The bishop of Columbus, Ohio, said that Catholic schools should be centers of evangelization and catechesis, rather than “cheap imitations” of secular schools.
“So if all we’re doing is imitating our secular peers, we’re only ever going to be a cheap imitation because they’re going to have greater sources of funding than we will,” Bishop Earl Fernandes said in an interview released today about his forthcoming pastoral letter on Catholic education. “And is that what we’re called to be, or are we called to be something more, something greater?”
“And so, this is what I propose, is that we make saints and we capture the best of our tradition and propose it for new generations as a way of confronting the challenges of the modern era,” he added. “I want to form disciples who are convicted in the faith and who are willing to witness to the joy of the Gospel.”