Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Post

I recently completed my five-year tenure as Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Boston in June 2024. Now, I wanted to update you on my next venture. I am launching a new national nonprofit called the Catholic Talent Project, which will cultivate faithful witnesses for our Catholic schools. Our work will address directly the crisis of faith among our young. By age 13, 50 percent of children raised Catholic are no longer faithful. By age 18, a staggering 86 percent have left their faith. If we don't address this crisis, the Catholic Church in America will go the way of Europe in a generation - and I don't mean that as a compliment. We cannot lose our young and think we will be able to save our Church and pass on the Catholic intellectual tradition. I believe our Catholic schools - properly ordered - can lead the renewal of the Catholic Church. But, it will require us to make sure that for starters we have witnesses to our Catholic faith throughout the almost 6,000 Catholic schools that now serve 1.6 million students. This is not easy work. I know the challenges well after spending five years on the front lines in one of the nation's largest Catholic school systems. In five years, however, I was able to preside over the largest intentional remaking of Catholic school leadership in the nation, replacing three-quarters of Catholic school leaders while ensuring that all new leaders were faithful and committed to evangelizing. I also created the St. Thomas More Teaching Fellowship (sort of a Catholic version of Teach for America) to recruit, cultivate and place faithful and smart college graduates in our Catholic schools. The National Catholic Register referred to our work in Boston as a "Renaissance of Catholic education." From pre-school to 12th grade, students are with us for a staggering 16,000 waking hours (well, mostly waking hours). This is more waking hours than they spend with their own parents. Our Catholic schools need to make sure that during that massive amount of time we partner with their parents to help bring their daughters and sons closer to God and set them on the path to eternal salvation. To be blunt, we will have more success in the future than we have had in recent decades only if we make sure that faithful witnesses are deployed as classroom teachers, school leaders and superintendents. Now, with the creation of the Catholic Teacher Project, the work we began in Boston may be possible nationally. Initially, the Catholic Talent Project will expand to San Francisco at the request of Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone and his remarkable new Superintendent of Schools, Chris Fisher. Over the next five years, we will be expanding to a total of 10 geographically diverse dioceses - hoping our success will serve as an example to inspire the rest of the Church. We look forward to talking with any interested American bishops. To learn more about this effort, click here: https://lnkd.in/d8HTgcH8.

ICYMI: One of my biggest regrets in ministry: As I think back on 40+ years of ministry, including 14 years of lead pastoring, here is one of my biggest regrets. #Ministry #collegestudents #outreach #missions #zeal #prayer

Catholic Schools as ‘Buttresses’ Early cathedral builders, up until about 1150, had a problem with physics. They wanted to build huge, majestic structures that reflected the grandeur of God. But the taller the building, the more expansive the roof, the thicker the walls had to be to support both the downward and lateral forces. The massive, load bearing walls, then, only allowed for small windows, meaning that the “Romanesque” cathedrals of this era were dark and gloomy places. Gothic cathedrals from 1150 onward, in contrast, were built with thin walls, allowing for large, magnificent stained glass windows that illuminated the church, creating the sense that God’s light and love were pouring in. They were—and still are—breathtakingly beautiful. But how did Gothic architects solve the physics problem that beleaguered Romanesque builders? Flying buttresses (see pic). The walls of the church need not carry the loads on their own. If there were diagonal support beams that propped up the walls, exterior to the church, they could absorb the downward and lateral forces, allowing much more expansive windows and more light to shine through. I suggest there’s an important analogy here in describing the relationship of parents and Catholic schools. Parents are the primary educators. This is a well established principle in Catholic education. “Primary” here means both that they are the first educators of their children, but also the principal educators. They are the “walls” of the “cathedral” they want to build for their children. But there is ENORMOUS pressure on parents who choose to raise children on their own! To protect their children, to shield them from all of the cultural forces contrary to our gospel, they must assume a kind of defensive stance, with thick “walls” and narrower “windows,” carefully scrutinizing all that is “let in.” Catholic schools, if they understand themselves correctly—as secondary educators in support of parents in their primary role—can be the buttresses that absorb much of the pressure that parents otherwise carry on their own. If our schools are authentically Catholic, with adults who both model and teach this faith, then parents can trust they are in a partnership, allowing for more numerous “windows” and more light to shine through. This is the great blessing that Catholic schools can be for our families! May we live up to this important calling!

