Holy Spirit Catholic School Division is in ascent mode.

The district serving the southern Alberta communities of Lethbridge, Bow Island, Coaldale, Pincher Creek, Picture Butte and Taber boasted a student body of 5,515 students in 2024-25, representing an increase of 600 pupils in three years.

However, perhaps the most striking statistic is that according to the Diocese of Calgary’s 2024 Impact Report, just 48.3 per cent of the students attending one of the division's 16 schools identify as Catholic.

Advertisement

Aaron Skretting, director of Religious Education for Holy Spirit Catholic School Division, told The Catholic Register that parents of kids of a secular background or another religious denomination become initially interested in Catholic education because of these institutions’ commitment to holistic development.

“The ability to knit the intellectual, the spiritual, the academic and the athletic, all those facets that make up the full and integral human, I think we're able to talk about that in a way that might be different than our secular counterparts,” said Skretting.

Bestowed with the division’s Excellence in Catholic Education award for 2024-25, Skretting formerly served in the Palliser School Division before joining Holy Spirit in 2016 as an associate principal at Catholic Central High School in Lethbridge.

A student in the Holy Spirit Division in the 1990s, he experienced the distinct vibe of entering a Catholic school after many years of working in public education.

“You often hear people talk about, when they come from across the street, that there’s something different here and I can’t quite put my finger on it,” said Skretting. “(I think) it’s that attractive force of witness of all our staff who, in their own way, show that love of Christ and love of God, to those around them, and I think there's something really appealing about that for people.”

Advertisement

Skretting added that “it’s all about witness and walking alongside people” to encourage new non-Catholic members' interest in Catholicism.

He cited a line from Pope Paul VI’s 1975 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi: “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”

But while there is potential for exhibiting witness and other intangibles of a Catholic school environment to draw people toward the faith, Skretting acknowledges there are challenges to maintaining that strong Catholic identity in an environment where more than half the student and parent voices are non-adherents of the faith.

He said the “Catholic identity of our schools continues to evolve with time and as society changes.”

“Thirty years ago, or 50 years ago (schools) may have had a particular tone, flavour or way of being able to approach things because they're dealing with largely practising Catholics,” said Skretting.

“That's not the reality any more. We're operating in what some theorists or thinkers would characterize as a ‘post-Christian world.' We have to continue to open our doors wide to all of the people who are around us with a willingness to share the Gospel message.

“Also, to talk about the dignity of the human person and the fact that we're all created in the image of God, and what implications that has for our students and for our staff."

Advertisement

Skretting added that the current landscape means Catholic educators need to ensure they persuasively “talk about why we're doing what we're doing” when there are matters that “rub against” the worldview of a non-Catholic.

There is success in getting parents on board with having their kids attend school Mass and exposing them to different prayers because “the fact that we're grounded in that spirituality is something that they value regardless of their religious orientation.”