My dear brothers and sisters in Christ – August 2025
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As students return to our Catholic schools, I want to focus this letter on one of the most powerful aspects of Catholic education: the approach of integral formation. In layman’s terms, Catholic education takes a three-pronged approach to scholastic success: the encouragement of intellectual growth, the development of moral character and the fostering of a flourishing spiritual life.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
As students return to our Catholic schools, I want to focus this letter on one of the most powerful aspects of Catholic education: the approach of integral formation. In layman’s terms, Catholic education takes a three-pronged approach to scholastic success: the encouragement of intellectual growth, the development of moral character and the fostering of a flourishing spiritual life.
How could a firefighter extinguish a flame without first understanding the nature of fire? Just so, how could an educator bring lasting and effective learning to the hearts and minds of students without first understanding the human person? Enlightened by the teachings of the Magisterium, and informed by sacred Scripture, our Catholic educators and schools are poised (above other learning systems) to inculcate the most important teaching of Jesus: to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. To understand others, we first need to know ourselves and establish our identities upon the rock of Christ.
The pursuit of intellectual growth is a fundamental seed of charity. As we learn to appreciate God’s apparent and divine face in the order of creation and the world around us, the elaborate tapestry of these natural gifts becomes proof of the Father’s love for us. It demonstrates that we, along with our brothers and sisters, are ordered to the common good of living in harmony before the triune God.
Knowing why we are is bound tightly to the answer of who we ought to be. Teachers, parents and school pastors lead by example, so students are then led to be witnesses of Jesus’ love and good news to others. In turn, young people are called to transform society and the nation in which we are all a part.
That bright, golden thread that unites our efforts is grace. It can only be acquired through the mercy of Jesus and participation in the sacraments, which sustains our souls and the life of God within us. Only in Catholic schools do students have the great privilege of attending Mass, receiving the holy Eucharist and preparing spiritually for confirmation. Catholic education is a gift, but it is not only for us to cherish — let’s share the Good News of Christ to others, so that same child who taught the elders in the Temple might bring us together in truth.
“But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming” (Jn 16:13).
In Christ’s love,
Most Rev. Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS
Bishop of Charleston
