5 Lessons from St. John Henry Newman for Catholic Education
Last weekend, a new saint joined St. Thomas Aquinas as an official co-patron of Catholic schools.
Pope Leo XIV declared St. John Henry Newman co-patron of Catholic education at the closing Mass of the Jubilee of the World of Education on November 1, which was also All Saints Day.
Newman, a convert to Catholicism from the Church of England, was an English cardinal, scholar, poet, and theologian. His theological contributions had a major impact on modern Catholic thought, and his presence in England helped re-legitimize Catholicism after centuries of repression from Protestant authorities.
The Holy Father also named Newman the 38th Doctor of the Church, a title bestowed on only a handful of saints whose work contributed significantly to the development of Church doctrine.
Newman had much to say about the role of education in human society and the Church, having once been an educator himself at the University of Oxford. In 1852, he published The Idea of a University, which explores the purpose and mission of Catholic education.
Though Newman’s focus in education predominantly pertains to higher education, he nevertheless has many words of wisdom for parents, educators, and school leaders in schools like St. Francis Xavier, which serve students in PreK through the 8th Grade.
In honor of our new co-patron of Catholic schools, we’ve compiled a list of five quotes that speak to our educational philosophy here at St. Francis Xavier.
“Knowledge is capable of being its own end.”
Newman knew that, though knowledge can sometimes be useful, its usefulness is not what makes it desirable.
We know that children are eager to ask questions. They want to know what things are and why things happen, not necessarily so they can use those things, but simply so they can understand them.
At St. Francis Xavier, we refer to this natural curiosity as wonder. When wonder compels us to pursue knowledge for its own sake, it brings about a kind of joy that is itself a good. It is a joy experienced in the face of God and His creation.
Our classical curriculum is designed not to suppress wonder, but to allow it to flourish and grow into wisdom. We aim to supply every student with the tools of learning so that they can continue to pursue wisdom with wonder, not only for the rest of their formal education but for the remainder of their lives.
“All knowledge forms one whole, because its subject-matter is one.”
Newman did not believe that knowledge could be divided into separate subjects, except through mental abstraction.
In reality, though it may sometimes be convenient to categorize our records of knowledge into different fields, knowledge itself is one whole. It is this way because it ultimately resides in one Truth, which is God.
Given this reality, it is safe to say that a child’s education ought to be integrated. This means students are not encouraged to forget what they learn in one subject when they’re studying another, but rather make connections between the subjects.
This is exactly what students at St. Francis Xavier are encouraged to do every day. Our curriculum follows a history timeline spanning from the cradle of civilization to modern-day America. What students learn in literature, religion, and even mathematics and natural science often relates back to their assigned historical time period, allowing history to serve as a center of gravity, pulling all other subjects together.
“Theology is a branch of knowledge.”
Newman believed religion is an integral part of a complete education.
After all, if knowledge is whole, how can anything be understood if not in light of the Ultimate Being?
Religious education is something a Catholic school is uniquely equipped to provide. With a firm foundation in the teachings of Christ and His Church, everything we do at St. Francis Xavier is informed by our faith.
This includes not only going to Mass on Wednesdays as a school, praying throughout the day, and expecting our students to make virtuous decisions, but also catechesis; that is, teaching the faith in the classroom.
“A cultivated intellect, because it is a good in itself, brings with it a power and a grace to every work and occupation which it undertakes…”
We have said knowledge is good in itself. But that does not mean it does not affect the person who possesses it. Newman certainly believed that it did, and that a liberal education - one that is suitable for free persons - not only cultivates intelligent students but equips them to faithfully pursue their vocations.
God has a plan for all of us. For some of us, that plan is marriage. For others, it is the priesthood or the religious life. We are all called to be members of the Body of Christ, servants of both God and neighbor.
At St. Francis Xavier, we want to prepare and encourage our students to embark upon a lifetime of service. Along with the Church, we believe that a life spent giving is better than a life spent taking, both for the individual and for the common good. We want our students to seek fulfillment in Jesus Christ by answering his call to love.
“The heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination...”
Newman understood that education does not only involve the mind, but also involves the heart. Hearts, of course, are reached not through reason, but through the imagination.
This is why we find stories, be they about fictional heroes or real events in history, more compelling than plain logic. Reason is a good thing and is certainly an indispensable part of prudence, but it does not propel us into action. Stories, on the other hand, render the abstract concrete. The right stories inspire us to love the right things.
The traditional liberal arts approach we employ here at St. Francis Xavier emphasizes both reason and the imagination. Students learn the logic of language and number while receiving an ample diet of stories from Sacred Scripture, history, and classic literature.
In this way, our students develop not only the minds capable of discerning the truth, but the hearts capable of living that truth out.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic School is an accredited classical Catholic PreK-8 school in Birmingham’s Crestline neighborhood that uses the time-tested Catholic Intellectual Tradition to form students in virtue through the pursuit of academic excellence and service toward God and neighbor.
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