This has resulted in many positives for Irish society and inter-religious dialogue in particular.
The improved relations and understanding between existing religions in Ireland today has been and continues to be important for social cohesion.
However, this has also meant a decline in the desire for a distinctively Christian education system.
Many educators even assume that because Irish society has become so diverse in recent years, it is inappropriate to give Christianity any greater attention than other religions in today’s public school curriculum.
In their minds, it is insensitive to place greater emphasis on Christianity in a school that caters for a multiplicity of different religions.
In April, an advisory group to Education Minister Ruairí Quinn’s forum to determine how many Catholic run schools there should be in the future, and to work out the most orderly mechanism for the handing over of Catholic schools to new patron bodies, made a series of major recommendations, including:
- The removal of preparation for sacraments such as First Communion and Confirmation from class-time in Catholic schools;
- The removal of a stipulation in the 1965 primary school rules that religion is the most important subject;
- The development of a new primary curriculum for education regarding religion and beliefs, and also about ethics.
Minister Quinn said he envisages almost half of Catholic primary schools being given to other patron bodies.
However, Fr Michael Drumm of the Catholic Schools Partnership has said a figure in the region of 10 per cent is more appropriate.
In Ireland at present, more than 95% of the country’s 3,300 primary schools remain in the control of religious patrons, including 90% where the Catholic bishop is the patron.
Whatever the number, it is important to make the case for Catholic schools and lay out what they stand for.
Vatican II
The Second Vatican Council gave careful consideration to the importance of education in people’s lives and its ever-growing influence on the social progress of the age.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic this week, Fr Drumm said it is not only notable, but justifiable that a whole document from the Second Vatican Council was entirely dedicated to the issue of Christian education.
According to Fr Drumm, “Vatican II strongly affirmed the Church’s contribution to and involvement in education”.
Fr Drumm drew attention to the council’s “strong emphasis on the importance of parents and their right to educate their children”.
He also highlighted its affirmation that those in the teaching profession possess “special qualities”.
The Declaration on Christian Education, Gravissimum Educationis, stated that all people “of every race, condition and age, since they enjoy the dignity of a human being, have an inalienable right to education”.
This education, the document explained, should be in keeping with their ultimate goal, adapted to their ability, sex and the cultural and tradition of their country, and also in harmony with their fraternal association with other peoples in the fostering of true unity and peace in the world.
All Christians, the document stated, have a right to a Christian education which not only develops the maturity of the human person but has as its principal purpose a further goal.
Throughout the course of their education, Christians should be gradually introduced to the mystery of salvation, become more aware of the gift of Faith they have received.
Through a Christian education, they should learn to worship God in spirit and in truth, especially through participation in the liturgy.
A Christian education must also ensure they learn not only how to bear witness to the hope that is in them, but also how to help in the Christian formation of the world.
Thus they should grow into adulthood as members of the body of Christ who are willing and able to contribute to the good of the society to which they belong.
Family
Since parents have given life to their children, Gravissimum Educationis placed great emphasis on the responsibility of parents and because of this, “they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognised as the primary and principal educators”.
The document calls for parents to create a family atmosphere inspired by love and respect for God and man, in which “the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered”.
Gravissimum Educationis named the family as the primary school of the social virtues which are necessary to every society.
It proposed the Christian family, enriched by the grace of marriage, as the most appropriate context for children to experience a wholesome human society and Church.
Finally, the document explained that it is through the family that children are “gradually led to a companionship with their fellowmen and with the people of God”.
According to Gravissimum Educationis, while the task of imparting education belongs primarily to the family, it also requires the help of society as a whole.
Therefore, as outlined in this docu-ment, it is the duty of the State to ensure that all its citizens have access to an adequate education and are prepared for the proper exercise of their civic rights and duties.
The document asserts that the function of the State is to promote the education of youth in many ways.
Namely: “to protect the duties and rights of parents and others who share in education and to give them aid; according to the principle of subsidiarity, when the endeavors of parents and other societies are lacking, to carry out the work of education in accordance with the wishes of the parents; and, moreover, as the common good demands, to build schools and institutions”.
