Classical Catholic education: A fortress of faith
Truth is not a preference; it is a Person
On March 29, 2025, I had the immense honor to serve as keynote speaker at the annual fundraising gala for Immaculata Classical Academy in Louisville, Kentucky. Below is a transcript of my remarks. To contribute to Immaculata’s life-changing work, click here.
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and friends of Immaculata Classical Academy, good evening. It is a joy to be here with you tonight in defense of something both beautiful and eternal: our faith, our families, and the future of Catholic education.
I will soon celebrate my thirtieth anniversary as an educator. Thirty years of working in the trenches of elementary and secondary schools, and in training future leaders of elementary and secondary schools. Thirty years spent in both public and Catholic schools. Thirty years of fighting for education reforms to make sure that every child, no matter their income or neighborhood, can have access to a great learning environment. Thirty years of studying what works in schools and sometimes learning the hard way what doesn’t.
And in those thirty years, I have seen nothing – absolutely nothing – that inspires and excites me like the renewal and massive expansion of classical Catholic education.
What a blessing to be here on the front line, to be in a place that helped give birth to the movement itself.
I first discovered classical education about ten years ago and was delighted to learn that one of the pioneers of classical Catholic education was right here in Kentucky, at Immaculata Classical Academy. I’ve followed this school, its mission and its accomplishments, from afar, ever since. So, it was a delight last year when I learned that my friend Thomas Davis was enrolling his own children here and was giving of his own time and energy to support its success. Thomas arranged for me to visit, and I spent a lovely couple of hours with Mr. Fout, learning more about Immaculata’s mission, visiting classrooms, and best of all, joining students and staff to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
That’s when I knew firsthand that everything I had heard about this place was true. And it inspired me to make supporting great classical Catholic schools a key focus of my personal and professional energy in the years that I am still given to serve.
A time to choose
Friends, we gather at a time when Western civilization, once the proud carrier of the Christian tradition, finds itself under siege—not by invading armies, but by something perhaps more insidious: the forces of secularism, which seek not only to diminish the role of faith in public life but to eradicate it altogether.
This secularism is self-destructive because it fails to see that the very society of freedom and individualism and prosperity that we have built has its origins, not in the godless ideas of the atheists and humanists of the so-called Enlightenment, but in Christendom itself. In other words, secularists want all the benefits of Christianity—justice, human rights, and a moral compass—but without the ‘inconvenient’ parts, like, say, God.
But you can’t have it both ways.
English historian Tom Holland has documented in his book Dominion the ways in which Christianity utterly transformed the pagan world and introduced us to concepts that we take for granted every day: concepts like the dignity of the individual, human rights, limited government, and concern for the weak and vulnerable.
These were unthinkable ideas in the pagan world. The modern secularist thinks that we can have these values without the Christian faith in which they were born. But they are wrong. In fact, what we are experiencing is a return to a pre-Christian worldview that is dark with violence and cruelty. This return is vividly described in John Daniel Davidson’s recent book, Pagan America; The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come.
As G.K. Chesterton put it so plainly, “The issue is quite clear. It is between light and darkness, and everyone must choose his side.”
The family is the battlefield
And where is this battle between light and darkness being fought? Not in the grand cathedrals of Europe, nor in the halls of Congress, nor even in the classrooms of Ivy League universities. No, my friends, the key battlefield in this war is far closer to home. It is, in fact, the home itself. It is the family—the domestic church—where the forces of secularism either claim victory or are sent retreating.
The family is where children first learn who they are, why they exist, and for what they are destined. It is where they come to understand the deepest truths—not from textbooks, but from the example of their parents. But what happens when this formation is disrupted? When faith is stripped from education, when morality is reduced to personal preference, when history is rewritten to erase the very civilization that gave us truth, beauty, and goodness? The answer, tragically, is all around us.
This is where Catholic education—true, classical, unapologetically Catholic education—enters the battle. Education is, as Chesterton so profoundly said, not merely about subjects and test scores. “Education is the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. It is the very transfer of a way of life.”
Immaculata Classical Academy stands as a fortress in this battle. A place where children are not only taught but formed. Where truth is not a preference, but a Person. Where young minds are not merely filled with information but trained in wisdom. This is not just an alternative to secular education—it is the antidote.
This is the vision outlined in Jared Staudt’s book Renewing Catholic Schools: How to Regain a Catholic Vision in a Secular Age. It reminds us that Catholic schools must be more than places with crucifixes on the wall and an occasional prayer before lunch. They must be institutions that immerse students in the richness of Catholic tradition, where everything—from literature to science to philosophy—is taught through the lens of faith.
Classical education is our weapon
I recently read for the very first time Grahame Geene’s novel, The Power and the Glory. It takes place during Mexico’s Cristero War, when the government there tried to literally destroy the Catholic Church. It is chilling to know that such violent persecution of Catholics took place less than 100 years ago, and just south of our own border, sadly with some assistance of the American government.
We are so blessed not to face that kind of persecution here in the United States, at least not yet. But the lessons for the spiritual war we are all facing are clear.
Consider, for a moment, the priest protagonist in The Power and the Glory. He is flawed, he is hunted, and yet, despite everything, he remains faithful. He carries the truth of Christ in a world that would rather see Him forgotten. That priest is a symbol of every Catholic parent and every Catholic educator who insists on passing down the faith despite the obstacles. You—parents, teachers, supporters of Immaculata Classical Academy—you are the torchbearers of this sacred tradition. You are the ones ensuring that, though the world may forget, our children will not.
And so, my friends, we find ourselves at a crossroads. The forces of darkness are not waiting. They are actively working, day and night, to reshape the hearts and minds of our children. The question before us is simple: will we let them?
The answer, I know, is no. Because by supporting Immaculata, we are doing more than saving individual souls—we are preserving the very civilization that gave us saints, scholars, and heroes. We are ensuring that truth does not become a relic of the past but the foundation of the future.
And here’s the good news: fighting for civilization doesn’t require a sword. But it does sometimes require a checkbook.
So tonight, I ask you to stand with Immaculata Classical Academy. To make an investment not just in education, but in eternity. To give generously, so that this school can continue to form young minds and souls in the truth of Christ.
For as long as there are schools like Immaculata, the battle is not lost. The light still shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Thank you, and may God bless you all.