The Catholics object to purely secular education, because they consider it subversive of religion and true morality, subversive of "the pillars of human happiness and national security." It is not so much what is taught in the non-sectarian schools that renders them objectionable to Catholics, as what is not taught and cannot be taught. An education which omits Christ as its central and informing principle is an unchristian education. Such an education may not directly teach wrong principles, nor directly undermine the faith of the pupils, yet it does nothing to protect and strengthen it. The inevitable consequence of this neglect must be the weakening of faith, especially in an age in which literature and the whole domestic and social life are infected by agnosticism and a new paganism. As the non-sectarian school does not and cannot counteract these baneful tendencies, it is clear that the education which it imparts is a defective, nay, a false one.
Not unfrequently, however, Catholics must also object to what is taught in non-sectarian schools and colleges. It is impossible to avoid in text-books and oral instruction, in the teaching of history, literature, and natural sciences, all allusions to questions most closely connected with religion. How does the Catholic Church fare in such references? One need only examine the text-books used in many schools, to become convinced that a Catholic parent must protest against the statements contained therein about the Church, its history, its worship, the Papacy, monastic orders, etc. But if Catholic children grow weak in their love of the Church, her institutions and practices, they will gradually neglect their religious
