Religious Formation

Parents are the primary religious educators and nurturers of their children’s faith.

In the 1965 Encyclical written by Pope Paul VI entitled Gravissimum Educationis, the Church declares, "Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators."

Furthermore, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. They bear witness to this responsibility first by creating a home where tenderness, forgiveness, respect, fidelity, and disinterested service are the rule. The home is well suited for education in the virtues. This requires an apprenticeship in self-denial, sound judgment, and self-mastery-the preconditions of all true freedom. Parents should teach their children to subordinate the ‘material and instinctual dimensions to interior and spiritual ones.’ Parents have a grave responsibility to give good example to their children. By knowing how to acknowledge their own failings to their children, parents will be better able to guide and correct them.” (CCC 2223)

A practicing religious home is the best preparation for young people to become caring, responsible citizens of our world. NDP partners with parents by offering students formative opportunities and experiences.

If a student is going to be missing experiences including Mass, Reconciliation, Adoration or House meetings, the student will be required to fill out a pre-arranged absence form and have it approved by the dean’s office.