Preface to “Catholic Education”

The Church has devoted increasing attention to education over the past century.This is clearly revealed by a glance at the contents of this latest volume in the CCSP series Précis of Official Catholic Teaching.

The encyclicals Acerbo Nimis and Divini Illius Magistri, of Pius X and Pius XI respectively, were written at a time of mounting political and cultural unrest, when the traditional religious values of society were being threatened by the gradual secularization of the masses and the consolidation of totalitarian regimes was posing a grave threat to the educational rights of the Church.

The Second Vatican Council again voiced the universal concern of the Bishops in the Declaration, Gravissimum Educationis, which stressed the paramount importance of education in the life of man and its ever-growing influence on the social progress of the age. At the same time, the Council re-affirmed the part which the Church has to play in the development and extension of education.

It was Gravissimum Educationis which set forth the “educational rights” currently vindicated in the conscience of men and women and unequivocally recognized by many states, to the extent of being guaranteed by appropriate legislation; the right of all human beings to an education suited to their individual destiny, ability, sex and national cultural traditions; the primary and inalienable right and duty of parents to educate children and to select schools for them in accordance with their conscience; the duty of the state to respect the conscience of parents, to safeguard the rights of children and parents, and to ensure that public subsidies are so allocated as to ensure effective free choice in education for all citizens, excluding any form of state monopoly of schools as prejudicial to the natural rights of the human person and inconsistent with the pluralism existing in many societies.

Society has undergone profound changes since Vatican II. The challenges facing Christian educators have become increasingly formidable, their task increasingly complex. In many instances, official Church teaching has continued to enlighten and assist those involved in the educational field, whether directly — parents, educators, administrative staff — or, indirectly those who share responsibility in determining local or national educational policy and organization. In this respect, it has been the duty of the Congregation for Catholic Education to prepare a variety of publications addressing specific aspects of Christian education in the modern world. In these, it has sought to recall the fundamental principles of Church teaching and offer guidelines for their implementation, particularly with regard to Catholic schools and universities and their respective students and teaching staff. Allow me, as Prefect of the Congregation, to express particular gratitude that this volume opens to a wider audience many of our publications.

By offering a summary of Church documents on Christian education, the compilers of the present collection render a valuable service to all those who are in any way engaged in the field of education and evangelization. For who can doubt that the Christian education of youth is an essential part of the evangelizing mission of the Church, since its aim is to give witness to Christ, to to transmit faith in Christ, and offer the young opportunities to develop and deepen that faith?

My congratulations to CCSP for this further addition to their excellent series presenting official Church teaching in a readily accessible form on subjects which are of vital interest to Catholics seeking to develop an informed faith.

Pio Cardinal Laghi
Prefect
Congregation for Catholic Education