One of the most anticipated events of Pope Benedict's upcoming trip to Washington is his address to 200 Catholic educators at Catholic University, scheduled for April 17. One might hope that His Holiness would focus on the tragic demise of inner-city Catholic schools throughout the country, but the Washington Post reports that his objective is likely to be more theological, reining in wayward colleges who aren't sticking to the script on church teachings.
One Vatican official recently called the lack of public funding for Catholic schools in America "an outrage"; forgive me, Father, but I believe it would be just as outrageous for the Pope to come to DC and say nothing about the terrible decline of Catholic schools here and around the country. If the Pope thinks Georgetown isn't hewing closely enough to Catholic doctrine, just wait till he sees what happens in the seven Catholic schools in the District that are converting to charter schools as their option of last resort. There the problem won't be incorrect or incomplete dogma--these schools won't be teaching any dogma at all.
Someone needs to save the Catholic schools. If not the Pope, then who?
