St. Louis Archbishop Urges Catholics to Support Catholic Schools

Catholic News Service – August 19, 2009

ST. LOUIS (CNS) — Archbishop Robert J. Carlson, newly installed as the head of the St. Louis Archdiocese, gave high marks to Catholic education and also called on local Catholics to help make Catholic schools more affordable. The archbishop described Catholic schools in the St. Louis Archdiocese as “a tremendous gift” with “a great history” and a special emphasis on evangelizing. “It is one of the reasons why the St. Louis Archdiocese and the people here are known for their great faith,” he said. He also acknowledged that a significant problem many parents face when considering Catholic education is the high cost of tuition. Archbishop Carlson pointed out that Catholic education is much more expensive than when he and his sisters attended Catholic schools. For one thing, “we had religious sisters and now we have lay teachers. We must pay them a just wage,” he said in a recent interview with the St. Louis Review, the archdiocesan newspaper. He noted that even though parents are the primary educators of their children Catholic schools “do an excellent job” of providing training in faith.