Catholic teachers' union: leaping towards apostasy?

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, OECTA for short, is the labour union for approximately 32,000 teachers in Catholic primary and secondary schools. Students in these government-funded, yet Catholic, schools number 656,300. It is by far the largest Catholic school system in North America.

Since full government funding--as distinct from partial funding--was extended in 1985-6, the teachers' association has developed more and more into a regular labour union. This includes the adversarial attitude customary in Canada between labour and management in bargaining over salaries and benefits. In this case, the employers are the Catholic trustees, elected by Catholic school supporters to represent them and, by implication, the Ontario bishops (who are the Church's teachers of faith and morals). The bishops, however, not having ownership of the schools under civil law, must rely on the trustees to uphold Catholic standards.

Another important point to note is the insecurity of the OECTA about the religious commitment it has inherited from the days when the teachers' association was more a Catholic fraternity than a union.

Over the last ten years the OECTA has been under the control of dissenting Catholics, especially members of Joanna Manning's "Coalition of Concerned Canadian Catholics," an organization now apparently defunct (see "Teachers against the Church: OECTA", Catholic Insight, Jan-Feb 1997, pp. 12-14). Thus it drifted away from orthodoxy by placing the emphasis on the wrong points, namely on a dissenting agenda which affirmed women's ordination, the homosexual lifestyle, and fewer Church "controls" over faith and morals. The effect of this agenda has been to weaken the OECTA's commitment to orthodox Catholic educational principles, for which the article below provides the evidence.

At this junction of events, the union has also become politically partisan, another feature which drives it further away from a Catholic educational community in which parents, teachers, and administrators seek a common understanding. At its March 1999 Annual Meeting, the OECTA set aside over $1,000,000 of members' fees (whose annual dues will rise to $890 from $790) to "fight" Ontario's present Conservative government under Premier Mike Harris. This political partisanship became clear over four years ago, when the teachers' unions declared war on the Harris government the day after it had been elected.

Catholic trustees set a goal

In October 1997 the Ontario Catholic Trustees published a splendid little booklet of 36 pages, Witnesses to Faith-The Expectations of Catholic School Board Trustees and Educators. It speaks of the call of God directed to everyone involved in Catholic education. Together, these participants form a community of believers and as such share in the mission of the Church given her by Christ. In short, everyone should be a witness to the faith.

Needless to say, these few, short basic principles have consequences in daily life. For example, they require that there be a consensus about basic institutional objectives, and that members of the educational community must act as brothers and sisters in Christ. Weird, you say? Not at all. It's a simple basic presupposition among Catholics or should be, if it is not a reality yet.

Another consequence is that Catholics should approach education with a sense of mystery and wonder about human life, that we act and speak as a believing community, that service--not domination--is seen as something to be attained, and that in the overall perspective in which we do our thinking and work, we remain aware of a sense of sin, its reality, its possible impact. This is the gist of the message delivered by Witnesses to Faith.

Expectations from teachers

In the section dealing with teachers, Witnesses has a short list of expectations (page 27). These are as follows:

* that they reflect in their lives and articulate in schools and school systems the teaching tradition and heritage of Catholicism as commonly understood within the Church and overseen by its authority;

* that they continue to be in communion with and participate in the life of the Church, not having left it either explicitly or implicitly;

* that their public life, as evidenced in actions and statements, be in conformity with Church teaching;

* that they participate regularly in the Eucharist within the local community and demonstrate a sensitivity to the liturgical rhythm of the Church's life;

* that they reflect a commitment to the social teachings of the Church;

* that they demonstrate a sense of responsibility for ministry and leadership within the Church;

* that through professional development they regularly update themselves on contemporary Catholic teaching, especially as it impinges on educational matters.

OECTA's reaction

In a fax sent to all OECTA members on February 10, 1999, the President of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA), Marshall Jarvis, reacted with alarm and with the following startling notations:

1 "During the past few years the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association has been attempting to develop measurable indicators for determining the 'Catholicity' of educators in Catholic schools. This obsession (my emphasis together with those below) was the result of concerns about the statements/actions of personnel which they referred to as 'non-conformers.' The culmination of this effort is the document Witnesses to Faith which outlines the expectations which trustees have of Catholic educators."

2 "The document is tremendously intrusive." (He then lists the seven points above).

3 "OECTA legal counsel, Paul Cavalluzzo, has reviewed these criteria and the document and states that...it sets out expectations which are idealistic in the sense that one would have to be a near-perfect being in order to meet them. As well, the interpretation and application of these expectations will lead to a great deal of uncertainty in that the the truth lies in the eye of the beholder."

4 "Further, perceived transgressions by 'the alleged nonconforming educator' will be referred to a tribunal of trustees, one of whom will serve as the teacher's representative, while the other two will represent the school board. A quasi-judicial proceeding then occurs which could result in discipline against non-conformers. Some have referred to this process as a return to the Inquisition. Concerning the tribunal hearings, legal counsel writes, 'Finally, the dispute resolution method suggested is terribly inadequate and usurps the authority of the arbitrators under the collective agreement.'"

