Charism and Culture: Cultivating Catholic Identity in Catholic Schools

Charism and Culture: Cultivating Catholic Identity In Catholic Schools

Discovering Charism: What's a Charism and How Can My School Get One?

Introduction

Focus is crucial for schools, just as it is for students.
Effective schools possess a clear mission and a strong sense of shared purpose.
A focused identity leads to a stronger culture and greater effectiveness.
Focus serves as a compass, keeping the school aligned with its goals.
Charism provides the necessary focused religious identity for Catholic schools.

Charism As An Evolving Theological Concept

Charism originates from the Greek word for "gift" or "favor."
Saint Paul discusses spiritual gifts for building the Kingdom of God (1 Cor 12: 4-11).
Charisms are gifts of the Holy Spirit that build up the Church and the world, giving glory to God.
All Christian denominations believe in charisms, with Protestants using "spiritual gifts" and Catholics using "charism."
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) defines charisms as "special graces" associated with God's work and Jesus' mission (para. 2003).
Charisms are for the sake of others, not personal holiness (CCC, para. 2003).
The Pentecost account (Acts 2:1-4) exemplifies charism through the gift of tongues.
Scriptural examples include faith, hospitality, knowledge, leadership, mercy, service, and teaching.
Charisms are diverse and not limited to those in Scripture.
Following Vatican II, charisms were linked to the renewal of religious life.
Religious orders were urged to rediscover and reinterpret their founding charisms.
Charisms are now recognized to be present within the lay faithful, not just saints and founders.
Charisms can be expressed in families, communities, parishes, schools, businesses, neighborhoods, cities, political institutions, professions, and jobs.
Charisms emerge when people of faith respond to a need.
A group or corporate charism can exist, originating from an individual or the group itself.
This charism serves as a source of spiritual affinity, common vocation, mission, and shared understanding of success.
It embodies the group's giftedness and overall identity.
Religious orders' charisms are seen as their corporate personality or "particular spirit."
According to Schneiders (2001), a religious order's charism essentially distinguishes and identifies the group.
Charism is the sum of a religious order's evolution since its founding.
Non-religious groups can also possess a charism, like the San Egidio Community.
The Holy See recognizes San Egidio's charism as evangelization, service to the poor, work for peace, fraternity, and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.
A community's charism is dynamic and must be embraced by each generation or it fades.
Seventy-six percent of men's religious orders founded before 1500 no longer exist (Lee, 1989).
A deep story may provide a source of charism, but is not the same as charism.
Relevance is key for attracting new followers.
Each generation will manifest charism differently, with new forms arising.
Charisms contribute to the greater good in the Church and society, glorifying God.
Charisms extend to lay individuals, Catholic communities, and institutions, not just founders.
Charisms extend beyond gifts to encompass a group's identity.
Charisms are not static, they evolve or dissolve.

Charism and Catholic Education

Corporate charism extends to Catholic schools, which are apostolic communities.
Catholic schools all share certain elements, which can be expressed differently based on the specific charism of the religious institute that founded the school.
Each Catholic school can maintain its specific character through its educational philosophy, rationale, or pedagogy (CCE, 1982, para. 39).
Catholic schools share common traits as outlined in the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools (Ozar & Weitzel-O'Neill, 2012).

