First Fridays with Leadership Roundtable
March 2025
In This Edition
Up First: The Past, Present, and Future of Catholic Education in the U.S.
News & Noteworthy:
New Report Shows Decline in Clergy Abuse Allegations in the U.S.
Small, Connected Dioceses Lead in Fostering New Vocations
Understanding the Impact of Federal Action on Catholic Social Services: An Explainer
Lessons from the Toolbox: Fundraising as Ministry: A Call to Stewardship
Leadership Roundtable in the Field: Santa Fe Latino Pastoral Leaders Cohort Completes Catholic Leadership 360, Standards for Excellence Training
Up First
The Past, Present, and Future of Catholic Education in the U.S.
The story of Catholic education in the U.S. is one of contrasts. The creation of the U.S. system of Catholic education began as a fierce battle for the rights of Catholic parents to educate their children in the faith. That fight was followed by the growth of a sector that became, by the mid-1960s, the largest independent school system in the world. Today, a precipitous decline in funding and enrollment is threatening this critical Church ministry. But the story is not over, and recent legislative victories show that there is real hope for growth and turnaround on the horizon.
The American system of public education was explicitly founded to teach Protestant values and “integrate” all children—especially immigrant children—into a Protestant view of a unified American way of life. For nearly two centuries, Catholic families, bishops, and priests have fought for the right of parents to form their children in the Catholic faith. This fight went all the way to the Supreme Court in the 1925 Pierce v. the Society of Sisters case, where the majority famously decided:
“...the State [cannot] standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the State…”
While this 1925 decision upheld the right of families to choose private or parochial schools, that right is too often limited to those families who have the means to afford private school tuition. That’s why Catholics—led by the U.S. bishops—have long fought for legislation that would allow public funding to support private and parochial schools.
In spite of a lack of public funding, by 1965, there were more than 13,000 Catholic schools in the U.S. educating more than 5 million students. This explosive growth in enrollment was made possible because parochial school tuition was kept affordable thanks to a combination of parish support and the fact that most parish-based schools were staffed by women religious, who were paid far less than their lay counterparts. Unfortunately, in the decades that followed, a perfect storm of a decline in churchgoing, and therefore parish support, an increase in the need for lay faculty, staff, and leadership, and decreasing Catholic school enrollment has strained many Catholic school budgets to the breaking point.
Today, there are fewer than 6,000 Catholic schools educating 1.6 million students. This is particularly troubling when you consider that families that send their children to Catholic school are far more likely to attend Mass weekly and to engage in Church-related activities outside the school day. Zoom out, and this points to a reality where fewer children are being formed in the faith or are establishing a connection to the parish that anchors them throughout life.
At the same time, the future for increased access to school choice has never looked brighter. In 2020, roughly 18 states offered publicly-funded scholarship, tax credit, or ESA (education savings accounts) that allowed parents to access funding for their children to attend Catholic or other private schools. Today, 29 states and the District of Columbia have at least one private school choice program. Of those, 15 states have at least one “universal” school choice program that's accessible to all K-12 students in the state. And more states are poised to follow.
In addition to these state-level victories, in January, Republicans in Congress revamped efforts to pass national legislation that would expand access to educational choice nationwide. In total, 155 Representatives have co-sponsored the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA), which, if passed, would create a $10 billion scholarship program that would allow parents in all 50 states to access publicly-funded scholarships to send their children to Catholic schools.
Because engaging young people in the faith is critical to rebuilding thriving parish communities and to the future of the Catholic Church, the expansion of choice is welcome news for financially struggling Catholic schools. While the victories are worth celebrating, Catholic schools and diocesan leaders must look beyond their financial challenges as they work to strengthen the foundation of faith formation and to serve more students. Efforts to bring strong leadership and management, as well as those that lean into what makes parochial schools an appealing choice—academic excellence together with Catholic values, faith formation, and Catholic community—are also critical to ensuring that our Catholic schools are a vibrant tool for evangelization, faith formation, and community support.
Go Deeper:
Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). Economic Policy Institute. January 2025.
Letter from Bishop of Trenton in Support of Educational Choice for Children Act. USCCB. January 2025.
Bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Adrian Smith. January 2025.
More gains for school choice across the country. Catholic News Agency. March 2025.
News & Noteworthy
New Report Shows Decline in Clergy Abuse Allegations in the U.S.
In the two-decades since the Boston Globe published the landmark “Spotlight” report that detailed widespread sexual abuse and cover up, the U.S. Catholic Church has faced a reckoning, not just to account for the abuse that took place but for the leadership failures that allowed a culture of abuse to flourish for as long as it did.
While there is still much the institutional Church needs to do to promote recovery and reform, a report released in January by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University (CARA) suggests that the reforms instituted by the Church since the passage of the Dallas Charter in 2002 have brought much needed transparency and accountability and dramatically reduced new allegations of abuse. Collected annually by the research organization, the report looks at not just counts of allegations going back more than 20 years, but also costs associated for U.S. dioceses, eparchies, and religious communities of men.
