Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan's "Herald of Hope" column was in the online August 30, 2007 edition of our Milwaukee Catholic Herald until its recent web site revamp. A site search didn't turn it up, but perhaps it will be online again someday.
He says Catholic schools are characterized by, among other things, "local (not bureaucratic) control".
Our recently-appointed Archdiocesan Vicar for Planning floated the idea of the Archdiocese taking over the grade schools from parishes. Would that still be local?
And our Archbishop has noted the proliferation of archdiocesan staff in the two decades since the 1987 Archdiocesan Synod. Isn't that bureaucratic?
With both a Director of Schools and a Superintendent of Schools, the Schools should be properly Directed and Superintended.
ReplyDeleteFrom the top, I suppose.
Yes, it remains to be seen, what Dolan means by "local" control. And how CATHOLIC are any of those schools?
ReplyDeleteLocal control can be an absolute disaster especially given some parishes and clusters and THEIR versions of Catholic teaching. More control is required on what is taught to ensure that the orthodox catholic teachings are being abided to.
ReplyDeleteWere the Archdiocese to mandate a particular, ORTHODOX, Catechism (the Ignatius Series, e.g.) it would be a very positive thing.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't hurt if the Archdiocese also mandated genuine intellectual formation--which, of course, begins with the Western Canon, which is directly derived from Catholic theology and philosophy (or foreshadows it.)
Wouldn't be all bad if they actually required English grammar & spelling--not to mention 2 or 3 years of Latin.
That way, the parish priests could actively participate in classrooms.