May 18, 2012

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Our Faith

EXCERPTS FROM OUR ADMINISTRATIVE HANDBOOK ON
CATHOLIC IDENTITY AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 CATHOLIC SCHOOL COMMUNITIES – WHERE FAITH AND REASON MEET

All the Church’s activities stem from her awareness that she is the bearer of a message which has its origin in God himself: in his goodness and wisdom, God chose to reveal himself and to make known the hidden purpose of his will (cf. Eph 1:9; Dei Verbum, 2). God’s desire to make himself known, and the innate desire of all human beings to know the truth, provide the context for human inquiry into the meaning of life. This unique encounter is sustained within our Christian community: the one who seeks the truth becomes the one who lives by faith (cf. Fides et Ratio, 31). It can be described as a move from “I” to “we”, leading the individual to be numbered among God’s people.

This same dynamic of communal identity – to whom do I belong? – vivifies the ethos of our Catholic institutions. A university or school’s Catholic identity is not simply a question of the number of Catholic students. It is a question of conviction – do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22)? Are we ready to commit our entire self – intellect and will, mind and heart – to God? Do we accept the truth Christ reveals? Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools? Is it given fervent expression liturgically, sacramentally, through prayer, acts of charity, a concern for justice, and respect for God’s creation? Only in this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and what we uphold. (Pope Benedict XVI’s Address to Catholic Educators, April 17, 2008)

Catholic schools are communities of faith and faith formation. They are committed to developing faith-filled, morally aware and academically strong individuals who are of service to the Church and society.

Our schools provide a Catholic education that illuminates academic teaching with Christian principles and prepares students to see Christ in others by the development of their talents. Our schools emphasize the importance of faith in the life of the individual and of morality as the life-giving principle that guides our students to become self-giving, responsible citizens and leaders.

Jesus Christ gives a transcendent meaning to human existence and this spiritual dimension should inform the intellectual journey of the human person.

Accordingly with the support of the Department of Catholic Schools, faculty, parents, alumni, consultative boards and the community, our schools:

  • educate the whole person spiritually, academically, socially, and physically;
  • promote the dialogue among faith, reason and culture;
  • build community through the celebration of the Church’s liturgical life;
  • defend the goodness, dignity and freedom of each person;
  • foster awareness of moral and social concerns; and
  • develop leaders for the community.

Students from all faith traditions, cultures, and economic backgrounds are welcome and invited to collaborate in fulfilling our mission. All those who quest for truth contribute to and enhance the community.

The goal of the religion program in the Catholic school is to form the student in the Christian faith and to provide the student with the opportunity to learn about and to experience the Church’s teachings and practices in an academic setting. Since Christian education and formation is carried out in a community, the entire faculty and staff are responsible for carrying out this goal. Members from all school departments form community with students not only in the classroom and in other school activities but also in planning and implementing the school’s various religious activities and events. In this area, the religion department and campus ministry together with the principal serve as catalysts and provide leadership and support.

1.3 SCHOOLS AS COMMUNITIES OF EVANGELIZATION AND CATECHESIS

As communities of evangelization and catechesis, Catholic schools impart information and support and encourage formation according to circumstances of place, culture, and times. Evangelization most easily occurs when students see and hear the gospel message through the actions and words of genuinely committed teachers and other students in the school community. Our schools seek to fulfill the fourfold mission of Catholic education: message, community, service and worship, which reflects the United States Bishops’ landmark pastoral To Teach as Jesus Did (1972).

1.4 FORMS OF EVANGELIZATION

Evangelization in the school setting takes place through:

  • Catechetical instruction (Message)
  • Liturgical celebrations (Worship)
  • Campus Ministry (Community)
  • Christian Service (Community, Service)
  • Retreat Program (Message, Worship, Community)

POLICY: Every Catholic school is to provide catechetical instruction, liturgical celebrations, and programs for campus ministry, Christian service, and retreats.

1.5 CATECHETICAL INSTRUCTION (Message)

In Jesus, the Son of God, the message of the old law was fulfilled and the fullness of God’s message was communicated . . . It is this message, this doctrine, which the Church is called to proclaim authentically and fully. (To Teach as Jesus Did, 16).

