Great article, Brendan! Are there similar statistics for monks, nuns, religious sisters, and religious brothers on their educational background?
Also, I think there are many Catholic families out there in the USA who would love to be able to send their kids to a good Catholic school but cannot afford the tuition, even with financial aid offerings. It used to be the case that Catholic schools charged very little, if any, tuition, and that was enabled by the schools being largely staffed by religious sisters, religious brothers, and priests from religious orders who took a vow of poverty and didn’t have spouses and kids to support. Now that Catholic schools are primarily staffed by the laity, it’s a real conundrum: on the one hand, there is a moral obligation to pay a just living wage to lay teachers. And, on the other hand, Catholic education should be accessible to everyone and not just the well-to-do. How do you accomplish both of these things? I really don’t know the answer.
Also, for Catholic homeschooling families, do Catholic dioceses have a list of resources for educating their kids that have been reviewed and received a nihil obstat and an imprimatur? I know there is ecclesiastical oversight of materials used in Catholic schools and in faith formation programs at parishes. I don’t know what oversight of and resources for the USCCB and Catholic dioceses have with regard to homeschooling.
Catholic school can be made affordable if dioceses prioritize making it affordable. See the Diocese of Wichita, where active parishioners pay no tuition (only fees) for grade school and high school because the costs are covered by the parishes.
I haven't seen a similar study on those entering the religious life, at least, not a yearly one like the survey the USCCB sponsors, but that would certainly be very interesting.
I wouldn’t assume that every school in a diocese has its curricula reviewed as there is often great variation from school to school in my observation. Some dioceses may offer recommended homeschool resources, but it is also the case that comprehensive, reliable Catholic homeschool programs are pretty easy for parents to find on their own. Seton, Mother of Divine Grace, and Kolbe Academy are all widely used. There are many others.
Well, yes. We use Mother of Divine Grace, and our primary catechetical texts at my children’s present stages are the Baltimore Catechism and A Child’s Bible History. I think it’s important to note that it isn’t just the nihil obstat and imprimatur that are important, though they are. A poorly formed Catholic using such books, whether in a traditional classroom or any other setting, is likely not well prepared to defend the material within. So it isn’t just the texts themselves that are the answer; it’s also the formation of the teachers using the texts.
Oh I definitely agree. I’m 37 and I went to a Catholic school for kindergarten and then a different one for grades 4-8, and my teacher had heretical views (this was back in the late 1990s/early 2000s). The Confirmation materials at that time were also lackluster. Fortunately I have parents that were solidly formed and I also did the Ad Altare Dei Catholic religious emblem award program that helped a lot too. And we had a solid priest assigned to my parish in 2003 and he and the great theology, philosophy, and Catholic Studies professors I had at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, MN really lit my Catholic on fire and I’ve been deeply in love with Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother and Holy Mother Church ever since.
I’m glad you had such a robust education. God has also used you to make me aware of the Ad Altare Dei program. I will bring it to the attention of the leaders in my sons’ scouting program. Thank you!
Most of the major programs tend to use pretty well-known materials that have all received the nihil obstat and imprimatur, or they use primary source material. Kolbe uses the Fr. Laux series in high school, for example, in addition to Eusebius' Church History, the letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch, selections from the Summa Contra Gentiles and others.
To be honest, I don't think such a list would be of much interest to homeschoolers. Cost definitely plays a role in choosing homeschool, but based on my own experience, homeschooling families are often less than thrilled about the curriculum options selected for use in diocesan schools and faith formation programs, and wouldn't find such a list to be reliable. For good or for ill, homeschoolers can be incredibly picky people.
(For what it's worth, though, I do think there have been significant improvements in some places with curriculum and just general emphasis on the faith that make some Catholic schools a much more attractive option than they used to be. But a lot of it comes down to the individual school.)
Does anyone keep a list of which Catholic homeschool materials have received an imprimatur and a nihil obstat for the catechetical and theology materials used in their curricula?
I would also ask if anyone keeps such a list for diocesan schools, and I think not only would the answer be “no” but that individual dioceses don’t all keep such a list for the curricula in their own schools.
My understanding is that diocesan schools are required to use catechetical and religious education materials that have received an imprimatur and a nihil obstat.