Ethos
Catholic schools are highlighted as playing an essential role in the life of the Church. No less than other schools, Catholic schools pursue cultural goals and the human formation of youth.
However, the primary function of Catholic schools, according to the document, is to create a “special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity, to help youth grow according to the new creatures they were made through baptism as they develop their own personalities, and finally to order the whole of human culture to the news of salvation”.
Such an atmosphere enables young people, while developing their own personality, to grow at the same time in that new life which has been given to them in baptism, thus orienting students to live in a social context influenced by their Faith.
Teachers
The document states that Catholic schools are almost entirely dependent upon teachers “for the accomplishment of its goals and programs”.
Teachers in Catholic schools should be prepared for their work with special care, the document said, and they should have appropriate qualifications and adequate learning, both religious and secular.
They should be trained in accordance with correct pedagogical methodology is in keeping with the findings of the contemporary world.
Catholic school teachers are also called in this document to be charitable both towards each other and towards their students, and endowed with an apostolic spirit, they are encouraged to bear witness by their lives and by their instruction to Jesus Christ.
Catholic parents, the document states, have a particular duty to send their children to Catholic schools whenever this is possible, as well as to give Catholic schools all the support in their power, cooperating with them in their work for the good of their children.
According to the document, attention should also be paid “to the needs of today in establishing and directing Catholic schools”.
Pastors are directed in Gravissimum Educationis to provide much needed catechesis to all, especially in areas of the new churches, which are attended also by students who are not Catholics.
Higher education
The Church likewise was called to devote considerable care to higher-level education, especially colleges and universities.
The document recommends and encourages the establishment of Catholic universities and faculties in strategic locations throughout the world, calling for them to be noteworthy “not for their numbers but for their pursuit of knowledge”.
Special attention and allowances for students of great promise but of modest resources were recommended, especially for those from newly developed nations.
Gravissimum Educationis called for a greater measure of coordination in the sphere of academic institutes. “Cooperation is the order of the day,” it asserts.
University faculties are encouraged to assist each other insofar as their goal will permit.
Universities
In addition, universities were encouraged to undertake joint enterprises, such as promoting and organising international gatherings “by sharing scientific inquiries with one another, by communicating their discoveries to one another, by having exchange of professors for a time and by promoting all else that is conducive to greater assistance”.
The sacred synod concluded by affirming its deep gratitude to those priests, religious men and women, and laity who by their evangelical self-dedication are devoted to the noble work of education and schools of every type and level.
Formation
Commenting on the document, Dr Gareth Byrne, Coordinator of the Irish Centre for Religious Education said that Gravissimum Educationis “sets out the foundation upon which Catholic education contributes to the upbuilding of young Catholics”.
Dr Byrne noted that Gravissimum Educationis emphasises the role of Christian education in contributing to the human formation of young people which it achieves “by creating a special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity”.
The document highlights “the profound importance of education and encourages the dialogue necessary between all peoples in developing open, just and robust principles for the education of young people generally in society,” he said.
In this context Dr Byrne drew attention to the Irish Bishops’ recent National Directory for Catechesis, Share the Good News, which states: “A Catholic vision seeks to sustain and enhance people’s capacity to discover the meaning of life in the context of God’s love”.
“The work of Catholic education is a work of hope and love which ‘helps individuals to be ever more human, leads them ever more fully to the truth, instils in them growing respect for life, and trains them in right inter-personal relations,” it says.
Multi-culturalism
There can be no doubt that the Ireland of today is highly diverse.
We live in a society defined by muli-culturalism.
However, this does not necessarily mean Ireland’s education system must lose it distinctively Catholic ethos.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic on the place of Catholic schools in Ireland in the future, Fr Drumm said “never has there been more of a need for careful reflection on faith and reason within an educational environment”.
The case for Catholic schools is simple.
Yes, the overriding reason for Catholic schools is to assist parents in passing on their Faith to their children which may cause concern for non-Catholic parents.
However, Catholic schools also provide a good, well rounded education, are inclusive towards other religions, and promote human rights and charitable works.
What more can we ask for?