Part 5. Conflict of Roman Catholicism With the State in the Sphere of Public Education (Cont.) (5)

Besides the sphere of public education, there exists in the state by necessity another related sphere—that of charitable activity. But if education already stands in close relation to religion and their separation has been brought about only by the necessary conditions of social organization, then charitable activity, by its very nature, is altogether inseparable from the Church. Indeed the state in this respect has renounced all claims and has left charitable activity to private societies, predominantly religious ones. Considering, however, this activity to have important public significance, the state could not refuse to contribute to it, and therefore makes annual monetary subsidies to charitable societies. Catholics were quick to make use of this state of affairs for their principal aim. Among various charitable institutions, they established orphanages, to which homeless orphans gather to live and be educated. By their very nature, these institutions are not only charitable but also educational—that is, they represent a kind of charitable school. Making use of their charitable character, Catholics demanded from the state a subsidy for them—for the support of these orphanages—and indeed obtained a result, when by an ordinance of 1825 orphanages were recognized as having the right to a certain portion of the public school fund.[1] Since instruction in these orphanages was conducted exclusively by Catholics and all these institutions generally were under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church and the guidance of Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity, it is clear that the Catholic maneuver completely succeeded; they achieved their goal, obtaining the right to a share of public funds for their specialized, exclusively Roman Catholic schools. This success so encouraged the Catholics that in 1840 they submitted a petition demanding the appropriation to them from the public fund of sums for all their Catholic schools, even those having no charitable character whatsoever. Although the petition, as we saw above, was rejected, this did not discourage the Catholics. In 1853 they repeated the petition and with such persistence that they achieved an expansion of their claims on the public fund, especially in the city of New York itself. From 1860 onward there began a regular appropriation of subsidies for the support of Roman Catholic orphanages, a name which Catholics succeeded in extending even to some simple schools, and the amount of these subsidies grew in rapid progression. In 1861 the Catholics received $18,791; in 1863 they received $78,000; in 1868 they received $124,424;[2] from 1869 to 1871 about $2,000,000, and from 1872 to 1876 annually $300,000.[3] In a tax bill for the city presented to the legislative assembly in 1869, there was included such a paragraph: “Annually a sum equal to 20 percent of all revenue obtained in the city under the direction of an official specially appointed by the board of education in said city shall be set aside for the support of schools giving free instruction to children in said city.” According to the meaning of this paragraph, the city treasury was to allocate annually $250,000 for the support of parochial schools; and since 4/5 of them belonged to Catholics, it is clear that this paragraph by its somewhat indefinite wording legalized exactly what the Catholics sought. The paragraph passed in that legislative session, and the Catholics rejoiced. But as soon as the true significance of the paragraph became apparent, a tremendous uproar arose against it; in the following year’s session a petition was presented for the repeal of the paragraph bearing the signatures of 100,000 voters, and indeed on April 24, 1870, the Catholic paragraph was repealed.[4]

In some states, as a result of the balance of power between Protestants and Catholics, the question of religious instruction did not receive a categorical decision. The Catholics were not slow to make use of this for their purpose. According to the statute of Connecticut it is neither required nor prohibited to read the Bible and prayers in schools or to perform other religious exercises. All of this is left to the determination of school visitors or the population of various cities and school districts. Such an arrangement proved favorable to the Catholics and they skillfully extracted all possible advantages from it, seizing control of several schools even in the very capital of the state, New Haven. The seizure was accomplished in every way legally—through elections that gave them a majority on the “board of public education.” With their members on this board, the Catholics could naturally freely dispose of public money for their schools, and now some schools, maintained at public expense, have a purely Catholic character. Thus the public school known as the “Hamilton” is completely in the hands of Catholics: all the teachers in it are Roman Catholic Sisters of Charity and are, together with all the pupils, under the spiritual direction and control of the Roman Catholic bishop, who acts through the pastor of the church within whose bounds the school is located, and, taking advantage of the opportunity to introduce religious instruction in the school outside of the usual class hours, directs it in an exclusively Catholic spirit.[5] In similar fashion public funds have been appropriated to Roman Catholic schools in many other places. In the city of New Britain, in the same state, a Roman Catholic school was adopted by the entire city in 1862 and from that time has been known as the “city school.” It is maintained at the expense of the city, which annually appropriates over $3,000 for it, and yet it remains an exclusively Catholic school. In it one teacher and six teachers—all Roman Catholics, chosen by Roman Catholic authorities.[6] Thus, little by little, the Catholics not only managed to circumvent in many places the particular law prohibiting the use of public funds for the support of denominational schools, but also the general provision of the Constitution of the country, by which religion with its organs is placed outside the sphere of the state’s jurisdiction. They not only appropriated to themselves the right to public funds for the maintenance of their schools, but also managed to make their exclusively Catholic schools into public schools, thus placing their denomination as it were as the dominant and state religion, in place of that “Common Christianity” by means of which the state intended to avoid the religious difficulty.

