FROM BRITAIN AND IRELAND NEWS
Non-Catholic pupils continue to swell rolls of church schools
Sam Adams
ALMOST A FIFTH of Catholic schools in England and Wales have a majority of non- Catholic pupils and nearly half have more than 30 per cent on their rolls, according to the latest education census results. The figures, revealed in the Digest of 2010 Census Data for (Catholic) Schools and Colleges, show that of the 2,289 institutions questioned, 356 had a majority of non- Catholic pupils, a rise of 5 per cent on last year. The Diocese of Plymouth had the lowest proportion of Catholic pupils (45 per cent) in its schools. The annual census, published by the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales (CES), also showed a continued decline in the number of Catholic teachers in church schools, with only 56 per cent practising the faith, while the number of schools “making allowances” for pupils of other faiths – such as allowing female Muslim pupils to cover their heads – has more than doubled since 2009 to 61 per cent. The results will add to concerns over the perceived decline of “Catholicity” in Catholic schools, with some believing their distinctive religious ethos is being diluted by increasing numbers of non-Catholic pupils and teachers. Catholic schools in some areas, particularly those with dwindling Catholic populations, now have large non-Catholic majorities, often from the growing Muslim community. Last year, the Diocese of Salford cut its ties
CES director
Oona Stannard: ‘I am pleased that the data shows that this model of
education is one which remains sought after’
with Sacred Heart Primary School, in Blackburn, after the number of non-Catholic pupils leapt from 7 per cent to 97 per cent in just 10 years. More recently, police were called to St Bede’s Grammar School in Heaton, West Yorkshire, after fighting between Catholic and Muslim pupils. Dr Paul Doherty, head teacher of Trinity Catholic High School in Woodford Green, north-east London – where nearly all pupils in years 7 to 11 are Catholic – said that more should be done on a national level to define the “character” of Catholic schools. Declining numbers of Catholic pupils were understandable in areas with shrinking Catholic populations, he said, but “where there are Catholics locally but they are not, for whatever reason, choosing to send their children to the local Catholic school, that is where there would seem to be a problem”. The census results showed that, overall, just under 71 per cent of pupils in Catholic
maintained schools in England and Wales were Catholic – defined as those who have been baptised or received into the Catholic Church. The total number of children (of all backgrounds) attending Catholic maintained schools rose from around 735,500 in 2009 to nearly 755,500, although the number attending Catholic secondary schools declined slightly from 325,000 to 323,000. The diocese with the lowest proportion of Catholic teachers in its schools was East Anglia (36 per cent), while the figures in Clifton and Plymouth were 40 and 41 per cent respectively. The dioceses with the highest percentages of Catholic pupils – all above 80 per cent – were Westminster, Brentwood and Liverpool. Mike Castelli, principal lecturer in education at Roehampton University, said Catholic schools with declining numbers of Catholic pupils still had an important role to play in the local community. “A Catholic school where, say, most children are Muslim or of another faith, can still be run for the benefit of the community,” he said Oona Stannard, director of the CES, said the census “once again highlights the contin- ued popularity and diversity of Catholic schools and colleges. I am pleased that the data shows that this model of education is one which remains sought after and in which children from a wide range of social backgrounds benefit.” For the full census data go to
www.thetablet.co.uk
O’Brien urges lawyers to stand up for their faith
CARDINAL KEITH O’BRIEN has called on Catholic lawyers to stand up for their faith and use their positions of power to “influence the law”, writes Sam Adams. The Scottish cardinal, Britain’s most senior Catholic prelate, urged lawyers to “remain strong” in their religious beliefs and to use their legal roles “to influence the laws which are made and applied in our country”. Addressing the annual Red Mass at St
Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, on Sunday – an event traditionally attended by Catholics from the legal profession – Cardinal O’Brien said they must “give careful consideration” to what they should do when laws they are inter- preting or administering bring them into conflict with their faith.
His message follows the launch of a con- sultation on plans by the Scottish Government to introduce gay marriage. The Scottish Catholic hierarchy has spoken out against the move, with Cardinal O’Brien describing gay marriage as a “grotesque subversion of a uni- versally accepted human right”. In his homily, he reminded Catholic lawyers of their “privileged position” in society, and their ability to influence the way in which laws are drafted and debated. “Catholics must practise what we preach,” he said. “For those of you who are Catholic lawyers, that must surely also mean that you cannot divorce what you do and say in your professional lives from what you know and believe as Catholics to be right.”
Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Glasgow,
Mario Conti, has warned of the “dictatorship of relativism” in Scottish society which “would have us redefine the meaning of marriage”. In his homily to the Knights of the Holy
Sepulchre at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow, on 16 September, he said this would “limit our right to religious freedom and have us silenced in the public forum, charged with the ultimate heresy of being ‘intolerant’ ”. Archbishop Conti urged Catholics to “lift [their] heads above the parapet and speak up for the Church in times of trial”. This could mean “writing a letter to a newspaper, attend- ing a constituency surgery with your local MSP or speaking bravely in the professional forum”.
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