All who are near God in faith and obedience are holy. The Church has commissioned her schools to educate in the faith, and such a commission puts the teaching of religion at the center of the Catholic school curriculum. Pope John Paul II makes the point emphatically when he tells us that the Catholic school, if it fails in its religious education program, it fails as a Catholic school, irrespective of how well it teaches non-religious subjects. The task of the teacher in impressing upon the student the importance of religion is not an easy one. Combating religious ignorance, calling back those who have strayed from her authentic teaching, has been the perennial task of the Church.
Catholic educators stand today, as they did so often in the past, in troubled times.
In a world lacking an understanding of the importance of religion, making holiness an educational goal could seem ephemeral, unrealistic, even self-centered. There is a tendency for religion teachers to address what might seem to some to be the more immediate problems of society and to steer their students in the direction of a social apostolate instead of personal holiness. Social problems are, of course, a legitimate concern that no Christian can in conscience ignore. But the Church endures and souls are saved because they are holy. It needs saints.