RITE AND REASON:TODAY IS Lá Fhéile Bríde, St Brigid's Day. It is the first day of spring in the Irish tradition, the day when growth and new life begins to stir in the earth once again. This important feast day falls in the middle of Catholic Schools Week 2011, which had a dual launch reflecting the all-Ireland nature of the initiative.
One celebration took place in Holy Cross College, Strabane, while a seminar was held in Mount Sion Christian Brothers Primary School and Edmund Rice International Heritage Centre in Waterford city.
The 2011 theme, Rooted in Jesus Christ,is inspired by Pope Benedict XVI's Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Irelandwhich was published last March.
For too long as Catholics we just took our schools for granted. Not so anymore. Catholic Schools Week is, in the first instance, about reflecting on our raison d’etre; second, it is about celebrating the specific gift that is ours in a centuries-old tradition of engagement in the project of educating the young. Finally, it is about articulating cogently what we have to offer to parents and children in what is a rapidly changing Ireland.
The Catholic community was passionately engaged in the education of the young long before any state or government.
Since Catholic emancipation, and subsequently after independence, the church worked effectively and successfully with governments in the delivery of education at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. We have worked with teachers’ unions and other providers.
That co-operation continues in a demographic situation becoming more diverse and pluralistic. In recent years, it was the church itself which accepted this changing demographic requires the possibility of divesting some schools where diversity of provision may be necessary.
As a faith community we are proud of our educational tradition. But we are even more conscious of the very broad and holistic philosophy we espouse and believe must be on offer to the parents and pupils of 21st century Ireland.
We are followers of Jesus, the greatest teacher the world has ever known. He taught and transformed lives by His words, yes, but even more powerfully by the person He was and the fact His word was in perfect harmony with the life He lived.
At the core of education is the announcement to the child, by what we do and say and by the ethos we create for the child’s growth, that he or she is loved and loveable, and his or her life is for service and selfless love in the world.
Catholic schools therefore wish to enable each pupil discover his or her God-given gift for the world. We want each child to come to know their unique and irreplaceable identity as child of God, made in His image, present in society to make a unique contribution.
Nurturing a real and living relationship with Jesus and the fundamental love-family that is the Blessed Trinity is central to this deeply human and hope-filled vision for each and every pupil, no matter what their ability or social station.
In an era characterised by cynicism and bad news, we need schools which are both deeply human and Christian communities. When children know they are loved, they are safe and they can learn. Ethos, therefore, is foundational from the Catholic perspective. Catholic parents cherish their right to establish schools of their choice in our democratic country.
So, for the sake of parents and children, we joyfully celebrate our schools in this crossover moment between the darkness of winter and the renewal and light of spring, under the protection of St Brigid, Muire na nGael.
Dr Brendan Kelly is Catholic Bishop of Achonry and co-chair of the Council for Education of the Irish Bishops’ Conference