Last week’s edition of the Catholic News contained the first instalment of my column on “Crime/Violence vs Values/Virtues”.

In that column I described the social justice structures of the archdiocese, summarised some of the significant initiatives taken by the Catholic Church regarding crime and listed some of the truly significant tangible results that have had a positive influence in some areas and among some people in the nation regarding crime and violence.

In this second instalment I want to concentrate on one of the still developing plans of the Church: to facilitate an education/formation process in value formation and virtuous living. The aspect of education will deal with the content of the Church’s teaching on values and virtues. The aspect of formation will deal with the lived experience of values and virtues in family, school, parish and archdiocese. 

No quick fix

In my recent interviews with the media, I stressed that, from the viewpoint of prevention, there are “no quick fixes” to the problem of crime and violence.

It has taken the nation and international society a long time to come to the sad condition in which both now live. It will also take time to emerge from what can be called in many ways the reappearance of the “Dark Ages”.

However, in the meantime, we must begin trying to reclaim the nation. The first step in the reclaiming process is to concentrate on values and recommit to virtuous living.

Definitions

It is important to have a clear understanding of the elements of the reclaiming process: 

Value: A value is an ideal that helps people to determine what is right and wrong, that guides their thoughts and behavior. We must remember if values are to be authentic they must be rooted in the truth.

Virtue: A virtue is a quality of inner goodness through which one lives well and avoids living badly.

Education: Education is a process that develops the human person from within freeing that person from any conditioning that would prevent her/him from being open to the truth and from becoming an integrated person. Education leads to informative thinking. It tends to have goals based on knowledge.

Formation: Formation is the process in which a person intentionally opens herself/himself to knowledge about values and virtues and allows herself/himself to be shaped by that knowledge under the guidance of others. Formation leads to formative thinking and tends to have goals that are attitudinal and spiritual in nature.

The key concept in applying these definitions is that education/formation in values and virtuous living must embrace each of the four elements.

To be effective education needs the internalizing dimension of formation. Formation needs the content of education if it is to rise above the danger of just being an exercise in self-perfection.

Sources of values/virtues

Pope John Paul II taught clearly that the Catholic Church is not a “Bible only Church”. For the Catholic, “the supreme rule of faith comes from the unity which the Spirit has created between Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and the Magisterium which means that none of the three can survive without the others.”

In terms of accessibility for most people, the Scriptures are the preeminent source for finding Gospel values and virtues that identify a person as a Catholic Christian.

There is a double assumption in the prior paragraph:
1) It assumes that people read and reflect on the Scriptures and that they are familiar with the teaching of Tradition and the Magisterium;
2) It assumes that people are open to the “two-edged sword” nature of Scripture that cuts away everything in our lives that is not compatible with the truth of the Lord’s teaching.

Unfortunately those two assumptions are not verified in the lives of many people. Therefore, the people are literally overwhelmed by what can honestly be called the neo-pagan disvalues/vices that are spreading through society – two of which are crime and violence.

Method of education/formation

To challenge and reverse the traumatic effects of crime and violence, we have to begin on the preventive level with the traditional interrelated progression formula: family, school, parish, archdiocese. Each level must be in dialogue with and interrelate with the other levels of the education/formation progression in an ongoing manner.

It is interesting to note:
1) that the reason why “home schooling” is used by some parents for their children is that the home schooling method enables the parents to ensure that the values/virtues dynamic of traditional Catholic education/formation are present.

When the administrators/teachers of the very large Catholic school system in this nation reflect on the attractiveness of home schooling for some parents, they begin to appreciate better my insistence on reinforcing or, if necessary, resurrecting the Catholic Culture of each Catholic school;

2) When I met with Choc’late Allen, her mother who accompanied her told me that Choc’late was home schooled. She is obviously a person of firm values and virtuous living.

My point is not that home schooling should replace our schools. My point is that the values/virtues component in home schooling education and formation should also be present in the Catholic school system and in parish based catechetical programmes.

Conclusion

A week ago I issued a memorandum to each department head of the archdiocese and requested that each department begin dialogue to analyze the challenge presented by crime and violence.

I asked them to try to plan, within their own competence, a response to the clear need to strengthen value/virtuous living programmes in the archdiocese.

Obviously, the challenge applies directly to some departments more than others. The departments directly involved in the interrelated progression mentioned earlier are: Catechetics, Family Life, Education, Evangelisation and Youth.

I suggested that at the next meeting of the Administrative Council, the results of the dialogue could be shared to begin a process of programming for family, school, parish and archdiocese. There are two other levels to be addressed.

They will only be mentioned in this column:
1) The therapeutic level which tries to help those who admit they are struggling with life due, in part, to a lack of values and virtuous living and who also admit the presence of strong enslaving habits in their lives. People in this category need professional help and sustained spiritual direction; and
2) The level of adult education/formation which is designed to strengthen adults so they can continue to deepen their relationship with God and by implication with others. 

The three levels are important. Crime/violence did not just appear. Conditions were allowed to develop in which it became a strong negative force in society. The consolation is that there are far more good people in the world and in the nation than evil people.

The good people have to work hard together to build a society on values/virtuous living. They must give to the young an experience of living with values and virtue.

The Holy Father has taught that peace is a gift and a task. As gift, we must pray for the gift of peace no matter how long it takes. As task, we must work together to make peace happen.