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Scoobyshme
Guest
Sounds like many of our secularized “Catholic” schools in this country. Many have the name “Catholic” but are nothing more than private schools for rich kids.
Where are our values when the dollar trumps doing what is right? Part of the problem is a lack of vocations. In the “old days” the classes were mostly taught by nuns. After Vatican II, may of the orders chucked their habits in lieu of street clothes. They no longer gave the young girls an example of giving up all for Christ and being in the world, but not of the world. Worldliness was in. When worldliness became the goal, vocations flew out the window! From what I’ve witnessed, those orders who remained faithful to their vows, their charism, and kept their habit are still flourishing (example: St. Cecelia’s Dominican’s in Nashville, TN). Those who became worldly, are for the most part, dying out.
But the bottom line is that without religious vocations, the schools have to hire lay teachers and pay them a living wage. The nuns took the vow of poverty and could get by on far, far less. Now, only the well off (or “comfortable”) can afford “Catholic” school.
And, sad to say, many “Catholic” schools in this country teach things that aren’t in keeping with Catholic faith. Again, this “worldliness” has crept into many of these schools. Maybe they should be shut down, rather than parading around as something they’re not?
Where are our values when the dollar trumps doing what is right? Part of the problem is a lack of vocations. In the “old days” the classes were mostly taught by nuns. After Vatican II, may of the orders chucked their habits in lieu of street clothes. They no longer gave the young girls an example of giving up all for Christ and being in the world, but not of the world. Worldliness was in. When worldliness became the goal, vocations flew out the window! From what I’ve witnessed, those orders who remained faithful to their vows, their charism, and kept their habit are still flourishing (example: St. Cecelia’s Dominican’s in Nashville, TN). Those who became worldly, are for the most part, dying out.
But the bottom line is that without religious vocations, the schools have to hire lay teachers and pay them a living wage. The nuns took the vow of poverty and could get by on far, far less. Now, only the well off (or “comfortable”) can afford “Catholic” school.
And, sad to say, many “Catholic” schools in this country teach things that aren’t in keeping with Catholic faith. Again, this “worldliness” has crept into many of these schools. Maybe they should be shut down, rather than parading around as something they’re not?
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eucharisteo
Guest
I pulled my children out of Catholic schools after witnessing the abuse from administrators and teachers. Such sinful acts. Very shameful. When the secular world treats our children better that the so called religious community it’s time for introspection.
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Dale_M
Guest
Scooby, the article doesn’t mention it, but Sister Eileen Marie Woodbury belongs to the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth, a teaching order which wears a traditional habit. Her departure, along with the other two sisters who belong to the order, means the school is losing the very thing you praise.
Here is a local news story about her firing:
tampabay.com/news/education/k12/catholic-school-in-hernando-stunned-by-nuns-dismissal/1080671
Here is the website for the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth:
mysite.verizon.net/vze7xpo1/index.html
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Scoobyshme
Guest
Dale,
You make a good point, but I doubt three sisters would’ve been enough to have the effect I had in mind. I would think the rest of the teachers were lay teachers.
My daughter used to go to an all-girl Catholic school that closed. They ran a story on the local news, showing clips from the days when it flourished and the day it was closing. It was very telling. In the days when it was flourishing, all the classes were taught by nuns. There were herds of them in the clip they showed, all wearing traditional habits. The clip of the day they closed, there were about four or five of them wearing street clothes with a little cross pinned on their lapel.
Without sufficient vocations, you can’t have sufficient numbers of nuns teaching who only need a subsistent level of living. You have to pay teachers a competitive wage. That pretty much makes a school have to charge a lot more, which most folks cannot afford.
Vocations don’t just come from wearing habits, but they certainly help, in my opinion. It says, loud and clear, “I am in the world, but not of it. I have given myself completely to Christ!”
I remember one old “nun” who worked in a parish. She wore street clothes, makeup, smoked, and talked like a sailor. Her big thing was to get wanted to get rid of daily Mass because it “interferred with her daily prayer time!” Good thing the pastor didn’t go along. He eventually had enough complaints about her that he asked her to go elsewhere.
I would be surprised if Sr. Eileen doesn’t catch on somewhere else pretty quick. There’s a shortage.
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