To Teach as Jesus Did:

Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee

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Catholic Social Responsibility:  “Love One Another As I Have Loved You”

As Catholic school educators in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, we are called to respond to contemporary social challenges as disciples of Jesus Christ, loving one another in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:18) 

As celebrate Respect Life month, it’s especially fitting that we announce and share the newly developed and approved Catholic Social Responsibility Guidebook for the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.  The link below provides access to the full Guidebook document, as well as to a video message from Archbishop Listecki and me that describes the importance of this work for all our Catholic elementary and secondary schools.

https://schools.archmil.org/Schools/educators/Catholic-Social-Responsibility.htm

This Catholic Social Responsibility Guidebook, grounded in Catholic Social Teachings, Scripture, official Church documents, and the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Schools, is intended to serve as a positive, non-ideological, and foundational Catholic framework for all educators in the Catholic elementary and secondary schools of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee who are engaged in the important work of forming students to integrate faith, culture, and life.  

Specifically, the Guidebook focuses on four main contemporary challenges in light of their relevance for Catholic schools today:  culture, racism, civic participation for the common good, and economics.   It provides educators with clearly identified guiding principles for Catholic Social Responsibility, Catholic theological resources corresponding to each of the contemporary challenges, and demonstrated alignment of Catholic Social Teachings to current Archdiocesan curriculum, policies, and accreditation standards. 

The work also contains carefully researched resources for prayer, professional development, curriculum, and instruction.  It is our expectation that every Catholic school principal and teacher will use this framework to plan instruction and implement programming in keeping with the rich Catholic Social Responsibility tradition of the Church.

Finally, this Guidebook is a living document which can be expanded as needs arise.  At its core is the goal of forming students to respond to contemporary social issues from a Catholic perspective in all areas of their lives--academic, social, and spiritual—in schools that model the essence of Catholic social action:  love for God and neighbor. (Mt 22: 34 – 40)

Kathleen A. Cepelka, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Catholic Schools