In 2014, forty-five educators from Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney embarked on a sacred journey to Rome for the canonisation of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. The pilgrimage was designed to offer faith formation, professional development and a means of sharing the faith with their school communities upon return. This study seeks…

Catholic schools and colleges are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain and sharpen their distinctiveness in a climate of secularism, indifference to religion and the shortage of practising Catholics. This article argues that one method of bolstering Catholic schools' mission integrity is to highlight one important feature of its identity…

The final report of the Australian Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse comprises 17 volumes, one of which addresses its findings in relation to schools. In this article, I raise two key questions in response to the devastating details of the allegations made by survivors of their abuse: how was any of this possible,…

This paper examines Catholic RE curriculum documents from 2 jurisdictions to assess how well they present Jews and Judaism. It finds that their representations of Jews and Judaism rely on structures of thought, reinforced by normative Catholicism, that enable the conditions to reproduce supersessionist thinking and attitudes. Its conclusion argues…

This article explores conditions and enablers for teacher professional learning in religious education in Catholic schools. It examines the impact on religion of the pluralising and secularising influences in Australia today and identifies what this asks of religious education and religious educators in response. New pedagogical approaches which…

This article uses a phenomenological case study to explore how at-risk male adolescents interact with a school culture that attempts to focus on 'serving others'. Qualitative methodologies are used to understand the impact of this school culture on participants' academic, social, and emotional lives. Findings reveal that beneath the 'Men for…

This article examines the place of evolutionary science in protestant and Catholic residential colleges associated with Australian public universities across the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Although faith-based universities are a relatively recent phenomenon in Australia, a quasi-federal model of secular teaching and accrediting…

Purpose: Research shows data-informed leadership matters for school improvement and student achievement, but less is known about what motivates leaders' data use toward such outcomes, particularly in the Catholic school context. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative interview study uses interview (n = 23) data from a sample of Catholic…

Most European countries accept the necessity of school based Religious Education (RE). In Ireland, where almost 89% of primary and 47% of second level schools have a Catholic patron, the Catholic Bishops recognise the importance of RE in holistic education and uphold RE as an expression of school ethos. However, in an increasingly diverse society…

This qualitative study examined the decision-making processes among principals of parish-based Catholic elementary schools in low-income communities within the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, against the backdrop of a decentralized governance structure and increased financial pressures intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study was grounded in a…

In a Midwestern nonprofit, predominantly White, Catholic university, the problem was low retention of African American students after completing a first-year seminar (FYS) course. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore perceptions and challenges of African American college students and faculty about the required FYS course.…

This report analyzes the parental leave policies of secondary Catholic schools across the United States. Current research suggests Catholic schools lack the ability to provide parental leave, which aligns with the methods and length recommended by various organizations, including the Vatican, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and…

This paper utilizes raciolinguistic genealogy (Flores, in International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2021:111-115, 2021) to explore an historical case study of Spanish Franciscan missionaries in Alta California during an early period of colonization spanning the seventeenth-nineteenth centuries. In the study, I apply a raciolinguistic lens…

This study examines the challenges and adaptations educators faced during the shift to blended learning due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, offering insights to improve teacher preparation for future disruptions. It employs a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to analyze teachers' experiences at a Southeastern U.S. private high school, identifying…

Poland, still considered by some to be a bastion of Catholicism in Europe, is becoming more secularised every year, and its society resembles the postmodern societies of Western Europe. The changes in religiousness, which affect especially the younger Poles, are so strong that they call into question the validity of the current form of religious…