Strategic Pastoral Plan
- Letter from Bishop Gregory Aymond
- Mission Statement of the Diocese of Austin
- Current realities which mandate planning
- Plan components
- Priest availability and vocations
- Parish religious education, formation and evangelization
- Social concerns ministries
- Family life ministries
- Pro-life activities
- Black Catholics
- Hispanic ministry
- Catholic schools
- Stewardship
- Diocesan staff
- Facilities
- First steps
- Ongoing activities
- Gratitude
- A prayer
Strategic Pastoral Plan of the Austin Diocese
Catholic Schools
Planning Objectives
- Define the diocesan response to the purpose and need for Catholic schools and define the plan necessary to meet those needs.
According to canon law, the diocesan bishop has the responsibility of ensuring that Catholic schools are established and maintained where possible. The church, through its bishops, is concerned with the whole of life, as this is understood through God’s revelation in Scripture and tradition, as well as the maintenance of a distinctive Christian educational environment. It is the duty of the Christian faithful, particularly parents, to promote Catholic schools by doing everything possible to help establish and maintain them.
Church leadership has requested the availability of Catholic schools for several reasons. These include a correlation with vocations, adult faith formation, and the evangelizing ministry within the church. Catholic schools can provide a venue for incorporation of the social teachings of the church consistent with the Gospel message and the prayer of the church. The availability of Catholic education to marginalized families provides new vision and hope. High quality schools provide a public example in education, social networks for families, and a heritage of academically successful students.
The Austin Diocese is substantially behind other U.S. arch/dioceses in keeping pace with Catholic education. Many Catholic parents are disappointed that we cannot meet their requests for Catholic education for their children. Of the 194 arch/dioceses in this country, the Austin Diocese ranks 44th in total Catholic population but 128th in total students attending Catholic schools. In terms of the number of students attending Catholic schools per 1,000 Catholics, the Austin Diocese ranks 168th out of 194 arch/dioceses. The number of Catholic school students per 1,000 Catholics has declined within the Austin Diocese over the last five years.
It is essential that we reverse this trend and broaden the opportunity for Catholic education in our diocese.
We will develop the action steps to begin a positive growth direction. Our five year target is to have the number of students in Catholic schools per 1,000 Catholic population grow from 11.9 to 14.7 students. We want to continue that growth to 20 per 1,000 over the next 25 years.
A diocesan Catholic school commission will develop a comprehensive Catholic Education Master Plan. This plan will first assess models for new schools, availability and needs, financial needs and support, and potential enrollment growth. The next step will be to identify, attract, retain and develop qualified administrators and faculty who demonstrate commitment to Catholic education. The third step will be to increase the number of low-income students in Catholic schools.
New sources of funds must be found to meet the many growth-related challenges faced by our diocese. Expanding and improving our Catholic schools is no small part of that need. Accordingly, a director of development will be added to the diocesan staff. It will be the responsibility of the director to serve not just Catholic school program needs but also needs of the entire diocese. However, one of the early tasks of the director will be to work closely with the appointed diocesan Catholic school commission to raise the monies necessary to implement the Master Plan.