Pope Francis: ‘Evangelical’ Catholic Education Doesn’t ‘Obscure’ Catholic Identity
Catholic schools and colleges play a key role in evangelization and in creating a more humane world built on dialogue and hope, Pope Francis told members of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and this does not mean “obscuring one’s Catholic identity” but educating through “evangelical inspiration.”
Pope Francis expressed the importance of Catholic education, saying that young people who are “educated in a Christian way for dialogue, will come out of the classroom motivated to build bridges and, therefore, to find new answers to the many challenges of our times.”
“Dialogue, in fact, educates when the person relates with respect, esteem and sincere listening, and is expressed with authenticity without obscuring or softening one’s own identity nourished by evangelical inspiration,” he said. “Schools and universities are called to teach a method of intellectual dialogue aimed at seeking the truth.”
Bishop Zubik: Catholic Schools Harmed by ‘Godlessness’ in Society
Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburg is set to offer a reorganization plan to reverse the diocese-wide decline in enrollment, but he understands that there’s more to it than demographic shifts. There is also “a sense of godlessness in society” that affects church attendance and Catholic school enrollment, he said.
Sold-Out 18th Year of V-Monologues at DePaul University
On the subject of “obscured” Catholic identity and godlessness, last weekend’s performances of the V[ ] Monologues at DePaul University—for the 18th year!—were reportedly sold out.
“Easily one of the most animated and aggressive performances of the night,” according to the student newspaper, was a student actress “screaming ‘[extremely vulgar reference to female part]’ from the audience and eventually making everyone in the room scream it with her in attempt to reclaim the word from all negative connotations.”
New Study: Catholic Colleges’ Religious Identity Affects Hookup Culture
Jason King, professor of theology at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA, has published a study aimed at discovering how Catholic identity affects the hookup culture. The study, “Faith with Benefits: Hookup Culture on Catholic Campuses (2017),” concludes that “Catholic identity does affect hookup culture—but not in a simple or straightforward way.”
“It can hinder hooking up, change its meaning, or direct energy away from it,” writes King. “Its effects depend on how an institution supports Catholic identity, and on the students’ own Catholic faith.”
Trump Administration Withdraws Defense of ‘Transgender Bathroom’ Policy
The Trump administration has decided not to appeal a federal court injunction that barred enforcement of the Obama administration’s guidelines requiring all schools which receive federal funding to allow students who identify as the opposite gender to use opposite-sex bathrooms, locker rooms and other facilities, reports Joan Desmond of the National Catholic Register.
The Obama administration had appealed the ruling by a federal district court in Texas, but the reversal by the Trump administration allows the injunction to remain while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the matter with oral arguments on March 28. It is not yet clear how the new administration will argue that case, or if it will simply rescind the Department of Education’s interpretation of the Title IX law
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