Description: The cultural context in which Catholic schools operate today is complex and different from what it was at the start of the twentieth century. Following Vatican II, the exodus of individuals previously committed to the religious life combined with the migration of Catholic families away from urban parishes and into the suburbs has drastically changed the demands placed upon Catholic schools. Discussions of contemporary Catholic education are therefore often undermined by the debate over whether the Church has lived up to the options the Second Vatican Council glimpsed for the future of Catholic education.

The Catholic Character of Catholic Schools provides a welcome focus on how Catholic schools can maintain their religious character today. Editors Youniss, Convey, and McLellan consider the issues Catholic schools must face in order to fulfill their Catholic heritage. Rev. Richard M. Jacobs focuses on the shift from religious to lay teachers, and considers whether lay leadership will accept the mission that religious teachers once put into practice. Merylann J. Schuttloffel identifies two common philosophical threads among the nation's Catholic schools: centralization and Catholicity. Rev. Paul Galetto examines survey results of the personal beliefs of teachers, and Sister Catherine Dooley provides a historical overview of theories and controversies in the field of religious education through an examination of religious curricula. Additional important perspectives are provided by John J. Convey, Frederick C. Mueller, F.S.C., Kathleen Carr, C.S.J., George Elford, Timothy Walch, Timothy Meagher, and Jerome Porath.

This is a book for bishops, pastors, superintendents, principals,teachers, and parents, all of whom have an investment in the schools' religious character and ability to cultivate a religious ethos in their students. Because Catholic schools also seek to instill religious, moral, and cultural values that serve society at large, this is also a book for readers outside the Catholic school system.

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