The "Problem" Of Catholic Education

As many of my Irish readers are aware the patronage of schools in Ireland is being discussed at the moment.  Ireland, unlike many other countries, has a very liberal approach to patronage of schools.  According to our Constitution parents are the first educators of their children and they are entitled to school their children according to their ethos and the State must support that.  In practice this means a group of parents who share a common ethos or religion can set up a school and as long as it adheres to the general curriculum and standards laid down by the Department of Education, the State must finance that school.  It is very liberal, tolerant and open; it allows Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and yes, atheists, to have their own schools so their children can be educated in their chosen ethos.  It even acknowledges the rights of parents to homeschool, something which is coming under threat in some countries.

Here is the article in the Irish Constitution which acknowledges and guarantees this right:

42: The State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children.

42.2: Parents shall be free to provide this education in their homes or in private schools or in schools recognised or established by the State.

The State shall not oblige parents in violation of their conscience and lawful preference to send their children to schools established by the State, or to any particular type of school designated by the State.

The State shall, however, as guardian of the common good, require in view of actual conditions that the children receive a certain minimum education, moral, intellectual and social.

The State shall provide for free primary education and shall endeavour to supplement and give reasonable aid to private and corporate educational initiative, and, when the public good requires it, provide other educational facilities or institutions with due regard, however, for the rights of parents, especially in the matter of religious and moral formation.

However it seems this liberal approach to education is too much for our liberals – they want to impose a “one size fits all” model: secular state schools in which all the children of Ireland will be educated. Or at least that’s what I understand Senator Ivana Bacik and her friends are looking for.   For my non-Irish readers, Senator Bacik is a Labour senator and one of the most prominent members of the pro-abortion and radical secularist movements in Ireland. 

 

At the moment the vast majority of schools are under the patronage of the Catholic Church, simply reflecting the fact that, up until now, the vast majority of Irish citizens were Catholic and wanted a Catholic education for their children.   As religious affiliation is changing, naturally schools become an issue.  Atheist or secular parents now want an atheist or secular ethos in their children’s schools; that is fair enough and our Constitution supports them.  However, while some have formed new schools which the State is financing, in some parts of the country there are not enough of them, so they must send their children to Catholic schools.  Those schools accept the children, they are excused from religion classes and their parents wishes are respected.

For some, however, that is not acceptable.  Some atheist/secularist parents try to get the school to change its ethos, and on national level, many secularists want to get the Church out of schools altogether: instead of setting up their own they want to take the Catholic schools and make them secular and non-denominational.   In some cases that might be possible – where secular parents are a majority in a locality then I think the Church should relinquish the local school.  However, if the majority of parents in an area want a Catholic education, then under the Constitution they are perfectly entitled to have it and the State must support it.    Senator Bacik wants to see the end of the Church in education and wants to create system of schools with no religious ethos at all. If people want RE for their children, it can take place after school or on Saturdays or Sundays, she says.  There are a number of problems with this.  

First of all it is inadequate and narrow, not the diversity liberals talk about so much.  Indeed the proposition is illiberal and monolithic. 

Secondly it takes education out of the hands of parents and puts it into the hands of the State.  Unfortunately this is happening in practice in many areas of education, yet the Constitution sees education as the preserve of parents, the state is only there to support it.  This proposal seems to be another step in the State’s growing power over its citizens. 

Thirdly, it is naïve to think that a school will not have an ethos – every school has an ethos.  When these state schools are established an ethos will have to be chosen and there is little doubt that if there is no room for religion that ethos will be secular and perhaps even atheistic; and let’s call a spade a spade – secularism is not neutral as its defenders try to maintain, it is highly ideological.  Supporters of these schools say they will respect religion but not favour one, but we know from experience this approach becomes very judgemental of faith, and of one faith in particular (guess which one!).  This will of course contravene article 42.2  as it may violate the consciences of Catholic parents. 

Finally, the proposal is unconstitutional as it deprives parents of their constitutional right to educate their children in schools of their choice.

I support the provision of schools for the children of secular and atheist parents, as I support the provision of schools for Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims.  Given the change in demographics the Church may well relinquish schools where there are not enough Catholics in an area.  If a parish had two Catholic schools and only one was required, then the second could well be relinquished.   This may also benefit Catholic schools and allow us, in this secular age, to deepen our ethos and our identity as Catholics.  Ironically, as we see in other countries, even when lots of secular schools are available, a Catholic education is in great demand and you even find that secularists are desperate to get their children into the Catholic schools.  That may well happen in Ireland, but if it does, the seculars should be directed to the state schools: Catholic schools will have to tighten up their admissions policy.

