These teams ensure that all aspects of the school are administered and operated according to the Independent Schools Act.

*Parishes in the Victoria Diocese do not subsidize the operating costs of the schools.

Learning Support

Since the early eighties, Catholic schools within the Province have served children of all abilities as far as is possible within the mandate of the schools. In the five dioceses, schools have developed Learning Assistance programs to meet the needs of their pupils. In the Archdiocese of Vancouver, one elementary school specializes in serving the special education needs of the Archdiocese through a special needs program supported financially by the parishes. To teach every child is a goal of all Catholic schools within the province. This goal came closer to reality with the financial assistance of the provincial government in the late eighties, but the difficulties in achieving it were greatly increased when provincial Special Education funding to Independent schools was reduced in 1992.

Service to Community

Within each of the five dioceses in the Province of British Columbia, Catholic schools play vital roles in serving the communities in which they are located. Each school is an integral part of a larger community of Faith that includes the parish and parishioners. Schools therefore provide essential services to their communities by cooperating with all in being witnesses not only to Christ as the cornerstones of the whole community, but also as lights that shine far beyond it.

Academic Excellence

Catholic schools provide a holistic education, which combines academic excellence with concern for the spiritual, moral, social, emotional, cultural and physical growth of the students. Thus, it fulfills its mandate from the parents, from the Ministry education, and from the Church in whose mission it shares through the ministry of teaching.

This education is provided in a Faith community where teachers and students come to know and love Jesus Christ as they grow together in an atmosphere of mutual respect and love based on Gospel values in the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.

Inspection

As recipients of public funds, all Catholic schools are regularly inspected by teams of educators sent in by the Ministry to ensure that all aspects of the schools are being administered and operated according to the Independent Schools Act.

Diocese Regions

Archdiocese of Vancouver

The earliest recorded Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Vancouver was St. Mary’s Mission School, founded by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The school was founded in 1861 with the boys’ school opening in 1863 and the girls’ in 1868. Father Florimond Gendre, O.M.I., was the first principal with the Sisters of St. Ann teaching the children. In 1888, the Sisters established St. Ann’s Academy, the first Catholic School in Vancouver “on the edge of the forest” which is now downtown Vancouver, near Holy Rosary Cathedral.

The earliest recorded Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Vancouver was St. Mary’s Mission School, founded by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The school was founded in 1861 with the boys’ school opening in 1863 and the girls’ in 1868. Father Florimond Gendre, O.M.I., was the first principal with the Sisters of St. Ann teaching the children. In 1888, the Sisters established St. Ann’s Academy, the first Catholic School in Vancouver “on the edge of the forest” which is now downtown Vancouver, near Holy Rosary Cathedral.

In 1957, the Catholic Public Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese became registered as a nonprofit society and thus became eligible for property tax reductions from municipal governments. Since that time, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese have grown to servicing over fourteen thousand young men and women in forty elementary and nine secondary schools.

Within the boundaries of the Archdiocese, Religious Orders continue to play a vital role in Catholic education with the continued operation of three congregational schools; Little Flower Academy (Sisters of St. Ann), St. Thomas More Collegiate and Vancouver College (Christian Brothers).

The Archdiocese continues to expand its educational system with the planned opening of two new secondary schools in the new millennium.

Diocese of Kamloops

In the year 2000, St. Ann’s Academy, located in the city of Kamloops, will celebrate one hundred and twenty years of service to the Catholic community. The Sisters of St. Ann established the school in 1880 and the Christian Brothers continue the tradition of “Excellence in Catholic Education” for students from kindergarten to grade 12.

In the year 2000, St. Ann’s Academy, located in the city of Kamloops, will celebrate one hundred and twenty years of service to the Catholic community. The Sisters of St. Ann established the school in 1880 and the Christian Brothers continue the tradition of “Excellence in Catholic Education” for students from kindergarten to grade 12.

The parishes of St. James in Vernon and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Kamloops founded their schools in 1956 and 1962 respectively. St. James now serves students from K -10 and OLPH from K – 7.

Two smaller communities in the diocese opened their doors more recently — St. Ann’s School in Quesnel in 1986 and Sacred Heart school in Williams Lake in 1992.

