Catholic Education

When the Vatican began drawing up new guidelines for Catholic higher education more than a decade ago, there was reason for unease in many Catholic colleges and universities in this country. How far would the Vatican want to push its authority over these institutions, which must function in a country where intellectual freedom is a prerequisite to academic respectability?As it turns out, the guidelines issued last week strike a generall conciliatory tone. The paper calls on Catholic schools to stay faithful to church teaching and to their religious character.

It has been nearly three years since my predecessor, Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, and the Blue Ribbon Committee on Catholic Schools released the Strategic Plan for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Since that time, enrollment declines have been stemmed in many schools; innovative new programs such as our dual language and Montessori initiatives have kept our schools competitive; and systemic changes to the governance of our schools, renewed focus on school leadership - training of principals and development of local school boards, as well as system-wide accreditation - are ensuring Catholic schools remain an excellent value (average annual K-8 cost is approximately $5,000)

As many of you know, I was born and raised in solidly working class Arbutus. My family's Protestantism qualified us as an anomaly; the majority of the neighborhood kids were Catholic. Most attended local Catholic schools such as Ascension, Our Lady of Victory, and St. Mark's. A majority of them went on to graduate high school at Cardinal Gibbons, Mount St. Joe, or Seton. This school experience provided parents an attractive "three-fer": religious instruction, challenging academics and excellent athletics - at a reasonable price, to boot.

As many of you know, I was born and raised in solidly working class Arbutus. My family's Protestantism qualified us as an anomaly; the majority of the neighborhood kids were Catholic. Most attended local Catholic schools such as Ascension, Our Lady of Victory, and St. Mark's. A majority of them went on to graduate high school at Cardinal Gibbons, Mount St. Joe, or Seton. This school experience provided parents an attractive "three-fer": religious instruction, challenging academics and excellent athletics - at a reasonable price, to boot.

When St. John School bestowed the 1995 Distinguished Graduate Award on Mary M. Eckard, it placed her in the company of a cardinal, a national news commentator and the director of the FBI.In a ceremony Wednesday, the Westminster school surprised Mrs. Eckard, 79, with the award, which is sponsored by the National Catholic Education Association."

The Archdiocese of Baltimore named Friday the 23 members of its new school board who will oversee strategic planning for strengthening its Roman Catholic education program. The new archdiocesan school board, which will be led by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien, includes leaders in education, business and philanthropy. The board will lead the implementation of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Catholic Schools' Strategic Plan, a blueprint spurred by a report released in June by a panel of Catholic education experts.

Pope Benedict XVI's highly anticipated address today to more than 200 leaders of U.S. Catholic colleges has renewed a debate that is as old as their origins: How do Catholic institutions of higher education balance their religious identity with academic freedom? Catholic colleges were founded upon the principle that faith and reason are essential in the pursuit of knowledge. But at times, the two ideals have clashed, with conservative Catholics condemning some curricula and opposing such campus activities as gay student groups, commencement speakers who support abortion rights, and stage productions of The Vagina Monologues.

It was the sort of prayer that Justin Fratantuono might have delivered next year at graduation. But the Cardinal Gibbons School is closing this month, so the junior's words of thanks Friday for teachers, friends and a school "that has allowed us to keep learning every day of our lives" took on the weight of a valedictory. "This is a really emotional day for me," Fratantuono, vice president of the last junior class at Gibbons, said after the final school assembly at the Catholic high school for boys in Southwest Baltimore.

Marian Shriver McSherry, long-time devotee of Maryland's Catholic aristocracy and mother of 12 children, died on July 24 of breast cancer at her home in Frederick. She was 85. A second cousin of R. Sargent Shriver, Marian Macsherry was born in Baltimore and grew up in Roland Park, spending her summers at Union Mills, the Shriver family homestead. She graduated from Noroton School of the Sacred Heart in Noroton, Conn., and attended Manhattanville College in New York for one year before she got married.