Of course the way the government can change the educational landscape is by a Constitutional referendum, but I think the parents of Ireland, once they understand the liberal nature of the Constitution on this issue, will not pass it: I think the government knows this and this is why, it seems to be, they are trying to slither their way around the Constitution and put a secular state schools system in place.  But if they try to make those schools the only ones permitted in the State surely that would be unconstitutional and open to challenge.

At the moment the Church is in dialogue with the government over this issue.  Great care must be taken by our negotiators, they must be aware of our constitutional rights and not sign them away no matter how sweet the agreement may seem.  Ultimately until the constitution is changed, the government’s hands are tied.  If we have to relinquish schools, we must negotiate a tightening of our constitutional rights and ensure government interference is kept to a minimum, particularly in the area of admissions policy and ethos.  Not exactly a time for horse trading, but the time to squeeze as much as we can out of the government in order to protect ourselves and our freedom.  The Lord's advice comes to mind: "as innocent as doves and as shrewd as serpents".  An important thing to remember is that we are no longer dealing with friends and not to presume we can trust them.

However, reflecting on what I am hearing from Senator Bacik and her friends it seems to me that here we may have another example of government trying to dilute the rights and freedom of its citizens at the behest of the secular liberal agenda.  And of course the illiberal intolerance of the liberals is once again exposed.

Ah....Maria!

Another wonderful Marian Feast - the Holy Name of Mary - happy feast day to you all.  Suppressed following the liturgical changes of the Second Vatican Council it was restored by Blessed John Paul II, and I am glad it is.  It is an opporunity for us to reflect on Our Lady's role in our salvation which begin with an angel calling out her name: Hail Mary, or more correctly, Rejoice Miriam!  As our name is an important part of who we are, so too Mary's serves as potent symbol of who she is and what she has done for love of God and what she does for love of us.  As the song from the musical West Side Story goes:

"The most beautiful sound I ever heard:
Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria . . .
All the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word . .
Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria . . .
Maria!....

And suddenly that name
Will never be the same
To me!"

Ah - I know he's singing about his girlfriend, but just that bit brings Our Holy Mother to mind - Maria - what a beautiful name.  Sure look, we might as well take a moment and listen to the song and pretend Tony is getting down to say his rosary (you might have to close your eyes to indulge that particular fantasy!).  We'll let Jose do the honours:



As the battle for life begins, the Pro-Life Campaign is hosting a National Seminar on Saturday the 22nd September next at 11.30pm, more information here.  The report from the "expert group" set up by the government is due soon, and we are expecting it to recommend legislation for abortion. 

As you reflect on what this will bring to Ireland, just look across the water and see what over forty years of abortion have brought. Here's a disturbing story which shows exactly where the medical profession is now in Great Britain.  A child born at just under 22 weeks is left to die, despite desperate appeals from his mother to put him on medical support to give him a chance to live: doctors refused.  The little boy took two hours to die - a sign that he may well have pulled through and lived.  However, given that children are aborted every day at a later stage in pregnancy (a woman can kill her child as long as she is in the first 24 weeks of pregnancy), there was no will to keep him alive.   The mother was told that if the child had been born two days later they would have treated him. 

I sometimes wonder why God allows this world to continue existing.  Given that our governments, hospitals, medical staff and various highly-influential groups are engaged in the massacre of innocent little children, I sometimes wonder why God allows it.  Billy Graham's wife, Ruth, as she looked at the state of the US once said that if God did not punish America he owed Sodom and Gomorrah an apology.   When you see the silent holocaust claiming the lives of little children you'd have to agree with her.  Why does God allow this? 

This is very much a Jeremiah question (Cf. Jer 12): the prophet asked the Lord why he allowed evil men and women to prosper while they persecuted the good and the holy. We too might ask: "Lord why do you allow abortionists and their supporters to live when they kill your little children and persecute those who fight for life?  Lord, why do you allow pro-abortion politicians to live while they manipulate the laws and constitutions of our nations to legislate for the murder of our most vulnerable of our citizens?"  As a friend of mine would say, "It's all a mystery", and it is: King David filled the Psalms with such questions and, in faith came to the same conclusion as my friend, as did holy Job. 

