Madam, – I lived in South Africa, a country where the Catholic Church is a minority, for 12 years. Despite its numerical weakness, however, the church punches way above its weight in education and its schools remain enormously popular, both within and outside the communion. Catholic schools have retained the purity of ethos strikingly absent in an environment of over-supply. Moreover, schools are not the focus of the Catholic community, but remain one feature of a broader, dynamic and mutually supportive local church. My English friends tell me that the situation is very similar in the UK.
In contrast, I think it is fair to say that the Catholic Church’s dominance of the primary sector in Ireland has not strengthened the church as a faith community here. The few remaining indicia of parents’ commitment to Catholic education are sorry ones indeed: the vainglorious pomp of First Holy Communions comes to mind. There is undeniably an appalling disconnect between the church’s statistical dominance of education and the actual well-being and competence of the faith group.
Finally, I believe in the value of Catholic schools. I attended various ones for most of my schooling. I think their claims to offer holistic education are as steady as secular models. But the present time offers a tremendous opportunity for the church to move beyond a situation where Catholic education in Ireland is characterised by over-supply and disengagement to a new, leaner system for those courageous enough to support it. – Yours, etc,