From June 21-24, 2023, all types of educators, leaders, and friends of Catholic education are invited to the first “Adeodatus Conference” for the renewal of Catholic education and culture in Pasadena, CA. The momentous event will take place at St. Andrew Church and the Westin.
The event is being held in response to the growing number of Catholics who desire to understand and draw from intellectual treasures of the Catholic educational tradition and its renewal in order to bring students into “the great conversation.”
Hosted by Alex E. Lessard PH.D., the conference will outfit educators with the tools they need and the confidence to succeed regardless of their backgrounds. Top-level speakers will provide a comprehensive “crash course” in Catholic Liberal Education.
The Most Rev. James D. Conley, DD, STL, Bishop of Lincoln, NE, said: “There is a quiet but powerful renewal happening in the world of Catholic Liberal Education. You won’t want to miss the 1st Adeodatus Conference on Catholic Education & Culture, which will gather the ‘best of the best’ of leaders in this exciting renewal. This is a must-attend conference for those who want to immerse themselves in this great tradition!”
Presenters who will speak on the Catholic intellectual tradition include Michael Waldstein on Christ as Teacher, James Matthew Wilson on Plato, Edward Feser on Aristotle, R. Jared Staudt on the Bible, Michael Foley on Augustine, and Fr. Robert Spitzer on St. Ignatius.
Key authorities on the modern renewal in classical education include Fr. Sebastian Walshe, Andrew Seeley, Dale Ahlquist, Deal Hudson, Pater Edmund Waldstein, and more.
Time will be reserved for conversation and community building as well as rest and recreation in beautiful Pasadena.
A deep educator discount is available. Visit the Adeodatus website and use promotional code Educator to receive 50% off the complete registration fee. Streaming options for individuals and schools are also available.
See previous Cal Catholic story.
This seems like an excellent resource for the renewal of Catholic education and its return to its roots. I’m encouraging some Catholic educators I know to attend. Might you do the same? We can lament the condition of most Catholic education and its poor results, but here’s an opportunity to do something about that problem.
It is the first of a 3 year conference.
When is the renewal supposed to start and where?
Our Catholic schools was renewed by parents who wanted a Catholic school rather than a secular school with a religion class.
State standards demand certain classes, certain lessons in order to get accreditation.
I saw a want ad looking for a teacher at a Catholic classical academy — one of the Chesterton academies — and the salary was only 35,000. Good luck getting anyone good when you pay less than waitress wages.
Was that for a Chesterton Academy in California or another state?
Wages have always been a problem for schools not paid for by tax dollars (at least since Religious are generally no longer the teachers). That’s why we should support school choice. Even poor families deserve quality education for their children.
The Texas Private School Association wants to see lawmakers create a limited education savings account program, one of three public policies the National Conference of State Legislatures considers as a way to expand private school choice. Education savings accounts are state-funded grants deposited into a special account that they can use to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks and more education-related expenses. Five states have education savings account programs. For example, qualifying families could receive $10,000 in their education savings account that they can then use to pay for private school for their student. Another family also could use that money to help their special needs child and provide them with specialized tutoring.
Let’s look at solving the problem of California’s failing public schools (where most Catholic children attend school). With a virtual monopoly and no competition, there’s no incentive for government education to improve.
Money is not the problem, here. Educators in faithful Catholic clasical schools, have a great mission to accomplish, for Christ– not a career for themselves. Many of the teachers are married, with plenty of support from their husbands. Others, who are single, make great sacrifices, in their mission for Christ.
How sexist to claim that women are supported by their husbands so they can teach for low wages. Fact is that the church needs to pay better. You get what you pay for in employees.
You must understand the tremendous importance of the mission of faithful, as well as classical Catholic education! It is a labor of love for Jesus Christ, and Catholic parents and teachers give their all for it! The parents and the Church do not have enough money to pay higher salaries, that secular teachers earn, in the extremely corrupt, Godless public schools. As the father in the traditional Catholic family has a paycheck, the mother can help educate her children, and contribute to the tremendous mission of faithful and classical Catholic education– and the paycheck is not as important. Many sacrifices must be made, in order to fulfill this great and holy mission, for Christ. Devout Catholic families give their all for this! This is not a worldly endeavor, and not a worldly career for yourself, for money and prestige. This has absolutely nothing to do with worldly, corrupt concepts, such as “feminism,” “sexism,” or other corruptions of the modern world. There are also devoted Catholics who are young, single teachers, in faithful and classical Catholic schools. They are on a mission for Christ, too, and give their lives to this sacred endeavor. I have known young, single Catholic lay teachers, who have lived with their families, or lived in a community of Catholics, as roommates, or housemates, to cut costs. Some of them have also gone to teach at Catholic mission sites in Latin America, Africa, or the Middle East– and passionately loved their work for Christ! Some have married other Catholic lay missionaries who were teachers, or in similar fields.
