Ahead of national Catholic Schools Week 2025 (Jan. 26-Feb. 1), OSV News spoke with Mary Pat Donoghue, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Catholic Education, for her thoughts on the state of Catholic education in the nation.
The secretariat addresses Catholic education, wherever a U.S. Catholic bishop has recognized it as such, in all of its institutional settings.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
OSV News: Broadly speaking, how would you describe the state of Catholic schools in the U.S. at this moment in time, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Donoghue: I would say that after the tremendous losses at the beginning of the pandemic, and then the regain of about half of what we lost (in terms of enrollment), we have remained stable. And I think that’s a good sign. It’s a good place to be.
I would say also that I think we’ve seen over the last decade — but even with more urgency over the last few years — Catholic schools really connecting to their heritage, their mission and their purpose. And I think that’s a beautiful development.
Our Catholic school system as we know it today came into existence in order to counteract a concern that we were losing our young people to the strong Protestantism of public schools during the late 1800s. We have the same urgency today, although (in the face of) a different religion, in a sense, which is secularism. It’s very pernicious. And just as the bishops resolved back then that there would be a Catholic school in every parish — although that was not quite realized — we need that same determination, that same drive to have that on hand today for people now.
There’s a recognition that there is something very unique in Catholic education, and that is the mission to transmit the vision of life in Jesus Christ to kids that is different from anything they’ll receive really anywhere else.
And so the combination of that mission, the recognition that we are the heirs to a 2,000-year beautiful, rich tradition and culture that we’re passing on in our schools — I think those are the things (sparking) reawakening, reimagining and some new excitement.
OSV News: What does the Catholic school landscape look like for students with special needs?
Donoghue: There’s some very good movement on that front also. The bishops voted (at their June 2023 plenary meeting) to reissue their pastoral statement on serving individuals with disabilities.
And as a result of that, there are several groups of highly skilled professional Catholic educators with special education backgrounds that are taking a look at how we can help schools build capacity to receive students with different learning needs.
It’s really critical. We see it as part of our pro-life imperative. And it’s also helping our kids, all of our students, to understand the nature of the body of Christ.
And it has within it the beauty of the true diversity of the created human person. We want a sense of belonging. And also we realize that benefits all of the kids in the school. It teaches them the dignity of human life.
We can look past what might be different about each other to see that one Creator in whose image we’re all made.
OSV News: What does the Catholic homeschooling picture look like?
Donoghue: I think that’s a new frontier, and I think it’s one that we really ought to be dialoguing with.
There are a number of bishops who have entered into this (conversation) in their own dioceses. We’re happy that our (Catholic) schools are stable, but homeschooling is off the charts in terms of growth, and a lot of that is happening in the Catholic community. So I think it is to our benefit to see homeschooling as now part of the landscape of Catholic education.
OSV News: In recent years, there have been several reports on the mental health crisis among our nation’s children and young people. How can Catholic education help address this issue?
Donoghue: It’s really a very good question. I think this is an opportunity and an advantage for Catholic schools, because much of the anxiety, the mental illness, that is presenting in kids is rooted in sort of things that don’t fully understand the human person’s needs.
For example, children need to be outside. They need to be touching grass. They need to be climbing trees. Those activities are not just fun, although they are that, but they really are developmental aids in a lot of ways. And as we’ve become more involved in technology and video games and tablets, there’s less of that. And I think as a result the anxiety level in children has gone up.
The beauty of the Catholic school environment is that we see the need for those (non-technology-based activities). We see the need for children to play, to be free of those things. It is a cultural and an environmental priority that’s important for young people.
OSV News: What are some specific policies that are on your radar regarding Catholic schools?
Donoghue: We have one great, great opportunity potentially, which is the first federal parental choice bill, the Educational Choice for Children Act (a proposed federal school voucher, funded by tax credit scholarships). We believe it has a very good chance of passing in the next Congress.
ECCA will help millions of kids across the country, many of whom are going to be enrolling in Catholic schools. It’s a way to help our Catholic parents who have a dream to send their kids to Catholic schools, but can’t imagine even trying to afford that tuition. So that’s a very, very big opportunity that’s presenting itself.
But it’s not a magic wand. We still have to be in a place where people want to choose Catholic schools. So we have to be excellent, and we have to be distinct — through the distinct Catholic way of understanding what education is. That’s I think where we have the greatest opportunity.
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