What words will define your 2024? The Center for Catholic Education staff have compiled a list of words that will be used as their motivating “word of the year.”

One of my biggest regrets in ministry: As I think back on 40+ years of ministry, including 14 years of lead pastoring, here is one of my biggest regrets. #Ministry #collegestudents #outreach #missions #zeal #prayer

A new report highlights the positive impact of moving away from inspection grades in Church schools. "This report demonstrates how we have moved to a more compassionate yet rigorous framework for inspection, underpinned by our Christian vision which shapes everything we do." Read more at cofe.io/SIAMSReport

Catholic education is a pursuit. A movement towards the truth. Since 1974, National Catholic Schools Week is the annual celebration of Catholic Education in the United States. As we celebrate the remarkable work of Catholic schools – at all levels – this week, let us not lose sight of its transformative power. That incredible power can help students transform themselves and, in turn, transform the world. Read more below. https://t.ly/i48Hl

For Catholic parents, one of the most crucial decisions is choosing the right school for your children. Their educational environment profoundly shapes their character and values, making it essential to select schools that nurture and guide them to embody our faith's principles. Catholic schools offer more than academics; they are sanctuaries that nurture our children's hearts and souls. Rooted in faith, compassion, and a commitment to service, these schools serve as beacons of unity and truth in today's fragmented world. Catholic education fosters a deep love for God and cultivates friendships across diverse backgrounds, enriching lives through shared perspectives and a joyful Christian identity. As you choose schools for your children, we pray for wisdom to guide them in embodying our faith's values and becoming ambassadors of Christ. May these schools nurture faith, foster friendships, and help each child discover their unique path within God's loving plan.

Help shape the program for the 2025 Australian Catholic Education Conference 🌟 TAKE THE SURVEY ✏️ NCEC seeks your valuable input into shaping the program for the next Australian Catholic Education Conference to be held in Cairns from 20-22 August, 2025. With the theme ‘faith, anchored in hope’, the conference will broadly focus on our national strategic priorities: ·      Faith 🙏 - Enhancing the capacity of Catholic school communities to be places of faith and mission ·      Excellence 🎓 - Supporting the continual improvement of educational outcomes for all students ·      Access 🗝️ - Enhancing access to a Catholic education for any family that chooses it. ·       The conference is intended for educators and leaders; state and territory, diocesan and RI & MPJP school authorities; school, tertiary and early learning partners; parents; clergy and religious; and those working in education-related ministries within the broader church. To take the survey click here https://bit.ly/3V2nXcC #Faith #Excellence #Access 

📣 Don't miss this free webinar with Catholic Relief Services and Georgetown University's . Register at the link below: "The phenomenon of preventable child-family separation is as old as time. Societal approaches to children at risk of losing parental care are largely informed by cultural beliefs and habits. Faith-based perspectives and responses are—and have always been—an important part of this equation. Christian faith communities have responded to child-family separation in various ways throughout history, contributing to both the propagation and prevention of child-family separation across time and contexts. The Faith and the Family Forum has considered this history in a series of webinars focusing on the theology of the child, children’s care and protection, and the Catholic Church’s role in child-family separation through the development and use of residential care worldwide, during American slavery, in Indigenous communities, and in migration policy and response. During this webinar, participants will consider how the Catholic Church is learning from this history; supporting vulnerable children, families, and communities; and helping to prevent unnecessary child-family separation. " https://lnkd.in/eScUz7RA