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This article explores the pressing issue of the re-imagination of Religious Education in today’s Catholic school. It does so within the context of the plenary re-imagination of the contemporary Catholic school itself, a work-in-progress to which it has both a complementary and a symbiotic relationship. In doing so, the author draws upon sources as diverse as the anthropological lessons at the heart of the powerful and inspiring All Blacks Rugby code, the ANZAC Tradition and the narrative of the surprisingly transformative encounter of the Samaritan woman with Jesus at Jacob’s well in the Gospel of John (Jn 4:4–42). The Aparecida Document (2007) issued by the Episcopal Council of Latin American Bishops (CELAM) under the leadership of the then-Cardinal Bergoglio prior to his elevation to the Papacy and his adoption of the Pontifical name, ‘Francis’ (2013) provides a compass to find the way forward, not only for the Church itself but for Catholic Schools within its embrace. This article examines the potential power of the seminal integration of Religious Education within the plenary and daily narrative of the whole school, the liberating perspective gained through the re-defining and re-owning of it as ‘the work of the whole educative village’ and the acceptance of the responsibilities and challenges that this seismically challenging conceptual shift will necessarily bring.

The culture of ambivalence that pervades Catholic education institutions in the US should be seen as an opportunity for change rather than as an indication of low priority to sustaining the commitment to Catholic higher education. Institutions define their Catholic identity based on circumstances rather than conviction. They identify themselves with religious congregations such as the Jesuits or Franciscans based on legal implications.