Is Catholic Education in a State of Crisis?

Pope Benedict XVI is expected to say something about, well, practically everything under the sun, depending who you ask. But as he will be meeting with heads of Catholic colleges and universities, education is sure to be one of these somethings.

Here's an article with an interesting perspective. I quote in part:

The educational system in the Catholic Church in the United States is not in crisis, it is in a period of transformation. With the increased abilities of global telecommunications and technologies, the process of Catholic evangelization and catechesis needs to adapt and adopt these modern methods of communications. The educational format of the 19th and 20th centuries is no longer appropriate as the sole vehicle to communicate Catholic truths to our developing young Catholics and our established community of believers.

The primary role of responsibility towards the education of children rests with the parents of young Catholics. The continued emphasis by the Church on the importance of a traditional family structure is perhaps the key component towards educational success in the new millennium. Catholic traditional teaching of the sanctity of marriage and the importance of raising children in a Catholic environment are the principles that need to loudly get the attention of Catholic clergy, laity and educators. As a collective Catholic Church, we need to return to the traditional (and by that I do not mean antiquated) doctrinal and dogmatic formation for all of our Catholic youth and faithful. The new spirituality that is advocated by Benedict XVI should include a thorough and complete understanding of the precepts of Catholicism, from the Apostolic era, to the post-Vatican II Church.

and later:

The so-called educational crisis in the Catholic Church is in reality part of the natural progress of the organic Church that is constantly growing and changing to fulfill the needs of the Body of Christ. We cannot spend time with lament about the glories of past Catholic educational activities. As a Church, we need to seize the global opportunity we have with the dynamic power of the Holy Spirit and become faith filled educational pioneers of the message of Christ’s Sacraments and love. Our Catholic educational activities are indeed not in crisis, but in a state of kairotic chaos, that is leading the Church to a new age of catechesis and evangelization in a dramatically changing world.

It is refreshing to think in terms of opportunity for growth, not loss, sin and decay.