With the continuing dedication and cooperation of parents, parish and school, our children have the opportunity to enter the new millennium with a long history of Catholic school tradition.

Diocese of Nelson

In 1859, Rev. Charles Pandosy, O.M.I., established the first Catholic school in the Okanagan Valley. Some forty years later, St. Eugene’s Mission in the East Kootenays was started. The mission served its community well until it was replaced by St. Mary’s School in Cranbrook in the mid-sixties. All through its history, the Diocese of Nelson has served its people by opening Catholic schools in various parts of the diocese. Schools were originally staffed by religious orders of Sisters, Brothers and Priests. In 1957, Bishop McCarthy established the Catholic Public Schools of Nelson Diocese (C.P.S.N.D.). In 1998, the decision was made to change the name to the Catholic Independent Schools of Nelson Diocese (C.I.S.N.D.), which, today, serves the educational needs of the community with seven schools, located in Penticton, Kelowna, Westbank, Trail, Nelson and Cranbrook.

Diocese of Prince George

The first documented evidence of Catholic education shows that Bishop Bunoz, O.M.I., with the Oblate Fathers, Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto and Sisters of the Child Jesus began a school at Babine in 1914. This first school was soon followed by schools in Fort St. James and Prince Rupert in 1916.

The first documented evidence of Catholic education shows that Bishop Bunoz, O.M.I., with the Oblate Fathers, Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto and Sisters of the Child Jesus began a school at Babine in 1914. This first school was soon followed by schools in Fort St. James and Prince Rupert in 1916.

Bishop Jordan, O.M.I., with the Sisters of St. Ann, Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton and Sisters of Providence opened schools in Prince George, Fort St. James and Dawson Creek.

In 1956, Bishop Fergus O’Grady, O.M.I. undertook the enormous mission of building a system of Catholic schools to serve the native and non-native faithful across the vast 135,000 square mile northern missionary diocese.

Assisted by Communities of Religious, his determination resulted in the birth of the Frontier Apostolate, a movement of dedicated and motivated Catholic volunteers from throughout the world.

Numerous religious orders and clergy have contributed to the building of the Catholic education in the Diocese. Today the schools are primarily staffed and administered by hired teachers.

Diocese of Victoria

The first record of a school in the Diocese was in 1849 when classes were taught by the resident priest, an Oblate missionary.

The first record of a school in the Diocese was in 1849 when classes were taught by the resident priest, an Oblate missionary.

In 1858, the Sisters of St. Ann began a long association with Catholic schools in the Diocese. That same year, the St. Viator Brothers opened a boys’ school in Victoria that later became St. Louis College operated by the Oblates. Eventually, this school was run by the Christian Brothers.

There were three different types of schools operating in the diocese: Schools operated by religious orders, schools for First Nations students operated on behalf of the federal government, and parochial schools. By 1977, when provincial funding became available, only the last group, the parochial schools, remained.

Currently, six schools are operated by the diocese including a regional high school and an elementary middle school. Four schools are located in the Greater Victoria area, the other two being further north in Cowichan Valley.

Diocesan Offices

Catholic Independent Schools of Vancouver Archdiocese

4885 Saint John Paul II Way,
Vancouver, B.C. V5Z 0G3
Telephone: (604) 683-9331
Fax: (604) 687-6692
E-mail: info@cisva.bc.ca

Catholic Independent Schools of Kamloops Diocese

635A Tranquille Road
Kamloops, B.C. V2B 3H5
Telephone: (250) 376-3351
Fax: (250) 376-3363

Catholic Independent Schools of Nelson Diocese

402 West Richards Street
Nelson, B.C. V1L 3K3
Telephone: (250) 352-6921
Fax: (250) 352-1737

Catholic Independent Schools Diocese of Prince George

P.O. Box 7000
2935 Highway 16 West
Prince George, B.C. V2N 3Z2
Telephone: (250) 964-4424
Fax: (250) 964-2101

Catholic Independent Schools Diocese of Victoria

1-4044 Nelthorpe Street
Victoria, B.C. V8X 2A1
Telephone: (250) 727-6893
Fax: (250) 479-5423
E-mail: icsadm@pacificcoast.net