Re Ontario Catholic school system.

The annual insert in the Catholic Register helps to perpetuate illusions about the reality of Catholic education. The public is done a disservice when it is fed an excessively positive view of the Catholic school system.

The Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association (OECTA) would like the unsuspecting public to believe that it supports Catholic values. How does that theory stand up in practical situations?

(i) A nephew of mine was told by his Catholic teacher that he didn't have to go to Mass on Sunday. Something is terribly amiss when such a wrong idea is presented as truth.

(ii) Fr. Tom Lynch, who teaches moral theology at St. Augustine's Seminary, made a presentation for OECTA. He was booed! I suspect they didn't like his orthodoxy.

(iii) In dramatic contrast to this, when Joanna Manning made a presentation to OECTA, she received a standing ovation. She isn't known for her love for the Church. Have Catholic educators been led to believe that the Church is out of date by the instructors of the religion courses they have taken?

(iv) The religion course offered for teachers through the Peterborough school board has given support to the ordination of women. When (Fr.) Ed Cachia broke with the Church to form his own denomination, he received ample support from the "Catholic" teachers in the Peterborough area, because they agree with him. If a Catholic school board were to try to discipline and correct those teachers who support (Fr.) Ed. Cachia, whom do you think OECTA would back up?

(v) The students are done a disservice when they are subjected to teachings that are contrary to what the Church teaches for our salvation. The school curriculum has been approved by Catholic bishops who deferred to the single bishop assigned to evaluate programs. Much of the current curriculum has been approved by a bishop who was not known for his good judgment.

(vi) As a priest, I wonder what I'm doing celebrating Mass when so many teachers and students don't go to Sunday Mass. This doesn't deter them from coming to receive Holy Communion. Do concerns about sacrilegious reception of the Blessed Sacrament generate any concern among the faithful?

We are told that we must be pastoral; we must not be judgmental. Some refinement in our thinking is needed. Jesus directed us to not throw pearls to swine. That statement is provocative and unpleasant to ponder, but we ought not to gloss over it. With so many Catholic teachers not practising the faith, they are hardly in a position to teach with conviction that which they have not accepted themselves.

When Fr. Michael Scanlon took over as president of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, it was only nominally Catholic. He decided the place should be authentically Catholic. Some staff left because they couldn't accept his (God-given?) vision for the university. Despite conflicts, Fr. Scanlon has persevered to promote orthodoxy. There has been a remarkable turn-around at Franciscan University. The theology professors have to take the oath of fidelity, indicating their allegiance to the teachings of Christ and His Church.

I hope that Catholic educators and leaders will be inspired by the example of Fr. Scanlon. Strong, courageous leaders are needed if the precious faith in Jesus is going to be passed on in a credible way to young Catholics.

Pastor, St. Paul's Church, Gravenhurst, ON