But you’re right, teacher formation is also super important, and under our current Archbishop and the excellent staff he has in the Office of Catholic Education, we do a good job of that here in my Archdiocese.
The USCCB has a list of approved texts and materials for both elementary and high schools that is regularly updated. All schools under diocesan approval are to follow those recommendations. That list has existed for about 15 years.
I'm really surprised only "43% of all newly ordained priests had attended a Catholic elementary school."
I would love to see if the stat I previously heard was true, that Catholic kids who attend a Catholic school are just as likely to leave the faith as those that went to public school. Meaning, going to Catholic school doesn't really help your children stay connected to the church. Or, if there are any other stats that measure the impact of a Catholic education.
I suspect that we would find a correlation between how likely one is to stay Catholic / leave the faith and attendance at *specific* Catholic schools.
I'd venture a guess that certain Catholic schools do a very good job of helping the Church retain students as lifelong Catholics and certain schools do a very poor job of it (with probably a spectrum in between), and it probably comes out to about a wash in terms of the general population.
Is there data on family size? Whenever I see analysis like this, I wonder if we can tease out (a) family effects (i.e. more devote families home school) and (b) family size effects (I am more likely to become a priest when my family has 6 kids instead of 2 kids)
The average new priest has three siblings (he is one of four kids) which is certainly above the US average, which even 30 years ago (when these priests were young) was around 2 children per family.
It further specifies that about half of priests have 0-2 siblings while the other half have 3-13.
I've heard the reason for this speculated as the parents being more OK with children entering religious life/priesthood if they have other children to provide grandchildren.
It might also have something to do with parents who model chastity according to their state in life being more likely to have children willing to make a promise/vow of chastity.
The question "Why do people disaffiliate from the church and stop practicing the Catholic faith?" has many responses and few clear, direct answers.
St. Mary's Press a few years ago published and excellent study, "Going, Going, Gone," in which they present their findings after interviewing many in their 20s who had been confirmed and then drifted away. One interesting take away. Kids start questioning and doubting much younger. It's not that they go to college and "lose their faith." Many simply no longer have faith when they reach 18 years of age. See https://www.smp.org/product/5926/Going-Going-Gone/
It's impossible to disaggregate single causes for one's no longer considering themselves Catholic.
I stopped believing when I was 13 and asked my mother how do we know Jesus was God and her response was how dare you ask that question. I interpreted her answer as we don't know that.
So if a child asks you about some aspect of the faith give the kid a real and correct answer. That's one of the reasons there's a catechism.
Our relgious instruction goes thru Aquinas five proofs (I think they’re from Aquinas ? lol 12 years of catholic school here so I have no idea) of existence of God to Jesus to Church three different years (on deeper levels with more understanding etc) from junior high thru 12th grade.
For this reason. Your question is beyond a reasonable one. And we have answers from our fathers in faith 💚. If we can’t answer our kids reasonable questions how can we expect them to stay?
Exactly. By the time a priest gave me an answer, it had been years since I had believed and a few years of being completely separated from the Church. I did eventually return, but if I'd had that answer when I was 13 I would probably never have left.
I was lucky. I went to the Jesuit High School in Philadelphia. There they posed the questions for us and told us that in order to have a REAL FAITH we had to question faith. in 1969. We read the Documents of Vatican II as freshmen, and as Sophomores, in 1970, the Dutch Catechism. Lots to think about in those works.
The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certitude (or a mind-numbing recitation of words that have no meaning or are not comprehended by the person who says they believe those words).
God gave us minds and we are to use them. Aquinas and Lonergan realize that God is the mystery in which all that is known, and can be known, is known. We don't know God. We know and are/exist because God is/exists and knows us.
Our faith is a fascinating intellectual adventure of ever pursuing questions, inspired by the Holy Spirt, about the loving mystery revealed by Jesus as Our Father.
