By Bishop James Conley
There is a renewal of Catholic education sweeping the Church in the United States. Holy Mother Church has always been the great teacher of cultures and civilizations for two millennia. Its success is not based solely on the history of its work, but also the focus of its work. The Church has preserved classical learning through centuries of upheaval, transforming the way we learn even to this day.
One cannot teach human beings without a profound understanding of their nature and purpose, a true Christian anthropology. From Augustine to Newman and beyond, the Church has continually reminded the world that education is ordered toward the full flourishing of the human being, culminating in the supernatural vision of God, our ultimate end and goal.
Recently, bishops, superintendents, scholars and teachers, from numerous colleges and universities, educational leaders and others gathered for two days of discussions at Christendom College in Virginia. The fruit of those talks resulted in the Front Royal Statement, a list of seven cardinal principles of Catholic primary and secondary education. The group believes now is the time to act, the time to “re-examine the curriculum, pedagogy, and culture of our (Catholic) schools.” I was honored to write the introduction to the Front Royal Statement.
I won’t detail the principles here as you can find the entire statement online—and I encourage you to read it—but the principles include among other things a focus on the dignity of the person, the rights of parents and the duties of the State, the responsibilities of bishops, priests, teachers and leaders, the curriculum, and the transmission of a “living Catholic culture.”
We are undergoing our own renewal in our Diocese of Lincoln schools as well. After several years of study and reflection, last year we started aligning all our theology courses across the high school curricula. The process began with freshman-year courses and this year will continue with sophomore courses. Changes to junior and senior-level studies will then follow in subsequent years.
This is a major undertaking, but one that we felt is needed. The current curriculum was developed in 2002, and while truth is timeless, we do realize this is a moment of renewal in Catholic education, not just in our diocese, but across the country. Theology can serve as the starting point for that renewal, as it should impact everything we teach and the values we pass on to our students.
As I said when we introduced the new curriculum, our goal is transformation that begins in wonder. We are called to inspire and sustain that wonder. We must walk with our students and help them discover the wonder of God, not just in theology or even just in the classroom, but in the theatre, in the band room, on the athletic field, and as we interact with the broader community. God is the cause of everything, so we should include Him in everything!
We are also changing the way we evaluate our students’ progress in our schools. In the past, we have used the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) to gauge how well our students are learning the information we are sharing with them. We will now be using the Classic Learning Test (CLT) to assess academic performance.
The CLT is a norm-referenced test that evaluates key academic skills and promotes critical and logical thinking. It will be given to students in grades 3-12 and we think will provide a more thorough analysis of the education our students are receiving.
When it comes to educating our children, we have to get it right. Parents will always be the first and primary educators of their children, but our schools must partner with parents to help ensure their students reach their full academic potential.
Education is one of the four pastoral principles we introduced in our One Heart in Christ pastoral plan that will guide the diocese’s priorities for the next five years. We want to “educate to inspire, virtue, service and a thirst to know Jesus.”
The diocese has four specific goals we will target to fulfill our educational vision. We want to grow parent and family faith formation, discipleship, and participation through educational opportunities that foster holiness and a sense of belonging and mission. Again, we begin with God in everything we do, including—and especially—education.
We also want to revitalize youth intellectual and faith formation across all programs (CCD, homeschool, youth ministry, Catholic schools) to form lifelong missionary disciples. The culture has changed; we need to make sure the strategies and tools we are using to form our youth are meeting them where they are and helping them get where we all want them to be.
Our Catholic schools are leading the way. They are our hope for the future. That is why another of our goals is to garner the necessary resources to achieve optimal enrollment in our Catholic schools and expand as needed. Supporting our Catholic schools is so very important—we have classrooms with empty desks, and we need all parents to seriously consider enrolling their children in our schools so this much-needed learning environment thrives and grows into the future.
We also are dedicated to prioritizing education, training and ongoing formation for priest and lay administrators, teachers and support staff. All these people make personal sacrifices to provide the excellence in education we see daily in our Catholic schools. We want to do everything we can do to help them excel professionally. When our education leaders are at their best, our children will be at their best.
Renewal in Catholic education is underway nationally and we in the Lincoln Diocese are a part of that renewal. As I wrote in my 2024 pastoral letter “The Joy and Wonder of Catholic Education,” “our educational mission begins and ends with students’ potential for holiness.” Every student, and indeed every human being, is made to become a saint. It is our privilege to see that we are doing all we can to make that happen in our Catholic schools.
