Page "news" Paragraph 1953

To understand the past history -- and the future potential -- of American Catholic higher education, it is necessary to appreciate the special character of the esprit de corps of the religious community.

It is something more than the arithmetical sum of individual totals of piety and detachment.

A religious community with a vital sense of mission achieves a degree of group orientation and group identification seldom found elsewhere.

The fact that the group orientation and group identification are founded on supernatural principles and nourished by the well-springs of devotion simply give them a deeper and more satisfying dimension.

The net result is a uniquely satisfying sense of comradeship, the kind of comradeship which sparks enthusiasm and blunts the cutting edge of sacrifice and hardship.