While the mission statements of Catholic schools place emphasis on faith formation, Catholic schools are more often identified with high-quality academics and less with the development of faith. A qualitative descriptive study was designed to understand how Rhode Island Catholic secondary school graduates described the influence of the Catholic…

A Catholic school is distinguished from a public school through its Catholic identity based on its mission statement which clearly outlines what it means to be Catholic through a theological, evangelical, and ecclesial foundation (Engle et al., 2020). The purpose of this study was to discover the reason for a diminished Catholic identity at St.…

This article reflects on the place of RE in a pillarised education context, taking into account the fact of religious diversity and pluralisation among the school population on the one hand, and the freedom of religion and education of faith-based schools on the other. Particular attention will be given to Belgium and the Netherlands, which do not…

Recent educational reform in England occasioned new interactions between the state, universities, faith communities and schools. In 2016, a suite of new public examinations testing the academic ability of English students matriculating at 16 and 18 years of age was introduced. In Religious Education, these state-driven changes deliberately…

Catholic education arises from the deep structures and earliest traditions of Christian faith. Its commitments throughout the centuries have been to educate both "from" and "for" faith. It educates from a faith perspective by drawing upon the universal values of Catholicism to provide a distinctive philosophy, perhaps even more…

This article reports on an innovative empirical research project, using a quasi-experimental trial, in which 9-11-year-olds learned about character and virtues through the exploration of four classic stories. The overall aim of the programme was to enhance virtue literacy. Virtue literacy is defined as the knowledge, understanding and application…

Conciliar and post-conciliar documents provide a consistent stream of inspirational and informative directions for Catholic Education. This study explores the thematic constants within and across these releases, specifically in relation to the mission of the Catholic school. A series of Leximancer analyses, digital data mining processes of…

The Catholic school system in the United States is undergoing significant changes in size, populations served and the funding models which have traditionally supported such schools. The closing of many schools in urban areas in the last 10 years in conjunction with the rising costs of schooling suggests that unless a new approach to funding…

A strong current in contemporary Catholic thought -- the theology of interreligious or interfaith dialogue -- stresses the importance of dialogue and collaboration with followers of other world faiths. This article proposes that religious education in Catholic schools, particularly at post-primary level, needs to engage more with this theological…

The Church brings us an encounter with Jesus and offers us an invitation to faith. It proclaims Christ's words of truth and life. This article seeks to explore the depths of these realities in the context of our culture, our society--a world not always prepared to hear and accept the message. It is precisely this context that has evoked the call…

Church documents recognize that the Catholic teacher's faith, mediated through a teacher's commitment, is one of the crucial factors that guarantees the success of the Catholic school (Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977, 1982, 2007). A number of researchers support this view with their findings (Ciriello, 1987; Tarr, 1992; Tiernan, 2000).…

From a modest beginning in 1994 with a single school and a little more than 500 pupils, the system of Catholic schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina developed to its 7 currently functioning Catholic School Centres, with 14 schools and 4683 enrolled pupils. From the beginning these Catholic schools were open equally to Catholic and non-Catholic…

Recognition that the United Kingdom has increasingly become a multi-cultural and multi-faith society has raised questions about the place of church schools or schools with a religious character within the state-maintained sector. The issue was given particular focus by the Runnymede Trusts report "Right to divide? Faith schools and community…

The differing theological perspectives evident in the literature on Catholic schools and education suggest those who appoint headteachers in Catholic schools may need to know more about candidates than that they are practising Catholics. This paper summarises a doctoral research project aimed at identifying the dominant theological motifs that…

Like many urban Catholic schools, St. Mary of Carmel Catholic School in Dallas, Texas, is faced with many challenges: filling empty seats; supporting increased costs; and, possible closure. The small parish is primarily Latino, but few parish families are enrolled in the school. This action research project used in-depth interviews to examine…