What makes this particularly intriguing is that more than one-fifth of students filling the classrooms aren’t Catholic — raising profound questions about the intersection of faith and education in contemporary American life.

As non-Catholic families increasingly choose Catholic schools for their academic rigor and values-based approach, Catholic educators now face a compelling puzzle: how many of these young minds, immersed daily in Catholic Tradition and surrounded by practicing peers, will ultimately embrace the faith as their own?

Enrique Hurtado is a theology teacher and assistant service coordinator at Bishop England High School (BEHS) on Daniel Island. He reported that there were six non-Catholic students in the 2023-2024 school year who decided to go through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (formerly RCIA) program to join the Church.

“I find it inspiring because it seems to indicate that students at BEHS take their spiritual journey and growth seriously and are not afraid to explore the goodness, the beauty and the truth of the Catholic faith,” Hurtado said. “They take personal responsibility for their spiritual development and in their own way, they witness to others their courage and determination to continue in that journey, no matter what.”

Ben Robertson, BEHS director of Campus Ministry, said it’s exciting to see students decide to become Catholic of their own volition, and deeply inspiring “to see these young people taking a step that is too counter-cultural and radical for most adults I know.”

“Choosing to become a Catholic disciple of Jesus is a radical and public ‘yes’ to Jesus that will alter the trajectory of their lives, starting right now with the moment-to-moment conversion of heart that affects the way they think, speak and act in the world,” he said. 

Robertson said our culture is full of distraction and noise that prizes accumulation of power, influence, possessions and more, and so it’s “inspiring to see these teenagers declaring ‘no’ to all of that empty show.”

At John Paul II (JPII) School in Ridgeland, six students were baptized in 2024. Father Rafael Ghattas, school chaplain, said what’s fascinating “about this young generation is that they are the ones who are bringing their family back to the faith.”

Heather Rembold, JPII principal, recalled a particular student in 2020 who became passionate about the Catholic faith. 

“She had been attending Catholic school since she was in the fifth grade — first at St. Gregory the Great [in Bluffton] and then on to JPII. She came into the Church when she was a freshman … in 2017. She jumped in with both feet. Not long after receiving her sacraments, her grandmother became Catholic, followed by her mom, her younger sister and then her little brother — and finally her dad. What a beautiful family story of conversion and love,” Rembold said.

Robertson said that evangelization efforts need to focus on Catholic students also.

“A large chunk of the Catholics are not living as disciples because they lack a robust understanding of who Jesus is and what his Church teaches,” he said. “Many students openly tell me that their families never go to Mass.”

He said there is much work to be done so that students can have an “authentic face-to-face encounter with the living God who knows and loves them. … These young people are starving to be rooted in something real and demanding; they just want to know that it’s worth it.”

“These kids are looking for the truth in a world that has lost the sense of right and wrong,” Father Ghattas said.

Rembold said that “our youth are searching for love. And what better love story than that of Jesus Christ? Students who are being introduced to Christ for the first time within the walls of our school and in a theology classroom have the wonderful opportunity to get to know someone who has loved them before they even knew him.”