Saturday 2 October 2010

"Allegedly"

Allegedly (as at July 2008):
Nowadays in Britain and elsewhere, the Government is "imposing" the use of birth control, including abortion, on families; and the Catholic Church authorities in England and Wales are co-operating with the government in imposing it in England - by welcoming into its schools Connexions whose job it is to make abortion and contraception available to children, without parental knowledge or consent..
Now, if one looks at the reader co-written by the Catholic Education Service which appears to have been available in 2004 and can currently be accessed from the Catholic Education Service website, commissioned by Connexions, one will find the following paragraph on page 27:
Section C 15 – Working within School Policies

In a Catholic school or college there are likely to be the same number of policies as in other schools and colleges but they will be significantly different because of the very nature of the school. All policy statements are rooted in the mission statement and ethos statement which is incorporated in the Instrument of Government. It specifies that:

‘The school/college is to be conducted as a Catholic school in accordance with canon law and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and in accordance with the Trust Deed.


The Headteacher and Foundation Governors have responsibilities for the Catholic character of the school. Accordingly, Governors have greater responsibilities in law for the curriculum in Catholic schools’.

There may be occasions when external agencies (including the Connexions service) will need to take account of the unique policy framework when working within the Catholic sector. For example materials or activities may need to be modified before Governors may adopt them for use in a school; or the normal follow-up activities may not be possible because of the catchment area served by the school as defined in the admissions policy.
Whilst one might have hoped that the cautions expressed in this paragraph on page 27 were highlighted in the introduction or an executive summary -

We warmly commend to you this reader, which has been produced by the DfES in collaboration with the Catholic Education Service and the Catholic Youth Service. The joint working which has produced this reader reflects the close collaboration which we hope to see grow increasingly between the Connexions service and Catholic schools, colleges and youth organisations. This collaboration should be based on the common view we hold of the inherent dignity and worth of every young person and our wish to support them in fulfilling their potential.
 - the cautions are nevertheless present in the document, and could not really be stated much more clearly. The caution that they indicate to governors and staff in Catholic schools is very clear - any arrangements with Connexions must be undertaken in accordance with the teaching of the Catholic Church. The idea of joint working/collaboration expressed in the introduction to the reader can be seen, at least in principle, as an attempt at the dialogue between "secular rationality" and "religious belief" of which Pope Benedict XVI spoke in Westminster Hall; there is not, prima facie, any reason why the Catholic Education Service should not have collaborated with other agencies, including government, in this sort of way. The allegation that Church authorities are co-operating in the imposition of contraception and abortion by welcoming Connexions into its schools is not justified on the basis of this evidence.

Of course, at the level of each school, it all depends on what the governors and staff, and representatives of other agencies, make of the guidance offered in this "reader". All the episcopal direction in the world will not replace that part in the living of Catholic life that is the responsibility of the lay faithful in their particular place in the world, an observation that I think I made in the context of the closure or transfer out of Catholic trusteeship of formerly Catholic adoption agencies.
 

There is a saying about not believing everything you read in the newspapers. A modern version might be about not believing everything you read in the blogosphere. The problem of the "domino effect", though, is much more pronounced with the blogosphere than it is with the print media. A blog that is seen by some to be above criticism is always taken as a reliable source, it's material is uncritically reproduced or linked by others, the first blog repeats the story again and again, the other blogs run it again and again, and, from one first domino of doubtful perspicacity,  a story runs round in its own circle gaining a quite unjustified volume as it goes.

Which is by way of explanation as to why I do not link to some blogs that, previously, I used to link to.

4 comments:

JamesP said...

Presumably you would also be of the view that Catholic Schools can welcome Marie Stope's advisers as long as they also agree to modify their materials before use?

Connexions as a matter of policy promote contraception and refer for abortion. Catholic Schools promote Connexions. CES say they are to be "welcomed".

A buried caution that "materials or activities" may need to be modified does nothing to change the reality of the situation on the ground where, for example, the Connexions advisors in our local school put up posters promoting condoms. I wonder what they say when they give private one to one advice..?

Joe said...

James, thank you for your comment.

First paragraph: Please be careful in your "presuming".

Second paragraph: Some information missing from the argument in this paragraph (cf content of my post).

Third paragraph: See the third-from-last paragraph of my post.

Patricius said...

"All the episcopal direction in the world will not replace that part in the living of Catholic life that is the responsibility of the lay faithful in their particular place in the world, an observation that I think I made in the context of the closure or transfer out of Catholic trusteeship of formerly Catholic adoption agencies."

I agree wholeheartedly with the first part of this statement and, unlike some bloggers, I am very reluctant to criticise the bishops.
You touch, however, on the adoption agencies scandal, where the bishops' behaviour seems, in so many cases, inexcusable. I recall listening with horror and disbelief to a pastoral letter along the lines of "the government made us do it" and"please continue to support the agency". The bishops there appeared to have forgotten the word "NO". For catholics in the front line - and I do not mean opinionated bloggers but, for instance, for health professionals- the failure of leadership there was spectacularly disheartening. How are lay people to defend the line if the officers appear to have deserted?

Fr John Abberton said...

"Of course, at the level of each school, it all depends on what the governors and staff, and representatives of other agencies, make of the guidance offered in this "reader". All the episcopal direction in the world will not replace that part in the living of Catholic life that is the responsibility of the lay faithful in their particular place in the world, an observation that I think I made in the context of the closure or transfer out of Catholic trusteeship of formerly Catholic adoption agencies"


Like Patricius I consider this to be a key paragraph in your argument. Unfortunately it opens up the question of the quality of the guidance from the Bishops' Conference and from our local ordinaries. The fact is that there has been so much damage caused in Catholic schools because of the lack of sound, orthodox moral teaching that we now have a generation of Catholic teachers who cannot be relied upon to support the Church's position on these issues. I am not speaking of yourself or those who have taken the trouble to educate themselves in these things, and who have chosen to be orthodox (such a choice is now necessary since it cannot be presumed). I am also speaking from my own experience as a three-time school chaplain and from what I have heard and know of other Catholic schools. I might also refer anyone interested to the very interesting and revealing "Catholic Schools - Mission, Markets and Morality" by Gerald Grace (RoutledgeFarmer 2002)which leaves little doubt about the drift from Orthodox Catholic moral teaching in catholic High Schools.

Without substantial and repeated guidance from our Bishops in both parishes and schools we simply cannot maintain a traditional, orthodox Catholic moral stance. It is not enough to rely on the local Catholic teaching fraternity or the Catholic Heads where there has been - in some cases (I do not say all) - a conscious departure from the official moral position as expressed in the Catechism.