Rite and Reason: The question is whether the existence of religious ethos in our schools sits comfortably with our modern society, writes Monsignor James Cassin.
The strength of education at primary level lies in good education and a lived ethos to be found in the characteristic spirit of the school. It is well recognised that the work of management and teachers in primary schools has been outstanding and their achievement is to be seen in a high level of provision even when faced with scarce resources.
Bishops have a responsibility to management, teachers, parents and pupils as well as to the wider public to ensure that Catholic schools are supported in fostering a learning environment with a well-defined ethos. In a culture that is not always supportive of the Christian view of life, Catholic schools seek to remain faithful to certain core values.
This work of schools is validated by the support they receive from society and from their constituents.
The issue of the primary school calendar, core teaching days and the observance of holy days was discussed by the Irish Bishops' Conference at its October meeting. At the June meeting of the conference it was agreed that all holy days of obligation be observed in all schools under their patronage and this position was reaffirmed at their recent meeting. The position of the bishops is clear: holy days of obligation are to be observed by schools under their patronage.
Over the generations, Catholic schools have maintained a schooling system that is open and welcoming, while making no apology for the observance of the core tenets of the Catholic faith and practice. This has been done while fully accepting and implementing the rules and regulations of the Department of Education and Science. The Department's circular M21/04 was issued in March of this year. The circular is an agreement between the management of schools, the Department and the unions and addresses the standardisation of the school year without prejudice to closure on specific days.
This applies within the overall requirement of 167 days at post-primary level and 183 days at primary level "dictated by religious observance that is required in schools under the patronage of different denominations".
Thus the circular recognises that certain days during the school year are days of religious observance. Such days apply to all denominations and faiths (three holy days of obligation for Catholics) and are observed as days away from school.
This makes clear that denominational schools have the right to mark days of religious observance that are part of their faith provided that the school meets the required number of teaching days. The religious observance of these days is a precious part of the tradition of the various denominations and the M21/04 circular accepts this fact.
Accordingly, faith traditions with schools under their patronage make provision to arrange their school year around the feast days of their faith. The Jewish and the Muslim schools, for example, close for the Atonement, New Year feasts, and the end of Ramadan.
The current debate on the observance of the holy days of obligation in Catholic primary schools has become unclear when related to another provision of the M21/04 circular.
It indicates that "schools are required to be open to receive all pupils on the weekday immediately preceding and immediately following each break period covered by this agreement".
As it happens, this year November 1st, All Saints' Day - a holy day of obligation in the Catholic calendar - is a weekday which immediately follows the mid-term break. Because it is a holy day of obligation, Catholic schools have the right to observe it as such and so will remain closed.
This does not contravene the terms of the M21/04 circular which allows for the celebration of such days even if they fall on the day preceding or succeeding or a school break. The two requirements of the agreement are therefore clearly independent of each other.
The position taken by the Irish National Teachers Organisation in this matter is a curious one. The Catholic Church, the Department of Education and Science and the union had previously agreed that there were sufficient days in the post-primary and primary school calendars to permit schools to have in-service days, to observe holy days of obligation and to fulfil their required number of teaching days.
The INTO did not raise this issue during the negotiations culminating in the M21/04 circular, and we are now concerned that the union seems to be specifically targeting holy days as in-service training days.
Irish society in 2004 must take heed of this debate. Whereas the Catholic Church accepts, and is comfortable with, the existence of the secular state - the question we must ask ourselves is: does the existence of religious ethos in our schools sit comfortably with our modern and affluent society?
Monsignor James Cassin is executive secretary of the Commission for Education of the Irish Bishops' Conference.