Defining Characteristics of Catholic Schools

Centered in the Person of Jesus Christ
Contributing to the Evangelizing Mission of the Church
Distinguished by Excellence
Committed to Educate the Whole Child
Steeped in a Catholic Worldview
Sustained by Gospel Witness
Shaped by Communion and Community
Catholic education's charism distinguishes it from other forms of education by building up the Church and society and giving glory to God.
Nurturing faith and maintaining a Christian presence in the academic world distinguishes Catholic schools from public schools (CCE, 1977).
The charism may be to critically engage and transform society (Steinfels, 2003).
According to Groome (2003), Catholic education's charism is to educate Christian disciples and good citizens.
Catholic schools serve the common good.
"Relationships" can be a defining charism for 21st-century Catholic schools (Cook & Simonds, 2011).
In a divided world, Catholic schools can foster human, divine, and interdisciplinary relationships.
The relationship charism model brings together various Church documents on the aims of Catholic education.
Catholic schools build relationships with the student and God, self, others, the local and world community, and creation.
Catholic schools help students understand how academic subjects relate, and how faith intersects with reason, culture, learning, and life.
The purpose of Catholic schools in the 21st century is to build relationships.
A school is authentically Catholic when it fosters human and divine relationships and inculcates awareness about the interconnectedness of knowledge, culture, and faith, with God as their origin.
This model presents a relational, global, and sacramental character and contribution.
Each Catholic school preserves its specific character, as stated in Lay Catholics in Schools (para. 39).
Each Catholic school has its own charism, which may or may not be related to a religious order.
Charism sets Catholic schools apart, both individually and collectively.
All Catholic schools share a universal charism that needs exploration.
Networks of schools share charisms based on geography or association.
Each Catholic school embodies its own charism and clarifies its expression of Catholic identity, contribution, and focus.
Catholic education's charism emphasizes unity in diversity, with pluriformity as the goal instead of uniformity.

A Working Definition of Charism for Catholic Schools

Catholic school charism is a school community's special gifts, particular spirit, and focused identity inspired by the Holy Spirit to distinguish and advance the school's evangelizing and educational mission.
Catholic schools possess charisms that can be considered their institutional gifts.
A Catholic school's charism connotes the unique contribution the school and its graduates make to the church and society.
A Catholic school is indispensable to the degree that it meets an unmet need.
Catholic schools fulfill their destiny when they discover and cultivate their institutional gifts and the distinctive gifts their graduates bring to the world.
Each school community has its own personality, climate, and spirit.
Charism signifies the spiritual energy that permeates a school's way of life.
Catholic schools are called to identify their particular spirit in more exact terms than "It's a feeling you experience" and to transform their spirit into their spirituality.
A school's charismatic identity relates to where it is inspired to place its focus.
Focus does not make a school any less Catholic.
A school might express its identity by which Gospel values it emphasizes, population it serves, educational programming it features, and/or how it further defines for its own context the characteristics common to all authentic Catholic schools.
St. Brigid's Catholic Parish Primary School (Gwynneville, Australia) serves as an example of a school that blends these three interlocking dimensions (special gifts, particular spirit and focused identity) of charism.
The school's mission is “to develop leaders of faith, justice and learning.”
The school's charism is comprised of leadership from the mission as well as welcome and hospitality from Saint Brigid and the Sisters of the Good Samaritan of the Order of Saint Benedict, the school's founding religious order.
The school's focus is leadership development.
Educating leaders of faith, justice and learning is its special gift.
The school's particular spirit is one of hospitality and welcome.

How Does a School's Charism Relate to its Catholic Identity, Mission, Core Values, and Culture?

Catholic identity is who we are.
Mission is what we do and who we serve.
Vision is what we aspire to become.
Core values are our fundamental beliefs.
Culture is our way of life.
Charism can refer to a school's spiritually-inspired core values or any set of distinguishing characteristics, principles, or beliefs that further define its Catholic identity.
Charism is lived out through school culture.
In relation to mission, charism can be considered the gifts used to accomplish the school's mission, or charism can be seen as overarching school identity that includes mission.
A school's charism is its mark of distinction in the Catholic school universe and its special contribution to the educational mission of the church.
It is acceptable to refer to charisms in the plural or charism in the singular.
Various Church documents such as the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2003) and Christifideles Laici (Pope John Paul II, 1988) use the plural form of the word.
A school might have a set of 3-5 charisms.
Another common approach is for a school to conceptualize charism as a singular collective noun that connotes an overarching corporate identity that has several characteristics or a configuration of core values.

What Charism Offers a School Community

Charism is a school asset - “spiritual capital" (Grace, 2010) - that Catholic schools have available to help them be distinctive, achieve their educational goals, and enhance their well-being.

