Abstract
This paper assesses religion teaching as a profession in light of selected characteristics that scholars agree are common to all professions. Evidence was drawn primarily from church documents and survey data from "The Next Generation: A Study of Catholic High School Religion Teachers." The findings indicate that religion teaching meets two of the seven selected characteristics and fails to meet five. The main conclusion drawn is that steps must be taken to professionalize religion teaching. To that end, recommendations are made for a professional association for religion teachers, credentialing standards, and a certification/licensing scheme. In the future, the degree to which religion teaching advances as a profession will greatly influence student learning, religion teacher credibility, recruitment and retention of religion teachers, and ultimately the religious mission of Catholic high schools in the United States. (Contains 42 references.) (Author/SM)