The trend I expect is this: an overall decline in the number of Catholic schools, but increasingly the schools will be one of 3 types:
1. schools that put the faith first and incorporate it throughout the curriculum which appeal to strongly Catholic families that don't homeschool;
2. "Urban" Catholic schools that cater to a poorer non-Catholic population, often with government & nonprofit help (hopefully these people can be brought into the faith, though there can be a conflict when it comes to government money);
3. CINO schools that are really private schools for people that can afford it
I concur and I think we are already there although I do feel my parish school is still that remnant "actually Catholic" parish school. Types 2 and 3 can be authentically Catholic with the right leadership and vision if they stop trying to imitate their local non-Catholic private and/or public schools, and have a critical mass of faithful Catholic famillies who might otherwise attend Type 1 but there isn't one in their area.
Bishop James Conley of Lincoln has started bringing Catholic Liberal Education to the schools in my diocese. I'm still on the fence on how math, science, and technology will be incorporated in a way that will benefit my kids into High School and college. That said, the way Church teaching, history, the emphasis on classics, and having Christ be at the center of every school day is amazing!
Check out the website, there are high schools, particularly the Chesterton Academy network.
I guess when I hear that a school has incorporated technology, it means the kids are carrying around an ipad - our 7 were homeschooled through 8th grade (no to low tech) and the older ones used books in the large local Catholic young men's and young women's high schools. then younger 2 (maybe 3) were given the technology at those same schools and it took them about 2 days to figure out how to use it. They are all too tech savvy now! :)
--> How is it determined whether or not a school is a Catholic school? Here in south Louisiana, every city (and most towns) have diocesan Catholic schools. However, we also have Catholic schools that have opened/are opening that are not affiliated with the diocese. Are these included in the statistics?
--> From 1970-2022, Catholic schools saw a 65+% decrease in student enrollment. But, enrollment in public schools is steady. Where did the Catholic students go? I know that some went into homeschooling, but not 2.2 million students. Could some of them be going into these non-diocesan schools?
The count of Catholic schools is based on the Official Catholic Directory., which means it will include only schools which dioceses recognize as Catholic. This would include some schools not run directly by the diocese, but if it's a lay run school which has not sought to be recognized as Catholic by the diocese (in order to maintain total independence from diocesan authority) it would not be included in the count.
In regards to where Catholic students went as the Catholic school enrollment decreased: the census data does not make it clear, but given the numbers it must be some mixture of public schools and other private schools. The overall stable number of public school students could include both an increased share of Catholic kids and also non-Catholic kids.
I work for one of the largest Catholic homeschool programs, and while we don't track all the way to ordination, our average annual rate of students entering seminary or religious formation is 2-3%. I'm sure the other programs would have similar rates. Even given the typical attrition rates between entering and leaving formation, that puts it at least a full order of magnitude higher than Catholic schools. While it's more correlation than causation, in that the kinds of families likely to homeschool are more likely to produce and promote vocations, it's been a joy to be able to be a part of.
And to be the attrition isn’t even a big deal bc the fact that that many young people in this day and age are even willing to CONSIDER Gods call in their life to such a serious degree is 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
In the UK, or at least in my neck of the wood in the central belt of Scotland, despite a decline in church attendance, catholic schools are always oversubscribed because parents perceive them as "better" schools so they jump through hoops to send their kids there, including a damascene conversion...
My kids’ Catholic elementary school is focusing on vocations today for Catholic schools week. Each class or grade level is either hearing a vocation talk from a priest who grew up in the parish and went to the parish school or, in the case of my first grade son’s class, having a zoom call with a newly professed Nashville Dominican sister, who still has siblings currently in the school. The teachers leading our school’s celebration of Catholic schools week this year lined the halls near the cafeteria with pictures of all these priests and religious who grew up in the parish; it’s great for the kids to hear that a religious vocation is a real option, and it’s clearly born a lot of fruit in our parish.
I have a 28 yo son. He and his two best friends from our homeschool group - about 80 children at the time - all entered the diocesan seminary. One of them will be ordained this coming May, God willing. We had a vocation day every year. The group support for vocations was tremendous. It's not surprising that a group of friends would give it a go, even if the vocation turned out otherwise for two of them.
I’d love to hear more about your group, how it was structured, and how you organized the annual vocation day. I helped start and help run a Catholic co-op.