The methods by which Catholics achieve their aims have a fully legal appearance on the surface. They consist, as is evident already from the examples given, in the fact that Catholics strive first of all to fill with their members public offices that have jurisdiction over schools, and by means of these officials they easily obtain control over the schools. This manifested itself with particular clarity recently in New York. The Roman Catholic element in this city is very strong. Politically the city belongs to the Democratic party, which consists predominantly of Irish, faithful Catholics. The leader of the strongest faction of the Democratic party in the city (Tammany Hall), John Kelly, a zealous Catholic (cousin-in-law of Cardinal McCloskey), and in administrative matters has until recently been the true dictator, directing the entire administration of the city. Through his agency Roman Catholicism was able to make its strength felt in the city, but this strength could only be manifested by unofficial means, was public rather than governmental power. And society, long regarding with horror the developing omnipotence of Roman Catholicism, could comfort and reassure itself by the fact that the official head of the city—the mayor—was not a Catholic, and kept watch to ensure that Catholicism did not seize this supreme position in the national metropolis. At the slightest move by Catholics toward seizing the mayoralty the press would usually sound a terrible alarm, threatening the city with every imaginable horror which Catholics were supposedly preparing for it.

In November 1880 there were elections for a new city mayor and the Democratic leader appointed Grace, a known and devoted Catholic, as the candidate for this office. As soon as word spread of such an appointment, the press sounded a desperate alarm and from Protestant church pulpits preachers thundered in unison philippics against Catholicism, which supposedly sought the “head of the republic” to cut it off, in order to deliver the country to the power of the Pope. In vain did Grace insist that he would never bring religion into politics and would faithfully execute the laws of the republic; his assurances were futile and at immense rallies speakers one after another predicted the ruin of republican institutions as soon as the mayoralty would be in the hands of Catholics. The main fears were expressed regarding the existing system of public education, which politicians consider the best guarantee of the preservation and prosperity of the republic and against which Catholics agitate the most. To calm public opinion, the candidate addressed the public with a special letter concerning his future policy regarding the schools, in which among other things it was stated: “If elected, my aim will be to preserve the system of public schools in all its integrity, a system that has been so long established and upon which the American people looks with such pride. In all appointments which it will be my duty to make in connection with the management of schools, I will not fail to give full and proper recognition to the prevailing American sentiment in this matter. I believe that the public schools, established by the people and regarded by it as its richest heritage, should be preserved without any violation, and I shall work for generous appropriations for their support.”[7] This letter was calculated to calm the excited public opinion, but with passions inflamed it could not achieve its purpose. At a large anti-Catholic rally, one of the speakers spoke thus of this letter: “Grace says in his letter that he will maintain the system of public education in New York in its integrity. But read into the letter; see with what skill it is written. Does it not show a creation worthy of Talleyrand or a Jesuit? Is there anything in it that can be understood as opposition to the use of public funds for sectarian purposes?—Not at all. In such a case the matter is decided by the general proposition: Grace is a Roman Catholic. He either is or is not a good Catholic. If he is a good Roman Catholic, then he is subject to the commands of his spiritual and ecclesiastical master—the Pope, whose commands are expressed through cardinals, bishops, priests—down to the confessor. This supreme pontiff is a sworn enemy of all governments and systems of education that are not under the control of the Roman Church. He has said that every system of education outside the control of the Church is godless—I quote his own words in his encyclical. Thus if Grace is a good Catholic, he must, insofar as it depends on him, bring the school system of the city into accord with the commands of the Pope. If he is a good Catholic, he will be obliged to act thus, because the Catholic Church demands of a person obedience first to the Church, and then to his state. But if he is not a good Catholic, then he is unworthy to be the mayor of New York.”[8]

