From: elendil@seashell.mintir.new-orleans.la.us (Edward J. Branley)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Subject: Re: (no subject given)
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 19:07:45 CST
Organization: Seashell Software

John Weitzel <weitzel@CIRRUS.SEAS.UCLA.EDU> writes:

> Hello,
> My name is John L Weitzel and I am currently employed as a counselor
> for the School of Engineering at UCLA.  I was born, raised, and continue
> to practice the Catholic faith.  I attended high school and college
> seminaries in Southern California for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
>
> My main concern, at this point, deals with the quality of Catholic
> Secondary Education.  There are many studies which show that academically
> the Catholic Educational system is far superior to that of the American
> Public Educational Systems.  My question does not have to do with the quality
> of the education of science, math, arts and humanities, and other such areas,
> but with basic Catholic Doctrine.  In local Catholic high schools, graduates
> have virtually no idea what is meant by  such concepts as trinity,
> transubstantiation, salvation, or could not list 1/2 of the books of the
> New Testament, let alone the Old Testament.  These individuals are the ones
> I see now attending Evangelical Churches.  I have many close friends who are
> Evangelical brethren, but they have a coherent understanding of the Bible,
> salvation, and doctrine.  My falling away Catholic friends, as well as
> friends who are practicing, have little idea about the depth of history,
> coherence, and basic doctrine of the Catholic Church.  Individuals graduating
> from Evangelical High Schools seem to know more about Catholic Theology than
> most Catholics from so-called Catholic High Schools.  I do not think that all
> Catholics need to understand Aquinas, Augustine, and Borromeo in depth, but
> do you not think that we should all know why we are Catholic, how we are save
> and how to discuss such with our seperated brethren?

John, as a former high school history teacher, I understand your concern.
One fundamental problem with teaching some of the topics you mentioned is that
we have so many students these days that are reading at levels far below their
grade level.  Teaching a concept such as transubstantiation isn't easy when
you're dealing with eleventh graders who are reading at an eighth grade level.

Another problem is that many of the religion teachers I've worked with in the
past really weren't qualified to teach religion.  There was no certification
requirement for religion teachers here in New Orleans till 1984.  These
teachers were good role models, and did a good job of teaching morality
subjects, but were lacking on the 'technical' aspects of our faith that you
mention in your article.  I'm probably one of the youngest (at 34) people I
know who was taught some sort of formal catechism, and I didn't get much.  I'd
bet that anyone younger than me got caught in the post-Vatican II wave of
de-emphasizing of 'technical' teachings.  Even teachers who go to Loyola U.
here don't get much formal religious training in school, much less those of us
who went to state schools, so the first time they're exposed to many
theological concepts is during their religion certification courses.

Now that religion teachers have to complete some basic courses to become
certified, the problem of lack of basic knowledge is starting to diminish.
That still leaves the issue of dealing with putting more theology into the
curriculum.  That will probably take a few more years, as these more-qualified
teachers get to the point where they're making contributions to curriculum and
textbook design.

>
> Thanks for your response.
>
> Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you, also!

> and
> May God Bless America

If you don't mind, I'm going to ask for a blessing for a few other places on
this good earth besides America.



|Edward J. Branley         elendil@mintir.new-orleans.la.us|
|Seashell Software, Metairie, LA            +1-504-455-5087|
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