These super statistics are because students, teachers, parents and communities from across England and Wales came together to be part of CAFOD’s Big Lent Walk journey.
And if you were one of those people who didn’t just talk the talk, but walked the walk, thank you very much! The money raised from your Big Lent Walk will support CAFOD partners working with our brothers and sisters living in poverty around the world.
The Big Lent Walk was promoted to everyone across the CAFOD community. Individuals through parishes were challenged to walk 200km during 40 days to raise money. Primary and secondary schools set their own target distances, picked their own dates during Lent and asked parents and carers for sponsorship.
CAFOD’s David Brinn, schools lead for The Big Lent Walk, believes it was the simplicity of the challenge that was key to its success. Among the schools that took part were those who had never fundraised with CAFOD before.
“It’s an old-school sponsored walk - you walk a distance and you raise money for doing it,” David says. “It’s a traditional format everyone understands.”
And although the sponsored walk is something of a ‘tried-and-tested’ formula, schools didn’t hesitate in
Did you Know:
• 650 schools took part in CAFOD’s Big Lent Walk?
• 250,000 children stepped, strided, danced, clapped and high-fived their way around school playgrounds, fields and local streets?
• That so far, we have raised an incredible £187,000.
putting their own spin on it. One school walked in silence, reflecting on those they were raising money for; some high-fived their way around the playground; one school ‘Walked like a Disciple’, dancing to The Bangles’ chart topper ‘Walk like an Egyptian’; a trust of 17 schools took on a ‘kilometre of kindness’, collectively walking the equivalent of a lap around the world; another school’s Year 5 and 6 pupils even took their walk to Seville to take on The Big Lent Walk Europe!
Teachers were keen to share the good news. On Twitter, Facebook, in the local and Catholic press and even on BBC radio, students could be seen and heard Big Lent Walk-ing in the sun, rain and snow, in playgrounds, around towns and villages, in the countryside and by the sea.
“It really did capture the imagination of children, teachers and parents,” says David. “People were just up for walking in all manner of ways, while raising money for communities in need around the world.”
These include people like 14-yearold Dristy and her Mum Rupali in Bangladesh, says David. They are building seed beds and planting palm trees to protect their crops
from flooding and cyclones. The Big Lent Walk campaign is supporting families to provide the skills and tools they’ve asked for to fight the climate crisis.
Deputy headteacher Kaye Binney of St Charles’ Catholic Primary School in Newcastle said: “We are learning about the challenges people face because of global poverty, and what we can all do to help, so we were very excited to learn about The Big Lent Walk. Everyone was thinking of creative ways to get the steps in, raise as much money as possible for people in need, and make a difference at Lent.”
Headteacher Jeremy Barnes, at All Saints Catholic Primary School in Anfield, says The Big Lent Walk is a great opportunity for physical exercise, as well as a learning opportunity on the global climate crisis: ”I would urge all schools to get involved; it follows the Pope's cry to action in his encyclical Laudato Si," he adds.
Inspired to take part in next year’s Big Lent Walk? You can register your interest for the Big Lent Walk 2024 here: walk.cafod.org.uk We’d love you to join us on the journey!
A Day of Inspiration and Reflection
A Conference for Catholic Multi Academy Trusts - Liverpool
“ The only future worth building includes everyone” Pope Francis (Ted Talk 2017) The Catholic Schools Inspection Handbook invites leaders and governors to aim to become ‘… inspirational witnesses to the Gospel and to Catholic Social Teaching in their direction of the school at every level.’ (Pg 38)
On Friday 13th October 2023 the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD), the Catholic Education Service (CES), and Caritas Social Action Network (CSAN) are holding a conference for directors and governors of Catholic Multi Academy Trusts (CMATs) at the St Margaret Clitherow Centre in Liverpool. This enriching day will bring together speakers and experts who will inspire attendees and promote sharing of best practice, fostering supportive networks for the future.
As the numbers of Catholic schools looking to join MATs is growing, the opportunity to explore and maximise the benefits of collaborative impact is welcome, particularly in the context of Catholic education, where each school community strives to have Christ at the centre. CES, CSAN and CAFOD’s role as agencies of the Bishops’ Conference mean that they are ideally placed to offer support and inspiration for holding Gospel values and CST at the heart of educational communities.
Building on the foundation of last year’s well received conference, this year’s meeting includes a focus on formation in Catholic Social Teaching, and its significance in guiding decision-making within CMATs.
