St. John Paul II and Catholic education. A review of his teachings: an essay to inspire Catholic educators internationally

Abstract

Education forms a very significant activity within the Roman Catholic Church. The cultural and ethical formation of young generations and thus the future of society and the Church depend largely on it. Catholic schools grant the opportunity to base formal education on Christian anthropology and to shape students’ personality in the light of the Gospel. The pontificate of John Paul II made a significant contribution to the development of Catholic education, and its theoretical foundations in particular. Due to the importance of the Pope's teaching and its timeliness for contemporary Catholic education, we carried out scientific reflection devoted to it. This study is primarily of a source nature, based on an analysis of the statements of John Paul II and the dicasteries of the Roman Curia during his pontificate. It can certainly inspire Catholic educators throughout the world.

Keywords:

• Catholic education
• Catholic schools
• Congregation for Catholic Education
• John Paul II
• religious dimension of education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Paweł Mąkosa is an assistant professor at John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (Poland). He works at the Institute of Theological Sciences. He studied Pastoral Theology and Catechetics in Lublin, and further participated in many courses in Pedagogy at Sacro Cuore University in Milan (Italy). Over the years, he has been a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford and the Centre for Research and Development in Catholic Education of University of London. CRDCE is now located at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London.

Notes

1 ‘A State monopoly in this area must be condemned as a form of totalitarianism which violates the fundamental rights which it ought to defend, especially the right of parents to provide religious education for their children’ (John Paul II 1999A, 71).

2 Theocentrism is the belief that the Christian God is the beginning and end of all existence; that He is at the core of everything that exists. This is the fundamental truth that the education in faith schools is based upon. Christocentralism emphasises the greatest truth of Christianity, saying that the Revelation was accomplished in Christ, with God becoming man, dying and coming back to life to redeem all the mankind. Christian education emphasises this love of God for man and calls us to follow Christ, which leads to achieving temporal fulfilment and eternal salvation. Ecclesiocentrism emphasises the role of Church as a community proclaiming the true word of God, celebrating the liturgy, and, notably, the sacraments, and living love on a daily basis. In education, it emphasises that man can fully meet with God only in the community of Church and that students are encouraged to actively engage in the life of this community (see Martín-Sánchez and Cáceres-Muñoz 2016, 34).

3 ‘Young people from different religions and cultures, who attend your educational institutions, require even more attention and dedication from you’ (John Paul II 1985C, 2).

4 Brendan P. Carmody (2017) argues that the contemporary Catholic school is ‘confessional’, but at the same time, ‘truly educative’ and not indoctrinatory.

5 In some countries, e.g. Italy, catechisation of Christian students takes place in the parishes and not in the schools.

6 The phrase ‘the People of God’ was made particularly prominent by Vatican II and refers to both the Pope, bishops, priests and lay faithful. It does not undermine the hierarchical structure of the Church, but rather gives greater recognition to the role of the laity in the Church (see: Paul VI 1971).

7 Axiology is the science of values and valuation criteria. Axiological education is based on assisting the students in their discovery of values and shaping life attitudes based on them. Discernibly, this concerns values such as empathy, altruism, responsibility, etc. With regard to religious values, one can speak here, for example, of faith, hope and love.

8 This is primarily about moving away from understanding the school solely as an institution, and striving to build a real community within the Church instead. This concept stems from the conciliar vision of ‘the People of God’, where everyone is equal, shares the same values, and pursues the same goal.

9 On the formation of teachers and principals of Catholic schools see, Franchi and Rymarz (2017). ‘The education and formation of teachers for Catholic schools: responding to changed cultural contexts’, International Studies in Catholic Education, 9: 1, 2–16; Friel (2018). ‘Renewing spiritual capital: the National Retreat for Catholic Head-teachers and the National School of Formation: the impact on Catholic head-teachers in the UK’, International Studies in Catholic Education, 10: 1, 81–96.

10 In various countries the Catholic education also faces different challenges, e.g. demographic problems, education for students with special educational needs, formation of Catholic school leaders, etc. (see: Fisher 2010; Boyle, Haller, and Hunt 2016; James 2007, 288–291).

11 Graham P. McDonough (2017) conducted interesting research on the opinion of young people on the subject of lay staff and the decrease in the number of clergy in the Catholic schools.

12 J.T. James assessed different models for financing Catholic schools (see: James 2007, 287–301).

Additional information

Funding

This paper was written using data obtained from research financed by the National Science Center Poland. The project registration number is: [2016/21/B/HS1/00834]