Walking Together in Catholic Education

GrACE Summit 2023 in Edmonton, AB. Photo credit: ECSD.

Last week I attended the 2023 GrACE Summit – Walking Together in Catholic Education which was held in Edmonton. Grateful Advocates for Catholic Education (GrACE) was formed in 2018 as collaborative initiative of the Catholic school trustees and superintendents with the Alberta bishops. Its mission is “to inspire, invigorate and embolden the spirit of Catholic education in order to unite, engage, educate and communicate with one voice on its behalf”. This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week in the province of Alberta. The theme “Walking Together” was taken from the scripture passage “As for us, we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever.” (Micah 4:5). In the Alberta Bishop’s letter, we stated that this week “affords us the welcome opportunity to reflect on the crucial role Catholic schools play in educating our children and young people, by creating formative communities of love and care that witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ”.

What makes a Catholic school distinct and relevant in our current society? These schools are communities of faith and learning. They can be diverse in their configuration i.e., public, private or charter, yet focused on coming to know the truth, the goal of all learning through the use of reason which is animated by a faith and belief in God. In fact, Catholic schools are not intended to be exclusively for Catholics. They are school communities for all families, imbued with a Catholic world view, a Christian anthropology of the human person as being created in the image of God, a faith infused curriculum of learning, the Gospel witness of prayer and service which promotes a focus on community through a spirituality of communion.  

Catholic schools are not institutions of propaganda as some would argue nor are they to be controlled by ideologies, or educational trends of a government agenda. The Catholic educational tradition offers experiences of learning that allow for both evangelization and the catechetical support of young people in their faith through celebrating encounters that are centered in Christ. However, the task of education is broader. It is to promote a wholistic experience of learning that forms and completes the person, preparing them for life, to appreciate the value of their life and that of others by offering to society values and goods that they willingly share for the benefit of others through service. This is the distinctly Catholic approach to education which enhances the human formation and mature development of the next generation of young people as they grow in knowledge and wisdom.  

In recent years there has been a growing “educational emergency” in public education. It is marked by the increasing difficulty of transmitting the basic values of life, what is truth, what is good, what is beauty, to our young people. At the core of this “emergency” is the misconception that truth is relative, that what I subjectively believe to be true for myself is the “truth” and that it must be accepted by others. Pope Francis identified this tension and challenge for Catholic educators – “Dialogue, in fact, educates when a person relates with respect, esteem, sincerity of listening and expresses themselves with authenticity, without obfuscating or mitigating one’s identity. We cannot create a culture of dialogue if we do not have identity.” The Catholic identity of our schools, the witness of our Catholic school teachers who engage in this dialogue through their teaching can transform a society and culture which is becoming more relativistic and secular. 

The Catholic school curriculum of learning needs to address this important dialogue while balancing the relationship between religious enquiry and catechesis in the Catholic faith. This initiative of dialogue is distinctly Catholic in identity which we offer to society. Catholic schools have a core curriculum of learning where religious faith can permeate all subjects. For Catholic students, this might also serve as a pathway of catechesis which must always respect a wider and more meaningful integration within their family and the life of the Church. It is a curriculum which is primarily “knowledge-based” for those students who are not part of the Catholic tradition. It invites them to be reflective, to grow in religious literacy and knowledge while being open to a human formation that reflects the Christian understanding of the human person, their inherent dignity and destiny. 

Catholic schools both public and private have the potential to contribute to the cultural enrichment of society. Despite the hostility and indifference towards religion these schools serve as a witness to the importance of religious belief as a critical voice of dialogue in civic society. Therefor Catholic schools have a unique opportunity to teach about the value of religion, belief in God and through Christ to know how we are to transform the values of a wider society.

​The key to the future mission and identity of our Catholic schools is the commitment of the parents and teachers to see Catholic education as an enrichment of our culture. Education by its nature invites an openness to other cultures, without the loss of one’s fundamental identity. This is the rich tradition of Catholic education in Alberta and the mission of our schools to inspire, invigorate and embolden this Catholic identity for future generations. This week let us speak with one voice in walking together for Catholic Education.   

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Resources:

• Suggested Activities for 2023 Catholic Education Week and links to prerecorded reflections of Alberta Bishops - Download PDF
• 2023 Catholic Education Week Letter from the Bishops of Alberta (English/French)

Most Rev. William T. McGrattan
Bishop of  Calgary

​May 14, 2023