The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1911-01-21
EDUCATION
Concerns the Whole Complex Nature
of the Child.

!, OF Inc VnlIQ.
All agree that education properly
so-called concerns the whole complex
nature of the child, that body and soul
alike should be duly developed, and
that none of the faculties Of the soul
should be neglected, says Father Keat-
ing, writing in The Month (London.
A thorough education therefore COM
rrises such cultivation of body, mind
and will as shall enable the recipient
I" do effectively what he was made
{, form other words to fulfill his des-
tiny here and hereafter.
| Viewed thus generally, the least i'm
portant branch of education is physi-
cal development. And it is at this
point that the Catholic ideal begins to
diverge from those advanced by non
Cathol
The Catholic lays more stress on
moral than on mental training. Mere
learning without good living is so far
from being benefit in his eyes, that
he regards it as misfortune only cal
culated to increase the potentialities
of evil. And, therefore, according to
Catholic notions the training of mind
and will should never be disassociat-
ed; true knowledge must ever point
to right action.
Moreover, the Catholic educator hav-
ing to guide and control this constant
interplay of knowledge and volition,
thinks it madness to exclude from his
purview, what is at once the most i'm
portant branch of learning and the
most efficacious means of training the
will, namely, the Christian revelation
Secular education is for the world
alone.
Many we'll meaning people of differ
ent creeds have vainly tried to find a
common meeting ground for all creeds
and a practical instrument of educa-
ton in what they call independent
morality" that is to say, morality dis
associated from supernatural sane
lions which are matters of dispute and
based upon the innate fitness of
things
Theoretically, of course, code OF
right conduct can be deduced from
mans nature and social circumstances
as social and rational being, but such
a code would not cover the whole
range Of human activity.
AS true education must be moral,
so must it be also religious. How can
the mind be properly developed, if
while studying man and nature, it
ignores their divine Author?
If it confines itself to effects, and
does not seek the Cause?
Religion touches human life, Direct
ly or indirectly, in so many points
that it cannot be lost. sight of for
long.
The persistent demand of Catholics
for "Catholic atmosphere" in their
schools is an essential result of their
creed, says in effect Father Heating.
IL lAdy oCCu CACCoo1tC dIu CdSOll>
able to many non Catholics. Yet this
Catholic atmosphere" which We con-
slider necessary for true education is
the outward manifestation of our
faith. And We want it for our youth
full charges, because religious truth,
like any other, must, first of all, be
| IN o,thoritv
Only when the intellect is mature
and experienced can 1t investigate
with safety and profit the grounds of
belief, in order to realize how rea-
sonable that surrender to authority
has been. The study of what con-
Germs the next life and the interests
of the soul must not be separated
from the study of what concerns this
life and it's interests.
There are, in this matter, four main
interests or rights-we might call
them the four R's-distinct from one
another in origin, yet mutually in
teracting; these are the rights of the
child, the rights Of the child's par
ents, the rights of the child's Creator
and the rights of the state-community
of which the child is a member.
Each of these rights must be con-
sidered in any complete scheme Of
education, and proper provision must
be just.
The educational policy sanctioned
by the Church involves no injustice,
as it recognizes the rights of all con-
cerned. The child is not only citi.
zen of the state, but by baptism a
citizen of Heaven. The parent owes
allegiance to divine as we'll as to
civil authority. The Church claims to
be founded in order to keep men in
mind of the interests of God Ger