St. Joseph’s School in Adrian, Michigan. / Credit: Dwight Burdette, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jul 1, 2024 / 13:57 pm (CNA).
A group of Michigan parents may soon get their case before the United States Supreme Court to challenge the state constitution’s broad prohibition of public funding for private and parochial schools.
The Mackinac Center for Public Policy and the Bursch Law firm, acting on behalf of the parents and the Parent Advocates for Choice in Education, have filed a writ of certiorari requesting the U.S. Supreme Court hear their challenge to Michigan’s Blaine amendment. They expect a response by July 12.
The Hile v. State of Michigan lawsuit was first filed in 2021 by the families who want to use their tax-exempt savings in the Michigan Education Savings Program to help pay for private school.
In September 2022, the U.S. District Court for Western Michigan dismissed the parents’ claim that Michigan’s constitution violates the provision for free exercise of religion guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. In November 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit also ruled in favor of Michigan’s state constitution.
What is dubbed Michigan’s “Blaine amendment,” passed by the state’s voters in 1970, prevents any public dollars from being used for any nonpublic school expenses, including funds from education savings accounts. Michigan’s amendment is considered the most restrictive of any in the country.
Named for the congressman who introduced it, the original proposed 19th-century Blaine amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would have banned government aid to “sectarian” schools, failed in Congress. These efforts were also brought before state legislatures. A total of 37 states enacted laws and constitutional provisions called Blaine amendments prohibiting public support for private sectarian schools.
The Supreme Court watered down these prohibitions in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, which ruled in 2020 that Montana’s scholarship program for students attending private schools cannot discriminate against religious schools, citing the free exercise clause of the Constitution. However, the ruling did not apply to Michigan because Michigan prohibits public funding of students in any nonpublic K–12 school and does not explicitly reference religious schools.
According to the nonprofit EdChoice, 32 states have school choice provisions, with universal or nearly universal choice programs in 11 states. The latter include scholarship programs and education savings accounts that are funded by tax credits and vouchers.
In a brief to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Mackinac Center recalled the history of anti-Catholic bigotry in the 19th century when immigrants came to the U.S. and asked for public support for Catholic schools. At the time, public education included Protestant prayer and Bible study under the guise of “nonsectarian” instruction, the brief indicated.
Michigan was no stranger to anti-Catholic sentiment, which continued well into the 20th century. For instance, a proposed 1920 amendment to require all children ages 5 to 16 to attend public schools failed to win voters’ support. This was when 1 in 20 Michigan children attended Catholic schools. The Ku Klux Klan supported a similarly failed initiative in 1924.
In 1960, Citizens for Educational Freedom was founded at a Lutheran church in Detroit as an ecumenical effort of Catholic, Christian Reformed, and Lutheran Michiganders advocating school choice. While they were frustrated in efforts to include inclusive language in a new state constitution, they defeated the American Civil Liberties Union and saw Republican Gov. George Romney sign a bill allowing public school buses to transport children to parochial schools.
Professor Nicole Garnett of the Notre Dame Education Law Project, along with Ilya Shapiro and Tim Rosenberger of the Manhattan Institute, have also filed briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Michigan parents. They argue that Michigan’s provision is unconstitutional, warning that if it stands, other states may impose religious discrimination under the guise of “neutral” constitutional provisions that prohibit funding to secular and religious schools alike. They called on the court to “put a stop to this type of anti-religious discrimination” once and for all.
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Legatus President Stephen Henley is pictured here speaking at the organization’s 2025 annual conference last month in Naples, Florida. / Credit: Courtesy of Legatus
Miami, Fla., Mar 13, 2025 / 07:20 am (CNA).
In today’s culture, often hostile to expressions of faith, many Catholics struggle with how to hold true to their values within the workplace. That’s why, in 1987, Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan started the Catholic organization Legatus.
From the Latin word for “ambassador,” Legatus aims to empower Catholic presidents, CEOs, and managing partners to become what St. Paul coined “ambassadors for Christ,” explained Stephen Henley, president of Legatus.
Offering peer support groups, networking, speakers, pilgrimages, and an annual international summit, Legatus’s goal is to “inspire members to live out their faith in all aspects of their life.” There are currently about 90 Legatus chapters in North America.
Chapter meetings are held once a month, providing the opportunity for members and their spouses to participate in confession and Mass, the recitation of the rosary, a cocktail reception dinner, and a speaker’s presentation.
“All of this is to help fortify the members’ marriage, the peer support group, the networking of this group, and then embolden them to go out and live their faith,” said Henley. “Tom felt that if we can bring together these Catholic CEOs, how much more can we change society with these people that have high impact and high influence?”
In interviews with Catholic News Agency, Hawkins, Dean Abela, and Henley covered three tips for bringing the Catholic worldview into the workplace.
Commit to your priorities
Dean Andrew Abela’s Catholic faith wasn’t always as important to him as it is now. As a teenager, he even stopped practicing.
“I came back in my mid-20s, funnily enough, while I was in business school,” he recalled. As a student in 1991, he encountered Pope John Paul II’s new encyclical letter Centesimus Annus, and the pope’s reflection on economics changed the trajectory of his life.
“Just a few months after, I returned to the Church,” he said. “When I reverted to the faith, I wanted to know what my newly rediscovered Catholic faith meant for a life in business.”