5 "Although these proceedings attempt to recreate a judicial setting, the rules of evidence and disclosure are very lax. But, information gained from these proceedings against a member could be relied upon by the school board in other true legal hearings, such as arbitration."

6 "Further, school boards may be requesting member involvement in the development of policies, reflection sessions, and other activities related to the Witnesses to Faith document. As OECTA views this matter to be a bargaining issue, members are directed not to be involved in the development of the Witnesses to Faith policy of the school board. Any member who is approached or directed to assist in matters related to such a policy development is asked to contact their local OECTA Unit to support a refusal of involvement in the activity."

Commentary

OECTA's reaction--especially the last three paragraphs--indicate a straightforward rejection of the Witnesses document. This is at once sad and dangerous; sad because matters which should be almost self-evident in the Catholic community are now being challenged and challenged in a very authoritarian and narrow way. Dangerous, because it comes at a time of extremely rapid change, with government developing an overbearing and unhealthy control over all aspects of elementary and secondary education.

Let us be clear once more. What the trustees are asking is what the Church is asking. It should be taken for granted that in a Catholic school system the vast majority of teachers should be Catholic. Catholic here means, practising, not lapsed, Catholics; Catholics who do not dissent but instead are at one in heart and mind with Church teaching. They should practice what they teach: that is, their personal lives should reflect the moral standards taught and defended by the Church. Why? Because they are part of the Church; indeed, they are the Church in their local community.

The most recent apostolic exhortation from Pope John Paul II, The Church in America, issued in Mexico City this past January, section 71, deals with education as part and parcel of evangelizing the world. It says:

71. "Education can play an outstanding role in promoting the inculturation of the Gospel...but only if at all levels...[Catholic educational institutions] clearly preserve their Catholic orientation. The content of the education they impart should make constant reference to Jesus Christ and His message as the Church presents it in her dogmatic and moral teaching

"A special effort should be made to strengthen the Catholic identity of schools, whose specific character is based on an educational vision having its origin in the person of Christ and its roots in the teachings of the Gospel. Catholic schools must seek not only to impart a quality education from the technical and professional standpoint, but also and above all provide for the integral formation of the human person."

Ontario teachers

The teachers' union has a "Mission Statement" which lists as its first point: "We will promote Catholic values." Now Catholics should hesitate to speak of "values" because we go by principles, specific Catholic principles, some of which are spelled out in the document being discussed. If by Catholic values QECTA meant "Catholicism," it would have no objection to Witnesses.

Yet when we turn to Mr. Jarvis and his comments on Witnesses to Faith, we note the following:

Under paragraph one, there appears the term "obsession," as if to say that the Catholic community has no need for safeguarding its faith and its unity, and that if efforts are being made along this line, they should be considered pathological.

Paragraphs two ("tremendously intrusive") and three ("we consulted our lawyers") indicate a profound-and alarming- misunderstanding of the nature of the document Witnesses.

One may compare Witnesses to the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, "the book of the Law" is full of laws and regulations, yet it is not a mere code of law, but a theological treatise: it deals with the covenant God made with his people. It is precisely when Jewish commentators confused "covenant" with "contract," and began to treat it as a mere legal code, that the people appeared whom we know from the New Testament as the legalistic scribes and Pharisees. Having abandoned the spirit of the law, they were unable to understand either the "Law" or the Messiah, who roundly condemned them for their grievous error.

Similarly, the OECTA fax submits a theological document, calling for unity and harmony of faith in the Catholic school, to an examination by a firm of lawyers which then studies it as a legal contract, and subsequently finds it "intrusive." OECTA is allowing itself to become legalistic and pharisaical.

Ideal or reality?

In paragraph three, OECTA's legal counsel, Mr. Paul Cavalluzzo, calls the trustees' expectations" one would have to be a near perfect being in order to meet them:'

A friend, whose comments on OECTA's reaction I solicited, noted that the trustees are basically quoting St. Paul where he says, "this is the will of God, your sanctifcation (1 Thess 4:3), and Matthew's "Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).

Mr. Cavalluzzo, on the other hand, withdraws from teachers this divine invitation to sanctity on the grounds that this is just "idealism."

Let him study any of the saints, my friend says, and see how joyfully and realistically they take up this so-called idealistic goal. He quotes from the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning who has an instructive comment on idealism. Her poetic intuition speaks in her epic poem, Aurora Leigh, of

"...the ideal, better called the real, And will be called so presently When things shall have their names."

My friend also draws attention to a second phrase from Mr. Cavalluzzo, still in the third paragraph, namely his assertion that "truth lies in the eye of the beholder" This, he says, "reduces the truth to what is inside the mind, making it independent of what is outside the mind, independent of objective reality."

He continues: "I think Mr. Cavalluzzo is thinking of the dictum, 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder', which is a clumsy, inaccurate attempt to express the narrow point that one's appreciation of things is highly subjective. The dictum is hopelessly wrong if it is taken to mean that all reality is subjective and relative. St. Theophilus of Antioch is the author of the sentence, 'Because the blind cannot see it, it does not follow that the sun does not shine.'"