We had a mom-run group which began as a playgroup with First Friday Mass attendance - before I became involved. We are from an area where Catholic homeschoolers are geographically diverse, alas. We kept trying to find parishes that were (1) willing to host our activities and (2) reasonably central for our group - with varying degrees of success. The two central activities were two six-week coops on Thursday mornings, ending with lunch; and First Friday together from September through June. We contacted the seminary and asked for a vocations day, which ended up supported by the diocese with a catered lunch (sandwiches and cookies, mostly) and games outside. The boys got a seminary tour and talks from the diocesan vocations director and a couple of seminarians; the girls got talks from one order of nuns. Which nuns varied year-by-year.
Since our coop was essentially a K-8 group, the middle schoolers were the seed-planting focus. The littles stayed outside and ran around. In our area, early June is usually lovely for outdoor activities. The coops were organized and run by moms for different grades, sometimes with a common theme (scientific discoveries / plays) and sometimes just whatever the organizing mom for each grade group determined. Moms were required to teach or to help with the littles. There was one mom who taught a terrific 3rd-4th grade art class from time to time; there was a year when I taught logic to the oldest kids; a year when I took the oldest kids on field trips to visit local scientists (ranging from neurological research - kids holding a real brain - to a statistician whose kids were homeschooled; much to my surprise, he gave a terrific presentation); a year when I ran a book discussion for 4th-5th graders; a year when another mom organized a "memorize the faith" session. After coop there was Angelus, lunch, and play time. First Fridays had Blue Knights and Little Flowers groups. Everything broke up by 2:00 so that moms with high school kids could take care of the afternoon drive-to-activities rounds.
LMK if you'd like to talk; we'll figure out a way to connect. I should warn you that my youngest kid is 23, so I've been out of the picture for a while.
Mr Hodge explains that 0.02% of Catholic school graduates went on to become priests. From my own experience and witnessing the outcome of prior and subsequent classes at my and other Catholic high schools, I would say that 90% of graduates go on to become atheists. "However, despite this decreasing percentage of Catholic children attending religious schools, the formation of a Catholic education remains important to the life of the Church." So, if all of these things are true, it looks like the life of the Church is one of atheism, not devotion.
The "School of Vocations" is the family. Families make priests. Schools do not. It may be the case that 16% of Catholic children are enrolled in Catholic schools, and while that number is pathetic, it is probably wildly optimistic. Urban areas and locations with large historically Catholic populations might hit 16%, but across the country it is far lower.
We have to stop talking about Catholic schools in reverent tones as some kind of sacred, integral Catholic endeavor that is mysteriously threatened. The truth is Catholic schools are largely irrelevant to American Catholics. They are closing because they don't serve many families. Too much money and too much time away from the family. And if we were to filter according to any litmus test for faithfulness, hundreds more schools would close tomorrow.
When will the Catholic press address the 84% of Catholics that will never or can never darken the door of a Catholic school? Who will report on the catastrophic failure of the episcopacy to protect the Catholic children who are condemned to the public schools by their bishop's lack of imagination? Who will call finally for resources now squandered on failing Catholic schools to be reallocated to new and better initiatives?
Thanks for this analysis, Brendan. I’ll echo my comments on other threads to call for some data collection on special education in Catholic schools. It’s a gaping hole in most dioceses, but I don’t think I’ve heard many people highlight this, except for maybe the USCCB providing lip service.
Many of my friends, men and women, were denied entry to religious life and to seminary based on their attendance at public schools. Some kept trying and found communities to live out their vocations, but some simply gave up. I wonder if it’s worth studying the receptivity of vocations rather than simply educational backgrounds.
Great article, Brendan! Are there similar statistics for monks, nuns, religious sisters, and religious brothers on their educational background?
Also, I think there are many Catholic families out there in the USA who would love to be able to send their kids to a good Catholic school but cannot afford the tuition, even with financial aid offerings. It used to be the case that Catholic schools charged very little, if any, tuition, and that was enabled by the schools being largely staffed by religious sisters, religious brothers, and priests from religious orders who took a vow of poverty and didn’t have spouses and kids to support. Now that Catholic schools are primarily staffed by the laity, it’s a real conundrum: on the one hand, there is a moral obligation to pay a just living wage to lay teachers. And, on the other hand, Catholic education should be accessible to everyone and not just the well-to-do. How do you accomplish both of these things? I really don’t know the answer.
