Studies suggest that historically Australian Catholic schools have existed not only to reproduce Catholic traditions, but also to advance the children of the Irish working classes socially. Data collected at the highly academically oriented Christian Brothers College (CBD), Newburyport, support the idea of educating for upward mobility as a means of combating Protestant domination of both secondary education and white collar employment. The Brothers have long enjoyed the strong support of the local Catholic community, and most present pupils' fathers also attended CBC schools. Still, a number of these same fathers, now financially successful, are sending their sons to the more exclusive Protestant schools, which means a loss of promising academic prospects and of influential parents. Less than one third of the remaining pupils proceeed to tertiary education. CBC partially maintains its elite status with its entrance exam, as well as zoning regulations that seem at odds with the Brothers' original mission. Further, given recent economic difficulties, the "second wave" of CBC Catholics can expect a less accelerated rise than the first, although almost all can expect jobs within the established order. The irony is that CBC promotes an uncritical view of social structures while the social hierarchy itself remains unchallenged. (KS)