This is how cults exploit people.
The Catholic Church is not a cult.
It can do better.
Read its documents on workers.
No, this is not about a “cult.” Nor is it about “exploiting people.” It is a very simple thing. Many Catholic parents are seeking ways to educate their children, in faithful, even classical Catholic schools. This is a growing trend.
“Fact is that the church needs to pay better. ” If they could, they would. Having taught in Catholic schools before my career at Pasadena City College, I saw that there were basically two types of teachers: the married teacher who counted on the spouse’s income and so was free to work for less, or single people whose living situation was not expensive. I lived in roach motels to save money while teaching in the Archdiocese. It is true that it is harder to keep teachers under these situations, sadly. Also, schools may not be able to hire faithful teachers or even lower level administrators due to the lower salary. But I have been away from the Catholic schools for 35 years and things may be different, hopefully better, now.
pay – Some of the best and most talented lay people I know have worked for the Church, even when they could have worked in the public sector for much higher pay. Parishes and dioceses have been successfully run by dedicated lay employees (and lay volunteers) for centuries.
Catholic schools never got over the fact that they were losing their source of free labor ie nuns. For them it was a labor of love, and most were excellent at it but never had to worry about being let go because they were well taken care of whether they worked in the classroom or in the office or kitchen.
Incidentally, my fifth grade home room teacher just passed away last week. Iam pretty sure it was the last generation of having nuns fill all the teaching rolls. Not more than 20 years later, they closed the school and turned it into senior living and day services.
And yes teaching is a labor of love even for its secular teachers. Especially at Catholic schools. I had a lay friend who spent decades at Father Illo’s school, earning far less than she could have in the public system, but who was laid off unceremoniously about 3 years before retirement. She was never paid even close to what she was worth and was badly mistreated by the abrupt process of converting it to Stella Maris. Some thanks she got for all that hard work and sacrifice.
I want to be sure that I understand your posting. What I inferred is that Catholic school teachers would be women, that they would be supported by husbands rather than be true professionals in their own right, that married women, of course, can be paid less because they are married, and it goes on. I really is possible for professional people, men, and women, to earn a good salary and still accomplish their mission for Christ. You may want to compare your ideas to those of the pre-1940s.
No, Bob One. You are thinking in worldly, secular terms, of the extremely corrupt secular world. These devout Catholic families, involved in faithful, Catholic classical education, for their children– are not worldly, nor secular They are on a very important mission for Jesus Christ, to educate their Catholic children. Most of these devout Catholic parents, who are dedicated to traditional, faithful, and classical Catholic education, for their children– have the husband’s income to rely on, if the wife is teaching at the school. This is NOT to be confused with corrupt, modern worldly concepts associated with feminism, sexism, etc. It is a simple truth. This is an absolutely normal way, for Catholic families to achieve their goals. It takes a good education, with special training in classical Catholic education, to be a good teacher for these schools. These professionals are far better professionals in the education field, than most secular public school teachers of today. They have a deep commitment to a good Catholic moral and spiritual life. They are indeed far, far beyond most secular public school teachers, of today. The Cardinal Newman Society, the Chesterton schools, and a few other excellent, faithful and classical Catholic education groups, are involved in this fine endeavor. It is a wonderful, growing trend. Our dear Archbishop is encouraging all Catholic school teachers to take the specialized classical Catholic education training. You can find out about it at the Archdiocesan Dept. of Catholic Schools.
Actually, of the new, small academies that I know of nearby, the enrollments are tiny and consist almost entirely of students from wealthy families: doctors, lawyers, etc. One school had a senior graduating class of eight students.
Fr. Illo, the Pastor of Star of the Sea Church, in San Francisco, has an excellent Classical Catholic school. He can give lots of helpful information about his school.
I agree that the parents are trying to provide a great education for the kids, etc. I think that you should consider that it is not always the husband who makes the most money. Many men stay home to take care of the kids while the mother is the breadwinner.
Our Catholic school had a janitor that murdered his gay lover.
