International research shows that the curricula of Catholic secondary schools are increasingly becoming dominated by the pressures of conforming to the requirements of nation states. These requirements are generally expressed in economic and utilitarian terms and evaluated by criteria of measurable outputs. As a result of these pressures, Catholic…

The institution of the seminary was established by the sixteenth century Council of Trent. Seminaries were charged with the formation of men for the priesthood. The character of seminary education was largely unchanged until the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). This article observes and comments upon the changes and developments over the past…

As the COVID-19 pandemic has unfolded, Catholic schools have been faced with numerous challenges, including finances, human resources, and curriculum. Catholic schools are founded on the principle of subsidiarity, a system that provides an uneven capacity for each school. This essay reflects on the impacts of subsidiarity in this time of crisis,…

Lee Shulman's keynote address from the Catholic Higher Education Collaborative (CHEC) Conference on Catholic School Financing, University of Notre Dame, September 23, 2013 is presented in this article. He reflects back on serving as the convener of the group's first meeting, at the Carnegie Foundation in California. In this keynote…

A key concept in contemporary Catholic educational discourse makes a distinction between religious education and catechesis. This distinction is based on the assumptions of faith commitment on the part of catechesis and the focus on cognitive outcomes on the part of religious education. Many official documents on Canadian Catholic school…

This essay responds to and develops ideas set out in Robert Davis' 1999 essay "Can there be a Catholic curriculum?" It takes the measure of far-reaching changes that have taken place in curriculum studies and strategic educational thought in the intervening period as the process of globalisation has intensified. It re-engages with the…

Richard Komer's paper helpfully and carefully shows that, after the Supreme Court's 2002 ruling in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, a formidable obstacle to choice-based educational reform has been removed, and also that other, no-less-formidable obstacles remain, in the form of anti-aid provisions contained in various states' own constitutions. This…

This article presents responses from Thomas C. Hunt, James L. Heft, S.M., and Ronald J. Nuzzi to the report of the Notre Dame Task Force on Catholic Education's (2006), "Making God Known, Loved and Served: The Future of Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in the United States." Hunt analyzes the 12 recommendations offered by Notre…

In fall 2007, nine Catholic colleges and universities began a collaborative process to explore ways Catholic institutions of higher education (CIHE) could increase effective support of pre-K-12 Catholic schools. This new organization, Catholic Higher Education Collaborative (CHEC), committed to hosting a series of six conferences focused on…

In an effort to encourage dialogue and reflection on matters of common concern and interest, responses are invited on selected articles from other educators, who engage the text critically and offer some reflections about its utility and validity.This article offers responses from J. Christian Beretta, a principal, and Richard G. Wosman, assistant…

Addresses the changing nature of Catholic schools, emphasizing, however, the core beliefs of Catholicism that have remained the same throughout. Focuses on the implementation by Catholic schools of three goals: enthusiasm, invitation, and witness of Catholicism. (YKH)

This article offers responses from Lois K. Draina, an associate professor, Ronald J. Nuzzi, a program director, and Rachel Sara Moreno, associate professional specialist to a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) document "Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium"…

Michael J. Apple's book constitutes, among many other things, an ambitious rethinking of what will be necessary to make the ideal of egalitarian public schooling more appealing to those parents who have, in recent years, found their beliefs and criticisms most readily responded to by various "conservative modernizers" and other enemies of public…

Discusses changes in Catholic religious education since the second Vatican Council. Addresses the contribution of classroom instruction to young people's religious education and identifies some aspects of shared praxis and appropriation of the faith tradition. States that improvement of religious education requires an upgrading of its role in the…

Cites three challenges facing Catholic school ministries of the 1980s: keeping Catholic schools Catholic; increasing schools' academic excellence; and putting schools on sound financial bases. Meeting these challenges will provide schools with a better chance for survival. (DMM)