Many deacons have valuable professional, managerial and entrepreneurial expertise that could revitalize parochial education. If they were given additional powers to perform sacraments and run parishes, a married priesthood would become a fait accompli. Celibacy should be a sacrifice offered freely, not an excuse for institutional suicide.

Non-starter, let’s move on to real solutions.

Over the years, I’ve subscribed to different magazines and I’ve gotten onto mailing lists and without fail, I get mail from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Michigan.  This congregation is growing fast, is young in membership and dynamic in its mission to bring teaching sisters back to the schools.  Its growth is not an isolated phenomenon and yet we still see guys like McCloskey bring out the old hobby-horse of married clergy as a panacea that will solve all the Church’s problems.

*yawn*

Part of the problem is the bureacracy.

Catholic schools (at least in my neck of the woods) require “certified teachers.”  This means that any prospective teacher needs to have a minimum of a batchelors in education with an emphasis in the area you wish to specialize in.  Those teaching religion are required to have a Masters in Theology.  This ensures the jobs of the current folks, (who then moan about how “little” they are paid) while carefully ruling out the possibility of replacing the expensive paid help with competant FREE instructors.

Me, I think that if the church encouraged retired physicians to teach chemistry, retired engineers to teach physics, retired accountants to teach math, and retired lawyers to teach English, rhetoric, history etc, it would have absolutely amazing schools that would return to the price of previous generations (i.e. practically free.)

There is no shortage of physicians (myself included) who would jump at the chance of teaching Biology or Chemistry (and who yes, would do a good job).  We don’t qualify.

If we did, this would allow the poor, particularly undocumented hispanics to get a superior education than they would find in the public school, and would return the parish school to its vocation for uplifting the poor, instead of polishing the wealthy.

As in other areas, the church has lost its way, by failing to prioritize parochial education.

Amazingly, they didn’t get around to ordaining women and gay marriage.  This opinion piece is garbage.

I agree, btw, with the first two comments. Unfortunately, they are wasted on a thinly veiled anti-Catholic screed.  I agree, “read it all”.