Catholic Schools Find Status Is Diminished

[mcscajun]

The article's focus is on the closing of 22 parochial schools in NYC, and the overall decline of influence of the parishes. What I thought was interesting from a DU standpoint is the history behind the system and the similarities to what we're dealing with now with the fundies' attempts at pushing faith into the public school system.

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The Catholic school system was founded in the 1840s', when a surge of Irish Catholic immigrants, fleeing a famine, arrived in New York and other East Coast cities. The public schools of that era, overseen by Protestant clergy, were openly sectarian and hostile to the immigrants' faith. John Hughes, then the Catholic bishop of New York, proposed that the public schools stick to secular subjects, and leave the teaching of religious doctrine to the churches, according to "American Catholic," a history of the church by Charles R. Morris (Times Books, 1997). This proposition was hooted down by anti-immigrant forces. Bishop Hughes and other prelates set about building an entirely separate school system for their flocks.

Those schools rose in an age of intense tribalism. Thomas Nast, the nation's leading political cartoonist, routinely portrayed the rag-poor Irish immigrants as apes. Mr. Morris, in his history, quotes a letter written by Bishop Bernard McQuaid to the pope, warning that American public schools would expose Catholic children to a situation where "all classes, Protestants, Jews and Infidels meet promiscuously." He added, "These associations, ripening into friendships, lead in time to mixed marriages, the growing evil of our time and country."

By 1886, a council of American bishops met in Baltimore and decreed that it was an "absolute necessity and the obligation of pastors to establish" schools. They also said, "Parents must send their children to such schools unless the bishop should judge the reason for sending them elsewhere to be sufficient."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/13/education/13catholic.html?hp&ex=1108357200&en=7694a49025984b8e&ei=5094&partner=homepage
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[dbeach]

1. I graduated catholic schools when the nuns wre as tough as drill sargeants

and that is not an exaggeration..I sent one kid to catholics but the nuns are gone and their dedication..lay teachers that are underpaid and though dedicated have lives. and can't devote the time like the nuns did.. Now both my kids are in public schools and I not too impressed..now my Daughter may attend Catholic college which is much different..
Thanx for this post and I am sorry to see the Catholic school system breaking down...
charter schools are not the way to go!!!

[rodeodance]

2. i went to Catholic schools. no problem.

[biscotti]

3. I had 12 years of Catholic schooling

I have one word - Stifling!

[mcscajun]

4. I'm a survivor of 13 years of Catholic School, Plus a Catholic College

later on (I took 17 years out from my 'college career').
As to my own experience, I find that as a product of late 50's-60's Catholic schooling, what they mostly produced was well-educated, cultured agnostics and atheists. :)

But that wasn't the point of the post.

"Ain't nothin' new" and "Here we go again" was the point of the post. Once upon a time, public schools were overseen by Protestant clergy and were openly sectarian, and efforts to have the public schools stick to secular subjects were attacked even then.

[kris10ep]

5. You said it...

Ain't nothin' new.

I went to Catholic school from Kindergarten to 8th grade, but left because of the questionable status of the teachers, the administration or rather lack thereof, unstable finances, and some really nasty people.

My parents and I couldn't have made a better decision.

[mcscajun]

6. Again, I'm not knocking the Catholic Schools...

I got a great education there. What they did to my spirit was another thing entirely.

My point (gee, am I being obtuse here?) is the latter day fundie efforts to push faith-based stuff into our Public schools now, as compared with the late 19th Century Protestant-run PUBLIC Schools then -- that's what ain't new.