THE CHOICE of parents to send their children to Catholic schools
should not be seen as a decision in favour of separation from others, a
senior Catholic bishop has said.
Bishop John McAreavey of Dromore
was speaking in the wake of contentious comments made by First Minister
Peter Robinson on the subject.
The DUP leader says he backs the
right of parents to opt for Catholic schools but he opposes state
funding for them. In his leader’s address to the DUP annual conference,
he called for an honest debate with educationalists on the future of
separate schools and the need for a more integrated society.
Dr
McAreavey, in a document for the bimonthly meeting of the Catholic
Council for
Maintained Schools, said support for church schools should
not be viewed as backing for segregation.
“The distinct identity
of Catholic schools is sometimes interpreted as a desire to stand apart
from our society or even as a refusal to belong to or contribute to it;
in a divided society a separate network of schools could be seen as
reinforcing or tolerating division,” he said.
“I want to emphasise
here that what defines Catholic education is not its separateness, but
the core values that guide the teaching, learning and pastoral care.”
Every
citizen, every community, every voluntary body, every organisation,
every church has to make its contribution to a genuinely diverse and
reconciled society, he added.
“Diversity ought not pose a threat
to a peaceful society. In my view, it is a lack of respect for
legitimate diversity, aspiration and identities . . . which undermine
peace.
“It is not enough for any of us to say, ‘we did not cause
division, suspicion or grievance’; rather we have to ask, ‘how can we
contribute to a more mature and reconciled society?’”
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