Also, for Catholic homeschooling families, do Catholic dioceses have a list of resources for educating their kids that have been reviewed and received a nihil obstat and an imprimatur? I know there is ecclesiastical oversight of materials used in Catholic schools and in faith formation programs at parishes. I don’t know what oversight of and resources for the USCCB and Catholic dioceses have with regard to homeschooling.
Catholic school can be made affordable if dioceses prioritize making it affordable. See the Diocese of Wichita, where active parishioners pay no tuition (only fees) for grade school and high school because the costs are covered by the parishes.
I’ll have to take a look at that, thanks!
Michael,
I haven't seen a similar study on those entering the religious life, at least, not a yearly one like the survey the USCCB sponsors, but that would certainly be very interesting.
Thanks so much for your reply!!
I wouldn’t assume that every school in a diocese has its curricula reviewed as there is often great variation from school to school in my observation. Some dioceses may offer recommended homeschool resources, but it is also the case that comprehensive, reliable Catholic homeschool programs are pretty easy for parents to find on their own. Seton, Mother of Divine Grace, and Kolbe Academy are all widely used. There are many others.
Do you know which, if any, have received a nihil obstat and imprimatur for their catechetical and theology materials in their curriculum?
Well, yes. We use Mother of Divine Grace, and our primary catechetical texts at my children’s present stages are the Baltimore Catechism and A Child’s Bible History. I think it’s important to note that it isn’t just the nihil obstat and imprimatur that are important, though they are. A poorly formed Catholic using such books, whether in a traditional classroom or any other setting, is likely not well prepared to defend the material within. So it isn’t just the texts themselves that are the answer; it’s also the formation of the teachers using the texts.
Oh I definitely agree. I’m 37 and I went to a Catholic school for kindergarten and then a different one for grades 4-8, and my teacher had heretical views (this was back in the late 1990s/early 2000s). The Confirmation materials at that time were also lackluster. Fortunately I have parents that were solidly formed and I also did the Ad Altare Dei Catholic religious emblem award program that helped a lot too. And we had a solid priest assigned to my parish in 2003 and he and the great theology, philosophy, and Catholic Studies professors I had at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, MN really lit my Catholic on fire and I’ve been deeply in love with Jesus Christ and the Blessed Mother and Holy Mother Church ever since.
I’m glad you had such a robust education. God has also used you to make me aware of the Ad Altare Dei program. I will bring it to the attention of the leaders in my sons’ scouting program. Thank you!
You bet! There is actually an assortment of Catholic religious emblems that Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts can earn:
https://nccs-bsa.org/religious-emblems/
Most of the major programs tend to use pretty well-known materials that have all received the nihil obstat and imprimatur, or they use primary source material. Kolbe uses the Fr. Laux series in high school, for example, in addition to Eusebius' Church History, the letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch, selections from the Summa Contra Gentiles and others.
To be honest, I don't think such a list would be of much interest to homeschoolers. Cost definitely plays a role in choosing homeschool, but based on my own experience, homeschooling families are often less than thrilled about the curriculum options selected for use in diocesan schools and faith formation programs, and wouldn't find such a list to be reliable. For good or for ill, homeschoolers can be incredibly picky people.
(For what it's worth, though, I do think there have been significant improvements in some places with curriculum and just general emphasis on the faith that make some Catholic schools a much more attractive option than they used to be. But a lot of it comes down to the individual school.)
Does anyone keep a list of which Catholic homeschool materials have received an imprimatur and a nihil obstat for the catechetical and theology materials used in their curricula?
I would also ask if anyone keeps such a list for diocesan schools, and I think not only would the answer be “no” but that individual dioceses don’t all keep such a list for the curricula in their own schools.
My understanding is that diocesan schools are required to use catechetical and religious education materials that have received an imprimatur and a nihil obstat.
But you’re right, teacher formation is also super important, and under our current Archbishop and the excellent staff he has in the Office of Catholic Education, we do a good job of that here in my Archdiocese.
That is good to know. I’m glad I’m wrong.
The USCCB has a list of approved texts and materials for both elementary and high schools that is regularly updated. All schools under diocesan approval are to follow those recommendations. That list has existed for about 15 years.
I'm really surprised only "43% of all newly ordained priests had attended a Catholic elementary school."
