Foolish Development

The Catholic educators of the Archdioceses of Arlington are getting Foolish.

Catholic Herald has the story here.

Take a closer look:

Diocesan teachers and administrators gathered last week at the annual Diocesan Education Institute at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington. During this annual institute, Catholic school students get the day off while their teachers spend the day being refreshed in their knowledge.

"What we’re all about is students and children," said diocesan Superintendent Dr. Timothy McNiff.

But teachers in Catholic schools must care about more than just reading, writing and arithmetic. They also must guide their students in their formation as young men and women of the Church.

As the debate fuels in Richmond on whether or not the state will support embryonic stem-cell research, the Arlington Diocese wants to ensure that the young people in its schools are well-informed on the issue. A curriculum has been developed for grades five through 12 to teach students not only where the Church stands in the embryonic stem-cell debate, but also the scientific background that supports its stance.

"We are responsible for forming disciples of Christ … aiding our young people to make the right choices in life so they can be the persons God wants them to be," said Father Paul deLadurantaye, diocesan secretary of religious education and sacred liturgy, in his keynote address.

Catholic social teaching — the supremacy of the life and dignity of all God’s children — is an important part of education in Catholic schools.

Citing the preamble of the Constitution and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, Father deLadurantaye began his talk by demonstrating that our nation was founded on the principle that all humans should be afforded certain fundamental and inherent rights.

When engaging in dialogue and debate with others over issues concerning the right to life and stem-cell research, Father deLadurantaye said Catholics should not only approach the issue from a religious perspective, but also from the natural law perspective. Civil laws are written to protect people once they are born, and medical students are taught that their first responsibility is to do no harm.

But as Catholic educators, he said, there is another dimension.

"Human life is a gift. Because it is a gift, it is sacred. We came forth from the hand of God and it is to God Himself that our lives are directed," he said.

This trend may represent the beginning of an important shift in catechism within the American Church. Pope John Paul the Great's teachings on the sanctity of life and the reality of our lives as gifts from God may at last bear fruit--if more Dioceses and parishes offer the staff development that Arlington has done.

It's important that the Roman Catholic Church in America renew her catechism of the young. Take a look at the comments at Katelyn Sills blog, and you'll see just how entrenched the problem of poor catechism has become. Far too many Catholics in American have become Foolable for lack of an appropriate catechism. How many more must do so before the Chaunceries awaken to the problem?

More efforts like Arlington's, please! Now!