God has a bigger plan and included in that is the call to conversion.  He desires that all people be saved and will not use the tactics of anger and hatred - the devil uses them.  Our part is to pray, make sacrifices and work, within the bounds of charity, to bring this holocaust to an end.   But, as we all know, it takes strength to say no to anger: may the God give us the grace to resist this anger.  Not anger, but love; and, yes, that love will be tested.  It will be tested by politicians who call us bigots like the UK deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg - who is now trying to squirm his way out of it for political expediency.

Time to call upon Holy Maria for help: Sweet Mother of us all, watch over us, watch over our little children.

Related to all this, there is a new movie coming out in the US exploring the theme of discrimination against Christians.  Called Last Ounce of Courage it looks at how believers have become, not only strangers in society, but are under pressure to hide, and perhaps even renounce, their religious practices.  It stars a young Catholic actor, Hunter Gomez, in the one of the lead roles.  Kevin Jones has an interesting article on it here.   It raises interesting questions.  Here is the trailer:

The Baroness Impresses

Baroness Warsi, the British Conservative peer, is going down very well at the Vatican.  Having impressed Pope Benedict during his visit to Britain, she is leading a delegation from the UK marking thirty years of full diplomatic relations with the Holy See and seems to be impressing again with her thoughts on the role of religion in society.

Lady Warsi is a Muslim, yet her views and her speech to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, reveal just how close Catholicism and Islam can be when it comes to faith in the public square.  Her speech is well worth reading. 

She sees that religion has a vital role to play in public and political life - that should give the Church-state separationists a stroke.  In fact her thinking is very similar to Pope Benedict's in this area, and it has been noted that she has referred to and quoted from his writings.  There's interfaith dialogue for you.  Like Benedict she is reminding us believers that we should not hide our faith, nor conform it to secularism, but rather be confident in it.

Interestingly as a Muslim, she sees that Europe is inherently Christian and that the continent "needs to become more confident in its Christianity".   Plucking out the old apologetic for diminishing the position of Christianity in Europe, she says that is "a basic misconception: that somehow to create equality and space for minority faiths and cultures we need to erase our majority religious heritage."  If Benedict said that the liberal papers would be baying for his blood.  But the Baroness is correct.  She ends her speech with a humdinger: "Christianity is as vital to our future as it is to our past."

One quotation from the Baroness's speech is most interesting - something the Irish government should take careful note of - the embassy to the Holy See is in fact an important diplomatic mission for the benefits it brings to a country:

“The UK recognizes that, as the smallest state in the world, the Holy See has the widest global reach. It therefore seems inevitable that the UK with its global reach, historical and cultural interests should nurture, strengthen and promote our relationship.”

She also has something to say about ecumenism - something many of us have been saying for years in face of some who abandon or dilute the doctrines of their faith to get on with those of other religions:

“Interfaith dialogue works when we debate our differences, when we wear our beliefs on our sleeves. It’s not about you giving your version of God, and me giving my version of God. And us coming to some watered-down compromise. But about establishing our areas of consensus.”

I wish more Catholics could think like this Muslim lady.

UPDATE:

I note from the comments at the end of the Telegraph article on the Baroness's speech, that the secularists are furious, as one would expect.  Tolerance is not one of their strong points.

Matthew Cantirino of First Things, has an interesting article, referring to "Warsi's Wager" - that the time may be right for some sort of inter-religious coalition to counteract the growth of dictatorship by European secularism.  An interesting thought.

The Final Straw?

If there is one image which Americans love to use about their country it has to be "the land of the free" - it is an image enshrined in their National Anthem, and it sums up the aspirations which those going into politics bring with them as they seek to govern the vast federal entity which is the United States of America.

Well, many Americans are finally waking up to the realisation that their land is not as free as it is made out to be and those entrusted with protecting this freedom are the very ones engaged in wiping out their citizen's liberties. 

I am referring to President Obama's ultimatum to Catholics to get ready to violate their consciences (if I may quote Archbishop Timothy Dolan) as he will force them to accept his will as regards health care plans and their inclusion of contraception, abortifacients, and sterilisation.  And to tie it all up neatly, it is a Catholic in his administration, Kathleen Sebelius, who will enforce it. 

There is alot of reaction to it, and you have probably read alot about it, but there are a few good articles/posts.  The Catholic Herald, and Gateway Pundit which has a video of Archbishop Dolan's reaction.

