Faculty Perceptions Regarding Practice of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Charism in United States Community-Owned and Sponsored Secondary Schools

For nearly three centuries, a vast majority of Catholic schools in the United States were founded and operated by religious orders, each with their own unique charism but with the singular goal of teaching in the Catholic faith. Since 1965, however, a vast majority of religious orders have seen a continual decline in their membership. There are currently 61,036 vowed religious in the United States, a 71.6% decline from the number of vowed religious in 1965 (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate [CARA], 2017). The continual decrease in the number of vowed religious jeopardizes the continuation of the order's charism, and now religious orders face the task of preserving their charism in their community-owned and sponsored schools, especially those without the physical presence of a religious member. This study determined faculty perceptions regarding the practice of the distinctive elements of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart charism in its United States Province community-owned and sponsored secondary schools. Surveys were received from 193 faculty, administration, and staff members from eight Brothers of the Sacred Heart schools in the United States Province. There were three major findings of this study. The first major finding is that faculty "frequently" perceive the practice of the seven elements of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart charism in the community's owned and sponsored secondary schools in the United States Province. This finding supports previous research about faculty perceptions of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart charism conducted by Brandao (1993). The second major finding is that continual physical presence of at least one member of a religious order on a school's campus has a positive effect on the faculty's perception of the practices of the order's charism on the school's campus. The third major finding is that members of a religious order more frequently perceive the practice of the order's charism than laypersons. This finding supports previous research about the formation programs of religious congregations. This study found that despite a decline in Brothers of the Sacred Heart members, the seven distinct elements of their charism are alive within the community spirit within their schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]