Speakers include Paul Barber, Director of the CES and Raymond Friel OBE, CEO of CSAN and a former director of Catholic MATs.
Mary Mihovilović, Associate Professor and Programme Lead for postgraduate taught programmes in Education, and a current Foundation Director of Thomas Aquinas CMAT, will draw on her extensive experience in Catholic educational settings to explore how leaders and governors can prepare to join a CMAT.
Tom Baptist, Director of Chaplaincy for Our Lady of Lourdes MAT in Nottingham, will offer his experience of an innovative approach to chaplaincy across the whole CMAT.
With many years of experience in Catholic Education, Susan Kambalu, CAFOD’s Secondary CPD Adviser, will bring the global aspect of CST to life, with a particular focus on Fratelli Tutti, to bring the MAT together around a shared journey of faith and action.
In addition to thought provoking input from the speakers, the programme of the day includes moments of practical interaction, time to network, and to benefit from sharing diverse experiences with colleagues from across the country. In this way, CMAT directors and Governors can be confident that they are fully supported in building a community where: “In every one of their decisions, they [leaders and governors] demonstrate an exemplary commitment to care for our common home, to the pursuit of the common good and to service of those in greatest need.” (Pg 38)
To Register for the conference visit: bit.ly/CatholicMATsConference
CAFOD in Your Classrooms!
to motivate children and young people? Do you know there’s a huge range of professionallyresearched and thoughtfully-put together material available from our CAFOD Education team?
Whether you are teaching, fundraising, campaigning or praying; with primary, secondary or beyond; whether you need a colourful, dynamic, thoughtprovoking or contemplative activity or resource, CAFOD can help you inspire students on their faith journey.
Taking it to the teachers - Continuing Professional Development
Did you know: tens of thousands of teachers have learned new skills with CAFOD CPD?
trainers, CAFOD’s Continuing Professional Development programme provides inspiring CPD focused on Catholic Social Teaching, the Catholic life of the school and global justice.
"We've easily trained tens of thousands of teachers over the years,” says Secondary schools CPD coordinator Susan Kambalu. “Our courses provide practical tools, knowledge, skills and resources to enrich the curriculum and enhance schools’ Catholic life and mission.” To find out more, visit: cafod.org.uk/cpd
Making CST as easy as ABC
Did you know: CAFOD has launched a new, teacher-led CST resource?
CAFOD’s Catholic Social Teaching course that it is now available as a teacher-led resource. Free to download, it comes with a facilitator script, presentation and accompanying resources.
“A teacher can be fully confident in running this session in their own school,” says Primary schools CPD coordinator Beth Friery.
And in order to encourage young people to put their Catholic Social Teaching into action, we have a wealth of engaging and inspirational activities to support themworksheets, posters, pledge cards, animations, assemblies, workshops - you name it!
To find out more, visit cafod.org.uk/primary
Walking, cake-making, CAFOD fundraising
Did you know: CAFOD first started fundraising in 1960?
There are many ways to fundraise for CAFOD’s work - sponsored events, coffee mornings, cake sales, the list is endless. Whatever it is you choose to do, the good news is that we have a kit of downloadable tools to help primary and secondary schools fundraise with CAFOD in emergencies or at any time of year.
Or you can choose to take part in CAFOD’s own fundraisers like the Big Lent Walk, World Gifts or Brighten Up. All come with resources and activities to make the most of your fundraising, while telling the stories of the communities around the world we are supporting.
Find out more: cafod.org.uk/ education/school-fundraising
Living simply, sustainably and in solidarity
Did you know: Hundreds of schools are working towards the LiveSimply Award?
Nine faith-inspired actions, reflecting CST, encourage students to make a difference to their school, local and global communities, whilst learning more about why they are taking an action and how our faith inspires us to do so.
CAFOD’s resources include animations to “introduce” and explain “why” LiveSimply, action ideas, model plans, and prayers.
“LiveSimply gives schools an opportunity to reach out and include the whole school and
the wider community in making a difference” says LiveSimply Schools Coordinator Siobhan Farnell. More information and to sign-up visit cafod.org.uk/ LiveSimplySchools
On
fire - Flame
Did you know: like many superstars, CAFOD has taken to the stage at Wembley?
More than 8,000 young Catholics from across England and Wales came to celebrate Flame - the National Youth Congress - at the OVO Arena, Wembley this year. The day featured live music, fun activities, motivating talks, engaging worship, and CAFOD young leaders doing their thing. What a way to inspire your students!
