This morning the traffic announcers on the radio reminded drivers to be cautious about young children walking down the street since the school season has begun. The start of a new school year can be very exciting for students attending Catholic school, whether their teachers are lay or religious. Things are no longer as they were 50 years ago when Catholic school students were almost exclusively taught by religious sisters, brothers and priests. Today it is more common to have students almost exclusively taught by lay teachers. If the teachers are good, does it really matter if they are lay or religious? The Vatican says it definitely matters. In fact, the Vatican goes a step further by claiming that it is very important for students to be taught by both lay and religious teachers in Catholic schools.
Last September, the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education issued a statement, “Educating Together in Catholic Schools” which has now been translated into English. In the statement, the Vatican focuses on the importance of Catholic education in helping with the full formation of students. It is “especially urgent to offer young people a course of scholastic formation which is not reduced to a simple individualistic and instrumental fruition of service with a view to obtaining a qualification. As well as gaining knowledge, students must also have a strong experience of sharing with their educators.”
The Vatican goes a step further in emphasizing the importance of having both lay persons and religious collaborating together in the school system. The statement highlights ”three fundamental aspects of cooperation between lay faithful and consecrated persons in the Catholic school: 1) Communion in the educational mission, 2) Necessary course of formation for communion…, [and] 3) Openness towards others as the fruit of that communion.” The statement gives many suggestions for improving and building upon each of these areas.
Catholic school students have much to gain from having lay teachers and from having religious teachers. As the Vatican statement recommends, it is very important for lay teachers and religious teachers to work together as they take on the responsibility of educating and forming the next generation of students.
Posted by APWeb 
