The Courage to Be Catholic: The Vocation of Catholic Education in Our Schools

Photo of St. Mary's Catholic Students at All Schools Mass

By Bishop Peter F. Christensen

Catholic Schools Week invites our diocesan family to pause in gratitude and hope as we celebrate the life of our Catholic schools—their academic excellence, their communities of care, and their generous service. Yet this week also calls us to something deeper: to renew our commitment to the distinctly evangelical vocation of Catholic education entrusted to us as shepherds, educators, parents, and families of faith, flows from fidelity to the Church’s mission of evangelization fulfilled in making disciples and building the Kingdom of God. In a cultural moment that often prizes neutrality over conviction, Catholic schools are called to a particular kind of courage: the courage to be unmistakably Catholic. This courage does not reject dialogue or academic rigor; rather, it flows from fidelity to the Church’s mission to exalt the risen and victorious Christ as Lord and Savior for all humanity. 

The Directory for Catechesis reminds us that education and evangelization are inseparable in the life of the Church. Catholic schools are not simply institutions that include religious content alongside secular subjects; they are communities where the Gospel permeates the entire educational climate. Their purpose is not limited to conveying information about the faith, but to propose Christ as the definitive meaning of human life. To dilute or bracket this evangelical purpose in the name of neutrality is not an act of respect, but a failure to live the vocation entrusted to Catholic education.

The challenge of truth stands at the heart of this vocation. In the Passion narrative, Jesus stands before Pontius Pilate and declares, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate responds with a question that continues to echo through history: “What is truth?” That question—asked with skepticism and distance—captures a temptation that still confronts Catholic education today. When truth is treated as relative, provisional, or purely subjective, the proclamation of the Gospel is reduced to one opinion among many. Catholic schools, however, are called to stand not with Pilate’s doubt, but with Christ’s witness.

The Church has never taught that all religions are equal in their truth claims or moral vision. While she acknowledges that elements of truth and goodness can be found in other religious traditions, she also professes—clearly and consistently—that the fullness of truth is revealed in Jesus Christ and entrusted to the Church. The General Directory for Catechesis insists that catechesis and Catholic education must present this fullness faithfully and confidently. Authentic dialogue does not require the suspension of truth; it presupposes it.

For this reason, Catholic schools must resist the temptation of false neutrality. A purely descriptive or non-committal presentation of Catholicism—one that avoids doctrinal clarity or moral claims for fear of controversy—empties Catholic education of its missionary heart. Evangelization is not coercion. As the Directory for Catechesis makes clear, it is the loving proposal of Christ, offered with respect for freedom and conscience, yet never reduced to vague spirituality or a lowest-common-denominator ethic.

This evangelical vocation extends to all students, not only those who are already Catholic. Catholic schools rightly welcome families from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, and such diversity enriches the school community. Yet hospitality must never be confused with silence. To enter a Catholic school is to enter a community that believes something definite about God, the human person, morality, and salvation. To obscure those convictions in the name of inclusivity is neither honest nor charitable.

The Church’s educational vision has always been one of integral formation—intellectual, moral, spiritual, and human. Catholic education seeks not merely to inform minds, but to form hearts and consciences in truth and freedom. Truth, as the Church teaches, is not an abstract idea imposed from without; it is a Person who liberates. When Catholic schools confidently proclaim Christ, they serve not only Catholics, but every student entrusted to their care, offering a vision of life grounded in dignity, meaning, and hope.

In an age shaped by relativism and uncertainty, Catholic schools must recover the courage that belongs to their vocation. This courage does not close doors; it opens them—inviting students to encounter the living Christ and to discover the truth about themselves and the world. As your bishop, I give thanks during Catholic Schools Week for educators, administrators, and families who understand that Catholic schools are not called to mirror the culture, but to evangelize it. By presenting the fullness of the faith with clarity and charity, Catholic education remains faithful to its mission and to the truth that sets all humanity free.

References

Sacred Scripture: John 18:37–38.

Congregation for the Clergy. Directory for Catechesis. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2020.

Sacred Congregation for the Clergy. General Directory for Catechesis. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997.

Second Vatican Council. Gravissimum Educationis (Declaration on Christian Education), 1965.

Congregation for Catholic Education. The Catholic School, 1977.

Congregation for Catholic Education. Educating Together in Catholic Schools: A Shared Mission Between Consecrated Persons and the Lay Faithful, 2007.