The next Flame is 15 March 2025. Put it in your diary! cafod.org.uk/getinvolved
Back to school - School volunteers programme
Did you know: that CAFOD has 150 school volunteers across England and Wales that have visited 785 schools this year.
“For students from Reception to 6th Form, our assemblies and workshops provide an engaging introduction to CST,” says schools volunteer programme coordinator David Brinn. “And they’re all relevant to whatever the current CAFOD campaign is, with a huge range of resources and activities.”
Get in touch, find out more, book a visit: schools@cafod.org.uk
Join the Club - CAFOD Club
Did you know: we have 440 CAFOD Clubs in primary schools across England and Wales?
A CAFOD Club helps pupils take the lead in putting CST into action, supporting the Catholic life and mission of your school. Once registered, they’ll receive a CAFOD Club box with world map, banner, stickers, badges, pencils, rulers, a certificate and a special club prayer. And the activities are updated termly, meaning building a better world is never dull!
Register to set up your club by visiting: cafod.org.uk/cafodclub
Campaigning championsCAFOD campaigns
Did you know: 54,000 children and young people took part in CAFOD’s ‘Eyes of the World’ campaign?
These campaigners were calling on the UK government ahead of Glasgow COP26 to show leadership in tackling the climate crisis.
Stand in solidarity with the world’s poorest communities, putting Catholic Social Teaching into action with our new campaign resources. Activities show how campaigning has changed the world! As Pope Francis writes in Laudato Si’: “Young people demand change. They wonder how anyone can claim to be building a better future without thinking of the environmental crisis and the sufferings of the excluded.” cafod.org.uk/DemandChange
Find out more about our work and how to get involved with CAFOD: cafod.org.uk/education
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Closing Date for Copy - Volume 25 Issue 1 Winter Term 2023/24 Copy to Editor by 11th December 2023. Published to schools 11th January 2024
By Dr
David Torevell
Conference Report - Female Voices in Catholic Education: an International Research Symposium
By Dr Louise McGowan
5 Key Things to Teach Children About Freedom of Religion and the Global Persecution of Christians
By Dr Martin Parsons
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Andy Lewis
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A Point to Ponder - Decisions, Decisions!
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Diversity and Inclusivity in Catholic Education: Some Moral Dilemmas & Questions
Baron Jonathan Sacks, the former chief Rabbi who died in 2020 argued that we need to develop a ‘theology of difference’.Without this, he said, minor variations can take on an immense significance, dividing neighbourhoods and even resulting in turning friends into enemies. As a delegate for the Liverpool Archdiocese Synod 2020, I was struck by how those involved felt verystrongly about what was to become one of the final recommendations: the need for the Catholic tradition to be more inclusive. Exclusivity is an affront to gospel values. As we know from the gospels, Jesus identified with the lost and marginalised – the poor, prostitutes, tax collectors and all those who were different from the mainstream. He said to the chief priests and elders of the people, ‘Truly, I say to you. the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you’ (Matthew, 21: 31). The Catholic convert, Georges Rouault,paints prostitutes with empathy, pity and loving affection, reflecting this important value. This article looks at the present-day cultural phenomenon of diversity and inclusivity, and how those working in Catholic schools, colleges and universities might address it, but crucially deals withsome of the moral dilemmas it raises.
Let’s start with some questions. Does addressing diversity mean responding positively and equally to all those who are characterised by a different identity to the majority, such as in the West, being black or gay or non-binary or Muslim or Catholic and so on. And does inclusivity carry the same moral weight towards those who choose to change from one identity to another through their own efforts? What moral questions does this kind of self-fashioning raise?
I take the issue of gender and sexuality as my primary focus to investigate these questions, partly because schools, colleges and universities are presently in fierce discussion about this and partly because it presents an opportunity to highlight inclusivity’s multifaceted and conflictual moral nature.
Gender Reassignment and Social Transitioning
At a time when Marx’s maxim ‘All that is solid melts into air’ rings true, students may ask why they can’t change gender if they feel they need to? There is no longer such a thing as a fixed identity, including traditional male and female distinctions. Fluidity is the new watchword. Solidities melt. This is the natureof things. If we really believe in honouring and supporting diversity and inclusivity, then shouldn’t we honour those who accept this flux of nature and wish to change gender, as much as we honour the ‘given’ identities of Muslim or black students, for instance?
