THE DEBATE about the future of Irish education, the place of
religious education in schools and church patronage cannot be separated
“from the broad question of what the role of a Catholic school really
is”, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said.
“I see very
little point in being the patron of Catholic schools which are not truly
Catholic. Catholic does not mean sectarian. But a Catholic school is
more than just an ethos; it is more than just a school where attractive
First Communion and Confirmation services are celebrated,” he said.
Speaking at Blackrock College in Dublin at the launch of the book
Frank Duff – A Life Story, by Finola Kennedy, he said “unless a
Catholic school exists within a faith community of parents who are
themselves rooted in a broader believing and practising faith community,
then that school will be Catholic in name alone.”
He was “pleased to see the work that is being done by the Government’s Forum on Patronage.”
He
had “no fear of plurality in school patronage where parents desire it. I
believe that the plurality desired by parents is greater than some
think.
“That said, I believe that the Catholic school retains its
particular place which must be fostered. But the Catholic school will
not survive isolated from a faith community,” he said.
“There is
no way today that the school alone will be able to foster a truly
Catholic faith unless there are solid bonds between school, parents and
parish community.
“The faith of the child and of the young person will only develop where there is an integrated relation between all three.
“It is unfair to expect teachers to take on responsibilities which go beyond their capacity and indeed their duty.”
Praising
Frank Duff, the founder of the Legion of Mary, as “an extraordinary
person, a man very hard to fit into any conventional categories”, he
said Duff was “acutely aware, decades ago, how the institutional
structure of the Catholic Church in Ireland which outwardly appeared so
robust, in fact had within itself an innate debilitating factor, namely
the lack of faith formation of lay men and women.”