In a Catholic school all students have the privilege and the obligation to participate in religious instruction. Religion teachers have the privilege and responsibility to provide all students with an encounter with Christ and instruction in Catholic doctrine and practice. This calls for witness to the way of Christ as found in the Scriptures and Catholic Church teaching. As teachers promote knowledge of Scripture and Sacred Tradition, they seek to create an environment conducive to Christ on campus and in the classroom, and to impart what will form the students’ foundational understanding of doctrine, moral decision-making, discernment of vocation, forms of worship and service, and involvement in the Christian community of faith.

POLICIES: All students whether Catholic or non-Catholic are required to be enrolled in a religion course for credit each semester.

Religion teachers must be supportive of the school’s religious instruction and formation program and knowledgeable about the Catholic faith.

1.6 LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS (Worship)

Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the Christian people, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people,” (1 Pet 2:9; 2:4-5) have a right and an obligation by reason of their Baptism. (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14)

The Eucharist is “the source and summit of the Christian life.” (Lumen Gentium, 5) The other sacraments, and indeed all ecclesiastical ministries and works of the apostolate, are bound up with the Eucharist and are oriented toward it. For in the blessed Eucharist is contained the whole spiritual good of the Church, namely Christ himself, our Pasch. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1324)

Liturgy is liturgy when it is the habitual deed of the Church. These assemblies must know it deeply and thoroughly, as something so beautiful and profound that repetition only enhances our love for these deeds and our growth from them. Unlike so much else in our modern lives, liturgy is not diversion or entertainment, not measured by any standard suitable to those worlds. It is instead an orchestration of word and silence, chant and gesture, procession and attention, that we are to know, wonderfully, by heart. (Cardinal Roger Mahony’s Gather Faithfully Together, 125)

Liturgy celebrated properly in the school setting prepares students to participate in the liturgical life of their home parishes. Guidelines for school liturgies are provided in the appendix as an aid to campus ministers and students involved in liturgy preparation.

POLICY: The administration, faculty and students are to share in the celebration of the Eucharist at least monthly. Liturgical preparation should involve cooperative planning by the celebrant and representatives of the school community. Faculty and students are to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation periodically and in particular during Advent and Lent. Although preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation is specifically a parish program, the school is to make every effort to encourage and support students and their parents to participate in their parish Confirmation program.

1.8 CAMPUS MINISTRY (Community)

Community is at the heart of Christian Education not simply as a concept to be taught but as a reality to be lived (To Teach as Jesus Did, 23).

Although the ultimate responsibility for moral leadership rests with the principal, he/she must be able to count on a unity of conviction and purpose in the entire faculty if a genuine community of faith is to be achieved. Paramount in fostering this community climate at the high school level, in the gospel spirit of freedom and love, is campus ministry.

The high school campus minister and campus ministry team, appointed and supported by the principal, creates, promotes and oversees multiple opportunities for prayer, liturgy, celebration of sacraments, retreats, peer ministry and the Christian Service program. The campus minister and campus ministry team strive to obtain the active involvement and cooperation of faculty and students in these endeavors.

POLICY: Every high school is to have a campus ministry program and a campus minister.

1.9 CHRISTIAN SERVICE (Community, Service)

The experience of Christian community leads naturally to service (To Teach as Jesus Did, 28).

Through the Christian Service program students at all class levels are encouraged to give service—beyond the school setting—in ways that further their faith, engender hope, and witness love. Christian Service programs should foster an understanding of the essential connection between the Eucharist and Christian Service.

POLICY: A Christian service program is required in all high schools. Each high school student is required to perform a minimum of 80 hours of service spread out over four years. A component of theological reflection on service is required of all students.

1.10 RETREAT PROGRAM (Message, Worship, Community)

The retreat experience is intended as an effective means of evangelization and of the spiritual development for both faculty and students. The principal and campus ministry team determine the type and number of retreat experiences that best meet the needs of their school community.

POLICY: At least one full day retreat for the faculty is to be calendared each year in a location conducive to prayer and reflection. Annual retreats for eighth grade and all high school students are also to be calendared.

2. RELIGIOUS FORMATION OF HIGH SCHOOL FACULTY

2.1 FACULTY RESPONSIBILITY FOR RELIGIOUS FORMATION AND INSTRUCTION

By their witness and their behavior teachers are of the first importance to impart a distinctive character to Catholic schools. It is, therefore, indispensible to ensure their continuing formation through some form of suitable pastoral provision. This must aim to animate them as witnesses of Christ in the classroom and tackle the problems of their particular apostolate, especially regarding a Christian vision of the world and education, problems also connected with the art of teaching in accordance with the principles of the Gospel (The Catholic School, 78).