The conundrum of ‘gender reassignment’ and ‘social transitioning’ – actions that result in children and young adults being treated as the opposite sex – sits within this question. It is an issue troubling politicians, lawyers and educationalists alike. Earlier this year, the government sought legal advice from Victoria Prentis, the attorney-general, over whether ornot there should be an outright ban on children and young adults social transitioning in schools. In mid-July she concluded that such a prohibition would be unlawful due to the Equalities Act since it was a ‘protected characteristic’ regardless of age. She said the government would need new legislation if it wanted to go further. The Prime Minister’s
By Dr David Torevell
Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Liverpool Hope University, UK and Visiting Professor at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. His latest book is Desire and Mental Health in Christianity and the Arts (Routledge, 2023).
commitment to publishing guidance on this matter by 21st July was delayed. He is known to have concerns about the ‘long-term implications of allowing children to socially transition’. Kemi Badenoch, the formerWomen and Equalities minister (she is nowthe Secretary of State for Business and Trade),wanted to include greater protections for free speech in the guidance, stating explicitly that teachers should not be compelled to address children and young adults by their chosen pronoun if they had a ‘good faith’ objection. The Secretary of State for Education Gillian Keegan, who attended a Catholic school, was more supportive of trans rights and claimed it would be ‘unreasonable’ to stop children and young adults from socially transitioning provided they had parental consent. One government source claimed: ‘We have consistently said that this is about protecting children, empowering parents and supporting teachers and school leaders by providing guidance for them to implement’.
Kathleen Stock
Kathleen Stock, a professor of philosophy,was formed from an early age in the Catholic tradition. She was pressured out of her lecturing post at Sussex University by staff and students in 2021. She needed bodyguards in May 2023 when she made her way to the Oxford University Union building to speak on sex and gender which protesters thought would be transphobic. In her book Material Girls , she is highly critical of some aspects of gender reassignment, writing that according to trans activist thinking and theorising ‘... it is not the process of gender reassignment that makes you trans, but as Stonewall puts it: A person’s innate sense of their own gender, whether male, female or something else ... which may or may not correspond to the sex assigned at birth’. In summary, it is based on an inner feeling.
Stock continues: ‘It is your gender identity rather than your sex which is considered to be what makes you man, woman or non-binary. It also determines your preferred pronouns: that is, whether you wish to be referred to as ‘she’ or ‘he’ or (in the case of non-binary people) ‘they’ ’. She writes that educators in schools and universities are now advised by trans activist organisations to teach pupils about innate gender identity. Inner feelings reign supreme. The implication is that that gender assignation at birth can be reversed if you so wish. Biological sex is irrelevant. Stock vehemently opposes this position. Does her view align with a Catholic understanding of and sensibility towards the issue? Yes, I think so. Largely because the Christian approach towards reality is to accept, appreciate and celebrate what God has created out of love. It is foolhardy to alter the ‘given’. For instance, one of the biggest challenges to gay people is self-acceptance of their own sexual orientation and not to flee from its reality – or undergo conversion therapy as some Evangelical churches have advocated.
Accepting Who We Are and Not Accepting a Fiction
Stock’s hypothesis extends the debate by arguing that, for at least some of the time, many trans and non-trans people are immersed in ‘the fiction that they themselves, or others around them, have literally changed sex (to be either the opposite sex or non-binary)’. It is largely accepted that the rising popularity of gender identity among the young in the early 21st century cannot be divorced from the internet culture and to the microblogging social sites like Tumblr, whose strapline tells users: ‘You can express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love’. Parents of dysphoric teenagers often report that their offspring would spend hours and hours on Tumblr ...’ What does such immersion in fictions result in?
Stock argues it does not necessarily end in these young people being deceived. Immersion is not the same as belief. Many trans men or trans women don’t believe they are actually men or women. So they can’t count as being ‘deceived’ into thinking this. Theatre goers moved at the fate of the character Ophelia on stage aren’t ‘deluded’, ‘duped’ or ‘deceived’ by the actors ... ’. Being immersed in a fiction can allow mental alleviation from a stressful situation one finds oneself in and from feelings of dysphoria. Nevertheless, one major risk for trans people is losing the capacity to admit the reality about their biological sex and it becomes acute when the immersed subject desires that the fictional scenario in which they’re immersed be true or real. Stock comments, ‘As a result of misaligned gender identity, a lot of trans people really do wish they were of the opposite sex or androgynous, and /or feel strongly averse to the sexed reality that faces them’. Coming to terms with a sexed reality is tough for some, but it is also necessary from a moral standpoint,
St Thomas More
I now want to lay side by side this form of gender ‘self-fashioning’ by focussing on a Renaissance counterpart, St Thomas More. From an early age, this saint had a deep interest in drama and acting which later became not just a pastime but a method of survival in the intensely subterfuge, corrupt world of 16th century realpolitik. William Roper in his Life writes about his father-in-law as ‘both narrator and subject, creator and character, playing out the drama of his life on the stage of the world in a role which he had fashioned as his own.’ This fashioning of his own life - religiously, ethically, and politically - was the means by which he was able to stay alive. In the end, this became unmanageable for in The History of Richard III he admits that it is not the Cardinal’s games he plays but the King’s and the latter
are ‘played upon scaffolds’. More’s moral stature and acumen were not simply based on his tenacious following of his own conscience, but also on his ability to play the necessary political games in order to say alive. Even at the gallows, he asked for his own part in the drama of life and death to continue: ‘I pray you, Master Lieutenant, see me safe up, and for my coming down, let me shift myself.’
