College names new lay head
Sam Adams
THE LAYMAN selected to replace Britain’s last remaining Jesuit head teacher has been named.
Adrian Laing will take over as head of Wimbledon College, in south-west London, in September when Fr Adrian Porter SJ steps down after seven years in charge. The appointment of Mr Laing, who is cur- rently deputy head teacher at All Hallows Catholic School in Farnham, Surrey, means that none of the nine Jesuit-run schools in Britain will have a member of the Society of Jesus in charge. The move highlights the decline in Jesuit numbers over the past decade, with only some 15 priests ordained in Britain since 2000. Fr Porter, 51, who has taught in Jesuit schools for 25 years, will take up a new position in January next year as provincial delegate for
education, which provides training and sup- port for teachers in Jesuit schools across the United Kingdom. Fr Porter, who was headmaster at St Aloysius’ College, Glasgow, before joining Wimbledon College, said he was sad to be leaving, but pleased he will remain involved in Jesuit education. “I’m not just being dropped into a parish,” he said. “I will still be working full-time with our primary and secondary schools. The com- mitment to Jesuit education is still there. I have loved my time here, but Jesuits are sup- posed to move on, and that’s what I am doing.” Mr Laing, who is married with a nine-year- old daughter, has been a teacher for 21 years. Before joining All Hallows as an assistant head teacher in 2001, he had been house- master at the London Oratory School, where he taught for 11 years. Meanwhile, the Superior General of the
Jesuits – leader of the Jesuits worldwide – the Rev. Fr Adolfo Nicolás, is expected to name a successor to the current British Provincial Fr Michael Holman SJ, when he arrives in Britain for a provincial meeting in Swanwick, Derbyshire, on 12 April. Fr Nicolás is also due to celebrate a Mass at Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon, on 15 April, which will be attended by the Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith.
Diocese to close comprehensive school
A LACK OF Catholic pupils is forcing the clo- sure of the Church’s only secondary school in Halifax, writes Sam Adams. The Diocese of Leeds has decided to shut St Catherine’s Catholic High in the West Yorkshire town, which has a population of more than 82,500, after it consistently failed to attract a sufficient number of Catholic children. Just 30 per cent of the 800 pupils at the school – which serves the town’s seven Catholic primaries – are thought to be Catholic, most of whom will now have to travel to the nearest alternative Catholic secondary, All Saints Catholic College, in Huddersfield, 10 miles away.
No date has been set for the closure of St Catherine’s, but most children are expected to have transferred to All Saints by September 2012. Children at primary schools in Halifax and Huddersfield will have equal access to the school. A spokesman for the Diocese of Leeds
explained that the numbers of Catholics at St Catherine’s were simply too low for it to remain a Catholic school, saying: “The number of Catholic pupils at the school has been low for some time, and has not risen. It has been decided that Catholic secondary education for children in the area will be provided at All Saints in Huddersfield, which has a higher number of Catholic pupils.”
Quarter of Scots prison population is Catholic
A NEWScottish Parliament report confirms that there is a disproportionately large number of Catholics in Scottish jails, writes Brian Morton.
While Catholics account for only around
17 per cent of the total Scottish population, almost a quarter of Scottish prison inmates identify themselves as Catholic. The report was prepared in response to media stories, some of them timed to coincide with the papal visit last autumn, implying bias in conviction and sentencing. The study, produced for the Scottish
Parliament by Dr Susan Wiltshire of the University of Glasgow, admits the possibility
38 | THE TABLET | 12 March 2011
of a correlation between sentencing practice and sectarian prejudice within the criminal justice system, but does not support the sug- gestion that anti-Catholic feeling is a sufficient explanation for the figures. The report has gained prominence in the wake of a notably ill-tempered Cup replay between Rangers and Celtic football clubs last week. A meeting between club executives, Scottish Football Associations and First Minister Alex Salmond was held on 8 March. The Archbishop of Glasgow, Mario Conti, has not commented on the matter. It is understood the Church takes the view that the clash was about policing and public order and not about religion.
FROM THE ARCHIVE 50 YEARS AGO
Birth Control in France The cardinals and archbishops of France, who assembled in Paris last week for their annual spring meeting, published when it was over a statement on the subject of birth control – a phrase harmless enough in itself. They made it clear, indeed, that the
Church advises birth control, in the sense of recommending prudence to parents and not being crudely in favour of more and more births at any cost. They made it equally clear that the Church condemns the artificial prevention of births by the use of contraceptives, as she also condemns sterilisation and abortion. They explained that the purpose of marriage is not only the procreation of children but also their upbringing and education, and appealed to the good sense and responsibility of par- ents “to decide before God how many children they bring up”. The unnatural limitation of births, they went on, is not the remedy for overpopu- lation and hunger; the remedy lies in the provision of more and better housing, and of all that is necessary for the normal development of family life. The Paris cor- respondent of The Guardian, reporting this statement on Tuesday, explained that the use of contraceptives or their recom- mendation by doctors is still forbidden in France by law, and that there has lately been pressure for the repeal of this law, which dates from the end of the First World War, when France had just lost nearly 1,400,000 men. … The Tablet, 11 March 1961
100 YEARS AGO
Advertisement During Lent, you won’t want meat, but you must have nourishment. Try Protose, the standard nut meat. Made entirely from choice nuts and wheat. Delicious, nutritious and easily digested. You will be surprised and delighted with Protose; many people have given up meat after trying Protose, for everyone admits the risk they run in eating the flesh of animals that are very likely to be diseased at the time of killing. Think about it, and if you would really
like to try Protose send 3d. in stamps, mentioning this paper, to International Health Association Ltd, Tanborough Park, Watford, Herts. NB – And if you are not yet acquainted with Granose Flakes or Biscuits it is the daintiest breakfast food you ever saw. Cures both indigestion and constipation.
The Tablet, 11 March 1911
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40