Parochial school

“ A history class, a literature class, or a science class in a parochial school is not a separate institute; it is part of the organic whole which the State subsidizes. The funds are used in these cases to pay or help pay the salaries of teachers in parochial schools; and the presence of teachers is critical to the essential purpose of the parochial school, viz., to advance the religious endeavors of the particular church. ”

“ A strong movement was developed among the Catholic clergy against our common schools as usually administered. Parochial schools were erected in most Eastern cities and large towns, and efforts made to fill them with children who, but for their existence, would be in the public schools. ”

“ Without dogmatising on this point, we may be permitted to regret that through any defect in the system of our parochial schools, Catholic congregations should in our own days be deprived of the solemn and thorough celebration of those sacred offices which in themselves comprise a body of unequalled religious instruction; and that in an age which makes so much of the theory of education, we should have to confess our inability to teach our children to pray and sing the prayers of the Church, as the children of Catholic peasants prayed and sang them six hundred years ago. ”

“ Similar schools for poor scholars were attached to all the great abbeys, and were of a higher order with respect to learning than the parochial schools. The pupils reared in them, though of the humblest origin, often rose to high dignities in Church and State. ”

“ Parochial schools were established in many places for the purpose of training children in the doctrines of the Church. Thus, as early as the ninth century, the Church sought to extend the benefits of education to the people as well as to the priesthood. While the parochial schools were limited in their instruction, somewhat after the manner of the early catechumen schools, the changed conditions of Christianity permitted a much broader training than formerly.
[46] The complete university has four faculties, which embrace all human knowledge. ”

“ But in the meantime the private schools where both secular and religious training are given to children, including the Catholic parochial schools, must continue to be erected, equipped and supported wholly by the members of the various denominations. There are now numerous Protestant private schools where the Protestant faith is being taught; and what is true of the Catholic parochial schools is also true of the Protestant schools. ”

“ Arthur Rigg,—this institution “pursues the even tenour of its way,” by annually preparing a number of young men fitted for the duties of parochial schoolmasters—men firmly attached to the Church of their forefathers, and able to impart to those intrusted to them the blessings of a sound, religious, and useful education. ”

“ When the Episcopalians shall have built their parochial schools, they will be able to appreciate the labors of Catholics, who, far poorer, and far more numerous, have never been willing to trust their children to the public schools. ”

“ Religious denominations try to have their own schools, so that children shall not be captured by other denominations. Thus the Roman Catholics have parochial schools, under priests and sisters, and colleges of various grades. ”

“ The danger, which at one time may have seemed imminent, of the estrangement of the laity from the clergy, disappeared little by little, and to-day in no country in the world are priest and people more strongly united than here. With the more thorough organization of dioceses and congregations parochial schools became practicable, and the great progress made in Catholic elementary education is one of the most significant and reassuring facts connected with the history of the church in the United States. ”

“ Take away the parochial schools and the Roman Catholic system could not long survive in this country, and, as I have stated in the beginning of this book, the Roman Catholic system would not even have the parochial schools if it were not for our public schools. They must have some means of combating with the popular public education, and to do so institute the parochial schools and demand of the good members of their parishes to send their children to them. ”

“ The Court has previously recognized the important role of parochial schools:
"Parochial schools, quite apart from their sectarian purpose, have provided an educational alternative for millions of young Americans; they often afford wholesome competition with our public schools ”

“ In what parish church or chapel soever there is a curate, which is a master of arts, or bachelor of arts, or is otherwise well able to teach youth, and will willingly so do, for the better increase of his living, and training up of children in principles of true religion, we will and ordain that a licence to teach youth of the parish where he serveth be granted to none by the ordinary of that place, but only to the said curate: provided always, that this constitution shall not extend to any parish or chapel in country towns, where there is a public school founded already ”

“ In the cathedral school there was usually a song school, for elementary instruction, and a grammar school, for those who should want more advanced education. As assistants in the smaller churches needed instruction, parish schools were established, in which there was but little training given beyond that needed for participation in the church services. ”

“ At that time the clergy were the sole leaders in school matters, each in his own parish, and it is owing in a great measure to them that, in the face of the numerous difficulties of all kinds which had to be overcome, the school has made continual progress. Its development has always been in a democratic direction. From a parish school for the poor, it has become a national school, where a general education is provided which is accessible to all members of society. ”

“ The clergy are divided into two classes, the black and the white, the black being the monastic and the white the secular and married clergy. All the patriarchs or archbishops, bishops, abbots, and higher dignitaries are taken from the ranks of the celibate and monastic clergy and have attained a high standard of education. All the parochial clergy, on the other hand, are educated in seminaries, or training colleges, but only those who show special ability go on to the academy, an institution which occupies the same position for the clergy as the university fills in civil education. ”

“ CATHOLICISM AND THE SCHOOLS Just what is the attitude of the Catholic Church to the American public schools? This is an important question, because there are fourteen million Catholics in our country, and they control the education, not merely of two million children in their own schools, but of other millions in public schools where the Catholic vote has elected Catholic officials and school board members, and obtained the appointment of Catholic superintendents and teachers. ”

