Why the Catholic Church Must Adopt Online Learning
Religious Education and Baptisms Have Drastically Declined
The lack of sound faith formation and reverent liturgies over the past few decades has led to disastrous consequences for the Catholic Faith. Based on statistics available from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate the collapse in enrollment in Catholic religious education, as well as Sacramental reception, has been profound.
Large Numbers of Catholics Stop Practicing the Faith
Forming Intentional Disciples by Sherry Weddell further illustrates the consequences following the changes post-Vatican II. These decades saw significant changes in the Sacramental life of Catholics and the customs and practices of living out a Catholic life (e.g. times of fasting, processions, cultural celebrations). The Church was also shaken by the disastrous consequences of the sexual abuse crisis by some of Her priests. The results are grim: only 30% of Americans who were raised Catholic are still practicing and 10% of all adults in America are ex-Catholics.
Most Catholics Do Not Understand Basic Doctrine
In one often-quoted study, data by D’Antonio, Dillon, & Gautier in 2013 showed 33% of American Catholics are unaware of the Church’s teaching of Christ in the Real Presence and an additional 4% even deny this central tenet of the Faith. The number of Catholics who are unaware of the official Church teaching illustrates the inability of modern religious education to meet the needs of today’s Catholics.
The Catholic Church Faces A Number of Issues With Religious Education
After working closely with Catholic Churches in the United States over the past decade, I have seen first hand a number of challenges that impact the ability of parishes to serve the needs of their parishioners and provide them with sound religious education to reverse these grim trends.
- Lack of qualified volunteers
- The limited time of priests and catechists
- Lack of Parental Involvement
- Budget Cuts and Financial Concerns
- Lack of Commitment or Interest by Students
- The administrative burden of creating lesson plans or grading
- The challenges of serving students with learning disabilities
The list goes on. There are a number of challenges facing every single Catholic parish in the nation. But with the growing secularism and anti-Catholicism present in the country, there is not a more important time to provide sound religious formation to our children and reverent, beautiful liturgies.
Online Religious Education Is the Answer
In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education published a meta-analysis of evidence-based studies of K-12 and postsecondary online learning programs. The study reported that “students who took all or part of their class online performed better on average than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.” We have reason to believe that children in religious education will also perform better.
Children want to learn and be challenged. The discipline in a secular classroom should carry over to religious education. Children should have regular activities and homework — including frequent reception of the Sacraments, the practice of prayers and pious devotions, and ample opportunities for them to share what they learn.
Children want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to feel connected and a part of something; the internet provides this connectivity and hands-on learning, so long as parents and priests help foster this life.
Programs like CatechismClass.com have arisen to solve these needs and since 2004 have served hundreds of families and parishes.
While the Catholic Faith and its doctrines are timeless and unchanging, the manner in how we teach the Faith must adapt to newer standards in order to help ensure our children do not become statistics for ex-Catholics in the next decade. The Internet is a tool that children and adults are already using. Let’s as a Catholic community use it for the good of their souls.
