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In the previous article in this series Pope Pius XI addressed the question of the supposed neutral or lay school. He continues by looking again at the nature of a Catholic school. From this we can see that most, if not all, of the Catholic schools in Ireland do not conform to the correct model for a Catholic school.
“For the mere fact that a school gives some religious instruction (often extremely stinted), does not bring it into accord with the rights of the Church and of the Christian family, or make it a fit place for Catholic students. To be this, it is necessary that all the teaching and the whole organization of the school, and its teachers, syllabus and text-books in every branch, be regulated by the Christian spirit, under the direction and maternal supervision of the Church; so that Religion may be in very truth the foundation and crown of the youth’s entire training; and this in every grade of school, not only the elementary, but the intermediate and the higher institutions of learning as well. To use the words of Leo XIII:”
“It is necessary not only that religious instruction be given to the young at certain fixed times, but also that every other subject taught, be permeated with Christian piety. If this is wanting, if this sacred atmosphere does not pervade and warm the hearts of masters and scholars alike, little good can be expected from any kind of learning, and considerable harm will often be the consequence.” (Pope Leo XIII – Militantis Ecclesiae – On St. Peter Canisius – No 18) (Divini Illius Magistri 80)
In Ireland, the Catholic schools have not been Catholic according to the above definition for quite some time. The Irish State controls and dictates the content of the curriculum in the so called Catholic schools. There is a religious syllabus but it strives to be non-contentious and therefore ends up compromised as regards the tenets of the Catholic faith. As Pope Leo XIII noted, little good has come from these schools and they have become instrumental in the rapid decline in the practice of the Catholic faith amongst the youth of Ireland and elsewhere in the world where these false notions of Catholic education have been allowed to permeate the Catholic educational establishments.
“And let no one say that in a nation where there are different religious beliefs, it is impossible to provide for public instruction otherwise than by neutral or mixed schools. In such a case it becomes the duty of the State, indeed it is the easier and more reasonable method of procedure, to leave free scope to the initiative of the Church and the family, while giving them such assistance as justice demands. That this can be done to the full satisfaction of families, and to the advantage of education and of public peace and tranquillity, is clear from the actual experience of some countries comprising different religious denominations. There the school legislation respects the rights of the family, and Catholics are free to follow their own system of teaching in schools that are entirely Catholic. Nor is distributive justice lost sight of, as is evidenced by the financial aid granted by the State to the several schools demanded by the families. (Divini Illius Magistri 81)
The case outlined above, did not apply to Ireland. In 1961, the percentage of Catholics in Ireland peaked at 94.9% of the population. The schools at that time were Catholic but the changes were about to be implemented which would see the corruption of the Catholic schools through a series of compromises in how the Catholic faith was taught. There is a direct connection between the loss of the pure Catholic ethos of the Irish Catholic schools and the subsequent loss of faith amongst the population of Ireland. This connection is not acknowledged by the Irish hierarchy who continue to blindly follow the progressive educational ideologues which continues to lead young children away from the practice of Catholic faith. In 2022, the percentage of self-proclaimed Catholics in Ireland had fallen to 69% of the population, the lowest on record.
“In other countries of mixed creeds, things are otherwise, and a heavy burden weighs upon Catholics, who under the guidance of their Bishops and with the indefatigable cooperation of the clergy, secular and regular, support Catholic schools for their children entirely at their own expense; to this they feel obliged in conscience, and with a generosity and constancy worthy of all praise, they are firmly determined to make adequate provision for what they openly profess as their motto: “Catholic education in Catholic schools for all the Catholic youth.” If such education is not aided from public funds, as distributive justice requires, certainly it may not be opposed by any civil authority ready to recognize the rights of the family, and the irreducible claims of legitimate liberty.” (Divini Illius Magistri 82)
Catholic parents in Ireland have recently begun to found independent Catholic schools due to the shortcomings of the State funded Catholic schools. These State funded schools are Catholic in name but not in practice. There is also a growing home-school movement in Ireland as more parents realise that the State controlled Catholic schools represent a real danger to the Catholic faith of their children.
“Where this fundamental liberty is thwarted or interfered with, Catholics will never feel, whatever may have been the sacrifices already made, that they have done enough, for the support and defence of their schools and for the securing of laws that will do them justice.
For whatever Catholics do in promoting and defending the Catholic school for their children, is a genuinely religious work and therefore an important task of “Catholic Action.” For this reason the associations which in various countries are so zealously engaged in this work of prime necessity, are especially dear to Our paternal heart and are deserving of every commendation.” (Divini Illius Magistri 83-84)
The support that Pope Pius XI extended to Catholic parents who sought to protect the Catholic education of their children has not been as graciously forthcoming from the Irish bishops. The Irish bishops do not seem to be fully aware of the problems that are being caused by the Catholic schools of which they are the patrons. They do not admit that there are major problems with the subjects that are being taught in these schools. They continue to support these schools even though the secular State controls what is taught. In the case of human sexuality, the Irish bishops have recommended a programme called ‘Flourish’ which supports the Health Services Executive, which is Ireland’s largest abortion provider and which distributes free contraceptives to children, as a “good resource” for information on human sexuality. The Pontifical Council for the Family, in its document ‘The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality’, has described the graphic information provided by the HSE as an abuse of children! This is what the Irish bishops are supporting!
“Let it be loudly proclaimed and well understood and recognized by all, that Catholics, no matter what their nationality, in agitating for Catholic schools for their children, are not mixing in party politics, but are engaged in a religious enterprise demanded by conscience. They do not intend to separate their children either from the body of the nation or its spirit, but to educate them in a perfect manner, most conducive to the prosperity of the nation. Indeed a good Catholic, precisely because of his Catholic principles, makes the better citizen, attached to his country, and loyally submissive to constituted civil authority in every legitimate form of government.” (Divini Illius Magistri 85)
Once again the point is made that good Catholics make the best citizens of any society because they respect legitimate authority as coming from God.
