Suffering the Little Ones
SUFFERING THE LITTLE ONES CINCE the appearance of the Holy Father's encycli^-* cal letter dealing with the nature and problems of Catholic education, there has been an abundance of...
...the Reverend William A. Scullen, writing in the Ecclesiastical Review, offers an account of what was done in a Cleveland parish to remedy the situation...
...It is impossible to deny that great numbers of children thus left uninstructed will sooner or later give up all connection with the Church...
...Father John M. Lyons, a Chicago Jesuit, has organized an Instruction League which has helped to teach more than 200,000 children in many dioceses...
...But difficulties are another matter...
...It is not for us to suggest how they can or ought to be met...
...Having read both documents, we can only suggest that they will interest anybody to whom the future religious welfare of America is a matter of importance...
...at its worst it is a criminal act...
...At best the repudiation of the public school child is short-sightedness...
...This neglect is very easy to understand...
...Better equipped and staffed today than ever before, it now appeals to parents in general not merely because it is recommended by the authority of the Church but also because it affords excellent training in an atmosphere of culture and spirituality frequently lacking in public institutions...
...The Reverend Joseph J. Mereto, author of a thoughtful pamphlet concerned primarily with conditions in the Chicago and New York districts, stresses the obvious fact that absolutely no criticism of the parochial school is implied...
...Existing limitations are due for the most part to two forms of psychological blindness...
...Statistics indicate that 2,248,571 children now go to more than 7,000 parish schools...
...Priests and laymen think and worry a great deal about these, but seldom have time or inclination to hunt them out, strive to reawaken their religious consciousness and see to the education of their children...
...In Brooklyn, for instance, Monsignor Hickey has arranged for the instruction of at least 70,000 children, most of the catechetical work being done by Catholic teachers in the public schools...
...Because the Catholic tends to become acutely conscious of the society to which he belongs, he not infrequently loses touch with forces or circumstances more or less on the periphery of the Church...
...The second form of blindness is the fear lest giving religious instruction to children in the public school might induce more parents to "take a chance" and give their children the benefit of more windows, swimming pools and marble foyers than the parochial schools normally afford...
...Two priests have recently set down their reflections on the subjects...
...Father Scullen's account of what has been accomplished in Cleveland is inspiring...
...That means: parochial education does not influence one half of the group for which it has been instituted and is now maintained at heavy cost...
...Nevertheless there is much truth in the following passage in Father Mereto's pamphlet: "Things would have been very different had there been a great national organization—one that had united all the present diocesan catechetical organizations, built them up in membership by its nation-wide appeal for members, and improved their respective methods by a generous interchange of profitable ideas, still allowing diocesan control and complete freedom to meet local conditions...
...According to the most conservative population estimates, however, there are nearly 5,000,000 Catholic youngsters of school age in the United States...
...The result can only be multitudes of poorer citizens— people who have lost spiritual and moral treasure of priceless value to the nation...
...SUFFERING THE LITTLE ONES CINCE the appearance of the Holy Father's encycli^-* cal letter dealing with the nature and problems of Catholic education, there has been an abundance of discussion concerning various aspects of training in religion and life as that has been formulated by the teaching Church...
...How would Saint Paul, who preached the Gospel even in the market-place, judge an era which refused to little ones that going unto the Lord which is enjoined in one of the most illustrious passages in the New Testament...
...Thousands of parents seldom attend divine service, and other thousands never make even so much as an annual confession...
...Picture such an organization, enjoying papal approbation and indulgences, able to assure priests and laymen alike that its efforts in behalf of Catholic children in public schools were above reproach and answering to a foremost need of our time...
...All we can do is to outline the problem and hope that it will be one of the major concerns of the next decade...
...One of these aspects seems of particular importance...
...The parish school has already lived through its most critical period...
...The first is unawareness of the problem...
...This dual indifference can be overcome in part by earnestly confronting first the appalling truth that many thousands of young souls will be lost to the Church unless action is taken, and second the success already met with by able leaders in many places...
...But though this danger exists and would probably lead to a number of defections from the present order, it can easily be overestimated...
...What can be done for the child who does not attend a parochial school and whose parents cannot be relied upon to give instruction in the fundamentals of doctrine and practice...
...Despite all that pastoral energy and the remarkable loyalty of the faithful are able to do, the Church faces an apologetic task of vast dimensions and incalculable importance...
...It probably cannot be overcome until individuals dedicated to the work take it up with all their ardor and energy...
...Such an organization would, one thinks, offer a clue to future progress...
Vol. 12 • July 1930 • No. 13
