Catholic schools are about “people, not ideas”

27th January 2016

A Catholic education is about “people, not ideas”, the head of the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association has said at the launch of Catholic schools week.

Fr Tom Deenihan said, a Catholic school “is fundamentally not about ideas, or courses or even subjects or syllabi but, rather, it is about people.  People are not clones, are not stereotypical and so, it follows, that people and students – especially students some might say –  are not ideal, not perfect, and, dare I say it, sometimes not even holy.  Students come from different backgrounds, with different personalities and have different experiences but, like everyone else, are made in God’s image.”

This approach to education, described by Fr Deenihan as “seeing the face of God in others” is what makes Catholic schools in Ireland truly inclusive, despite recent arguments over access and ethos.

“Inclusion is not just about religious denomination,” he insisted. “Inclusion must also take nationality, ethnicity, socio-economic background and ability into consideration.  When these five criteria are taken into consideration, I would challenge anyone to tell me that Catholic Schools are not as inclusive as any other type of school. They must be, to be true to their ethos!”

On another topical issue, that of league tables, Fr Deenihan said that these represented “a danger” to educational success when weighed against the Church’s approach to schooling.

“The danger with that approach to educational success is that we would value the educationally gifted and shun those not so,” he explained. “Can society say that we must value all students equally, as they should and must, and at the same time become fascinated with league tables that treat schools with students who are not as academically gifted unfavourably?”

Referring to Ireland’s own history of religious-backed schools, Fr Deenihan laid out the contribution of Catholic schools to society over many years.

“How many talents have been nurtured, how many doors have been opened and, in so doing, how many were able to live life to the full?” he asked. “In addition to that, many of our Catholic schools were founded by religious congregations and orders and they were founded in fulfilment of the corporal works of mercy, to instruct and, in so doing, to feed, clothe, open doors and to train and enable a new generation for a new world and provide new opportunity. How many of our leaders in today’s Ireland were educated in Catholic schools before the advent of Free Education by religious who saw such work as a work of mercy?  That is the contribution made by, and the consequence of, a Catholic education.”

The theme chosen this year, ‘Catholic Schools: Challenged to Proclaim God’s Mercy’, reflects the theme of the Jubilee Year of Mercy that Pope Francis inaugurated last December.