In his masterpiece Utopia (1516) More plays more than one part, operating as both character and creator, dancing nimbly to the tune of his own fiction, the characters becoming symbols of his own oscillating mind. But I think it is a very different fiction to the one I described earlier concerninggender and sexuality. The questions which are hurled at us, the readers are: what kind of world should we establish and how might we live both politically and ethically in the world in which we find ourselves? The character Monus takes a pragmatic approach - to make things ‘a little less bad’ reflecting a commonsense approach, even if it has been influenced by the ‘ideal’ vision of his interlocutor. To Raphael he comments ‘There is no place for that academic mode which holds that you can discuss anything you like, regardless of the setting. But there is another philosophy, more attuned to public affairs, which knows its stage and adapts itself to the play in hand, acting out its role fittingly and with due decorum’. He advises further:
‘That’s exactly how things are in public affairs ... Even if you can’t eradicate harmful ideas or remedy established evils, that’s no reason to turn your back on the body politic: you mustn’t abandon ship simply because you can’t direct the winds. Equally, you shouldn’t force strange and startling ideas on those with whom they’ll carry no
weight because their convictions run the other way’. ... try to handle everything tactfully ...’ (p. 50).
In the world of Renaissance politics, three vices – vanity, appetite and folly - took centre stage, failings which captured and repelled More in equal measure. Becoming Knighted and Under-Treasurer of the Exchequer in 1521, he was intensely aware of the world of illusion the ‘play’ of corrupt politics produced since he was embroiled in it. He considers how ‘no sooner is one fantasy laid to rest than another pops up and consequently, the great body of man’s longings. anxieties and goals, shimmers like a mirage ... utterly unreal’. More witnessed how those who gain political power begin to impose their fictions upon the people they govern. But not surprisingly, in time, individuals in the body politic realise what is going on and either remain silent or join cunningly in the theatrical deceit. Stephen Greenblatt’s incisive critique of Utopia as More’s libellus (handbook) offers an understanding of the text as an advisory exploration of self- construction and selffashioning including ‘its own undoing’.
There is no better illustration of this clever accommodation to reality by More than Robert Bolt’s compelling play A Man for All Seasons. More knew there were intense dangers in the roles he was destined to play, both as an adviser to the national monarch and a man who believed all authority came from the God and the Catholic Church. In Letters he wrote during the months preceding his arrest and imprisonment, we see him desperately trying to marry his politically staged theatricals with the drama of his own internal battles of conscience. At one point, he even claims, that he will ‘neither murmur at it nor dispute upon’ the King’s marriage.
Another great work by More is Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation composed during his imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1535. It is a further fictional dramatic dialogue between a nephew called Vincent and his uncle, Anthony. Besides being a moving theodicy, the text indicates the kind of world More believes he lived in where self-delusion and false desires reigned supreme: ‘We are so blind to our mortality, so unaware of what befalls us, and so unsure of what the state of our minds may be tomorrow, that God could hardly do a man more harm than to grant him his own foolish desires’. And in answer to his nephew’ question about the gains of tribulation he comments: ‘Those who enjoy a long curse of uninterrupted prosperity in this world without any suffering have great cause to fear that they are not in God’s favour, but instead are deep in his indignation and displeasure’.