Some major takeaways from the report include:
During the 20-year survey period, a majority of dioceses, eparchies, and religious communities of men did not have a credible allegation, with an average of three in five (60%) having no allegations in a particular survey year.
More than nine in ten of all credible allegations occurred or began in 1989 or earlier (92%), 5% occurred or began in the 1990s, and 3% occurred or began since the year 2000.
Of the alleged perpetrators, 86% were identified as “deceased, already removed from ministry, already laicized, or missing.” The other 14% were “permanently removed from ministry or retired from ministry during the year” of that particular survey.
More than $5 billion has been paid by U.S. dioceses and eparchies to settle abuse claims.
The report shows that credible allegations of abuse have significantly declined during the past two decades, with the majority of cases happening before the U.S. bishops established sweeping anti-abuse protocols in 2002. These reforms included establishing strict guidelines for reporting abuse, training to prevent abuse, and addressing abuse through accountability, reconciliation, and healing.
The study highlights a tangible and vital impact of the work to reform and recover from the twin crises of abuse and leadership failure that eroded trust in the institutional Church: the stemming of abuse.
Go Deeper:
Report: 20 years of data shows clerical abuse allegations down in U.S. OSV News. January 2025.
Abuse allegations down, but challenges remain, say US bishops in report. OSV News. July 2023.
Crisis Response Resources. Leadership Roundtable.
Small, Connected Dioceses Lead in Fostering New Vocations
Vocation Ministry recently released its 2025 update to a major study they conducted in 2023 regarding priestly vocations in the United States. The update reveals that “smaller, more connected dioceses seem to have an edge when it comes to fostering local vocations.”
This data comes at a critical moment, when the looming reality of the decline in new vocations to the priesthood is becoming an ever-growing crisis for the Catholic Church. The study shows that the largest dioceses in the country will have the largest gap in vocations needed to maintain current priest levels, whereas smaller dioceses are meeting or surpassing the necessary maintenance vocation rate.
For example, the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, annually ordains, on average, 255% of the necessary number of men to maintain its current priest levels. Simply put, Wichita is consistently ordaining more than double the amount of priests needed to maintain the amount of priests serving in parishes, organizations, and universities in their diocese. Other smaller dioceses like Paterson in New Jersey, Arlington in Virginia, Nashville in Tennessee, and Grand Rapids in Michigan are also surpassing the maintenance rate.
This study shows the key to their success—that priests serving in smaller communities are able to build close, personal relationships with their parishioners, and these relationships foster a sense of trust, openness, and listening. Stable and supportive family, “Come and See” seminary visits, devotion to Eucharistic Adoration, as well as youth ministry and service opportunities also contribute to vocations to the priesthood. The study underscores the need for other dioceses and religious orders to consider investing time and resources into these ministries to foster a sense of trust and community in order to see an increase in priestly vocations.
Go Deeper:
This small diocese is leading the country in vocations to the priesthood. Catholic News Agency. February 2025.
US Diocese of Columbus sees number of seminarians double. Vatican News. February 2025.
Understanding the Impact of Federal Action on Catholic Social Services: An Explainer
In the United States, the Catholic Church is a vital part of the social safety net and civic infrastructure that supports millions of Americans with access to food, healthcare, education, shelter, disaster relief, community support, and more. Second only to the U.S. Federal Government, the Catholic Church is the largest provider of services to people in need—from parish-led ministries to the 168 Catholic Charities agencies across the U.S., Catholic services reach more than 100 million Americans each year—many of whom are not Catholic.
Since the U.S. enacted the New Deal in the 1930s, many of these vital Church ministries and community service organizations have been funded through a combination of private philanthropy and federal aid that has enabled faith-based social service organizations to expand their reach and impact, As an example, today, Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) partners directly with FEMA to provide disaster relief through its agencies to communities in need.
The recent flurry of executive orders and federal programmatic and workforce reductions, as well as efforts to shift from direct aid—appropriations from government funds such as grants and other programs—to indirect aid—incentives to promote private philanthropy to nonprofits and religious institutions via tax credits or tax deductions—are directly impacting the ability of Church institutions to carry out this good work in the U.S. and abroad.
As recent articles note, cuts to USAID resulted in a roughly 50% loss of funding for CRS, which is one of the largest providers of global aid through the program. Executive orders on refugee resettlement paused reimbursements totaling about $13 million to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), which is the largest organization that works to resettle refugees. The bishops swiftly sued the government, arguing the action, which stopped Congressionally-appropriated funding, was unconstitutional violating the separation of powers. But that didn’t stop the Administration from, just last week, officially ending its refugee resettlement contract with the USCCB.
