It is from its Catholic identity that the school derives its original characteristics and its structure as a genuine instrument of the Church, a place of real and specific pastoral ministry....In this way "Catholic schools are at once places of evangelization, of complete formation, of inculturation, of apprenticeship in a lively dialogue between young people of different religions and social backgrounds.” The ecclesial nature of the Catholic school, therefore, is written in the very heart of its identity as a teaching institution.
 –  The Catholic School in the Third Millenium, s.11

The Catholic school is not an “Education Factory.” It is above all a community of Catholics united by a common love of learning, a “Joy in the Truth.” What is studied in the classroom is lived out by faculty and students, administrators and staff.Students come to integrate faith and life naturally; they taste in their school the solidity and glory of Catholic doctrine.

At the heart of the Catholic school is the Chapel, in which the central liturgical action of all Catholic communities takes place. Devotion to Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church, is the foundation of a vibrant Catholic school. The source and summit of this devotion is found in the Chapel.

The living nature of the Catholic school as a community of formation affects in a particular way the role of teachers.

In the Catholic school, "prime responsibility for creating this unique Christian school climate rests with the teachers, as individuals and as a community.” Teaching has an extraordinary moral depth and is one of man's most excellent and creative activities, for the teacher does not write on inanimate material, but on the very spirits of human beings. The personal relations between the teacher and the students, therefore, assume an enormous importance and are not limited simply to giving and taking. Moreover, we must remember that teachers and educators fulfil a specific Christian vocation and share an equally specific participation in the mission of the Church, to the extent that "it depends chiefly on them whether the Catholic school achieves its purpose.”

Section Topics

Chapel Overview

Magesterial Documents

Chapel Resources

Beyond the Test, the Institute Newsletter (May 2009, on Religion)