We cannot hope to achieve an end without knowing what the end is. An archer will not hit the bullseye – except by fluke – unless he can see the target. Do we have a clear idea of the end of Catholic education? 

For St Thomas Aquinas, an end has a double character: it is the last thing achieved in execution, but the first in the order of intention. The end as conceived by the mind directs the first vertical step of a person climbing Mount Everest. The curriculum and pastoral system of a school will inevitably be informed by the view taken of the end, or aim, of education. What sort of person do we want to see leave our schools? It would be difficult to improve on the formulation given by Pius XI in his encyclical Divini Illius Magistri: “The true Christian, product of Christian education, is the supernatural man who thinks, judges and acts constantly and consistently in accordance with right reason illumined by the supernatural light of the example and teaching of Christ.”