“In such a school, in harmony with the Church and the Christian family, the various branches of secular learning will not enter into conflict with religious instruction to the manifest detriment of education. And if, when occasion arises, it be deemed necessary to have the students read authors propounding false doctrine, for the purpose of refuting it, this will be done after due preparation and with such an antidote of sound doctrine, that it will not only do no harm, but will an aid to the Christian formation of youth.” (Divini Illius Magistri 86)
The sad reality today is that children, even in Catholic primary schools, are being introduced to authors and to ideologies which contradict Catholic Church teaching and thereby corrupt the minds of these very young children. That this goes largely unopposed by the Catholic hierarchy is a scandal of enormous proportions. Those of us who take a public stand against this scandal are often vilified. This scandal can make parents angry because their children’s faith is being endangered, but, rather that deal with the actual problem of the materials that are being presented to children, or questioning whether or not there is any justification to their anger, these parents concerns are usually dismissed. The faulty education is thus allowed to continue and the situation simply grows worse. Our Lord’s words in chapter eighteen of St Matthew’s Gospel are seen as mere rhetoric rather than as a severe condemnation of the corruption of children by what is permitted in Catholic schools.
“But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 18:6)
“In such a school moreover, the study of the vernacular and of classical literature will do no damage to moral virtue. There the Christian teacher will imitate the bee, which takes the choicest part of the flower and leaves the rest, as St. Basil teaches in his discourse to youths on the study of the classics. Nor will this necessary caution, suggested also by the pagan Quintilian, in any way hinder the Christian teacher from gathering and turning to profit, whatever there is of real worth in the systems and methods of our modern times, mindful of the Apostle’s advice: “Prove all things: hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) Hence in accepting the new, he will not hastily abandon the old, which the experience of centuries has found expedient and profitable.
This is particularly true in the teaching of Latin, which in our days is falling more and more into disuse, because of the unreasonable rejection of methods so successfully used by that sane humanism, whose highest development was reached in the schools of the Church. These noble traditions of the past require that the youth committed to Catholic schools be fully instructed in the letters and sciences in accordance with the exigencies of the times. They also demand that the doctrine imparted be deep and solid, especially in sound philosophy, avoiding the muddled superficiality of those “who perhaps would have found the necessary, had they not gone in search of the superfluous.” In this connection Christian teachers should keep in mind what Leo XIII says in a pithy sentence:
“Greater stress must be laid on the employment of apt and solid methods of teaching, and, what is still more important, on bringing into full conformity with the Catholic faith, what is taught in literature, in the sciences, and above all in philosophy, on which depends in great part the right orientation of the other branches of knowledge.” (Pope Leo XIII – Inscrutabili Dei Consilio – On the Evils of Society – No 13) (Divini Illius Magistri 87)
Both philosophy and Latin have been abandoned in our Catholic schools. Our modern Catholic educators seem to regard that which is old as being opposed to that which is deemed progressive. These blind guides cannot see the connection between their modern educational methods and the widespread collapse in the practice of the Catholic faith of those who are subject to these new methods of education. When some parents raise objections, resort is had to ‘ad hominem’ attacks claiming that these parents want to live in some glorious age of the past. Nothing could be further from the truth. These Catholic parents simply want a solid Catholic education for their children which is not being provided by the Catholic schools of our present day.
Pope Pius XI now deals with another modern day problem of Catholic schools. It is no longer a requirement that those who teach in Catholic schools are themselves faithful Catholics.
“Perfect schools are the result not so much of good methods as of good teachers, teachers who are thoroughly prepared and well-grounded in the matter they have to teach; who possess the intellectual and moral qualifications required by their important office; who cherish a pure and holy love for the youths confided to them, because they love Jesus Christ and His Church, of which these are the children of predilection; and who have therefore sincerely at heart the true good of family and country.
Indeed it fills Our soul with consolation and gratitude towards the divine Goodness to see, side by side with religious men and women engaged in teaching, such a large number of excellent lay teachers, who, for their greater spiritual advancement, are often grouped in special sodalities and associations, which are worthy of praise and encouragement as most excellent and powerful auxiliaries of “Catholic Action.”
All these labour unselfishly with zeal and perseverance in what St. Gregory Nazianzen calls “the art of arts and the science of sciences,” the direction and formation of youth. Of them also it may be said in the words of the divine Master: “The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers few.” (Matthew 9:37) Let us then pray the Lord of the harvest to send more such workers into the field of Christian education; and let their formation be one of the principal concerns of the pastors of souls and of the superiors of Religious Orders.” (Divini Illius Magistri 88)
Thank God there are still some good teachers in our Catholic schools, but many of our teachers have themselves been corrupted by modern ideologies which are harmful to children. In Ireland, the largest teachers’ union promotes the homosexual lifestyle to children as young as four years old. They do this by promoting books such as ‘King and King’, which tells the story of two princes falling in love and getting married. All of which is presented to four year old children as being perfectly normal and acceptable.
A high price will eventually be paid for this corruption of children. As these children grow to adulthood, their erroneous thinking will come to dominate the political and social culture. We are already witnessing this with the promotion of abortion legislation throughout the western world. There is an urgent need to reform the Catholic schools of Ireland and the western world so that they once again conform to the norm for a Catholic school. Children should be taught what it means to be Holy. They should be taught to follow Jesus Christ by accepting all that the Catholic Church teaches.
To be cont’d…
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