I see a few of Obama's Catholic supporters are stunned.  Sr Carol Keehan, who supported him and even recieved a gift of one of the pens he used in his inauguration, is against the decision - I hope this is a sign she will have a change of heart.  And Cardinal Mahoney, emeritus Archbishop of LA, is also appalled.

Well, Catholics have one year to get ready for the forced imposition of Obama's plan.  Given the ideological nature of this president and his administration I do not think the decision will be reversed. So there is only one thing that can stop it: consolidating the Catholic vote against Obama in the November election, get him out and put in a pro-life president who will respect freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, and reverse the bill. 

And then it may be time for the Ordinaries of Ms Sebelius and the other Catholics in Obama's crew who have been consistent in attacking the faith,  to do what they should have done a few years ago...

The Thorn In The Side

What a wonderful feast day today - the feast of St Thomas a Becket, the martyred Archbishop of Canterbury - put to death by King Henry II of England as the two clashed in a battle over the freedom of the Church.  It was a battle which would be repeated five centuries later when another Thomas died in defence of the Church, martyred by another King Henry.

St Thomas a Becket was a man with a past - so we can all find comfort in him and in his conversion.  As we look over the mistakes of our lives, we can be sure that all is not lost, God can still ask great things of us and offer us the graces to respond.  Thomas changed when he achieved high office.  He was ambitious, but when he was appointed to the highest ecclesiastical office in England, the Holy Spirit touched him and he became a humble man and a mighty defender of the Church's freedom. 

And Thomas was a mighty defender.  He was not afraid to stand up to his former friend, King Henry, who sought to reduce the Church to a department of state.   In fact, Henry had Thomas appointed Archbishop of Canterbury because he wanted to control him.  Henry exiled Thomas for refusing to be a lackie, but instead of isolating the Archbishop, Henry only increased Thomas's credibility and popularity among the faithful.

There is an important lesson in Thomas's life and example for our prelates.  As secular governments try to control the faith of their people, and seek to haul the Catholic Church under its influence, our present prelates need the courage and tenacity of St Thomas to help them resist. 

In Ireland our government is doing its utmost to undermine the Church and perhaps even nurturing the possibility of the emergence of a "national catholic church", another erastian monster to confuse the faithful.   Indeed one of the big state-Church battles is about to break out: that of Catholic education: we need a Thomas a Becket to rise up to help us face the challenge.  May God send us one.

Today I remember with fondness my visits to Canterbury Cathedral to pray at the spot where St Thomas was martyred.  The Saint's tomb no longer exists: though Canterbury was one of the most important shrines in Europe in the Middle Ages, it was destroyed by King Henry VIII.  St Thomas's body has disappeared.  Various stories tell us that either Henry had it destroyed or the priests of the cathedral buried it in a secret place before Henry's soldiers arrived to desecrate it.  There are a few ex ossibus relics of him though, and I was given one when studying in Rome.  On both visits, I walked around the cathedral and prayed holding the relic in my hand and venerating it at the spot where he died.   It will be brought to the faithful of Rathkenny this morning for veneration.

And so, today, let us offer a prayer to St Thomas for our beloved bishops who, like him, seek to govern, guide, protect, teach and sanctify the flock.  Let us remember in particular those bishops who struggle to fulfill the requirements of their office: may the martyred Archbishop lay his gentle hand upon them and assure them of his loving presence and encourage them to heroism.

Thank You, My Lord!

Bishop Seamus Hegarty of Derry (right) marching for life at last Saturday's Pro-Life Rally in Dublin

Christopher McCamley has an interesting post today on the Pro-Life Rally which was held in Dublin on Saturday.  To my joy I see that the Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, was among those marching for life: congratulations to him for his witness, it will inspire many working for the cause of life in Ireland.  There may have been other bishops there, if so congratulations to them also.

In Ireland we not used to seeing bishops walking the streets in protest marches, not since the Civil Rights movement when the then Fr Edward Daly, future Bishop of Derry, was marching with oppressed Catholics.  Dr Daly was actually present at Bloody Sunday when British soldiers indiscriminately opened fire on innocent people killing thirteen of them.  Perhaps the reason we have not seen bishops out protesting is simpy because they were really part of the establishment in Ireland.  That is no longer the case and this is one of the things the Church in Ireland has now to realise and accept; when we do we will find the freedom to be prophetic, as Christ intended. 