I would love to see if the stat I previously heard was true, that Catholic kids who attend a Catholic school are just as likely to leave the faith as those that went to public school. Meaning, going to Catholic school doesn't really help your children stay connected to the church. Or, if there are any other stats that measure the impact of a Catholic education.
I suspect that we would find a correlation between how likely one is to stay Catholic / leave the faith and attendance at *specific* Catholic schools.
I'd venture a guess that certain Catholic schools do a very good job of helping the Church retain students as lifelong Catholics and certain schools do a very poor job of it (with probably a spectrum in between), and it probably comes out to about a wash in terms of the general population.
Is there data on family size? Whenever I see analysis like this, I wonder if we can tease out (a) family effects (i.e. more devote families home school) and (b) family size effects (I am more likely to become a priest when my family has 6 kids instead of 2 kids)
Yes, they do have data on family size.
The average new priest has three siblings (he is one of four kids) which is certainly above the US average, which even 30 years ago (when these priests were young) was around 2 children per family.
It further specifies that about half of priests have 0-2 siblings while the other half have 3-13.
I've heard the reason for this speculated as the parents being more OK with children entering religious life/priesthood if they have other children to provide grandchildren.
It might also have something to do with parents who model chastity according to their state in life being more likely to have children willing to make a promise/vow of chastity.
To Mr. Redding.
The question "Why do people disaffiliate from the church and stop practicing the Catholic faith?" has many responses and few clear, direct answers.
St. Mary's Press a few years ago published and excellent study, "Going, Going, Gone," in which they present their findings after interviewing many in their 20s who had been confirmed and then drifted away. One interesting take away. Kids start questioning and doubting much younger. It's not that they go to college and "lose their faith." Many simply no longer have faith when they reach 18 years of age. See https://www.smp.org/product/5926/Going-Going-Gone/
It's impossible to disaggregate single causes for one's no longer considering themselves Catholic.
The best book on this is Rev Robert Leavitt's The Truth Will Make Your Free. Well worth the hard read that it is for the average reader https://www.amazon.com/Truth-Will-Make-Free-Evangelization/dp/0814646689
Of course, the gold standard on these questions is Charles Taylor's A Secular Age on which relies Leavitt and anyone else tackling these questions. https://www.amazon.com/Secular-Age-Charles-Taylor/dp/0674986911
And if you really want to sprain your brain, tackle Bernard Lonergan's Insight and Method in Theology. Lonergan calls attention to the necessary conversions we must undergo in order to be consciously transformed in Christ on the intellectual, moral and religious levels of our graced humanity. https://www.amazon.com/Insight-Understanding-Collected-Bernard-Lonergan/dp/0802034551 and https://www.amazon.com/Method-Theology-Lonergan-Studies-Bernard/dp/080206809X
Thanks so much Father, although I did not ask the original question, this is a topic I’m interested in as well. I’ll check these out!
I stopped believing when I was 13 and asked my mother how do we know Jesus was God and her response was how dare you ask that question. I interpreted her answer as we don't know that.
So if a child asks you about some aspect of the faith give the kid a real and correct answer. That's one of the reasons there's a catechism.
Our relgious instruction goes thru Aquinas five proofs (I think they’re from Aquinas ? lol 12 years of catholic school here so I have no idea) of existence of God to Jesus to Church three different years (on deeper levels with more understanding etc) from junior high thru 12th grade.
For this reason. Your question is beyond a reasonable one. And we have answers from our fathers in faith 💚. If we can’t answer our kids reasonable questions how can we expect them to stay?
Exactly. By the time a priest gave me an answer, it had been years since I had believed and a few years of being completely separated from the Church. I did eventually return, but if I'd had that answer when I was 13 I would probably never have left.
Thanks Sue.
I was lucky. I went to the Jesuit High School in Philadelphia. There they posed the questions for us and told us that in order to have a REAL FAITH we had to question faith. in 1969. We read the Documents of Vatican II as freshmen, and as Sophomores, in 1970, the Dutch Catechism. Lots to think about in those works.
The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certitude (or a mind-numbing recitation of words that have no meaning or are not comprehended by the person who says they believe those words).
God gave us minds and we are to use them. Aquinas and Lonergan realize that God is the mystery in which all that is known, and can be known, is known. We don't know God. We know and are/exist because God is/exists and knows us.
