The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1962-01-05
FEDERAL AID TO EDUCATION
n Public Service

if the Federal government of
fers aid to public education,
aid should similarly be offer
ed to church-related educa-
ton.
THE CONSTITUTION
The question presented, in
its broadest terms, is whether
the Federal government may
aid education in church-relat-
ed schools. However, no pro-
poSal has been made that gov
eminent undertake to pay the
full cost of the education pro-
vided in a church-related
school. Such a proposal
might involve constitutional
problems not presented by
proposals for limited support
of such education and might
moreover foreshadow total
governmental control of such
education.
The forms of limited aid be-
ing chiefly discussed are:
q. Matching grants TO church.
related educational institu.
lions for secular instr U G..
tion therein.
b. Lons-term loans to church
related educational institU.
lions for secular instrUe-
tion therein.
c. Grants or loans Of tuition
to students, which may be
used in ehurch-reIafed edu.
eafionaI institutions.
d. Tax benefits TO parents as
part OF total reimburse
lnent for tuition expend-
ed by them in ehUreh-relaf-
ed Tor other) educational
institutions.
It is the conclusion of this
study that C) the church
related schools perform a
public function which, by its
nature, is supportable by gov
ernment; (2) that such sup
port may be only in a degree
proportionate to the value of
the public function perform
ed; 81 that such support may
take the form Of grants to i'm
situations or of loans to insti-
tutions or the form of grants
of tuition or tax benefits;
az that the Federal govern
ment may constitution ally
provide support in any of the
aforementioned forms.
FIRSI AMENDMENT
The First Amendment pro-
vides that:
Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof -.
It is desirable to ascertain
the historic meaning of that
clause. 1t was not the product
Of an anti-religious reVolu-
ton. The American Revolu-
ton was made by men Of
strong religious conviction.
It is not conceivable that they
would have written into their
Constitution a clause to ster-
ilize all public institutions Of
religious content.
Virtually every document
relating to the formation of
the United States attests
to this. For example, the
Declaration of the Causes and
Necessity of Taking Up Arms,
July 6, ITS, abounds with
such phrases as "the divine
Author of our existence"
reverence for our great Gre
ator." The Declaration of In
dependence acknowle d 6 e d
God as the source of all hui
man rights and stated that it
is to secure these God-given
rights that governments ex-
list.
THE PRIME PURPOSE of
the clause was to prohibit
the Congress from creating a
National Church or from CIV
ing any sect a preferred sta
tuS.
The clause contains, of
course, no such wording as
separation of Church and
State" or "walI of separation
of Church and State" Used
according to its historical in
tendment, "sep Of
Church and State" is a con-
cept familiar to all from the
time of the adoption of the
First Amendment.
The term "wall of separa-
ton OF Church and State"
finds its way into the opinions
of the us. Supreme Court
almost a century later in the
1878 case of Reynolds VS..
United States.
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