In spite of all its heat, the anti-Catholic party did not prevail, and Grace was elected mayor of New York. Whether the fears concerning the harmful consequences of this election for the existing school system are justified can now not yet be said with certainty. With confidence it can only be said that the Catholics will not fail to extract all possible advantages in favor of the realization of their views on education from their temporary position as the dominant party in the city.[9]

XX

While struggling against the dominant system of public schools, Catholics at the same time zealously support their specially Catholic schools, and these represent a coherent system of Catholic education, from parochial elementary schools to higher colleges. This system, standing in opposition to the adopted system of state education, represents the complete realization of the principles for whose dominance Catholics struggle, and therefore a description of it can serve as the best indicator of the kind of school that Catholics desire.

Regarding the establishment of parochial Catholic schools, as we said above, the first bishops of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States took care. But for lack of both means and teachers, this work could not be quickly undertaken in the new land. Only when a great emigration to America of various monastic orders began could the business of school education expect to proceed successfully. The first to appear in the field of elementary education were women’s orders—the Ursulines, Sisters of Charity, and Sisters of the Visitation. After them came other workers—Sisters of Mercy, Christian Brothers, and other orders, and all devoted themselves zealously to school work. At the present time, besides lay teachers, the work of teaching in Catholic schools is undertaken by seven monastic male orders and thirty-six female orders. Under their direction and supervision are 2,389 schools with 423,383 pupils.[10]

By their internal character, Catholic parochial schools naturally fully correspond to the strict Catholic view of education. They are all under the direct supervision of some monastic order, and the teachers themselves are for the most part members of various orders. Instruction consists of the usual course of elementary subjects, with the essential difference from ordinary public schools that religious instruction is a necessary daily element in them—in the form of catechism or religious instruction. Before the beginning of instruction the teacher reads a prayer, and all pupils listen to it on their knees. Instruction also concludes with prayer. The walls of the school are usually decorated with icons, a crucifix, and various moral maxims such as: “We must write without wasting time”; “we must not come late or stay home without permission”; “we must listen attentively to the catechism”; “we must pray to God with reverence in church and school,” and the like. Whenever the clock strikes, a short prayer is read, with the pupils remaining quietly in their places. Every half hour one of the pupils, by previous assignment, proclaims loudly: “Let us remember that we are in the sacred presence of God.” Instruction stops for a moment and then begins again.[11] Thus the religious element is interwoven throughout the entire course of instruction and constitutes its most essential part. “The children,” says a Catholic author, “learn to keep God in their souls throughout all the days of their lives. This is what the Catholic Church calls true education. Religion and science live together in heavenly harmony; and the young mind sees no conflict between them, because there cannot be any. The child honors one, loves the other. He knows that they both come from God.”[12]

Parochial schools provide only elementary instruction; children in them merely enter the realm of knowledge, and if they were limited only to this, Catholic school system could not achieve its aim. In proceeding to higher education in other non-Catholic schools, children would necessarily subject their initial Catholic impressions to higher non-Catholic principles. Therefore, for the complete realization of the principles of Catholic education, higher schools of purely Catholic character were also necessary, where the initial Catholic education would be completed and strengthened by higher Catholic education as well. And indeed, Catholics have long cared for the establishment of higher Catholic colleges that could be on par with non-Catholic colleges. At the present time in the United States there exist seventy-nine (79) Catholic colleges and 28 seminaries with the right to confer academic degrees.[13] In these lies the main strength of Catholicism. From them come the most zealous Catholics, fighters for the dominance of their Church. A description of the external and internal organization of these higher schools gives an understanding of higher Catholic education.