Protestants Working in Catholic Schools

[TheDoctor]

A true Catholic education doesn’t consist of a private school with a religion class tucked in there somewhere. No, the Catholic school is permeated with Catholic principles & thought throughout the curriculum regardless of class. This poses an obstacle in elementary and middle schools, in the child’s formative years, when you have someone who is non-Catholic fill a position which, by it’s nature, requires them to be Catholic.

I am a little confused about this, since your last post did not mention Catholic but only homosexual. So, please, just so I am clear: if they are Catholic, qualified and also happen to be homosexual, it is OK for them to teach, correct?

 

[RosaryCrusader]

I am a little confused about this, since your last post did not mention Catholic but only homosexual. So, please, just so I am clear: if they are Catholic, qualified and also happen to be homosexual, it is OK for them to teach, correct?

Depends on what you mean by ‘homosexual.’

In the secular usage there is no distinction between an “active” and “inactive” homosexual person. Either you are or you aren’t and the acts are assumed as part of the orientation. The distinction between practicing or not is made by Catholics and protestant groups who show a differentiation between the inclination [temptation] and the act [sin]. My usage of the word was according to the common secular usage and it’s obvious that in your post you were speaking of someone with ‘same sex attraction’ [SSA].

The Catholic Church teaches that not only are homosexual acts intrinsically disordered but so are the attractions. So my question would be to what extent do we allow someone with a psychological or behavorial disorder teach children in schools?

 

[TheDoctor]

Depends on what you mean by ‘homosexual.’

In the secular usage there is no distinction between an “active” and “inactive” homosexual person. Either you are or you aren’t and the acts are assumed as part of the orientation. The distinction between practicing or not is made by Catholics and protestant groups who show a differentiation between the inclination [temptation] and the act [sin]. My usage of the word was according to the common secular usage and it’s obvious that in your post you were speaking of someone with ‘same sex attraction’ [SSA].

The Catholic Church teaches that not only are homosexual acts intrinsically disordered but so are the attractions. So my question would be to what extent do we allow someone with a psychological or behavorial disorder teach children in schools?

Hi RC. Sorry to be a while, I don’t get to the I-net much on weekends.

I do mean SSA. To the extent that we allow someone with a disorder to teach? I’ll have to ask the teacher’s I’ve had who are alcoholic or clinically depressed or drug addicted or obsessive compulsive or…

Something I have wondered - how do you exactly know they have SSA is they don’t do anything or tell anyone (do we make them check off a box on the teaching application or do we only hire principals with “Gaydar”? And if they don’t do anything or tell anyone, then they are not acting out their SSA. And if they are not acting out SSA, what basis do we have for stopping them from teaching?

 

[Glenoy]

I prefer it should be catholic mentors for a catholic school. Regardless of what class they are going to handle, they should be catholics. This is the policy of my secondary school run by a religious sisters, RVM. I remember we begin our day with a prayer before a flag ceremony, and again we make sign of the cross and pray before our teacher begins and closes his class. Also, there will be a holy mass every 1st and last friday of the month and a monthly schedule for confession inside the campus.

I did not see how this policy helps keep my faith from corruption during that time until I enrolled in maritime college in a non-sectarian school. I find it awkward that many of my instructors do not begin our classes with a prayer. Here in the Philippines it is usually no class during town or a village fiesta (feast day of the patron saint) because it would be declared a holiday. But my non-catholic instructors would attack the fiesta celebration by saying, “why celebrate a fiesta?”, Why ask for help to a saint, why not direct to God?" But luckily we still have few instructors who are devout catholics that prays before and after his class.

So now I realized how advantageous it is to be educated in a catholic school. There are many catholic teachers who are excellent, so why hire non-catholics for a catholic school? While we can expect the best in their field (for example, science), there is a plus/bonus we can get from them. And that is the confidence we can have from them with regards to our faith. No danger.

 

[pnewton]

My youngest started school this fall. His teacher goes to an independent charismatic church. However, she is an avid Christian who will not teach religion. That is done by a religious ed teacher, even in the bottom grades. She had to attend a Catholic retreat and learn a lot about Catholicism prior to the school year starting. She said to me that it was really beautiful and educational. Her only issue is still learning all the Catholic prayers, which she is working on, so she can always say them with her students.

I have no problem with such a teacher. Besides, when a school can not compete with the public system, it helps to have a bigger base to hire from.

 

[tcm22]

My youngest started school this fall. His teacher goes to an independent charismatic church. However, she is an avid Christian who will not teach religion. That is done by a religious ed teacher, even in the bottom grades. She had to attend a Catholic retreat and learn a lot about Catholicism prior to the school year starting. She said to me that it was really beautiful and educational. Her only issue is still learning all the Catholic prayers, which she is working on, so she can always say them with her students.

I have no problem with such a teacher. Besides, when a school can not compete with the public system, it helps to have a bigger base to hire from.

That sounds very much like the situation at our school. Ideally all the teachers would be committed, practicing Catholics. Thankfully, many of them are. Unfortunately we have to compete with the public schools as well as the other Catholic schools in the area. Our non-Catholic teachers are all required to support the religious curriculum as well as the overall Catholic culture of the school. The accompany the children to Mass, teach them basic prayers, discuss the Saints, etc. As a very involved parent, I’ve never seen a conflict. Our first grade teacher is not a Catholic, though she is a Christian. Thankfully, at that age there’s few thorny doctrinal issues to muddle their little minds.

