Gospel-centered, service-driven and rooted in Catholic identity. Those precepts drive the Religion Department, which builds on the mission of the Clerics of St. Viator and their founder, Fr. Louis Querbes.

Students follow a curriculum that strikes a balance between faith formation and guided academic exploration, while they are immersed in sacramental life, the Gospel message, Catholic social teaching and moral decision making.

Underlying each class are the teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as the curriculum mandated for Catholic high schools by the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Students must earn 3 ½ credits in religion to graduate by taking Fundamentals of Catholic Faith, Catholic Exploration of the Bible, Catholic Church, and Catholic Ethics. They also may choose to take an elective, which examines World Religions.

In addition to the academic curriculum, all religion classes at Saint Viator have several themes running through them.

Prayer: Students experience various styles of prayer and reflection both in the classroom and in the chapel. All students are given the opportunity to experience sacramental Reconciliation at least once a year.

Morality: Emphasis is made on appropriate moral behaviors and decision making at each class level on such topics as sexuality, drinking and drugs, cheating, and bullying, to name a few. Special emphasis on these is placed in both the freshman and senior years, which are considered to be the bookends for the department.

Social justice: In each classroom, students discuss the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and how they relate to their responsibility to be persons of action. Students are encouraged to live by these principles both at school and in the broader community.

Vocation: A call to vocation is woven throughout Saint Viator’s religion curriculum, with the hope that it will heighten awareness of the need for increased vocations to the priesthood and religious life. At the same time, faculty members teach that marriage and single life are valid callings within the Church that need the same discernment, commitment and understanding as a religious vocation.

• The Religion Department strikes a balance between faith formation and guided exploration.
• Classes adhere to curriculum mandated for Catholic high schools by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the teachings found in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
• Students take courses in Fundamentals of Catholic Faith, A Catholic Exploration of the Bible, Catholic Church and Catholic Ethics, and may choose the elective World Religions.
• All classes incorporate prayer, as well as an examination of morality, social justice and a heightened awareness of the need for vocations.
• Students experience prayer and reflection in the classroom and in the chapel.