While the U.S. Catholic Church has been polarized on many issues over the past several years, the pushback against the administration’s decisions offers a unique moment of solidarity for Catholics. In his Jan. 22 statement, USCCB President, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, reminded both elected leaders and fellow Catholics that the Church is not aligned with any political party, and that regardless of which party holds power, the teachings of the Church will not change. In a media interview, he underscored that the USCCB has “always insisted on respect for the law, but we have to respond to the concrete situation. If there is someone who has come here even illegally and needs assistance, we must help them because it is Christ himself who is asking us.”
Broglio’s statement has been amplified by bishops around the country who have affirmed our shared, Gospel-driven call to serve those in need, including migrants:
“As the Catechism of the Catholic Church emphasizes, Catholic teaching does not support an open border policy, but rather emphasizes a common sense approach where the duty to care for the stranger is practiced in harmony with the duty to care for the nation. Therefore, I encourage President Trump and Congressional leaders to develop a national immigration policy that reflects the Catholic commitment to human dignity and the common good.” — Bishop Michael Burbidge, Diocese of Arlington, VA
“Government has the responsibility to secure our borders and keep us safe. We support the legitimate efforts of law enforcement to protect the safety and security of our communities—criminality cannot be countenanced, when committed by immigrants or longtime citizens. But we also are committed to defending the rights of all people, and protecting their human dignity.” — Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archdiocese of Chicago
In times of uncertainty or division, political headwinds from either side of the aisle can risk impacting the Church’s ability to carry out its vital work, and they can pit the Church against elected leaders on key issues. That’s why the unified voice of the bishops when it comes to the teachings of the Church is vital.
Go Deeper:
Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops of the United States of America. Vatican. February 2025.
I led Catholic Relief Services. I’ve seen USAID projects change lives. Carolyn Woo for America. February 2025.
CRS, Caritas warn of global impact of USAID shutdown. OSV News. February 2025.
Archbishop Broglio Defends U.S. Bishops Against ‘False’ Immigration Criticisms On Italian TV Show. National Catholic Register. January 2025.
Lessons from the Toolbox
Fundraising as Ministry: A Call to Stewardship
A Lesson from “A Pastor's Toolbox, Vol. 1" Ch. 8 & "A Pastor's Toolbox, Vol. 2" Ch. 8
Edited by Paul A. Holmes
Effective fundraising and stewardship are deeply rooted in the clarity and relevance of a parish's mission. Chapter 8 of “A Pastor’s Toolbox” Vol. 1 emphasized the act of raising funds is not just about money, but about nurturing relationships and inviting others into the church's mission with generosity and love.
The chapter outlines several core principles to help guide this approach:
Money follows mission: Effective fundraising is rooted in a clear and relevant parish mission. When the mission is communicated well, financial support naturally follows.
Call to stewardship: Stewardship goes beyond financial contributions; it involves inviting parishioners to invest their time, skills, and talents. This deeper commitment strengthens the community and enhances the Church's mission.
Breaking the mold: Traditional fundraising methods may limit the parish’s potential. Innovating and adapting new approaches can breathe life into fundraising efforts. Challenging old assumptions and taking risks helps align fundraising with the evolving mission.
In Vol. 2 of “A Pastor’s Toolbox,” Charles E. Zech provides 10 essential building blocks to be combined with the principles of stewardship for a thriving parish.
To develop a stewardship parish, it is essential to create a welcoming environment that fosters community, connect giving with spirituality, and emphasize a mindset of abundance. Parish leaders should model stewardship, establish a dedicated committee, and encourage financial commitment and education. Additionally, stewardship should be integrated into the parish’s mission, service should be seen as ministry, and stewardship must be part of the long-term pastoral plan.
Approaching fundraising as a ministry means bringing the same person-centered care, humility, confidence, and joy of the Gospel to the process.
Go Deeper:
Read Ch. 8 of A Pastor’s Toolbox, vol. 1 by Kerry A Robinson
Read Ch. 8 of A Pastor’s Toolbox, vol. 2 by Charles E. Zech
Visit our online store to purchase both volumes of “A Pastor’s Toolbox” and the version in Spanish, “La Caja de Herramientas para Líderes Pastorales.”
Leadership Roundtable in the Field
Santa Fe Latino Pastoral Leaders Cohort Completes Catholic Leadership 360, Standards for Excellence Training
In September, we launched our fourth Latino Pastoral Leaders cohort in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. This cohort is unique in that it is our largest cohort yet, with 31 participants. This is also the first cohort where participants are receiving most of the leadership formation in Spanish, with all materials being enculturated and provided to participants bilingually.
Thus far, participants have completed their Catholic Leadership 360 training, and they continue monthly peer group coaching sessions in small groups to build community and share their challenges and learnings through their participation in this initiative. We recently traveled to Santa Fe to provide our Catholic Standards for Excellence training to these participants.
The Latino Pastoral Leaders Initiative in Santa Fe will conclude in March with an Integration Session and closing Mass, after which participants will receive their certificate of completion by Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, and continue to better serve in their parishes and ministries.
Go Deeper:
Latino Pastoral Leaders Initiative Expands to the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Leadership Roundtable. November 2024.
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