Thursday, August 09, 2007

Catholic Education


I am worried about the future of our schools, I am sure the government are going to pressurise us to adopt standards and teach things that are diametrically opposed to the gospel, and try to take them away from us. For years we have been happy with some loose understanding of a “Catholic ethos”, something the bishops have been keen on, I have never understood quite what that is, but it ends up by being “Catholic-lite”. I am not sure what the way forward is, certainly if we carry on the way we are going, the “product” of Catholic education will be someone who supports aid charities, isn’t keen on abortion (except in necessities) and believes it is important to be caring.
What I want is a radical commitment to the Catholic Church and the sacraments and people who are committed to evangelisation, at the very least of their own children, for this reason I was very pleased to read the following in this mornings e-post. It is from the Australian Bishops Pastoral Letter on Catholic education, you can read all 28 pages here, well worth the effort.

First, it is essential that "leaders and staff understand, and are solidly committed to, the Catholic identity of the school. Schools must also be "Eucharistic communities within the parish context where, as far as possible, students regularly take part in Mass and Reconciliation."
They should "continue to be places of prayer, including prayer at assemblies, in classes and in other staff and student meetings, and places where practices are encouraged such as Scripture reflections, the Angelus, Eucharistic adoration and prayerful silences." Truly Catholic schools are also "places cultivating a Catholic imagination, where prayer and liturgy are supported by a Catholic visual culture, including crucifixes and pictures of Our Lady and the saints."
Referring to the late Pope John Paul II's call for a "new evangelization", the bishops charge Catholic schools to become centers of evangelization through programs, activities, retreats, and participation in major Catholic events such as World Youth Day. In this way, "young people are given a sense of belonging to a wider Church beyond their family and school."
In order to foster lasting faith, however, evangelization must be followed up with solid catechesis and religious instruction. This includes information and encouragement for potential religious and priestly vocations.
A good indicator of a school's solid commitment to the faith is that "all Principals, Assistant Principals and RECs are practising Catholics who understand and profess the Catholic faith, model it in their own lives, and can teach it effectively." Similarly, a newly-appointed staff should be "reminded of the Catholic identity and mission of the school and of the expectation that they will commit themselves to that mission."

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Father, I couldn't agree more with your position. In fact given what I know about Catholic formation in our local secondary school, I'm seriously thinking of sending my child elsewhere for his own spiritual safety. We need a cardinal like this very badly.

Rita said...

I will probably be accused of being a coward, but I stopped teaching in the Catholic sector a few years back. I was tired of how easy it was for schools to pull the wool over the eyes of the Bishops, who thought they were doing a marvelous job. I was tired of chaplains with agendas (women priests etc). I was tired of weak leadership that didn't want to offend anyone. Also I was tired of the "clannish nepotism", people were getting ahead based on their catholic social drinking rather than their teaching skills and adherence to Catholic Doctrine and Catholic Social Teaching.

In the secular sector I can be known for what I am; a Catholic and a teacher. I have many strong Catholic pupils whose strength of faith comes from the strength of their families. I feel less on an outsider now than I did in the Catholic sector. I would return immediately if there was strong leadership shown like that mentioned in article. I am not alone in making this decision.

Anonymous said...

No, Rita, you are not alone. I taught religious doctrine for some years in a Catholic school, found many pupils receptive, but, in the end, moved to the non-Catholic sector because I was actively discouraged from 'evangelizing in the classroom'. Pupils from practicing Catholic families outshone the rest for understandable reasons but they were invariably mocked and bullied for their convictions by tribal Catholic children and discouraged by nominally Catholic teachers. Given the vast amounts of money levied on parishes to support 'Catholic education' and the inability to achieve it in the schools, I think they would be better secularized. Like you, I have found many good Catholic children from practicing families in secular schools and they get a fairer deal and better time from their peers than they would find in a nominally Catholic setting. The greater part of Catholic education is rotten to the core.

Anonymous said...

I have just left a Catholic secondary school and moved on to sixth fom in a secular school. To me the difference is huge-the strange looks I've recieved for mentioning Mass were never to be found in my high school, but there were elements within the school and indeed my class that found the idea of going to church quite alien; accepting at least, but not altogether a notion they would entertain.

Perhaps what pained me most about my secondary school was the policy regarding Mass on Holy Days of Obligation-it wasn't compulsory but optional, which meant an extra hour in bed for most people.

I loved my school and can't imagine going anywhere else; but in the five years I was there education standards slipped, and it's a great shame that it would appear this is the case across many of our schools.

Anonymous said...

I would second Rita's comment.

I left the Catholic Sector after 12 years and now work less hard and get treated a whole lot better.

I'm much happier. I would return, but just could not stand it any more. I've seen and heard too much.

Incidentally, ALL the strange liturgical stuff that I have seen has ocurred at school Masses, never in a Parish.

WhiteStoneNameSeeker said...

I pulled my kids out of their respective Catholic secondary schools and home ed now.

Sex ed in the one school was appalling-and done without warning parents before hand I might add.

My daughter went to a 'good' Catholic school full of casuel nastiness and even teachers who thought humiliating a child with dyslexia was a good idea.

Statues of the Sacred Heart and Our Lady DO NOT make a school Catholic I've found.

And Rita- God bless you.

I have now made the decision that no child of mine will ever enter Catholic secondary school. Looks like I'll be home edding for years to come.

My 4yr old starts school Sept-and I am already worried even though I know the school and staff well and trust them. I just feel the whole system is rotten. Good teachers have to find ways around it, rather than working with it.

WHY are the bishops letting this ride?

Anonymous said...

I find these comments very worrying as I have been considering applying to do teacher-training in order to teach Catholic primary school children in Scotland.

My main motive? I want to pass on the faith. However, I was told by a seminarian (and a priest present agreed with him) that if I wanted to work in a Cathoic school I would need to keep my occasional attendance of the Traditional Latin Mass "under the radar".

It sounds as if I'll need to keep any orthodox opinions "under the radar" too.

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