The future of Catholic education will be determined by the ability of its leadership to demonstrate the value of truly Catholic schools according to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin.
The Primate made his comments in his homily at the 150th jubilee celebration of the foundation of the Sisters of Notre Dame des Mission on Saturday.
Archbishop Martin also described Catholic education as being about “fostering the God-given talents that are present in each pupil.”
Paying tribute to the foundress of the Congregation of Notre Dame des Missions, Dr Martin said something of the original charism and characteristics of Mother Euphrasie Barbier would always remain unique.
It was this, he suggested, which had animated the spirit of Notre Dame schools down the years.
The anniversary Mass at the Church of the Holy Cross, Dundrum, was attended by President Mary McAleese and Senator Martin McAleese, as well as RNDM Sisters, students of Notre Dame des Mission secondary school in Churchtown and family and friends.
It was concelebrated by Bishops Denis Brennan and Colm O'Reilly, along with a number of local priests.
A copy of the Order's constitutions were brought to the altar at the beginning of the Mass as a symbol of the rule of life drawn up by Mother Euphrasie Barbier and the Sisters' calling to live these constitutions out faithfully.
In her address, RNDM Congregational Leader, Sr Maureen McBride said Saturday’s Mass, which was followed by a tree-planting ceremony in the grounds of Notre Dame des Mission school, was the first of the Order’s celebrations across the world.
Referring to the history of the Order, Sr McBride recalled their foundation in the French city of Lyon in 1861 by Euphrasie Barbier, whom she described as “a courageous visionary woman with a heart for the world – a heart for mission.”
Then on August 18 1864, just three days after their first profession, “five intrepid RNDM women” set out for New Zealand to establish the Order’s first overseas mission in what was then considered “the ends of the earth.”
These first members of the Order were “adventurous, energetic and faith-filled”, according to Sr McBride and after their arrival in New Zealand in 1865, they worked among the indigenous Maori people, as well as the early pioneers, “the majority of whom were poor illiterate Irish families”.
Today there are more than 900 RNDM sisters in 36 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin American, North America and the Pacific.
Sr McBride related the good news that the “congregation is blessed with many young sisters.” Nearly 35% of the congregation is aged 40 or younger.
The first RNDM community opened in Ireland in 1926 and today there are eight RNDM communities in Ireland with about 40 sisters.
Irish RNDM sisters have also served in other parts of the world including Bangladesh, England, Kenya, New Zealand and on the Order’s general council in Rome.
Sr McBride recalled the first Irish woman who joined the congregation. She described Elizabeth Conaghty, who took the name Mother Mary Gabriel in religion, as exemplifying the missionary spirit of RNDM women throughout the world.
Originally from Castlebellingham in Co Louth, she left her family and home in Ireland two weeks after her 14th birthday and crossed over to France where she was received as a postulant in October 1867.
She later worked with orphans and became superior of a new mission in an industrial area of France, working with the disadvantaged children of industrial workers and the children of itinerant entertainers.
Today, RNDM missionaries have made new insertions in Orissa in India, with the mountain tribes of Vietnam and with women and children living with HIV in Burma. New missions have also been opened in South Sudan, Laos and Thailand.
Currently some of the Order’s Sisters are waiting on visas to go to Taiwan to work with migrant communities there, while others are due to begin work in the very new mission fields of Kazakhstan in central Asia.
Sr McBride concluded her address by saying, “Thank you for joining us on this great day as we RNDM sisters treasure our past and look forward to shaping our future.”