6 World Education Blog

Reason to exist as Catholic school

The Purpose of a Catholic School is to be a Catholic School. Any institution which bears the name Catholic and participates in this mission must find its own specific mission under its maternal shadow. The Catholic school must be of, with and for the church because her purpose, identity and mission proceed from the Communion of the Church. In words of Congregation for Catholic school, the church clearly indicates that the establishment of catholic school is for the mission of the church. It asserts that “To carry out her saving mission, the Church uses, above all, the means which Jesus Christ has given her. She also uses other means which at different times and in different cultures have proved effective in achieving and, promoting the development of the human person. She establishes her own schools because she considers them as a privileged means of promoting the formation of the whole man, since the school is a centre in which a specific concept of the world, of man, and of history is developed and conveyed”.

The Sacred congregation for Catholic School emphasizes catholic school to present itself catholic and states clearly that for this reason only that catholic school has the right to exist. It states the following:

“While acknowledging this duty of the local Churches, the Sacred Congregation believes that now is the opportune moment to offer its own contribution by re-emphasising clearly the educational value of the Catholic school. It is in this value that the Catholic school’s fundamental reason for existing and the basis of its genuine apostolate is to be found. “

In line with the above, the great Western Bishop Augustine states “Catholic schools are an extension of the Catholic Church, a cell of the Body of Christ”. Since the church has its mission in evangelization, She establishes her own schools because she considers them as a privileged means of promoting the formation of the whole man, since the school is a centre in which a specific concept of the world, of man, and of history is developed and conveyed. 

In support of the above view, Deacon Keith Fournier, a Deacon of the Diocese of Richmond, Virginia asserted that “The Catholic School derives its’ very reason for existence, its’ identity, by living in the Heart of the Church. It finds its missionary assignment only when it sees its placement within the Ark of the Church. Thus, like the Church of which she is an extension, the Catholic school shares in the mission of Jesus Christ”.

To conclude the catholic school does not exist for itself. It owns its existence on the mission of the church that is to evangelize. The existence of catholic is therefore is to inform and educate the whole student, who is an integrated human person, in continue reading