Andrew Abela is dean of the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America. Credit: Legatus
After working for companies including Procter & Gamble, McKinsey & Company, and the Corporate Executive Board, in 2002 Dean Abela eventually began teaching at the Catholic University of America. He is also a consultant to Fortune 100 corporations.
“The reason I left business and switched to academia was that I wanted to dedicate myself full-time to studying questions about what it means to be a faithful Catholic in the workplace,” he explained.
A member of Legatus since 2000, Dean Abela mentioned that members can follow what the organization terms a “spiritual plan” to attend daily Mass, recite the rosary daily, and do monthly confession.
Known as Tres Magna, or the “Big Three,” this plan was inspired by Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula, who “attributed the perfect season to him going to daily Mass,” explained Stephen Henley. “Tom [Monaghan] thought, well, if he can go, there’s no reason why I can’t go.”
“Daily Mass, daily rosary, and monthly confession will align your life and priorities,” added Henley.
Find a supportive community
When Kristan Hawkins first encountered Legatus, she was not a Catholic. Hawkins was raised an Evangelical. After Students for Life’s 2006 launch, she began speaking at Legatus events.
In 2014, Hawkins decided to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, “a pilgrimage Legatus had sponsored.” “I was the only Protestant there,” she recalled. “I decided there that I was going to enter RCIA.”
She became a full-fledged member of Legatus soon after becoming Catholic.
“As a pro-life activist who starts a pro-life organization, I want to save babies, I want to end abortion, I want to help as many families and women. You don’t start a non-profit because you’re necessarily a great business leader or have all these skills. You started this non-profit, this mission, because you want to see this mission accomplished,” Hawkins said. “For me, that’s one of the powerful benefits of being in Legatus, is having friends and mentors who were successful in the for-profit world who I can call on and ask questions.”
Students for Life of America President Kristan Hawkins. Credit: Legatus
“It’s very powerful and important to have those relationships. For me, in the work I’m doing, it’s a constant spiritual attack,” she added. “One of the best things about Legatus is I can call any of my Legatus friends at any moment, and they’ll be there for you. They know the power of the work we do and the resistance we face.”
Dean Abela also finds a sense of community in Legatus and also strives to build a supportive Catholic community at the Catholic University of America.
“We share with students the principles of Catholic social doctrine, things like human dignity and solidarity, and try to embed these principles into all of our classes,” he explained. “We’re also increasingly trying to give them opportunities to practice different virtues as part of their studies and schoolwork.”
For instance, Dean Abela explained, “To teach graduate students about decision-making, we go through a couple of survivor simulations, where you crash land in the north of Canada and you have to decide what you’re going to do. We have them go through decision-making exercises explicitly practicing the virtue of prudence or practical wisdom, the habit of making wise decisions. We break apart the components of practical wisdom, which include things like alertness, preparedness, and reasoning, and we have them try to exercise those as part of the decision-making process.”
These skills built in the classroom can be applied not only in business, but also in students’ personal lives.
Model the behavior you expect from others and celebrate your co-workers’ integrity
For Henley, giving authentic witness to the Catholic faith in the workplace can start with a simple “hello.”
“First, live the golden rule,” he said. “When you’re walking down the hall, say hello to the janitor, to the executive, and to everyone in between. It matters a lot.”
He added: “Another practical thing: take the opportunity to pray before meals. If you’re going on business lunches, you’ll be surprised at how many people say, ‘Yeah of course, let’s pray.’ It’s more common than not for people to pray before meals. The fact that you’re doing it shows that you’re a bold leader and that you’re spiritual.”
Dean Abela agrees that these types of habits make all the difference, and were the subject of the presentation he made of his book Superhabits: The Universal System for a Successful Life last month during the 2025 Legatus Summit.
“The main focus of the book is understanding that things like diligence, honesty, and resilience are not genetic characteristics. They are habits that anyone can acquire through practice,” Dean Abela explained. “Companies can focus on one of the most important virtues and give employees opportunities to practice those virtues.”
For instance, Dean Abela explained the GrowVirtue App, an AI-driven app “based on the work of the book,” which organizations can use to evaluate which virtues their company has already made a habit of, which virtues they might target, and tips for how to make progress.
“The important thing is that the company would choose a virtue that they think would be directly beneficial to the company right now,” said Dean Abela. “Although personal results are private, the whole company can see what employees as a whole are weakest in. So, if you’re trying to grow in customer service, you might encourage the virtue of friendship or friendliness.”
Dean Abela discussed the value of recognizing virtue both inside and outside the company.
“See examples in action or read about examples,” he suggested. “You can have employees watch videos or you can share articles that demonstrate examples of a particular virtue in action. And you can make sure senior folks are role models for junior employees.”
“Most importantly, give the employees the opportunity to practice the virtues, and give feedback,” he added. “When companies give awards, they tend to do this more with core values. They should shift to core virtues and give it to people who are exemplars of that virtue.”
Ultimately, the goal for Catholics is to live authentic lives that draw others to Christ.
“Stay true to who you are, don’t give in,” said Hawkins. “They’ll know you by your fruits. I think that’s very important. You don’t have to work in the pro-life movement or specifically in an apostolate to be a good Catholic, a faithful Christian in the workplace. You can do that in any job, in any position you have – in McDonald’s or in a Fortune 500 company.”
U.S. Olympian Cole Hocker crosses the finish line to win the men’s 1,500-meter final at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on Aug. 6, 2024. / Credit: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images
CNA Staff, Aug 7, 2024 / 13:21 pm (CNA).
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