Our faith is a fascinating intellectual adventure of ever pursuing questions, inspired by the Holy Spirt, about the loving mystery revealed by Jesus as Our Father.
The trend I expect is this: an overall decline in the number of Catholic schools, but increasingly the schools will be one of 3 types:
1. schools that put the faith first and incorporate it throughout the curriculum which appeal to strongly Catholic families that don't homeschool;
2. "Urban" Catholic schools that cater to a poorer non-Catholic population, often with government & nonprofit help (hopefully these people can be brought into the faith, though there can be a conflict when it comes to government money);
3. CINO schools that are really private schools for people that can afford it
I concur and I think we are already there although I do feel my parish school is still that remnant "actually Catholic" parish school. Types 2 and 3 can be authentically Catholic with the right leadership and vision if they stop trying to imitate their local non-Catholic private and/or public schools, and have a critical mass of faithful Catholic famillies who might otherwise attend Type 1 but there isn't one in their area.
I so hope The Pillar investigates the amazing work done at the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education!
https://catholicliberaleducation.org/
These affiliated schools of all shapes and sizes are on fire. 🔥
Bishop James Conley of Lincoln has started bringing Catholic Liberal Education to the schools in my diocese. I'm still on the fence on how math, science, and technology will be incorporated in a way that will benefit my kids into High School and college. That said, the way Church teaching, history, the emphasis on classics, and having Christ be at the center of every school day is amazing!
Check out the website, there are high schools, particularly the Chesterton Academy network.
I guess when I hear that a school has incorporated technology, it means the kids are carrying around an ipad - our 7 were homeschooled through 8th grade (no to low tech) and the older ones used books in the large local Catholic young men's and young women's high schools. then younger 2 (maybe 3) were given the technology at those same schools and it took them about 2 days to figure out how to use it. They are all too tech savvy now! :)
--> How is it determined whether or not a school is a Catholic school? Here in south Louisiana, every city (and most towns) have diocesan Catholic schools. However, we also have Catholic schools that have opened/are opening that are not affiliated with the diocese. Are these included in the statistics?
--> From 1970-2022, Catholic schools saw a 65+% decrease in student enrollment. But, enrollment in public schools is steady. Where did the Catholic students go? I know that some went into homeschooling, but not 2.2 million students. Could some of them be going into these non-diocesan schools?
Nicholas,
The count of Catholic schools is based on the Official Catholic Directory., which means it will include only schools which dioceses recognize as Catholic. This would include some schools not run directly by the diocese, but if it's a lay run school which has not sought to be recognized as Catholic by the diocese (in order to maintain total independence from diocesan authority) it would not be included in the count.
In regards to where Catholic students went as the Catholic school enrollment decreased: the census data does not make it clear, but given the numbers it must be some mixture of public schools and other private schools. The overall stable number of public school students could include both an increased share of Catholic kids and also non-Catholic kids.
I work for one of the largest Catholic homeschool programs, and while we don't track all the way to ordination, our average annual rate of students entering seminary or religious formation is 2-3%. I'm sure the other programs would have similar rates. Even given the typical attrition rates between entering and leaving formation, that puts it at least a full order of magnitude higher than Catholic schools. While it's more correlation than causation, in that the kinds of families likely to homeschool are more likely to produce and promote vocations, it's been a joy to be able to be a part of.
2-3% 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
And to be the attrition isn’t even a big deal bc the fact that that many young people in this day and age are even willing to CONSIDER Gods call in their life to such a serious degree is 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Saying. Something.
In the UK, or at least in my neck of the wood in the central belt of Scotland, despite a decline in church attendance, catholic schools are always oversubscribed because parents perceive them as "better" schools so they jump through hoops to send their kids there, including a damascene conversion...
My kids’ Catholic elementary school is focusing on vocations today for Catholic schools week. Each class or grade level is either hearing a vocation talk from a priest who grew up in the parish and went to the parish school or, in the case of my first grade son’s class, having a zoom call with a newly professed Nashville Dominican sister, who still has siblings currently in the school. The teachers leading our school’s celebration of Catholic schools week this year lined the halls near the cafeteria with pictures of all these priests and religious who grew up in the parish; it’s great for the kids to hear that a religious vocation is a real option, and it’s clearly born a lot of fruit in our parish.
