The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1904-10-01
Wbat tbe Church Of the Poor
Bas Done for Education

The Pilot has been favored with the advance
sheets of striking chapter from the report of the
commissioner of education for 1908: THE Catho-
lie Parochial Schools of the United States pre-
pared by the Rev. Morgan NJ. Sheedy of Altoona
"a, and issued from the government printing Of
hcc, by the United States bureau of education.
Father Shcedy accounts the Catholic free school
system the most impressive religious fact in the
United States today Certainly. the materialisln
and selt-seeking of the age must be somewhat
abashed TO see the members Of a single religious
denomination, mentioned often as the Church of
the Poor educating round million of children
at their own expense, thus saving to nome Catholic
taxpayers from $20,0000OO to 100000 annually,
while paying also their share of the public school
tax. The nature Of the service thus rendered to
the state by the Catholics is brought into a strong
light now and then, when III a great city like
New ork, 1t Is found at the opening of the school
year that over $1,000 would-be pupils must be con
tent with half time. Suppose that, in addition to
this army of children, the board of education had
also to provide for the $1,000 children of Greater
New DIRK who are under Catholic care, over 81
600 of these being in the parochal schools
Father Sheedy traces the parochal school idea
back to the earliest days of the Church's freedom
whether as cathedral schools, or burg schools or
schools attached to the free hospitals or rural
schools, or the elementary schools which were part
and parcel of the numerous mOnastic foundations
from the sixth century onward. lie quotes non
Catholic authorities this subject, as James
Grant. who, i'll his History of the Burgh and Par
ish Schools of Scotland" declares that in the ff-
teenth century that country was Adequately sup
piled, with schools
Father Sheedy has set forth the Clurch's idea
of education-the formation of the whole man:
and her conviction that a Christian nation can
spring only from Christian schools He gives the
history Of parochia schools in the United States.
and outlines the legislation in their interest. at
ha hlrd e p,1+;, L L
the Church's favor to liberal popular education
IN secular studies; but also her firm stand against
the exclusion of religion from such education.
The American Episcopatc would not be con
tent with inferior Catholic schools, but has Off
cially demanded that the Church schools be made
equal III their instruction to the best of the sec
ular schools
Father Shcedy's inquiry into the present numer-
ical strength of Catholic schools from the official
religious and national reports, supplemented by
private inquiries, revealed as the Catholic school
enrolment for 1909 Elementary, 967,5IS; sec
(high schools academies and pre-
paratory departments of colleges 14,127; second
ary-girls (high schools and academes). 20S74:
higher education colleges and universities not
including seminares), 4,010; total, 1,O0G,529
Parcnthctically, we may note that the Catholic
directory for 1904 shows increase in all these
grades of education-the elementary school attend
ancc having grown by nearly 10000
chial schools, which show Chicago leading with
67,321; New York in the second place, with 81
545; Boston and Philadelphia nearly on line with
44,53S and 44,430 respectively. He notes the mar
Vicious development of the Catholic school system
within recent years. especially in the New England
states:
Within the last thirty years in the dioceses of
New England Catholic educational institutions
have multiplied threefod. Today there are 352
such Institutions as against 100 a quarter of a CEN
fury ago, and 142,000 Catholic pupils in attend !
lncc at these schools as against 10000 in 1876. |
In the archdiocese of Boston the Catholic schools |
almost equal iii number those which we're flourish
ng III the entire province (SG as against 1000, while
he number of children in the parochiaI schools, I
colleges and academies of the archdiocese far sur
passes the total attendance Of the Catholic schools
# the New England Of thirty years ago-46.O00
Is against 20,00O"
We have quoted from his table figures only of
he four most populous archdiocese; but some of
he dioceses, as Brooklyn, Cleveland Hartford and
Newark, make in proportion to their population at
east good a showing; the last-named having
1900 parochial school children present figures
9,244 to a population Of 100000 Newark saw
he beginning of the wprl of that great apostle of
,athoc popular eductaion Bishop AIcQi,a;fi of
Rochester, n. y, whose own diocese shows 1850