I would like to add that Pope John Paul II has just published the encyclical Faith and Reason (1998) precisely to refute Pontius Pilate's question "What is truth?", as well as the arguments of modem philosophers who no longer believe truth is attainable. Apparently, Paul Cavalluzzo shares their view.

The Pope re-asserts the human ability to arrive at the objective reality of truth. Christ Himself said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:16). It is precisely because so many believe all things are relative that the country is being tumed into a slaughterhouse of the unborn, and, increasingly, the born ("Do whatever you like.").

Inquisition?

In paragraph four, Mr. Jarvis suggests that the quests for unity and harmony of faith are "a return to the Inquisition." I take it he knows very little about the Inquisition but simply employs the term in its modem cynical usage to discredit any attempt to ascertain a teacher's intellectual position as evil. One recognizes here the overtones of leading dissenting theologians such as the Swiss theologian Hans Kung who, each time when asked by the Vatican to explain one or other of his controversial theological positions, would counter with the exclamation: "Inquisition!" It certainly gained him the idolization of the media. But in the meantime, Kung still hasn't answered the questions put to him in 1965. That's the reason why in 1979 the Church took away his title of "Catholic theologian." His attitude was one of wilful obstruction of the Catholic common good and so is the accusation of Mr. Jarvis.

OECTA forbids participation

The last three paragraphs represent the idea that lawyers will decide what Catholic education is all about. I turn the commentary over to my friend for this section:

"Mr. Cavalluzzo then tackles the 'process.' 'Finally,' he says 'the dispute resolution method suggested is terribly inadequate,' and, as if to explain in what respect it is inadequate, he identifies no deficiency in the process, but skips to the conclusion he clearly wanted to get to all along, namely, it 'usurps the authority of the arbitrators under the collective agreement.'

"There we have it: labour arbitrators will tell us how Catholic schools should be run. And the labour lawyers will tell the arbitrators how to rule. And the OECTA will tell the lawyers what to demand, for the OECTA is paying the lawyers--with the teachers' money.

"The current OECTA executive is clearly confident that it can maintain this position of power, or it would not end its would-be critique of Witnesses to Faith with a directive--not a suggestion or a recommendation, which would already be unconscionable--but a directive, 'not to be involved in the development of the Witnesses to Faith policy of the school board.'"

Thus, "Catholic teachers are forbidden by their union executive to participate in board-sponsored moves to inculcate the living of the faith in the teaching staff, the essential element in the existence of the Catholic schools in the first place, given that no one gives what he does not have, and students cannot learn the faith from teachers who do not have it.

"This without mentioning the parents, whose authority is primary, conferred on them by both nature and nature's God, to serve whom all other authorities exist.

"Having missed the elementary principles themselves governing Catholic education, Mr. Cavalluzzo misses their connection with due process. He thinks that the process suggested usurps the authority of the arbitrators because he missed the point that Catholic teachings, like elementary principles, are not negotiable, are not subject to arbitration. Mr. Cavalluzzo's assumption is that there is nothing that cannot be brought before a civil court.

"In the same vein President Marshall Jarvis refers to the arbitration as a 'true legal hearing,' as though trustees had no authority to investigate a teacher's conduct in the light of the faith. One wonders what it is he thinks the school boards hold in trust.

My friend concludes: "By refusing to cooperate in the inculcation of the faith, and by demanding that its members (who are forced to belong to the association) refuse to cooperate in the inculcation of the faith--and, in fact, by cooperating only in the inculcation of dissent from the faith--the OECTA officialdom is making itself the head of the Church, in matters educational, and it is doing so by the simple expedient of making the civil law into a replacement for ecclesiastical law."

Not acceptable

Clearly Ontario teachers must take a stand against this distortion of Catholic education. The question is how? The union rules with an iron hand. It can do so because it has a monopoly on organizing teachers and those who defy it face disciplinary action.

Despite this, persuasion should be tried first. That requires that many teachers who object to OECTA's present secularism make their disapproval known. Similarly, parents should begin to speak out on behalf of the trustees and the Church. The newly formed independent voluntary organization, the Catholic Principals' Council of Ontario (CPCO) with its 1760 members, should take a stand in defence of the Catholic educational heritage.

Indeed, the entire Catholic community should get involved and demand that OECTA abandon its present hostility to Catholic principles and join in the defence of truly Catholic schools against those who are planning their demise. Apparently, after drifting for a number of years, union leaders are now leaping towards apostasy and the complete abandonment of the faith.

Surely a large number of Catholic teachers will recognize the devastating effects of this position. Unless members force their executive to change course radically, their union can no longer be considered a partner in Catholic education. Indeed, if it continues on this course it may well threaten the survival of the Ontario Catholic system. If that becomes clear the union should be decertified as soon as possible.

The author is editor of Catholic Insight.

(*)Witnesses to Faith is available from the Ontario Catholic school Trustees Association, 20 Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto, ON, M4R 1K8; price: $3.00.