THE ROLE OF THE STATE IN EDUCATION
The true role of the State in education follows clearly from the principles that are so well explained in the 1929 encyclical of Pope Pius XI Divini illius magistri, On the Education of the Redeemed man. He there explains that there is no education that is not Catholic, for “it is clear that there can be no true education which is not wholly directed to man’s last end, and that in the present order of Providence…there can be no ideally perfect education whish is not Christian education.” The conclusion the Pope draws concerns the excellence and the importance of Catholic education: “Hence the supreme importance of Christian education…from these same principles, the excellence, we may well call it the unsurpassed excellence, of the work of Christian education becomes manifest and clear: for after all it aims at securing the Supreme Good, that is God, for the souls of those who are being educated” (Ib.)
Pius XI goes on to explain that the State does indeed have a role in education, for the educated person belongs to three societies, two in the natural order, the family and the State, and one in the supernatural order, the Church: “Education which is concerned with man as a whole, individually and socially, in the order of nature and in the order of grace, necessarily belongs to all these three society, in due proportion, corresponding, according to the disposition of Divine Providence, to the coordination of their respective ends”. This principle determines everything. Education belongs pre-eminently to the Church, for it educates in the supernatural order, but under her supernatural authority to the family and to the State, for grace perfects nature. Amongst these two, though, it is the family that has precedence in the natural order, for it is the principle of life. As Pius XI states: “The family holds, therefore, directly from the Creator the mission, and hence the right, to educate the young, a right inalienable because inseparably joined to a strict obligation, a right anterior to any right whatever of civil society and of the State…” (Ib.).
STATE’S DUTY IN JUSTICE TO FUND CATHOLIC EDUCATION
The conclusion is that the role of the State in education is subordinate to that of the Church in the supernatural order and that of the family in the natural order, protecting and fostering each one so that it can perform its proper function. “Consequently, in the matter of education, it is the right, or to speak more correctly, it is the duty of the State to protect by means of its legislation, the prior rights…of the family as regards the Christian education of its offspring, and consequently also to respect the supernatural rights of the Church in this same realm of Christian education.” (Pius XI, Ib.) It most certainly cannot interfere with, but must “respect the inherent rights of the Church and of the family concerning Christian education, and should moreover have regard for distributive justice” (Ib.). Distributive justice means the use of public funds, contributed by taxes, to a just proportion of which Catholics have a right in justice, so that it is fraudulent and against justice for a government to deprive Catholic schools of these funds, or worse still to deprive truly Catholic schools of the right to exist, as Communism does. For a government to say that because it pays, it has a right to determine what is taught in the schools it funds, is entirely false and iniquitous, deceptive and unjust. It is the divinization of the State, become a law unto itself. The Pope continues: “Accordingly, monopoly, whether educational or scholastic, which, physically or morally, forces families to make use of government schools…is unjust and unlawful”. It is precisely this communist monopoly of pluralism that secular governments, and in particular the province of Quebec, are attempting to impose by law.
The objection that is frequently made is that Catholic societies no longer exist, and that consequently the State can no longer show any preference for Catholic education. This is the logical conclusion of the damnable separation of Church and State promoted by Vatican II, but not at all a necessary consequence of the divided nature of modern society. Pope Pius XI already answered this objection in 1929 when he stated that in “a nation where there are different religious beliefs…it is the duty of the State…to leave free scope to the initiative of the Church and the family, while giving them [such assistance as justice demands]{.underline}.” He further points out there are such countries where “the school legislation respects the rights of the family, and Catholcs are free to follow their own system of teaching in schools that are entirely Catholic. Nor is distributive justice lost sight of, as is evidenced by the financial aid granted by the State to the several schools demanded by families.”
REFUSAL OF STATE FUNDING
The Pope goes on to answer precisely the present day predicament, nor does he leave any doubt whatsoever as to what a Catholic is bound to do in the face of such iniquitous controls by the State. For in countries where there is no government support for entirely free schools, Catholics take upon themselves the heavy burden of supporting “Catholic schools for their children entirely at their own expense; to this they feel obliged in conscience, and with a generosity and constancy worthy of all praise, they are firmly determined to make adequate provision for what they openly profess as their motto: ‘Catholic education in Catholic schools for all Catholic youth’. If such education is not aided from public funds, [as distributive justice requires]{.underline}, certainly it may not be opposed by any civil authority ready to recognize the rights of the family…” (Ib.)
There can be no doubt. Catholic schools must refuse state funding in any case where the government attempts to dictate the form and kind of education, inasmuch as it affects the teaching of morality and religion, and in particular when it attempts to impose pluralism. Catholics have no choice in this matter. They must be heroic in their sacrifices or they will lose their Faith and their children. It was what Pope Pius XI goes on to say: “Where this fundamental liberty is interfered with, Catholics will never feel, whatever may have been the sacrifices already made, that they have done enough, for the support and defense of their schools and for the securing of laws that will do them justice.” As traditional Catholics, we must reasonably foresee that with the ongoing self-destruction of the Church and promotion of liberalism in public life will come a progressive increase in the imposition of pluralism, destroying all true education, and consequently the obligation of freeing ourselves from the temptation of accepting government funding.
Allow me to conclude with a quote from Father Edward Leen, C. Ss. P. that expresses the supernatural elevation of Catholic education that justifies any and every sacrifice made on its behalf: “It is plain that for a Christian education as thorough an initiation as possible into the ‘discipline’ that sets forth in full the nature of the relations established between God and man by Sanctifying Grace is of supreme importance. To live rightly a man must know what is implied by his adoptive sonship of God, and what practical consequences flow from that sonship…The religion of God, that is, the religion framed by God, is necessarily calculated to forge a complete personality…The formative purpose of Christian doctrine, as distinct from all the other ‘disciplines’ comprehends the whole man. It aims at forming not the intellect only, but the will and the emotions as well. It must, therefore, occupy a central position in the plan of a Christian education. All the other courses must get their inspiration from it. The healthiness of their formative effect corresponds to their dependence on it…On it largely depends what a student is to become.” (What is true education, pp. 157, 158). If the secular State will not support such an education, then let it keep its money unjustly, and let Catholics take the sacred responsibility of funding true education as well as that of imparting it.
Answered by Father Peter Scott, SSPX.