The Catholic Church in Ireland "has no desire to be the sole provider of education for whole communities", the Bishop of Kilmore, Dr Leo O'Reilly, has said.
Dr O'Reilly, who is chairman of the Bishops' Commission for Education, said "pluralism of provision is very important in modern society".
He continued that the church "does wish to respond to the desire of those parents who want a Catholic education for their children".
The bishops' council for research and development was conducting "qualitative research among parents who send their children to Catholic schools in Ireland" to determine what they want in the education of their children and what they see as the role of the Catholic school, he said.
It is expected that a preliminary report from this study will be presented to the bishops' conference at their winter meeting in December, and that the full report will be available to them at their March 2008 meeting. "As a result of this research we hope to be in a better position to plan for the time ahead," he said.
Bishop O'Reilly was speaking a press conference in Maynooth yesterday, as the bishops met for their autumn meeting.
He was launching the document Catholic Primary Schools: A Policy for Provision into the Future.
He said the document "holds strongly that a vibrant, publicly-funded denominational school system is a basic human right for parents who wish to have such for their children and it points out that this right is supported by national and international agreements".
However, welcoming the current debate on primary school provision, he also said there was "a need for greater diversity in schooling in Ireland so as to respond effectively to the changing needs of parents and children in our country".
He noted that the policy document pointed out that Catholic schools were "by their nature and by their mission inclusive schools, while catering for Catholic children who choose a school with a Catholic ethos".
Preliminary results from a Dublin City University (DCU) project, researching education systems in 13 EU countries, had "found that Irish schools are far ahead of their European counterparts in preventing social exclusion. Catholic primary schools are acknowledged widely to be among the most inclusive in the country," he said.
He rejected charges that they were "exclusive or elitist".
He said the same DCU study indicated that major reforms were needed, particularly at primary level, where recognition of cultural and religious diversity was concerned. He felt the new dialogue forum between the faiths and the State, set up by the Taoiseach last February, could provide a context for addressing such matters.
Mgr Dan O'Connor of the Catholic Primary School Management Association warned at the press conference that provision of primary school places could also become an issue in satellite towns such as Skerries, Co Dublin, and around other cities.