Concluding Remarks
Do campaigners for gender recognition reform fashion themselves to resist and negotiate a politically charged society where discrimination, deceit, lies and corruption operate at high levels of intensity just as in Thomas More’s time? Can a parallel be made? Some would say ‘yes’ since political subterfuge, hypocrisy, discrimination and exclusion are manifest in today’s divided world denying the legitimate rights of others, especially those of marginalised groups. However, can one also detect in the two struggles some deep-seated antinomies and differences depending on how one regards what a legitimate selffashioning might entail?Personally, I think so. Whatever your own view, Catholic educators might wish to ponder the differences and similarities concerning selffashioning in the two worlds.
by Dr Louise McGowan
Conference Report
Female Voices in Catholic Education: an International Research Symposium
11th May 2023 - Held at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls, London NW10
Female academics and education researchers from Malta, the Philippines, Republic of Ireland and the UK gathered for an inaugural Research Symposium exploring the theme of ‘Female Voices in Catholic Education’, held at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls in London on 11th May.
With contributions from eminent academics that included Professor Mary Darmanin from the University of Malta, Associate Professor Patricia Kieran from Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, Dr Amalee Meehan from Dublin City University Dr Ros Stuart-Buttle formerly of Liverpool Hope University, Dr Ann Casson, Ann Pittaway, Dr Mary Woolley and PhD student Claire Gibson from Canterbury Christ Church University, Dr Maureen Glackin from the Catholic Independent Schools’ Conference, and Dr Caroline Healey, Dr Mary Mihovilovic and PhD student Joana Oliva from St Mary’s University Twickenham, delegates listened to papers on a range of themes relating to women in leadership, formation, chaplaincy, a gender analysis of existing research in the field, sharing
a sisterhood with females from other faiths, and examining and learning from the power and inspiration of female founders of religious orders. Issues relating to contemporary Catholic school leadership were presented by current serving Headteachers, Imogen Senior and Dr Louise McGowan. Perspectives on the daily life of a Lay Chaplain in an inner city school were shared by the school’s Chaplain, Annmarie Sylvester Charles and Dr Nancy Walbank from the CES posed key questions of what now makes a school distinctively Catholic?
The academic papers were punctuated by two expert panels; the first of which focused on the research agenda from an international perspective and the other discussing the research issues pertinent to the UK.
Headmistress at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls, Dr Louise McGowan, pioneered this first independent Catholic Research School in 2018 with the support and encouragement from Professor John Lydon at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Working closely with Dr Sean Whittle and the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education, this was the first postpandemic research event to be held at the school since its successful conference on the theme of Social Justice in Catholic Education that took place in March 2020, just one
week before the country was ordered into the first pandemic lockdown. The St Claudine’s Research School’s patron, Professor Gerald Grace, was present at the Symposium to give an opening address that strongly encouraged female academics to write, publish and share their work and to secure their places as influential voices within the arena of Catholic mission.
Students at St Claudine’s from Year 10 and Year 12 were invited to the Symposium as the school’s research ambassadors and were delighted to have been part of what they described as an inspiring and thought-provoking day. Part of the intention of establishing the research school at St Claudine’s has been to introduce students to the discipline of academic research, not only to enhance their preparations for future study at university but also to awaken their consciousness and encourage them to see the world through a wider lens.
St Claudine’s is currently preparing for its next conference taking place on 5th July 2024, 'Reckoning with Race: Anti-racism in schools - pain, perspectives, possibilities’, bringing Catholic and other faith and nonfaith schools together to discuss and cultivate a shared commitment in their journey towards an anti-racist education.
Dr Louise McGowan is the serving Headmistress of St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls in northwest London, a member school of the Diocese of Westminster Academy Trust and a school founded in 1888 by the Congregation of the Religious of Jesus and Mary. Her research interests lie in the qualitative methodologies of autoethnography and biographical narrative in the field of Catholic leadership.
5 Key Things to Teach Children About Freedom of Religion and the Global Persecution of Christians
J.R.R Tolkien at the end of his epic trilogy The Lord of Rings tells how his hobbit hero Frodo urged his friend Sam to:
keep alive the memory of the age that is gone, so that people will remember the Great Danger and so love their beloved land all the more.
It is a statement that would have resonated deeply with many of Tolkien’s readers when the book was published in 1949, shortly after the Second World War.
Yet today we live in a world which has a short memory. The reality is that most of our political leaders as well as the secular media, have little idea that freedom of religion developed in specifically Christian contexts, or what freedom of religion has historically included, or even that Christians are one of the most persecuted minority groups around the world today.
In a society which is becoming not simply secularised, but increasingly intolerant of even basic Christian beliefs, never have Christian schools been more important. That is why it is so important that schools positively teach about both the development of freedom of religion in our own country and the global persecution of Christians overseas. Because, if the memory of past freedoms
fades in our own country, then we also fatally undermine our own ability to speak up for our persecuted Christian family in other countries.
