By Theresa Kirkpatrick

SASKATOON -- Now is the time for serious conversation for those
concerned about Catholic education, says Sister Clare Fitzgerald.

"You and I as Catholic educators have to take the time for serious
conversations about who we are," she said, and drew upon images from the
story of the siege on Jerusalem to illustrate her point.

In that story, the Assyrians have cut off the supplies to the walled city and
there are two conversations going on. One is between the soldiers and the
people at the wall, with the soldiers asking, "Where is your God now?" and
trying to convince the people within the city to join them.

The other is a serious conversation happening among the people of God
behind the wall and that is the point Fitzgerald sees Catholic education at
today.

"You cannot go to the wall, to the world, to anyone who deals with education
and engage them in conversation unless you have something to say and the
conversation will be enriched by you joining it. . . . You can only go to the wall
if you have an alternative view of reality and that's the key to the two
conversations at the wall. You must be true to who we are," she said.

A member of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Fitzgerald has a
distinguished career in education which has involved education at every
level. Most recently, after having founded and directed the Catholic School
Leadership Program at Boston College, Fitzgerald moved to her current
position as chair in the Department of American Studies at the graduate
school of Fairfield University, Fairfield, Conn.

Fitzgerald is well known as an inspirational speaker and was not a
disappointment in Saskatoon where the 265 registered participants at the
Affirming Hope III conference gave her a spontaneous standing ovation after
her motivational speech.

Like the conference's other keynote speaker, Rev. James Mulligan,
Fitzgerald said Catholic education is at a defining moment. She told those
gathered it was time Catholics drew their line in the sand as more and more
governments seem to see Catholic education as a constitutional
anachronism.

"If the government doesn't see any difference, whose fault is it? It's ours
because we haven't witnessed for them our differences. . . . The crisis in
Catholic education is from within, not outside," she said.

Like the Assyrians, the governments feel all they have to do is wait and the
stakeholders involved in Catholic education will destroy one another, she
suggested. The key to avoiding that, she said, is to help young teachers
reclaim the "Catholic story" and as a group, Catholic educators must set
priorities and stay true to their roots.

"The purpose and meaning of Catholic education is embedded in the
religion, the spirituality and the Catholic identity of our roots and anything that
threatens, undermines or invalidates those roots will cause a profound
disturbance in the educational system and its demise," she said.

"If you do not water the roots we are finished. The only thing that will save
Catholic education is Catholic education. We have to be true to our roots."

Those roots are religious, spiritual and Catholic and to nurture them requires
a three-pronged approach.

The first step is to proclaim the uniqueness of Catholic education.

"You and I need to proclaim there is a God . . . and we need to educate
children to see God in everything all the time," she said.

Our Catholic pedagogy tells us that when a child walks into a classroom, this
is someone created by God, for God and these children are on a journey
home to God.

"It's our job to nourish that child on its journey. We have to see that child as
something holy and if we do that, it changes our educational system. . . . We
educate children not just to make a living but to have a life. The essence of
humanity is a spiritual affair," she said.

The second step in being true to one's Catholic roots is to provide
something special in Catholic education.

"We provide space and time for the sacred and the holy," she said.

But that is only effective if everyone from the teachers, to the parents, the
support staff, the trustees and the administrators understand the mission
statement of the Catholic system and commit to living that mission.

"We're teaching children how to pray. We're teaching them the importance of
prayer and I think we're closer to that mission now than we have ever been.
We're getting to the heart of the mission . . . and when we're faithful to who
we are, everything good happens."

She said teachers should not be afraid to challenge their students
intellectually, make them think critically and clearly, ask them to be saints,
and to use their abundant gifts and talents in the way God intended.

"Our expectations must be high and our Catholic ethics and culture have to
permeate the walls," she said.

And finally, those involved in Catholic education must promote the value of a
Catholic education beyond the individual.

"We educate a child so that child will change the world. We cannot educate
just to change the child," she said.

"We have to educate children to live the Gospel message in contradiction to
the culture values of today. The task for us today is to be credible witnesses
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the world."

Reprinted with permission
PRAIRIE MESSENGER, March 29, 2000

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