Benefits of School Charism

A spiritual asset that a Catholic school community has available to help it be distinctive, achieve its educational goals, and enhance its well-being.
Provides sharp focus
Provides faith-based vocabulary
Provides accent on gifts outward
Provides enlivened, meaningful Catholic school spirit
An alluring brand
Sharp focus leads to success (Collins, 2001, 2005).
Charism provides inspiration and a framework with organizing principles and structure that makes a school's religious identity clear.
Charism helps to define nebulous concepts like Gospel values, Catholic worldview, and excellence.
Charism makes the school's purpose razor-sharp and concentrates educational programming.
Charism contributes to overall cohesion, coherence, and congruence in a school.
It helps schools understand who they are.
Charism localizes the Catholic vision, making it more meaningful.
Tailoring the Catholic vision for each school context increases the relevance of the gospel message for the members of that school community.
It makes Catholic identity their own.
It allows schools to be unique expressions of Catholicism.
Creating a particular spirit in the school helps the school build a an enlivened community of faith and participate in the New Evangelization.
Specialized language shapes attitudes, increases understanding, and bonds people.
Terms like “mission” and “retreat” have been secularized and widely adopted by public schools.
Therefore, it is important for Catholic schools to use language like charism that draws attention to our faith tradition and motivates schools to think about their core identity in religious terms.
Charism encourages Catholic schools to view their identity through the lens of contribution.
Core values become spiritually-inspired gifts that the school and its graduates bring to the world.
Viewing core values such as “knowledge” and “excellence” as God-given gifts to be used for the good of others transforms them into charisms.
Charism stresses outward orientation.
Charism marks the difference between gifts we keep and gifts we give away.
In a competitive marketplace, each Catholic school must carve out a niche by developing its own flavor of Catholic education that entices people to join its evangelizing and educational mission.

Discerning Charism

What is distinctive about our school within the Catholic school tradition?
How is the student experience different?
What unique gift does our school provide our families, church, and local community?
What gifts do our graduates bring with them wherever they go?
What is compelling and irresistible about our charism?
Answers will identify a school community's essence, special focus, school spirit, and giftedness.
Charisms must be discerned to see in what ways God is present.
Pope John Paul II (1988) in Christefidelis Laici states, "discernment of charisms is always necessary" (para. 24).
St. Paul calls discernment of charisms itself a charism (1 Cor 12:10).
Although a school community cannot “steal fire from heaven" (Dulles, 1999, p. 45) by willing itself a charism, the school community can prayerfully discern its charism by disposing itself to God's inspiration and responding in faith to current needs.

Sources of Charism

Wellsprings for school charism: founders and founding patrons, school's history, emergent needs and passions, fruitfulness and feedback.
Charism may arise from more than one source.
Schools founded by religious orders often find their charism in the order's founder or the order itself.
Some schools have rediscovered their spiritual heritage, and some have formally renewed their association with other schools of the same lineage.
The school's historical tradition that begins with its founding story can still be a motivating force for the school community.
A school's patron saint or namesake may be another source of inspiration.
Frassati Catholic Academy (Wauconda, IL) developed a school spirituality based on 5 charisms associated with Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati:
- a spirit of the Beatitudes
- healthy relationships
- the centrality of the Eucharist
- discipleship & mission
- perseverance - reaching for the heights
The spirituality is infused into all aspects of the school's way of life.
If a school has a name like "Central Catholic," or a namesake students cannot relate to, the school can adopt a patron saint or spiritual hero.
Charisms emerge where needed (Donnelly, 1999).
Emergent charisms arise as a school community evolves and changes with the times and new circumstances.
Mergers, or changes in school mission and/or clientele due to demographic trends and/or local needs, may give rise to an emergent charism or an entirely new one.
The Cristo Rey Network locates its charism within its distinctive mission and educational program associated with serving its specific clientele of low income families, especially of minority groups.
Investigating a school's impact on its current students and the impact its graduates have on the wider community will uncover the fruits of the school and provide insights for discerning charism.
Charisms are often revealed through affirmation that is specific and sustained.
Feedback and stories from students, parents, alumni, and other community members about their experiences with the school will disclose its charisms.
Charisms are usually with a school for a while.
It's what a school becomes "known for."
Bishop O'Dowd High School (Oakland, CA) discerned its modern day charism by investigating several potential sources.
The school president created a representative committee to begin a systematic reflection of the school's gifts and strengths of past and present so as to inform the future.
The committee studied the life of the school's namesake, and the school's history and traditions.
Information gathering included historical research and surveys of students, parents, and alumni.
The committee formulated a charism statement to accompany the school's mission statement.
It reads, “Finding God in all things calls us to community in diversity, strength of character, academic excellence, kinship with creation, social justice, and joy."
The statement updates and clarifies the school's charismatic identity that emerged for the present day and articulates defining principles that animate all aspects of school life.