It has been nearly three years since my predecessor, Cardinal Edwin O'Brien, and the Blue Ribbon Committee on Catholic Schools released the Strategic Plan for Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Since that time, enrollment declines have been stemmed in many schools; innovative new programs such as our dual language and Montessori initiatives have kept our schools competitive; and systemic changes to the governance of our schools, renewed focus on school leadership - training of principals and development of local school boards, as well as system-wide accreditation - are ensuring Catholic schools remain an excellent value (average annual K-8 cost is approximately $5,000)

The eighth grade students at St. Joan of Arc School participated in a Conclave web chat with William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore, on March 11. St. Joan of Arc School was one of 17 Catholic elementary schools invited to participate. Archbishop Lori began the web chat with prayer and a PowerPoint presentation explaining the conclave to the students. "This is a historical time in the life of our Church," the Archbishop said. Following the PowerPoint presentation, each school had one student ask a question.

Gail Liss, the front desk receptionist for Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, went to a dentist appointment at noontime Wednesday, confident that a new pope would not be chosen before she got back to work. Liss was wrong. While she sitting in the dentist chair, she heard on the radio that white smoke had billowed in the Vatican, the traditional sign that a pope had been elected by the Vatican's conclave of cardinals. "I gotta get out of here," she thought. Liss rushed back to the Cathedral office on North Charles Street just in time to see the new pope, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina, introduced.

Even amid an economic downturn that has many parishes struggling and a declining enrollment that prompted the closing of many Catholic schools, the Archdiocese of Baltimore is confident it can raise $100 million during its first capital campaign in 15 years. Archbishop William E. Lori, who took over leadership of the nation's oldest archdiocese in May, launched the Embracing our Mission — Shaping our Future campaign Wednesday with an inner-city school newly renovated for $1.5 million and its students in the background.

The Institute of Notre Dame, a 165-year-old private all-girls high school in the city, has selected Gail Donahue as its new principal, according to the school. Donahue is currently the assistant principal of professional development of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney. She replaces Ann Seeley, who is retiring June 30 after 12 years as principal of IND, the school said. Donahue, of Ellicott City, has taught in Catholic schools for 34 years. She holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Pennsylvania State University, a master's degree in reading from Trinity University, and is expected to earn a doctorate in educational leadership from Notre Dame of Maryland University — where she is also an associate faculty member — this month, IND said.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, who continues to campaign for same-sex marriage in advance of a likely referendum aimed at overturning the law he signed this month, will speak Friday at a conference in Baltimore for gay and lesbian Catholics. Also scheduled to appear at the conference organized by the Maryland-based New Ways Ministry are Barbara Johnson, who was denied Communion at her mother's funeral Mass in Gaithersburg last month because she is a lesbian; former Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who has written a book critical of church involvement in politics; and Geoffery Robinson, a retired Catholic bishop from Australia.

Marian Shriver McSherry, long-time devotee of Maryland's Catholic aristocracy and mother of 12 children, died on July 24 of breast cancer at her home in Frederick. She was 85. A second cousin of R. Sargent Shriver, Marian Macsherry was born in Baltimore and grew up in Roland Park, spending her summers at Union Mills, the Shriver family homestead. She graduated from Noroton School of the Sacred Heart in Noroton, Conn., and attended Manhattanville College in New York for one year before she got married.

I think Dan Rodricks' column about sex abuse by a former chaplain at Calvert Hall ( "A demon's death in paradise," Jan. 9) was unfair to my alma mater. Does this man read his own paper? If he does how can he explain not mentioning the name Charles Lo Presto, the teacher who took corrective measures when he learned of the abuse. If I have learned anything from my 16 years of Catholic education it is the importance of fairness. I usually enjoy Mr. Rodricks' work. The Calvert Hall column was unbalanced.

With the end of the 2010-2011 school year approaching for most area Catholic schools, I would be interested to hear from anyone regarding all the benefits that were to be gained from the closing of the 12 Catholic elementary and high schools. As the closings were announced last March, we were told that this would make "a Catholic education more affordable for everyone who desires it. " Let me say that I just received my 2011-2012 tuition bill, and I can say that I am paying approximately 40 percent more for my son to attend his new school than I did for his previous school.