All faculty and administrators are responsible for the religious formation and instruction of students. In a Catholic school, all teachers, not solely religion teachers, support the religious instruction and formation program of the school and need therefore to be knowledgeable about the Catholic faith and supportive of Church teaching. It is the responsibility of the principal to provide faculty members with adequate opportunities for their own religious formation and understanding of Church teaching.

2.2 SCHOOL’S RESPONSIBILITY FOR FACULTY FORMATION AND INSTRUCTION

All teachers in a Catholic school should become familiar with the purpose and philosophy of Catholic education and a basic theology of ministry as well as the charism, mission and history of the school in which they teach.

The Department of Catholic Schools provides an outline of topics for a four year cycle of Catholic formation and instruction to be implemented by each school. In addition the Department of Catholic Schools provides an annual faculty faith formation day. The four year cycle of topics is:

  • Faith Life to include the Nicene Creed, Revelation, Church
  • Sacramental Life to include Paschal Mystery, Liturgy, Liturgical Year, Sacraments
  • Moral Life to include Church teaching on the Dignity of the Human Person, Sin and Grace, Thinking with the Church, Conscience Formation and Decision Making, Social Teaching
  • Spiritual Life to include History of Catholic Spirituality, Forms of Prayer, Prayer as Worship, Leading Prayer

POLICIES: Each school is to schedule a variety of in-services, retreats, days of reflection, liturgies based on the four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church – Creed, Liturgy and Sacraments, Morality, Prayer. Schools are encouraged to coordinate such activities jointly with other schools where appropriate and possible.

The religious formation program for all high school faculty at each school is to consist of a minimum of ten hours each academic year. A copy of the annual report is to be submitted by June 15 each year to the Department of Catholic Schools.

The principal is to keep a record of attendance as part of each teacher’s personnel file. All high school principals (archdiocesan, parish, private) are accountable to the archdiocesan superintendent for implementation of this policy.

Annually each school is to provide an opportunity for faculty to grow in their understanding of Catholic identity, in particular by studying the purpose and philosophy of Catholic education and a basic theology of ministry as well as the charism, mission and history of the school in which they teach.

Annually each school is to participate in the four year cycle of instruction by providing opportunities for faculty formation and instruction according to the topic assigned by the Department of Catholic Schools for that particular year.

3. ONGOING FORMATION OF HIGH SCHOOL RELIGION TEACHERS

3.1 RELIGION TEACHER’S RESPONSIBILITY FOR RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION

The role of the religion teacher is of first importance; for “what is asked for is not that one impart one’s own doctrine, or that of some other teacher, but the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself “. In their teaching, therefore, taking into account the nature of the group being taught, teachers of religion (and also catechists) ” should take advantage of every opportunity to profit from the fruits of theological research, which can shed light on their own reflections and also on their teaching, always taking care … to be faithful to the genuine sources, and to the light of the Magisterium”, on which they depend for the proper fulfillment of their role; and ‘they should refrain from upsetting the minds of children and young people … with outlandish theories “. The norms of the local bishop should be faithfully followed in everything that has to do with their own theological and pedagogical formation, and also in the course syllabi; and they should remember that, in this area above all, life witness and an intensely lived spirituality have an especially great importance (Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses to Faith, 59).

Teachers of religion in a Catholic school are required to meet professional and personal standards as set forth in policies for hiring, certification, and renewal of certification. To assist teachers in meeting these standards the Department of Catholic Schools provides programs for certification and workshops and opportunities for ongoing formation and learning. In addition to required faith formation workshops, the Department of Catholic Schools sponsors occasional in-services and recommends participation in the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, National and Regional Religious Education Conferences, and courses at Catholic Colleges and Universities.

5. RELIGION CURRICULUM POLICY

5.2 PROGRAM OF STUDIES

The national core curriculum for teaching religion to high school students, approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 2007, guides the religious instruction within each archdiocesan, parish, and private high school within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The new curriculum will be phased into place beginning with the 2011-2012 academic year. Cognitive learning and affective development through academic, experiential, and formational activities are to be complete and well-balanced throughout each course.

