Do Catholic Schools Enhance the Experience of the Sacraments?

A recent article published by the Catholic News Service that summarized the Bishops' survey on US Catholics' practices and views on marriage starts with these interesting findings from the survey:

"Although nearly three-quarters of American Catholics say they are somewhat or very familiar with Church teachings on marriage, many mistakenly believe that a non-Catholic spouse must promise to raise the couple's children as Catholic and that Church teaching accepts divorce in cases of marital infidelity."

I might have to count myself among those who believe(d) the first statement.

The study found that Catholics aged 18-25 and 65 and over were more likely to agree with Church teachings than Catholics aged 26-46 and 47-64. It also found, perhaps not surprisingly, that those who attended Mass regularly were six times more likely to report that their marriage has been very informed by Church teachings. Although the data were disaggregated by age, they do not appear to have been disaggregated by whether or not those surveyed attended Catholic school.

A Catholic school education might have an important influence on the study's two main investigations of interest: 1) Catholics' knowledge of Church teaching about marriage, and 2) Catholics' agreement with the Church teaching about marriage. It might also have an influence more broadly on Catholics' understanding of and agreement with Church teaching on a central part of their faith: the Sacraments.

Catholic schools provide first-hand experience of the Sacraments. Through a typical K-8 religious education sequence, most students in Catholic schools will recieve the Sacraments of Eucharast and Pennance for the first time, and they will recieve the Sacrament of Confirmation. Their peers in public schools who attend CCD will also receive the Sacraments. However, having prepared four classes for Confirmation, I can personally attest to the time it takes to prepare young adolescent students for the seriousness of the Sacrament. Religion was taught every day at the school where I taught, and Confirmation preparation comprised most of the teaching in Religion for at least half the year during which the students were preparing for the Sacrament. It is hard to believe that one or two hours of instruction, once a week, as in the case of students in the CCD program, provides the same kind of preparation. In addtion to the preparation for Sacraments, students in Catholic schools will also experience the Sacrament of Pennance at least twice a year, and Eucharist at least once a month.

The nature of students' experience with the Sacraments probably has much to do with how they impact the students' future experience of Sacraments - and this depends upon the culture of the school, the quality of the teaching, and the curriculum used. It is not hard to imagine the two extremes. On the one hand, perhaps the easiest way to teach Religion is as a series of "rules" to memorize (e.g., the Ten Commandments; the Beatitudes; the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy). On the other, perhaps a more comfortable approach is the "Jesus loves us all, and we should all love each other according to His example" attitude. To my knowledge, there isn't much data on what Catholic Religion curriculum and instruction "looks like" (although I would be happy to stand corrected if such data exist). Without having any data beyond the anecdotes of past and current Catholic school teachers, I would hazard the guess that most Catholic Religious Education programs align with one of those approaches.

I wonder if students' future experiences of the Sacraments is enhanced (or hindered) by either - or both - of these approaches? The Sacraments, and Catholicism more broadly, are complex interactions with God along our faith journey. It seems like a disservice to reduce them to a list of rules or oversimplify them with a well-meaning message of love. Perhaps a more ideal religious education curriculum lies somewhere in the middle, in the description and justification of the "rules" and other beliefs by understanding them as manifestations of God's love. Or perhaps that's a bit too much for a K-8 curriculum. Perhaps the "extreme" versions of religious education I've described above prepare people for a deeper integration of all the parts of their faith when they continue their education in high school or college, or through Mass or youth groups, or in conversation with peers or adult role models.

In any case, the issue of whether or not Catholic education influences experiences of the Sacraments, including knowledge of and agreement with church teaching about them, seems to be a fruitful one for research. If it is, indeed, the responsibility of the entire Catholic community to educate our youth in the faith, then it behooves us to know whether or not what we are doing is making a difference to the faith lives of students as they become adults. If so, then we might further narrow the question to explore what kinds of religious education experiences work, when they work, and for whom they work. If not, we might begin to explore ways to improve school-based religious education to prepare students for continuing their own faith journey outside of their time in Catholic schools.