Vatican: Dialogue is part of schools' Catholic identity

Friday, Apr. 01, 2022

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Holding  the obligation to protect and promote the Catholic identity of Catholic schools while reaching out to a broader community of students and teachers requires a commitment to dialogue, says a new document from the Congregation for Catholic Education.

The instruction, “The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue,” was signed by Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, congregation prefect, and was released by the Vatican March 29.

The congregation was asked to write the document particularly “given cases of conflicts and appeals resulting from different interpretations of the traditional concept of Catholic identity by educational institutions,” Cardinal Versaldi said

The document, however, did not include any specific description of those cases, which presumably include controversy over teachers being fired or not being fired for marrying a person of the same sex.

Those involved in hiring for Catholic schools, it said, are required “to inform prospective recruits of the Catholic identity of the school and its implications, as well as of their responsibility to promote that identity. If the person being recruited does not comply with the requirements of the Catholic school and its belonging to the Church community, the school is responsible for taking the necessary steps. Dismissal may also be resorted to, taking into account all circumstances on a case-by-case basis.”

At the same time, it said, “a narrow Catholic school model” is not acceptable either. “In such schools, there is no room for those who are not ‘totally’ Catholic. This approach contradicts the vision of an ‘open’ Catholic school that intends to apply to the educational sphere the model of a ‘Church which goes forth’ in dialogue with everyone.”

The document insisted that Catholic education is not strictly catechetical, nor is it a “mere philanthropic work aimed at responding to a social need,” but is an essential part of the Church’s identity and mission.

Catholic schools do not limit enrollment or employment to Catholics alone since, as the Second Vatican Council said, part of their mission is to promote “the complete perfection of the human person, the good of earthly society and the building of a world that is more human.”

To reach that goal, the document said, Catholic schools must “practice the ‘grammar of dialogue,’ not as a technical expedient, but as a profound way of relating to others. Dialogue combines attention to one’s own identity with the understanding of others and respect for diversity.”