tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8994073177496022401.post7419580474848304384..comments2024-03-27T15:00:33.760+00:00Comments on Catholic Commentary: Catholic Schools: faith, culture and lifeJoehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09339499088443959192noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8994073177496022401.post-45375210070227347792012-01-05T13:02:40.761+00:002012-01-05T13:02:40.761+00:00Patricius:
I think you are right in saying that t...Patricius:<br /><br />I think you are right in saying that there is not a single solution, since different schools find themselves in different situations.<br /><br />I think the question of the position of RE is linked to the historic "provision of places for Catholic children in Catholic schools" - it is perhaps a question that would have a different answer, if the latter principle did not underly the school, depending upon the exact situation of a particular school.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09339499088443959192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8994073177496022401.post-34659266230344520922012-01-05T10:52:16.272+00:002012-01-05T10:52:16.272+00:00Thanks for your reply. There is a lot there but it...Thanks for your reply. There is a lot there but it is a very important subject. You say "Traditionalist Catholics probably won't like it" and I have to admit that I, too, have some difficulty with seeing this sort of arrangement working. In particular I'm unhappy with any approach that seems to risk putting the "Catholic R.E." into a box although, from my experience, this is, effectively, what already happens in many schools. Two things which have to be faced, in my opinion, are the fact that need and provision vary across the country and that- consequently- one cannot provide- at secondary level- a one-size-fits-all solution. Perhaps, rather than focussing upon institutions (schools, colleges etc.) attention should be given to supporting and encouraging the primary role of parents as educators of their own children by means, for instance, of the internet and well-designed support materials. Back in the sixties Harold Wilson spoke of a "University of the Air"- which became the Open University. Perhaps a "Catholic School of the Air" - one which empowered parents with access to appropriate resources might be a model for the future!Patriciushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08906131174326742939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8994073177496022401.post-35806033215169077922012-01-05T00:17:50.628+00:002012-01-05T00:17:50.628+00:00Patricius:
Some very quick thoughts.
1. It depen...Patricius:<br /><br />Some very quick thoughts.<br /><br />1. It depends on looking at the nature of the school as a school - something that the Sacred Congregation document I quoted does do in a part of the document.<br /><br />2. It depends on seeing the synthesis of faith and culture as being something that can be offered to those outside the Catholic faith - they may not share it fully from the faith side, but they may value an encounter with it and be able to live it to an extent. Seeing the role of the school as an evangelisation of culture.<br /><br />3. It would clearly argue - as does Benedict XVI - in favour of the religious dimension of life and of educational activity. So, while you might not expect whole School Mass on a holy day of obligation, you would expect there to be a Catholic chapel.<br /><br />4. Religious education would have to be different. The catechetical role of RE for the Catholic pupils would perhaps be provided through the chaplaincy role in the school rather than through the RE lessons; and the RE curriculum would have to in some way reflect the pupil population (local authority Agreed Syllabus?)<br /><br />5. But the really fundamental issue would be that of working out a practice of inter-religious dialogue, and of a dialogue with non-believers, that could be lived out in the life of the school. This would require the work of the Catholic educational thinking under the heading of synthesis of faith and life to engage with the different levels of dialogue recognised in the work of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. I haven't explored this; there might well be experience that could be seen in, for example, the schools - and now the University of Madaba - run by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.<br /><br />5. There is a risk of the exercise being reduced to syncretism. But a suitably formed faculty could avoid this. The exercise would be very dependent on having a faculty that itself can live the synthesis of faith and culture and faith and life - otherwise any Catholic identity would be lost.<br /><br />Traditionalist Catholics probably won't like it ... but I do think the exercise could be undertaken in a manner that is fully in accord with the teaching of the Church about both education and inter-religious dialogue.Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09339499088443959192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8994073177496022401.post-438952906049708722012-01-04T10:42:49.034+00:002012-01-04T10:42:49.034+00:00I think you raise some important questions here wh...I think you raise some important questions here which are worthy of deeper pondering than I am able to indulge in at present. I will say, however, that your final remark about the possibility of the Church running schools with "a wider outlook than the historic commitment in England and Wales of just providing places in Catholic schools for the children of Catholic families" is particularly interesting and perhaps you might enlarge upon how this might be achieved without watering down or contradicting core principles.Patriciushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08906131174326742939noreply@blogger.com