The sequence of courses followed in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is:

Freshmen Year

Fall Semester – The Revelation of Jesus Christ in Scripture

Spring Semester – Who is Jesus Christ? (Christology)

Sophomore Year

Fall Semester – The Mission of Jesus: The Paschal Mystery (Spiritual Life)

Spring Semester – Jesus Christ’s Mission Continues in the Church (Ecclesiology)

Junior Year

Fall Semester – Sacraments as Privileged Encounters with Jesus Christ (Sacramental Theology)

Spring Semester – Life in Jesus Christ (Morality and Social Justice)

Senior Year

Fall Semester – Responding to the Call of Jesus Christ (Vocations)

Spring Semester Electives –History of the Catholic Church OR

Sacred Scripture OR

Living as a Disciple of Jesus Christ in Society OR

Ecumenical and Interreligious Issues (World Religions)

POLICY: All high schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are required to follow the USCCB sequence of courses as stated above.

8. ARCHDIOCESAN CHRISTIAN SERVICE AWARDS

The Church’s sacramental life becomes fruitful as the whole People of God integrate the sacramental celebrations of the Paschal Mystery with their efforts to transform the world in and through God’s love. The Eucharist makes the gathered community, the assembly, what it is: We become what we receive; we receive the Body of Christ in the Eucharist to become the Body of Christ for the transformation of the world. (Synod Initiative V)

8.1 VALUE OF RECOGNIZING CHRISTIAN SERVICE

The New Testament gives us four accounts of the Institution of the Eucharist: Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and 1 Corinthians 11. John’s account of the Last Supper does not mention the Institution of the Eucharist. Instead in John 6, Jesus gives us the Bread of Life Discourse. At the Last Supper in John 13, Jesus washes the feet of the Apostles and says “As I have done for you, so you should also do.” Through this action Jesus makes a powerful connection between the Eucharist and service.

We see a crisis of values and meaning in the world but as Catholic educators we work to form young people who will lead happy and meaningful Christian lives. We are providing them with the tools– intellectual growth, understanding of the roots of societal problems, doctrine, piety, and practice of the virtues- to face their environment.

A Eucharistic spirituality that propels students into Christian service will help them not only to meet the crisis of values and meaning but to be transformative agents in the world. The Eucharist is God’s gift of himself to us. In the Eucharist Christ transforms us into himself. The Mass is prolonged in our daily lives as we take Christ to those around us in the community.

Religious formation and Christian service programs should inspire young people to have a vision of their mission in society and the Church. These programs should inspire young people to aspire to be leaders in the service professions, government, education and the arts. It is not good enough for them to think that they will just try to be good. Christ asks them to be the salt and light of the earth. Religious formation and Christian service programs should transmit this vision to them.

The saints teach us to follow Christ courageously by having a mission in society and in the Church:

  • In law and government –St. Thomas More, “A Man for All Seasons”
  • In politics and athletics -Bl. Pier Paolo Frasati
  • In medicine- St. Gianna Molla and St. Joseph Moscati
  • In education- St. Angela Merici, St. Elizabeth Seton, St. John Baptist de la Salle, St. John Bosco
  • In the arts- Bl. Fra Angelico

With this vision we can help youth to be the architects of the future, to be true disciples of Christ.

8.2 CRITERIA FOR CHRISTIAN SERVICE AWARDS

Annually the Archdiocese honors students from all Catholic secondary schools for significant contributions in the area of Christian Service. For these awards

  • Schools with enrollment under 500………………………. nominate one student
  • Schools over 500 but under 1,000………………………… nominate two students
  • Schools over 1,000+………………………………………………. nominate three students

The awards are presented by the Archbishop, or by a designated Auxiliary Bishop, at a special liturgy at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral. Students selected to receive the award must meet the following requirements:

  • students in their senior year in a Catholic secondary school within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles;
  • spent at least two years in consistent Christian service, that is, voluntary, non-remunerative, work outside the school and the family;
  • completed all required documentation by the second Friday in February;
  • have the recommendation of the school principal and the Christian Service moderator, based on the evidence of their Christian attitudes and behavior.

It is the responsibility of the Christian Service moderator to ensure that the names of the students for this award are submitted to the Department of Catholic Schools by the second Friday in February of each academic year.