Catholic schools give America more than chump change

            I’ve bought pizza, chaperoned dances, donated to appeals – all fundraisers for Catholic schools – and paid tuition. Which is why I am bent out of shape by an article on church finances in Aug. 18 issue of The Economist. The article in the magazine that defines itself as “authoritative” makes all kinds of claims without data to back them up. Most annoying is its blithe statement that local and federal government “bankroll” Catholic schools.

            The article is filled with errors, such as its guess that church giving dropped by 20 percent because of the sex abuse scandal heralded in the media in 2002 and henceforth.  Real data from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) indicate, however, that church giving increased significantly in recent years. CARA researcher Mark Gray noted August 21 that "on average, Catholic households gave about $8 in weekly collections in 2000 and today they give about $10. Even after adjusting for the effects of inflation, annual offertory in parishes in the U.S. grew from $361,000 in 2000 to 478,000 in 2010."  Adds Gray, who spends his life crunching numbers, “there is no evidence I know of that Catholic parish weekly collections have declined.”

As another school year starts, it is time to highlight the church’s contribution to American education.

            The government has a mandate to educate youth, and some public schools in well-off suburbs perform spectacularly; in other areas, not so well. However, in meeting its obligation, the government gets huge help from the Catholic Church, to the tune of about $23 billion dollars a year. That is what the government does not have to pay because Catholic schools educate about two million U.S. students annually. Catholic schools provide a realistic choice in education. Given this $23 billion, you could argue it’s the church subsidizing the government (or “bankrolling” it, if you wish to use The Economist’s hyperbole), not vice versa.

            In many nations, the government subsidizes Catholic schools, but in the U.S., government aid to non-public schools is minimal. In fact, other than the DC Opportunity Scholarship program, which helps fewer than 2,000 students, no U.S. government programs fund non-public schools. In some school districts, government pays for textbooks and transportation, but even that aid is for students, not schools. It does not pay for heat, light, building repair or the principal’s salary, for example. In some impoverished areas, students receive remedial help, whether they go to a public school or parochial school. Again, such aid is for students, not schools. In fact, the money does not go directly to the Catholic school, but to a public school central office, earning interest for the public schools until the district meets its obligation to provide resources for needy students.

            Who benefits from the Catholic schools? The nation.

The National Catholic Education Association provides informative data, here from the 2010-2011 school year:

·       Catholic schools help more than Catholics. Non-Catholic enrollment is 15.4 percent. In the urban/inner-city, the percentage of non-Catholic students soars to 42 percent.

·       Minority enrollment is 30.2 percent.

·       The average per pupil tuition in parish elementary schools is $3,673. That is approximately 62.4 percent of actual costs per pupil of $5,367. About 93.9 percent of elementary schools provide some form of tuition assistance.

·       The mean freshman tuition in a Catholic secondary school is $8,182. That is approximately 80 percent of actual costs per pupil of $10,228. About 97 percent of secondary schools provide some form of tuition assistance.

·       An estimated 99 percent of Catholic secondary school students graduate, and 84 percent go on to college, compared to 44.1 percent of public school students.         

How do Catholic schools meet the shortfall between actual cost and what families pay? Primarily through direct subsidy from parishes, dioceses, religious orders, development programs and fund-raising activities.

            The Economist ought to be embarrassed. A little fact-checking would have gone a long way. When it comes to who is helping whom, the church’s contribution to America is worth $23 billion annually. Not exactly chump change.

Groundbreaking Economic Encyclical on the Way

Since 1891, when Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum novarum (On capital and labor, the Church has seen a few blockbuster encyclicals. Pope Benedict XVI may be about to issue another one for the ages with the forthcoming Caritas in veritate (Charity in truth).

Rerum novarum addressed the condition of labor and the challenges of the Industrial Revolution’s widespread exploitation of workers. It resounded in the United States as it upheld the rights of employees to organize and rejected communism and unbridled capitalism. Later social encyclicals built on its foundation and addressed growing concerns of labor and international finance.

Pacem in terris (Peace on earth), Pope John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical, and the first encyclical ever to address not just Catholics but to all of good will, stands as another remarkable statement. It addressed a major social problem of its time, the Cold War. It said that peace required respect for human rights. Coming just months after the Cuban missile crisis, it offered hope in the United States as it called for negotiation not conflict.

Pope Paul VI’s only social encyclical, Populorum progressio (Progress of peoples), in 1967, saw development as the path to peace. The world economy must serve many, not few, it said, and pointed out the inequities of the global trading system. It reiterated Catholic teaching on the right to a just wage, security in employment and unionization. The call for development as the way to peace was important for Americans ensnared in the Vietnam War.

Evangelium vitae (Gospel of life), Pope John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical, the fourth social encyclical of his papacy, spoke of the inviolability of human life. It proclaimed a vital message in a society marked by widespread abortion, growing euthanasia and a too free use of the death penalty. It touched concerns in the United States where medical advances to preserve life have been overshadowed by efforts to snuff it out.

Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in veritate (Charity in truth) will address the ills of today. He may touch on the economy, ecology and personal and corporate ethics. Preparation on it began two years ago, and reportedly originally was planned to mark the 40th anniversary of Populorum progressio.

With world finances in shambles, society may be ready to reconsider the world’s economic structures. The reverberation of the U.S. mortgage worldwide surely highlights the need to address finances from a new, global perspective. That the world’s people form one community showed dramatically in the last year’s financial tsunami.

The fact that human beings are damaging creation makes ecology another likely topic. A strong social statement from the Vatican, which does not worry about curtailing a manufacturing empire or other business venture, can provide a basis for honest brokering for environmental concerns. The pope is a voice for the poor and can speak out for everyone’s rights to basic needs, including water, a staple becoming an endangered commodity in many areas of the world.

The pope as moral leader may address the greed heralded in headlines about crimes such as fraud by individuals (the well named Mr. Madoff comes to mind) or corporations (think Enron for starters). The fact that greed requires one to ignore, indeed, to exploit, one’s neighbor, underscores dramatically the violation of the simple principle for peace: love thy neighbor.

Today’s social ills, sins, and crimes give Pope Benedict plenty to work with. Economic, ecological and ethical troubles abound, big ones of international scale. It’s safe to predict the world is in for an overdue call to consider the ethical dimensions of economic life. Benedict is first a teacher and pastor. The words of the encyclical will likely be carefully nuanced, but his message will be clear. Divorcing economics and ethics is a path to moral and human disaster. No one will be 100 per cent happy with the encyclical, of course. People grumble when oxen are gored. This may be a boon, however, if it prompts citizens across the globe to think, act and change when they look to others’ needs as well as their own.

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