Bob One– again, this has nothing at all to do with politics, gender roles, “equality” in the workplace, or anything else like that. It is a very, very simple thing! In a case with a devout Catholic couple, who want a good, faithful, even a classical Catholic education for their kids– it just might so happen, that the wife happens to be a teacher, and because of that, she may want to teach in the new faithful Catholic, even classical Catholic school! And it may also happen, that her husband already has a good job in another field. Because of that, the couple can afford to enroll their children in the Catholic school– despite the low-paying salary of the teacher’s job. It is a labor of love– for which the couple is happy to be able to be involved in. Also, some Catholic ladies– for example, the young, outstanding EWTN TV host, journalist, and author, Colleen Carroll Campbell– made the decision to quit her job, and stay hone, and Homeschool her four children. Her husband is a doctor, with a good salary, so this family could afford to do this. There are many other devout Catholic families, doing the same thing.
Ven. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen graduated from the Spalding Institute, a Catholic boys’ high school, in Peoria, Illinois, in 1913, and was the valedictorian of a class of seven students.
I have known parents of different denominations– Lutheran, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Baptist, Eastern Orthodox, etc.– and sometimes non-denominational, evangelical Christians– who have been able to help operate church-run private schools, for their kids, and for all the kids of their church, with one parent (usually the mother) being a teacher. And the father, with a good job in secular society, can provide the greater part of the family’s paycheck, for their needs. So, it all works out well. And the mother can see her children at school, occasionally, during the school day. These families are deeply religious, with close-knit families. Sometimes, the minister’s wife, or Orthodox priest’s wife, also works as a teacher, or helps in some way. They usually have wonderful, caring, close-knit communities. I knew one lady, a School Librarian, who was delighted to get a job at an Episcopal school on the East Coast, in her field– which she loved. She also sang in their excellent church choir. Her husband was a scientist (civil service) in a top job with the Navy. They had six children, all very successful, who now have their own grown grandchildren! The Navy scientist and his wife, originally from San Diego, are both gone from this world–bless them!
I didn’t want to bring this up– but Covenant School, in Nashville, TN, is a church-run school, like what I described. It is painful to think of the Covenant Presbyterian School, since the terrible mass shooting there. The town where I grew up was dominated by Eastern Europeans and their Orthodox churches. They, too, had a church-run school, and the Orthodox priest’s wife helped at the school. They had five lovely daughters, but no sons. They all were well-educated, and spoke several languages. We also had a Catholic school, with an order of Dominican teaching nuns (closed in the early 1970s), and a Christian (non-denominational, evangelical) school. Many of the church mothers taught at the church-run schools. The church-run schools preserved their religion, language and culture, at their schools. Jewish schools for their children, do the same thing.
Star of the Sea School, in San Francisco, started in 1909, with a teaching order of nuns. They had an elementary school and a high school. As San Francisco grew, their schools had many students. But after Vatican II, things started to fall apart. The nuns left, the high school closed, and for many years, the elementary school struggled, with lay teachers, and a large number of non-Catholic students. Then, last year, Fr. Illo opened his Stella Maris Academy, an Integrated Classical Catholic school. It only has a small number of students, with faithful Catholic parents. Someday, though, it may again grow into a large school– and they may have to start a high school again, too.
We had a small school like that and once the main donors kids were through it they pulled their donations and the school had to close.
Hey Bob One the pre-1940’s was a time of strong Catholic families and parishes, I would gladly take that over the corrupt, secular, feminist, homosexual driven times we are currently plagued with
It was the Great Depression. You may still get to experience both at once.
Love Fr. Spitzer and the many others.
Adeodatus, a gift of God, so named St. Augustine his son.
I looked that up.
If he had not died at seventeen, he would have needed therapy.
They didn’t have therapy in the fourth century.
My kid went through lots of Catholic education including Newman List colleges (which are liberal arts colleges) and works at Starbucks.
Begin with the end in mind.
Yes, we want our kids to be good Catholics but they also need be able to support a family.
I think educating educators is a good idea.
We had issues where teachers did not really know the subjects. You have that in homeschooling, too.
They are just teaching the books or having the kids read the book and giving quizzes.
Catholicism was the subject that they were most ignorant about.
A message from Fr. Robert Spitzer:
I was made aware today, May 11th 2023, that Patrick Coffin has challenged the authenticity of the Pope Francis. I do not hold his position and would never hold this position.
5:52 PM · May 11, 2023
·
·
May 11
Since I have already had an interview with him on a totally different topic I have asked that my interview be withdrawn from the series, and that my name not be associated with the series or other projects he is hosting including advertising etc.
·
May 11
My sincere apologies for the confusion but full disclosure was not made to me about Mr. Coffin’s controversial position prior to the interview.