PLANS FOR LEADERSHIP IN SUNDAY SCHOOL ADVANCE

There is a movement toward “corporatization” evident in Catholic hospitals, Catholic schools, and Catholic social service agencies taking up management structures and other features and behaviors employed by corporations. Many see these practices as threatening the identity and influence of religion as the profit concerns begin to take center stage. This development is assessed from two perspectives. The 19th-century shift in Catholic education was equally radical and raised no less conflicting values in religious identity. The story of Catholic healthcare's movement over the past 30 years from direct control and administration primarily by religious orders of women to mega health systems provides a parallel experience adjusting this Catholic ministry to the demands of the corporate world and re-expressing Catholic identity.