This article is written to help schools address those issues.
1.
Freedom of religion was the first human right
In both academia and the media the idea is constantly promoted that i) human rights are essentially secular in origin; ii) they developed in the era of the 1789 French Revolution; iii) freedom of religion or belief is part of that secular “progress”. In fact, once you start to look at the history of freedom of religion you find that all of this is simply not true.
The earliest known reference to human rights is in fact the writings of Tertullian (160-c.220 AD), a Roman lawyer who became a leader of the church in North Africa during a time of persecution (yes, North Africa had Christians in the second century!). In his letter to the Roman proconsul Scapula, Tertullian wrote:
We are worshippers of one God, of whose existence and character nature teaches all men; at whose lightnings and thunders you tremble, whose benefits minister to your happiness. You think that
by Dr Martin Parsons
others, too, are gods, whom we know to be devils. However, it is a fundamental human right [humani iuris], a privilege of nature, that every man should worship according to his own convictions: one man’s religion neither harms nor helps another man.
Now compare that to the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789) which make only the most grudging recognition of freedom of speech relating to religion and does not even include freedom of worship:
No man ought to be molested on account of his opinions, not even on account of his religious opinions, provided his avowal of them does not disturb the public order established by law.
2.
Freedom of religion developed in a specifically Christian context
Not only are Tertullian’s comments more than 1,500 years before the French Revolution, but if we look at our own country, we can see that freedom of religion developed first, ahead of other freedoms which we later came to refer to as “human rights”. For example, the very first article of Magna Carta (1215) says:
In the first place have granted to God and by this present charter confirmed for us and our heirs for
CEO of the Lindisfarne Centre for the Study of Christian Persecution and previously held senior leadership roles in education in the UK, Pakistan and Afghanistan
ever that the English church shall be free, and shall have its rights undiminished and its liberties unimpaired.
What is particularly significant is that this is a reaffirmation of the existing freedoms of the church. Whilst we cannot be certain, these most plausibly refer to the rights granted by earlier Ango-Saxon kings, such as Ethelbert of Kent who gave Augustine permission to preach in 597 CE i.e.
• Freedom to preach and seek to persuade others of the truth of Christianity.
• Freedom to conduct Christian worship.
• Freedom to establish churches and places of worship.
What happened next is a long and complicated story of a struggle between church and state, which amongst other things led to the murder in 1170 of Archbishop Thomas Beckett in Canterbury Cathedral at the behest of King Henry II. However, what is important, and today is in danger of being lost sight of, is that freedom of religion developed in a specifically Christian context as church and state sought to determine what was the proper extent of the authority that God had given to each.
10 aspects of freedom of religion
When we set up the Lindisfarne Centre for the Study of Christian Persecution it was clear to us that we needed something much more specific than the rather vague language of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In particular, we needed something that would tell the governments of countries where Christians were persecuted, very
specifically what they needed to do to improve. We came up with 10 aspects of freedom of religion which had historically developed in the UK and other countries of the English speaking world, such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Caribbean and the USA.
We were also very aware that some aspects of freedom of religion were under threat in the west, in part because many people including ministers, MPs and journalists were simply unaware of what it has historically included. So, it was also a secondary hope that using these 10 aspects would act as something of a reminder of what freedom of religion has historically meant.
1. Freedom of the church from state interference, including freedom to interpret scripture without government interference.
2. Freedom to translate and own scripture in the vernacular and read it publicly.
3. Freedom of worship
4. Freedom from being required to act against one’s beliefs
5. Freedom to establish places of worship
6. Freedom to preach and try to convince others of the truth of one’s beliefs
7. Freedom to choose or change one’s faith
8. Freedom from being required to affirm a particular worldview i.e. religious or philosophical beliefs, in order to hold public office, enter various professions or study at university (repeal of ‘Test Acts’).
9. Freedom of parents to educate children according to their own beliefs
10. Freedom to criticise the religious or philosophical beliefs of others (absence of blasphemy law)
A free pdf poster of these 10 aspects as well as a fuller explanation of the development of each can be downloaded from our website (www. christianpersecution.co.uk/ freedom-of-religion).
