This Sunday marks the end of Church Unity Octave. The annual week of prayer for Christian Unity concludes this evening with an ecumenical prayer service in the Church of Ireland. The new bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagh, Bishop Ferran Glenfield, will be preaching and you are all most welcome to come and join in the service.

This Sunday also marks the beginning of what has now become another annual event – Catholic Schools Week. This week of reflection on our Catholic schools began a few years ago in order to help us to be more aware of the importance of the faith dimension in our schools and the important role they play in the life of our parishes.

In an increasingly pluralist society, where there are more and more people of different faiths and none, we have to be clear about the difference between Catholic schools and other schools. We have to be clear about our own identity, what our schools are about and why they are important to us.

A special programme of classes, prayers and activities is circulated to all Catholic schools in advance of this week and these have generally been very well received by our teachers, pupils and parents. There’s one programme for primary schools and a different one for second level schools. Talk to your children about what is happening in your school and try in so far as you can to be part of it.

One of the highlights of the week in schools that participate is Grandparents Day. It’s usually on the Wednesday and on that day Grandparents are invited to come into the school to be part of what is happening. It’s not always easy for parents to take part in the school activities because of work

commitments but if you’re a grandparent you might be free to come and take part in a prayer service, meet other grandparents and teachers and see what being at school is like nowadays, compared to when you were there. Grandparents who have attended in other years have been very enthusiastic about the experience.

The need for us to be clear on why we have Catholic schools and what they are about it growing more urgent by the day. It came home to me very clearly again just yesterday. I was somewhat amazed – and alarmed – to read in the papers yesterday that our Minister for Education – if he is being reported correctly – is encouraging teachers to use the half hour set aside for teaching Religion to teach Mathematics instead. He was addressing a conference of Primary School Principals and he is reported as saying in a discussion afterwards that he would like if teachers would use the RE time for teaching Maths. Now the Principal of a school is the person directly responsible for ensuring that the school curriculum is followed. That curriculum provides time each day for Religious Education.  The Minister himself is the one ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with the curriculum. So I find it extraordinary that the Minister is encouraging teachers to break the Rules of National Schools put in place by his own Department.

The Minister’s words are a wake-up call. If we want our children to be educated in Catholic schools then we have to know why we have them, we have to value our schools and be prepared to stand up for them. I wonder is the Minister reflecting the views of many parents who might be quite happy to have Maths taught instead of religion during RE time?  And if he is reflecting parents’ views then it will happen. Because ultimately we have Catholic schools because parents want them. And ultimately it is parents who have to insist that the religious ethos of our schools is respected and is not diluted or abolished altogether.
The theme of this year’s Catholic Schools Week is “Catholic Schools: Places of faith and learning.” All would agree I think that schools should be places of learning, but clearly all do not accept that they should be places of faith. And that’s fine. There’s need for schools that are not faith schools for those who don’t want a faith education for their children. I would welcome more non-faith schools because it will allow Catholic schools to be more true to themselves. Faith is what makes Catholic schools Catholic and what makes Catholic education different. We cannot be expected to dilute our ethos to accommodate those who do not share it.

Two of the readings of the Mass today speak about the light of faith: “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. On those who live in a land of deep shadow a light has shone.” The Gospel makes it clear that Christ is the light that has shone in our darkness. Faith in Christ is at the heart of the life of our schools. His teaching and example are the inspiration for the attitudes and values that Catholic schools try to instil. The light of Christ shows us that every child is made in the image of God, is a brother or sister in Christ. So they are uniquely entitled to dignity and respect. A Catholic school is meant to be a Christian community where the rule of conduct is the command of Jesus:” Love one another as I have loved you.”

Let us frankly acknowledge that our schools have not always lived up to the ideals they have professed. Let us acknowledge that in years gone by there have been too many schools that were places of fear, where children were sometimes abused physically and even sexually. Let us thank God that our schools today are, by and large, places that measure up very well to the ideals of Catholic education and to the ethos of Christian love which they profess. Let us do all in our power to keep them that way.