Discernment Tips

School communities can explore these considerations in a number of ways like:
- Survey school constituencies.
- Convene focus groups comprised of students, teachers, graduates, parents, administrators, and board members.
- Conduct individual interviews, as needed.
- Study school documents and publications
- Experience the school's way of life and make observations about the school's climate and culture.
The purpose of these research strategies is to generate data to be used in drawing comparisons and pinpointing patterns and trends that might be instructive in discerning school charism.
- Identify the charisms of the founders, namesake, and patron saint. Are they still inspiring and relevant?
- Study school history. Does the founding story still resonate and galvanize? What were periods of spiritual and institutional vitality? At these times, how was the school exceptionally creative, effective, and how did it stand out? Were there any periods of refounding after a period of decline? What are the historical core values, strengths, and traditions worth preserving?
- Scrutinize past and present school impact. What are the fruits of the school? In what ways has the school been effective? What unique gifts do the school and its graduates provide?
- Seek feedback and listen to the stories people tell. How is the school perceived? What draws people to the school? What do students, parents, alumni, and other community members affirm about their experiences with the school? What do they consider the school's most valuable attribute and impact to be?
- Be open to the possibility of charisms emerging that respond to new needs. What is God calling the school to be that is similar to or different from the past? What energizes the school community? What draws the school's attention? What directions does the school intuitively take? Is there a refounding dynamic in operation?
When discerning a school charism, look for patterns, passion, focus, and fruitfulness.
Reflect on what God has done through the school community in the past and contemplate what God is calling the school community be and do now.

Codifying Charism in Foundation Documents

Once charism is discerned, it should be codified and explained in the school's foundation documents.
Some schools list their specific charisms or core values.
Other schools use umbrella phrases such as "Mercy charism," or "in the Dominican tradition" to capture their school's charismatic identity.
These phrases are then explained further in corollaries to the mission statement such as belief statements, explanations of core values, and graduate profiles.
Bishop O'Dowd High School (Oakland, CA) created a separate charism statement to go hand in hand with its mission statement.
A school's charismatic identity requires explanation that goes beyond a list or a statement.
Frassati Catholic Academy (Wauconda, IL) crafted a Spiritual Charter the purpose of which is to help the school develop and live a common spirituality based on the life and example of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.
The Spiritual Charter expounds on each of Blessed Giorgio's five virtues that constitute Frassati's charism and frame the school's spirituality.
Optimally, school identity documents should provide sample personal behaviors and school indicators that demonstrate what living the ideals of the charism looks like.
Leaders of effective schools place identity front and center when communicating school information and creatively use print materials and other forms of media to publicize and promote school ideals.

Chapter Summary

Charism is an evolving theological concept that once were gifts of the Holy Spirit mainly associated with saints and religious orders.
Today charisms apply to lay faithful and groups whose endeavors advance the greater good and glorify God.
Charisms are spiritual assets Catholic schools can draw upon to sharpen their Catholic identity, spiritually awaken their school culture, make a unique contribution, and further their evangelizing and educational goals.
Schools can discover their charism in a variety of places including their heritage and emerging needs.
To discern their charism, schools look to their spiritual heroes, study their history, determine impact, seek feedback, and listen for new impulses from the Holy Spirit.
The school community's goal is to discern a charism that is compelling and irresistible in our modern age and the school's local context.