Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 12, 2025 /
17:07 pm
Here’s a roundup of some of the latest Catholic education news:
Catholic University Press will exclusively publish Pope Leo XIV’s doctoral dissertation
The Catholic University of America has secured exclusive English-language editorial rights to Pope Leo XIV’s doctoral dissertation, “The Office and Authority of the Local Prior in the Order of St. Augustine.”
The book will be available in print and Kindle editions in October, according to an Aug. 11 press release, with a foreword by Dominican Father Thomas Joseph White, rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, also known as the Angelicum, where the Holy Father defended his dissertation in 1987.
“While the future pontiff’s dissertation focuses on the role of the prior as the local superior in the Augustinians, his insights as a young priest in areas such as Church authority, the spiritual life following the way of St. Augustine, and the mission of the priesthood are of interest as they relate to contemporary Church leadership and Church life,” the press release states.
Catholic high school in St. Louis playing ‘the long game’ to help rebuild city
Administrators at St. Mary’s South Side Catholic High School are playing “the long game” to help revitalize St. Louis, and their neighborhood of Dutchtown, with the launch of a new HVAC and plumbing internship program for seniors.
“We believe in what our neighborhood and city can be, and we are all in on doing the work,” the school’s president, Mike England, said at an Aug. 12 press conference, according to the St. Louis Review. “There are no quick fixes. This is the long game, but each day, we will work to move the needle in a positive way to better support our young men, our families, and our community through our Catholic values and teaching.” This comes after the school bought its Dutchtown campus from the Archdiocese of St. Louis last month.
Bishop Conley announces rollout of new theology curriculum for high school freshmen
In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, announced a new theology curriculum for high school freshmen that will be implemented across the diocese’s six high schools.
I am proud of our Catholic schools, which have always been a top priority in the Diocese of Lincoln, even before my time as bishop. This year, we are introducing a new integrated theology curriculum for our high school freshmen, helping them see the Catholic Faith in every… pic.twitter.com/82rvnTTBFk
— James D Conley (@bishop_conley) August 12, 2025
The new curriculum, which he said the diocese has been working on for the past four years, will be rolled out this upcoming school year and will eventually be built out for sophomores, juniors, and seniors over the next four years.
“We hope to be able to put together a beautiful curriculum that integrates all of our subjects and is historically aligned and gives us this coherent and integrated view of the world and how everything fits together and is connected in a beautiful whole education,” Conley said.
Gonzaga teams up with Catholic Charities to launch small local business program
Gonzaga University has partnered with Catholic Charities Eastern Washington to launch a new entrepreneurship program for low-income families to help grow their own small businesses, according to a local report.
The Spokane Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Network “will offer hands-on training, mentorship, and consulting to aspiring entrepreneurs, with a focus on small-scale businesses like housekeeping, pet care, skilled trades, and landscaping,” according to the report.
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Baltimore, Milwaukee Catholic colleges band together to address teacher shortage
Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore and Mount Mary University in Milwaukee are partnering to counteract staffing shortages by working to boost the number of students obtaining advanced degrees, according to the Catholic Review.
The partnership will allow Mount Mary master’s students to transfer to one of Notre Dame of Maryland’s two online doctorate in education programs, allowing students to transfer up to 12 credits from their master’s programs, saving both time and money. The university’s presidents celebrated the partnership in a signing ceremony on Aug. 1.
Madalaine Elhabbal is a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency based at EWTN’s Washington, D.C., bureau.