In the US Catholics are used to their bishops standing side by side with them not only in marches, but also outside abortion clinics leading peaceful prayer vigils.  Indeed some American bishops have "criminal records" having been arrested for their peaceful activities.  They often remind me of those heroic bishops, many who became martyrs, suffering with their people for Christ.  

The prophetic witness of a bishop can much to increase the faith and trust of their flock.  With things are they are in Ireland at the moment, a lot of PR work has to be done, and we need to see our bishops taking a more prophetic role.  The advance of the abortion and gay marriage agendas will provide plenty of opportunity for bishops, priests and religious to stand side by side with their fellow Catholics in defence of life, marriage and now our right to religious freedom, which is being eroded  bit by bit.

Given recent history, it may fall to the new generation of bishops due to take over within the next five to ten years to take up this prophetic mantle.  I believe between twelve and sixteen bishops are due to retire in that time frame.  But we must support our present bishops for the times they have proved prophetic, and today we must thank Bishop Hegarty for his stance for life.  If there were other bishops there, please let me know and I will update this post: credit must be given where it is due.  Let's hope more will follow in these footsteps. 

Who knows, but perhaps in the next ten years many of us will have the privilege of sharing a cell at Store Street Garda station with a few bishops, all of us saying the Rosary and singing hymns having been arrested for peacefully praying outside an abortion clinic.  I hope we never see abortion, but if it comes, may we all, bishops, priests, religious and laity, have the courage to take a stand.

American Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville praying the rosary on his knees in a peaceful prayer vigil outside an abortion clinic in Louisville.

Past The Point Of No Return......Well Past

Unfit to be parents....because they are Christians

There are significant moments in human history when an event or a decision reveals that humanity has gone so far in the wrong direction that it is not possible to turn back without first meeting a major cultural disaster.  In recent history we see, for example, two moments in Russian history, first when Lenin arrived back from his exile in Switzerland, stepping onto the platform of Finland Station in St Petersburg, and then that moment when the members of the Imperial Family were shot - the Soviet Union was born and the world about to enter one of the darkest phases of its history.  Or again when Neville Chamberlain came back from Munich waving his agreement with Hitler in the air.  Some maintain that Chamberlain was not conned by Hitler at all - he knew what was coming - his diaries record so at the time - he just bought more time to prepare.  But at that moment Europe was already over the brink.

An article on the BBC website has reminded me that we are in a similar situation today.  It concerns the ruling of a British court deciding that a Christian couple cannot foster children because they cannot say that homosexuality is okay.    We have seen other decisions  like this in the recent past, but the judges' comments are most interesting.  According to the article:

Lord Justice Munby and Mr Justice Beatson ruled that laws protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation "should take precedence" over the right not to be discriminated against on religious grounds.

I was talking to a lawyer friend of mine and to say that he is retching reading the judgement would be an understatement, one might say, I fear for his sanity.  Other reactions: Christian Legal Centre and Fr Finigan. 

This judgement is a bad judgement, and even though the judges, probably desperately afraid of seeing to be discriminating against Christians and breaching religious freedom rights, have said that their judgement does not discriminate against Christians.  Seems, m'lauds,  your wigs are on too tight - you might not like to think of yourselves as discriminating against Christians but your wishful thinking, m'lauds, is just that: wishful thinking; you are discriminating against Christians: you have nailed another nail in the coffin which is being built by radical anti-Christians and militant homosexualists to bury religious freedom altogether.  In ruling that religious freedom can be trumped by the homosexualist agenda these legal bright sparks have created another precedent which can (and will) be used to discriminate and persecute orthodox Christians, Jews, Muslims and members of other religions. 

Notice as you read: the couple were judged unfit to foster because they will not promote the homosexualist agenda. 

So have we passed the point of no return?  Reflecting on this I wonder if we can turn back, or has our society gone so far that we just have to go, once more, into the abyss?   The Scottish philosopher Alasdair McIntyre wrote in his work After Virtue that it seems we are going into the Dark Ages - perhaps we are.  Whatever is going to happen may just have to play itself out and we believers must, once again, hold fast to our faith, embrace martyrdom (in whatever form it takes, most likely bloodless now) and pray, knowing all the time that Christ is the Lord of history, and the victory is already his.  And it will fall to us to rebuild civilisation once again.

Well, I suppose, we just have to start planning the rebuilding project.  We will have to include a lot of counselling in the plans because after these judges and their pals are finished with the up and coming generation, there are going to be a lot of mixed up, hurt, abused and empty people who will not know whether they are coming or going never mind right from wrong.