I have a 28 yo son. He and his two best friends from our homeschool group - about 80 children at the time - all entered the diocesan seminary. One of them will be ordained this coming May, God willing. We had a vocation day every year. The group support for vocations was tremendous. It's not surprising that a group of friends would give it a go, even if the vocation turned out otherwise for two of them.
I’d love to hear more about your group, how it was structured, and how you organized the annual vocation day. I helped start and help run a Catholic co-op.
We had a mom-run group which began as a playgroup with First Friday Mass attendance - before I became involved. We are from an area where Catholic homeschoolers are geographically diverse, alas. We kept trying to find parishes that were (1) willing to host our activities and (2) reasonably central for our group - with varying degrees of success. The two central activities were two six-week coops on Thursday mornings, ending with lunch; and First Friday together from September through June. We contacted the seminary and asked for a vocations day, which ended up supported by the diocese with a catered lunch (sandwiches and cookies, mostly) and games outside. The boys got a seminary tour and talks from the diocesan vocations director and a couple of seminarians; the girls got talks from one order of nuns. Which nuns varied year-by-year.
Since our coop was essentially a K-8 group, the middle schoolers were the seed-planting focus. The littles stayed outside and ran around. In our area, early June is usually lovely for outdoor activities. The coops were organized and run by moms for different grades, sometimes with a common theme (scientific discoveries / plays) and sometimes just whatever the organizing mom for each grade group determined. Moms were required to teach or to help with the littles. There was one mom who taught a terrific 3rd-4th grade art class from time to time; there was a year when I taught logic to the oldest kids; a year when I took the oldest kids on field trips to visit local scientists (ranging from neurological research - kids holding a real brain - to a statistician whose kids were homeschooled; much to my surprise, he gave a terrific presentation); a year when I ran a book discussion for 4th-5th graders; a year when another mom organized a "memorize the faith" session. After coop there was Angelus, lunch, and play time. First Fridays had Blue Knights and Little Flowers groups. Everything broke up by 2:00 so that moms with high school kids could take care of the afternoon drive-to-activities rounds.
LMK if you'd like to talk; we'll figure out a way to connect. I should warn you that my youngest kid is 23, so I've been out of the picture for a while.
Mr Hodge explains that 0.02% of Catholic school graduates went on to become priests. From my own experience and witnessing the outcome of prior and subsequent classes at my and other Catholic high schools, I would say that 90% of graduates go on to become atheists. "However, despite this decreasing percentage of Catholic children attending religious schools, the formation of a Catholic education remains important to the life of the Church." So, if all of these things are true, it looks like the life of the Church is one of atheism, not devotion.
Would love to see some numbers on priest attendance at Catholic High Schools as well!
The "School of Vocations" is the family. Families make priests. Schools do not. It may be the case that 16% of Catholic children are enrolled in Catholic schools, and while that number is pathetic, it is probably wildly optimistic. Urban areas and locations with large historically Catholic populations might hit 16%, but across the country it is far lower.
We have to stop talking about Catholic schools in reverent tones as some kind of sacred, integral Catholic endeavor that is mysteriously threatened. The truth is Catholic schools are largely irrelevant to American Catholics. They are closing because they don't serve many families. Too much money and too much time away from the family. And if we were to filter according to any litmus test for faithfulness, hundreds more schools would close tomorrow.
When will the Catholic press address the 84% of Catholics that will never or can never darken the door of a Catholic school? Who will report on the catastrophic failure of the episcopacy to protect the Catholic children who are condemned to the public schools by their bishop's lack of imagination? Who will call finally for resources now squandered on failing Catholic schools to be reallocated to new and better initiatives?
Thanks for this analysis, Brendan. I’ll echo my comments on other threads to call for some data collection on special education in Catholic schools. It’s a gaping hole in most dioceses, but I don’t think I’ve heard many people highlight this, except for maybe the USCCB providing lip service.
Many of my friends, men and women, were denied entry to religious life and to seminary based on their attendance at public schools. Some kept trying and found communities to live out their vocations, but some simply gave up. I wonder if it’s worth studying the receptivity of vocations rather than simply educational backgrounds.