 

[EasterJoy]

What about a homosexual? Strontium still burns red, although more flamboyantly, regardless of whether or not they’re Catholic or homosexual.

Flamboyant and homosexual are not the same thing. Heterosexuals can be hams, too! If you don’t also know that homosexuals can be introverted and shy, then boy do you not have your “radar” calibrated…which may be just as well for everyone concerned.

The Catholic Church teaches that not only are homosexual acts intrinsically disordered but so are the attractions. So my question would be to what extent do we allow someone with a psychological or behavorial disorder teach children in schools?

Any Catholic who espouses the teachings of the Church and does not suffer from a disorder* that poses a direct threat to the children should be allowed to teach. Homosexuals should not be treated like lepers.

(*such as pedophilia, which is also not the exclusive domain of any one gender or orientation, inability to control outbursts of anger, etc.)

Homosexuality is not a disorder which poses a direct threat to children, per se. In fact, a Catholic with SSA who lives his or her life in dignity and chastity is a great role model for children. Some of those children will turn out to be homosexual themselves, and will need to cope with this issue in a manner that is both faithful and self-accepting. If I had SSA, it would help a lot to know that someone I knew with SSA was also someone worthy of praise and emulation, because they lived such a full and wonderful single life.

Likewise, I’d rather my children not grow to admire and want to emulate a heterosexual Catholic who found chastity among heterosexuals to be optional. It does come down to that: within the person’s particular talents and challenges, is he or she a good role model?

As for the Protestants, they have to be someone willing to encourage the children to live their own Christain faith. I had a teacher in high school like that. We had enough faith in common for him to be a very good role model, and he encouraged us to live our own tradition. He was a model of how to treat those of other faiths with deep respect, too. I think the Catholics on the staff admired his devotion to the Lord. I’d let him teach my own children in a heartbeat.

Again, I’d choose a Protestant who was both truly devoted to the Lord and who is truly respectful of the Catholic faith to teach my children over a lukewarm Catholic, without question. Lukewarm Catholics in a Catholic school, though, can be worse than nothing, since they teach a message that “the Catholic religion is very well, up to a point, we all enjoy the candles and stuff, but let’s not let it make any meaningful impact on our lives.” Better the kids be in public school.

 

[gxensen]

With the recent shortages in qualified math and science teachers, I think that I could understand why this is so.

 

[SaintPatrick333]

Easy. Catholic is “universal.” We welcome all peoples, just as God does. I’d hate to think there’s a Catholic school that only hires, teaches, and employs Catholics…that would be cultish, not Catholic.

I agree with that but would also add that one has to draw a line somewhere. Case in point being the congregation of muslim students who are demanding a room be built onto the school to allow them to pray in their islamic tradition. At a Catholic University. Really? Like the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen once said, “Let us open our minds. But not so much so that our brains fall out.”

 

[waterbrook]

As you can see I am not Catholic, but I can’t see why some non Catholics cannot teach ina Catholic school, even Religious Ed simply because they are not catholic if they can do the job as well as other candidates who might be equally qualified, that is discrimination IMO. The job of any teacher is education not brain washing or manipulation. I studied religion to post graduate level at a catholic college and know and understand the faith far better than most Catholics I know and my qualification and training are superior to the qualification to teach RE sponsored by our catholic bishops.

 

[OraLabora]

As for the Protestants, they have to be someone willing to encourage the children to live their own Christain faith. I had a teacher in high school like that. We had enough faith in common for him to be a very good role model, and he encouraged us to live our own tradition. He was a model of how to treat those of other faiths with deep respect, too. I think the Catholics on the staff admired his devotion to the Lord. I’d let him teach my own children in a heartbeat.

Again, I’d choose a Protestant who was both truly devoted to the Lord and who is truly respectful of the Catholic faith to teach my children over a lukewarm Catholic, without question. Lukewarm Catholics in a Catholic school, though, can be worse than nothing, since they teach a message that “the Catholic religion is very well, up to a point, we all enjoy the candles and stuff, but let’s not let it make any meaningful impact on our lives.” Better the kids be in public school.

Thanks for this. It reminds me of my father. My parents had one of the earliest (i.e. pre-Vatican II) mixed marriages, my father Anglican and my mother Catholic. They were married by a Catholic priest but only in the rectory and on signed condition that my father allow their children to be raised Catholic. He took it seriously, when my mother couldn’t take me to Mass on Sunday if she was not feeling well, he would take me instead. Moreover the only time he let me set foot in an Anglican church was for my step-sister’s wedding (he was a widower when he met my mother), when I was 5. He took his promise seriously.

I agree with that but would also add that one has to draw a line somewhere. Case in point being the congregation of muslim students who are demanding a room be built onto the school to allow them to pray in their islamic tradition. At a Catholic University. Really? Like the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen once said, “Let us open our minds. But not so much so that our brains fall out.”

It might shock you to learn that in Senegal, monks of a Benedictine monastery teach the Koran to Muslim children because they are illiterate and cannot read Arabic.

It may also shock you to learn that Muslims teach at the Gregorian University in Rome. With approval at the highest levels.