Schmalz’s article, “American Bishops Revamping High School Religion,” began:
Religious instruction is going to be a little bit different at most Catholic high schools very soon. In response to detailed national standards from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, publishers are rolling out brand-new high school religion book series, and ceasing publication of the books most Catholic high schools and teen religious education programs now use. The new books tie directly to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a compendium of everything the Catholic Church believes, promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1997.
The article explained the genesis of the new texts and frameworks: “As part of a decade-long process sparked by concerns about omissions and errors in the way high school religion was being taught, the USCCB voted 221-0 in November 2007 to endorse ‘Doctrinal Elements of a Curriculum Framework for the Development of Catechetical Materials for Young People of High School Age.’”
The “omissions and errors” are gigantic. According to an oral report presented to the General Assembly of US Bishops on June 10, 1997, they include:
Failure to present the Trinity as the central mystery of the Christian faith; Reluctance to use ‘Father’ for the first person of the Trinity, at times substituting the term ‘Parent God’; Insufficient emphasis on the divine nature of Christ, with divinity equated with being ‘distant and unreal’; Insufficient emphasis on the importance of Christ’s incarnation as central to salvation history; Do not always clearly present the Catholic Church as established by Christ to continue both his presence and his mission in the world; Too often the impression is left that the human person is the first principal and final end of his/her own existence; Deficient teaching on original sin and on sin in general.
The responses by San Francisco’s archdiocesan religious educators to the new guidelines were diverse, and revealed deep cleavages within the Department of Catholic Schools.
Gary Meegan, theology department chairman at Serra High School applauded the new texts: “We as Catholics believe there are some things that are always and everywhere right and wrong.” He said that the San Mateo boys' high school “...will use St. Mary’s Press freshman and sophomore texts next year.”
Some were in the middle: “St. Ignatius College Preparatory revamped its curriculum in response to the bishops’ guidelines but does not plan to purchase texts immediately,” said Carol A. Devincenzi, religious studies department chair of the Jesuit high school in San Francisco. The archdiocesan newspaper quoted an email from Decincenzi as saying, “We have developed our own readers and rely heavily on the sacred text.”
And some expressed opposition. “Some disagree with the doctrinal framework sequence of courses and approach,” reported Catholic San Francisco. “At Stuart Hall High School ‘we are very much a work in progress regarding the framework’s implementation,’ said theology department chairman Raymond O’Connor in an email. O’Connor is concerned the new courses may no longer qualify for University of California credit and do not incorporate the Schools of the Sacred Heart charism.”
That might seem an odd remark for the chair of a department of religion at a Catholic school, whose duty it is to get students into heaven, not the University of California. But for readers familiar with O’Connor or Stuart Hall and its sister school, the Convent of the Sacred Heart, where he serves as Social Justice and Community Services Coordinator, his remarks may not seem so odd.
Convent of the Sacred Heart last year hosted lesbian "womanpriest" Victoria Rue, and screened "Pink Smoke Over the Vatican" (a film critical of Church teachings on women’s ordination) without offering any "contrasting" -- that is, Catholic -- viewpoints.
Apparently, part of the Sacred Heart ‘charism” referred to by O’Connor is the annual “Summer Service Projects,” a program in which students visit various Sacred Heart schools around the country. San Francisco’s July 9-15, 2011 program was called “Bay to Waves” and was led by O’Connor. It included a viewing of the film “Milk,” which celebrates the life of homosexual-rights champion Harvey Milk. It also included O’Connor taking 18 students on a tour of San Francisco’s Castro district. He took them to the infamous Most Holy Redeemer Church, where he serves as coordinator of lectors. He also took the students to the Harvey Milk Academy, the “LGBT Museum,” and the Human Rights Campaign Action Center. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest pro same-sex “marriage” lobbying organization in the country.
Other “religious educators” appear to be allied with O’Connor. Josie Maxwell, religious studies chairman at San Francisco’s Mercy High School, stated flatly that her school does not plan to purchase the new texts.
The second article in the Catholic San Francisco insert -- Lidia Wasowicz’s “K-8 Schools amplify Catholic Identity in Serving All Backgrounds” -- seemed to indicate a more unified fidelity to Church teaching at the K-8 level.
Fr. John Balleza, pastor of St. Raphael Church in San Rafael, told Wasowicz: “Our school exists because it is Catholic, and we’re not going to sell out under any circumstances, even if we do not meet our enrollment and we’re struggling.”
Tom White, principal of St. Anne’ School in San Francisco, echoed Fr. Balleza: “If you want a private school, there are plenty out there… We are first and foremost a Catholic school, and nothing’s going to dissuade us from the importance we place on Catholic teaching.”
Fr. Balleza, newly elected chair of the Archdiocesan Council of Priests, was also quoted by Catholic San Francisco as saying, “schools that misrepresent themselves as ‘Catholic’ commit the ‘ultimate hypocrisy.’”
According to a news release, nearly 17,000 students are enrolled at Catholic elementary schools in the archdiocese, and nearly 8,000 attend secondary schools in the three counties of the archdiocese -- San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties.
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