Catholic Identity Remains a Public Relations Asset

Abstract

The massive sex scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church raises a question as to whether Catholic identity remains an asset that the nation’s 8,000 Catholic schools should continue to promote. This case study found that continuing to promote Catholic identity has had no adverse effect on recruitment and enrollment at four Omaha, Nebraska, Catholic high schools since the scandal struck in 2000. On the contrary, the schools have found that parents continue to select them because of their Catholic identity—and thus they continue to promote it.