886
Souter, J., dissenting
"pervasively sectarian," is not confined to a discrete element of the curriculum, Everson, 330 U. S., at 22-24 (Jackson, J., dissenting); id., at 45-47 (Rutledge, J., dissenting), but permeates their teaching.6 Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York, 397 U. S. 664, 671 (1970); Lemon, supra, at 636-637 ("A school which operates to commingle religion with other instruction plainly cannot completely secularize its instruction. Parochial schools, in large measure, do not accept the assumption that secular subjects should be unrelated to religious teaching"); see also Bowen v. Kendrick, 487 U. S. 589, 621-622 (1988) (discussing pervasively sectarian private schools). Based on record evidence and long experience, we have concluded that religious teaching in such schools is at the core of the instructors' individual and personal obligations, cf. Canon 803, § 2, Text & Commentary 568 ("It is necessary that the formation and education given in a Catholic school be based upon the principles of Catholic doctrine; teachers are to be outstanding for their correct doctrine and integrity of life"), and that individual religious teachers will teach religiously.7 Lemon, 403 U. S., at 615-620; id., at 635-
6 In fact, religious education in Roman Catholic schools is defined as part of required religious practice; aiding it is thus akin to aiding a church service. See 1983 Code of Canon Law, Canon 798, reprinted in The Code of Canon Law: A Text and Commentary 566 (1985) (hereinafter Text & Commentary) (directing parents to entrust children to Roman Catholic schools or otherwise provide for Roman Catholic education); Canon 800, § 2, Text & Commentary 567 (requiring the faithful to support establishment and maintenance of Roman Catholic schools); Canons 802, 804, Text & Commentary 567, 568 (requiring diocesan bishop to establish and regulate schools "imparting an education imbued with the Christian spirit").
7 Although the Court no longer assumes that public school teachers assigned to religious schools for limited purposes will teach religiously, see Agostini v. Felton, 521 U. S. 203, 223-228 (1997), we have never abandoned the presumption that religious teachers will teach just that way. Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U. S. 602, 615-620 (1971); id., at 635-641 (Douglas, J., concurring); Levitt v. Committee for Public Ed. & Religious Liberty, 413 U. S. 472, 480 (1973); Meek v. Pittenger, 421 U. S. 349, 369-371 (1975); Wol-
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