Only two major church synods have been held in Ireland over the last 1,000 years. The effects of both are still with us today. The first was the Synod of Cashel of the year 1101, which prepared the way for the present diocesan system, and the other the Synod of Thurles in 1850. The latter synod followed the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829, which had been passed after Daniel O'Connell's campaign to remove some of the remaining abuses and difficulties of the years of the Penal Laws.
What in fact happened would form the path for the style and manner of church life, and indeed educational and cultural life, in Ireland for most of the next 150 years; it would also create in Ireland probably the most ultramontane part of the whole Catholic Church worldwide.
Perhaps the key issue debated at the synod was the provision of national education, which had been introduced by the British government in 1831. The church wished to press a hard bargain with the British authorities, and, in a sense, the bargaining "worked"! The Catholic Church still in large measure controls the primary sector of Irish education, and much of the secondary sector.
Contrary to the beliefs and idealism of O'Connell, who, though a fervent believing Catholic, was committed to a total separation of Church and State, 95 per cent of all primary schools in the Republic today are Catholic; in many cases the parish priest is still the manager of the school.
Today 3,359 primary schools in Ireland are Catholic Church-owned. A total of 212 schools are Church of Ireland, Methodist or Presbyterian, one is Muslim, one historically Jewish - with only 19 which are genuinely inter-denominational schools. We must question if such a control of education, mirroring the legislation of Thurles, is appropriate for the schools in Ireland today - and if indeed it is of any help to the promotion of the Gospel of Christ.
After some work trying to prepare evangelistic projects in Ireland in a scheme funded by a bishop and most of the teaching orders, I came to the conclusion that we needed a new national synod to coincide with the 900th anniversary of the Synod of Cashel to debate this issue and instigate educational and religious reform, and I presented my conclusions to the Irish archbishops.
It is not alarmist to say that for the first time since the time of Patrick's evangelisation itself, the question facing us is the survival of the Christian faith itself. Most admit that the numbers attending church will continue to decline to as low as 15 per cent, from the present recorded statistics of 39 per cent and 32 per cent of males and females respectively between 25 and 34 living in Irish urban areas. In England the whole Catholic schools system amounts to approximately 10 per cent of all schools. The vision of the British Catholic school for faith development is often a lot clearer both in terms of mission statement and practice, and in terms of prayer and creativity, than most Irish Catholic schools.
We must ask if our schools are a help or a hindrance in the process of evangelisation? Would losing up to three-quarters of the schools not make us consider what in fact Catholic education really is, and indeed what Christian education and secular education also are?
A new synod in 2001 could bring a whole new burst of life in the Irish church through debating these issues, and in so doing liberate the educational system from the trappings of the debates of the last century. The 900th anniversary of the Synod of Cashel in 2001 gives us a great opportunity to hold such a synod.
Cormac O'Duffy, youth minister and evangelist and director of the Faith Alive Ireland Project
