Catholic schools in British Columbia must embrace their role as missionary communities in an increasingly secular society, B.C.’s bishops say in a new pastoral letter.
Titled The Mission of the Catholic School, the letter calls for Catholic schools to maintain their identity, integrate faith with learning, and work with families, educators, and pastors to build a Christ-centred community serving both students and society.
The letter says Catholic schools are “a most valuable resource for the evangelization of culture” that are “integral to the parish, participating in the Church’s evangelizing mission.”
The schools provide “religious and moral reference points” that help students to “critically evaluate culture in the light of the Gospel and contribute to building a social order enlightened by the truth of Christ’s teaching,” the bishops say.
In a world marked by an “unhealthy individualism that often leads to an eclipse of community identity,” Catholic schools “find themselves in a missionary situation” called to bear witness to the community.
The letter, released on Jan. 28, the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of educators and students, acknowledges that the growing marginalization of faith in public life has placed Catholic schools in a missionary situation. Catholic education, it states, must offer students a vision of life that integrates faith and reason, providing “religious and moral reference points to critically evaluate culture in the light of the Gospel.”
Signed by the six bishops of British Columbia, the document reaffirms the essential role of Catholic schools in the Church’s identity and mission, stressing that Christ must be “the foundation of the whole educational enterprise” in a Catholic school.
The bishops highlight the responsibility of parents as the primary educators of their children, urging them to be involved in school life, while reminding teachers that their role goes beyond academic instruction.
“It is the teachers’ personal witness that will have the most significant impact on the students,” the letter states, encouraging educators to model the integration of faith and culture in all subjects.
Pastors, too, have a key role in Catholic education, particularly in overseeing religious instruction and leading the school’s liturgical life. The bishops stress that pastors should promote education for the poor, the marginalized, and those deprived of strong family support.
The letter concludes with a challenge to Catholic schools to assess their effectiveness in living out their evangelizing mission. Quoting St. John Paul II, the bishops call for a renewed “missionary thrust,” urging schools to find “new and effective ways of evangelizing and forming young people and their families for life” and the Church’s mission.
The pastoral letter is expected to guide school administrators, educators, and Catholic families in ensuring that Catholic schools remain faithful to their mission of forming students in faith, wisdom, and service.
The letter was signed by Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, of Vancouver, Bishop Gary Gordon of Victoria, Bishop Stephen Jensen of Prince George, Bishop Gregory Bittman of Nelson, Bishop Joseph Phuong Nguyen of Kamloops, and Bishop Michael Kwiatkowski of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of New Westminster.
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