“ From this school they can pass, not before their seventeenth year, to the college at the university, [122] and they will have seven years still remaining in which to finish their education, before they arrive at the canonical age for ordination to the priesthood. It seems to us that the separate college is a sufficient security for the morals, piety, and vocation of any young man above seventeen years of age who is fit to be a priest in this country outside of the walls of a monastery. ”

“ It is a great plague for them to be obliged to do at once the work of the grammar-school and of the college properly so-called. They are burdened with a crowd of children, who are no companions for young men, and lessen the dignity of a college. And now, Mr. World, let me end these remarks by asking: When shall we see each diocese in the Union possessing a petit séminaire? When shall we see arise in our midst a noble Catholic university? ”

“ It is no disparagement to your excellent schools to say that, in point of order and apparent earnestness and successful work on the part of both teachers and pupils, these dusky boys and girls would not suffer in comparison.
Our church here is a neat, pleasant, wooden building, and our congregation appear fully to appreciate a preacher's best efforts. Their singing is, like ours, led by a good organist. Their prayer meetings are quiet and social, and very enjoyable. Our Sunday-school is flourishing, under a colored man for superintendent, who is teaching in the country. ”

“ Effectively to set out the work of the monastic orders for education, it is advisable to consider separately: (I.) schools in connection with monasteries, (II.) almonry schools, (III.) the education of girls, (IV.) the education of the novices, (V.) the monks and university education, (VI.) education and the mendicant orders.
I. Schools in connection with Monasteries.
As a general principle, it may be assumed that a school existed in connection with every large monastery. ”

“ The second great want, in our opinion, is the provision for ecclesiastical students of the advantages for education which can only be completely furnished by a university, and which cannot, therefore, be fully enjoyed at separate ecclesiastical seminaries. The Little Seminary is only a superior kind of grammar-school, even though it gives instruction in the ancient languages and some other branches to the same extent with a college. ”

“ Efforts have always been made by our clergy to establish schools for the common people. The first work of the parish priest after he has built his church is to build a school-house. The free education of the children of the poor has the next place in his care to the service of the altar. There is not a step in the whole system of education, from the alphabet-class to the highest university cursus [Footnote 278] , to which the Catholic Church does not devote the labor of some religious order or congregation, blessed and sanctioned and assisted by the supreme Pontiff. ”

“ After regulations passed for the remedy of sundry abuses, such as pluralities and non-residence, and others which aimed at providing for the instruction of the people, by means of preaching, we come to the important decrees on the subject of Church seminaries. A return was made to the ancient ecclesiastical system, and the cathedral schools were put on a footing which should enable them to train the future clergy of the diocese. Every cathedral was to maintain, in its own school, a certain number of boys, in proportion to its revenues. ”

“ Besides these free primary schools there are many higher secondary schools, supported partly by the Government and partly by ‘fees,’ and many more private and denominational schools of a very good order. As a rule, one religious denomination—the Roman Catholics—decline to very generally patronise the public schools, and this church supports independently a large number of excellent educational institutions. [Pg 188] There are eight technical or art schools, at which some 3,000 young persons attend, a majority of them finishing their school life at this stage. ”

“ But, while the influence of the church has been constantly diminishing, many of the board members are ministers or priests and the inspectors come mostly from the clergy. Moreover, religious instruction forms part of the course in every school, although it is given at such an hour that any pupil may withdraw if the teaching is contrary to the faith in which he has been reared. The secondary schools are largely interdenominational, but in elementary education there are separate schools 377 for Catholics and Protestants, alike supported by the state. ”

“ We may also note that the necessity for the recognition of qualified teachers was imperative not only in the interests [Pg 83] of the scholars, but also in the interests of the Church itself, as it had become customary to require that priests who were in charge of parishes, and who were discovered at episcopal or archidiaconal visitations not to be sufficiently learned, should return to their cathedral city in order to pursue a further course of study. [212] Such priests would certainly require more individual attention than they would secure at the ordinary school of theology. ”

“ If we get, in our youth, the thoroughness of training which the Church can give, we will shake off the stigma of inefficiency and superficiality.” This has been his consistent effort throughout his eleven years of administration, and with marked success, as a visit to the school reveals.
The growth has been steady; and the attendance here, as in every one of our schools, fully taxes the capacity of the buildings. Industries are taught to both boys and girls, which minister to the needs of the community. The daily chapel, with instruction and lectures, make the spirit of the school-family. ”

“ I insisted on the vast improvement in the standard of secular education to be expected from the introduction of highly trained lay teachers, and said that the priests should be absolutely free to teach the children out of school hours. ”

“ Let the parish priests be managers of the schools, and have a voice in the appointment of properly certified masters and mistresses, and let a fixed time be devoted to religious instruction every day. If the Protestants succeed in attracting converts, and are able to gather a sufficient number of children in any place to form a school, they can receive the same treatment as regards payment and control of religious instruction. ”