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
After the Second World War the United Nations set up a committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of US President Franklin D Roosevelt. This spent nearly two years trying to come up with a statement on freedom of religion which everyone could agree to. The trouble was that whilst sone of the countries in the committee, like the UK and USA had a long history of freedom of religion, others such as China, did not. While some, such as the Communist USSR were strongly opposed to it. Then, there were the Islamic countries who were opposed to anything that conflicted with Islamic law (shari’a). So, for example, Saudi Arabia vetoed a draft text proposed by the UK government which included the freedom:
To endeavour to persuade other persons of full age and sound mind of the truth of his beliefs
What they eventually agreed was a compromise statement which is now UDHR Article 18:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience
and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. It only dealt with the freedom of the individual, saying nothing at all about the freedom of the church from interference by the state. This was despite Hitler trying to force the German churches to adapt their teaching to include Nazi ideology, and persecuting those who refused. While, the freedom to “manifest” religion was deliberately vague. It was in essence a compromise agreement that even those who signed it, couldn’t agree on what it actually meant.
Positively, what it did do was make some countries, such as China, at least publicly acknowledge the importance of freedom of religion for the first time. Negatively, it has led to a situation where many politicians, lawyers and journalists now quite wrongly assume that it represents the totality of what freedom of religion includes. This became a particular issue after the text of UDHR article 18 was largely “copied and pasted” into the statement on freedom of religion in the 1952 European Convention on Human Rights.
So, a useful exercise is actually to ask how many of the 10 aspects of freedom of religion are either a) explicitly included in UDHR Article 18; or b) could be either included or excluded depending on how a particular country chose to interpret it?
Persecution of Christians today
Until the 1990s Atheistic Communism was the main
ideology behind the global persecution of Christians, with more than 40 Communist governments across the world. In the USSR thousands of Christians were sentenced to Siberian labour camps, with some of them dying there. Today Christians in countries like China, and North Korea still face similar persecution.
However, the main ideology driving the global persecution of Christians is now radical Islam. In some countries, such as Iran or Saudi Arabia this is “state sponsored” i.e. persecution by the government. In others it is persecution by “non-state actors”. This is a term that includes everything from a terrorist attack on a church to the “honour killing” by their parents of a son or daughter because they have become a Christian, something that happens in many Islamic countries.
The following examples give some idea of the different types of persecution Christians face today and it may be a useful classroom exercise to match them to the 10 aspects of freedom of religion
• In Eritrea the government has passed a law which allows it to control “all religious activities” in the country. It has banned Pentecostal churches.
• Malaysia have banned the use of particular words in local Bible translations, saying that only Muslims are allowed to use those words.
• In the Maldives, which many westerners visit on holiday, it is a criminal offence to own a copy of the Bible in the local Dhivehi language.
• In Afghanistan men can be forced to go into the mosque to pray Islamic prayers
• In Qatar it is illegal for Qatari Christians to meet together to worship.
• No churches are allowed in Saudi Arabia.
• In almost every Islamic country it is illegal to seek to persuade anyone of the truth of Christianity.
• In Sudan Christians can be sentenced to death if they were brought up as a Muslim and then converted to Christianity.
• In Iran it is illegal to meet for worship in Farsi (the national language).
• In Somalia Christians have been beheaded by terrorist group al Shabab when it has been discovered that they own a Bible.
• In the Maldives no-one can be President, Prime Minister or even an MP unless they are a Muslim.
• In northern and central and Nigeria hundreds of churches have been destroyed by the Boko Haram terrorist group and Fulani militants.
• In Somaliland (north west Somalia) only Islamic schools are allowed to exist.
• In Pakistan Christians have been sentenced to death under Islamic blasphemy laws for allegedly criticising Islam.
Country profiles on a number of these countries can be found on our website https:// christianpersecution.co.uk/ countries
by James Willsher CES Partnership and Communications Manager
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS NEED YOUR HELP
Are you looking for a way to live out your faith and serve your local community at the same time?
On 10 September Catholics across England and Wales gave thanks for Catholic schools and all those who have found their vocation in Catholic education.
Since the 19th century the Catholic Church has become the country’s largest provider of secondary schools and second-largest provider of primary schools – but now they need your help.
All schools are governed by a body made up of different types of representatives, such as parent governors and teacher governors.
Catholic schools also include foundation governors, who volunteer to ensure the Catholic vision and character of the school is upheld. Appointed on behalf of the Bishop, foundation governors should always form a majority.
Since the pandemic Catholic schools have experienced vacancies for foundation governors — more are needed to sustain the Catholic ethos and leadership of schools.
As a practising Catholic and a reader of Networking you might make an excellent foundation governor, or know someone who might
be interested. Foundation governors come from all walks of life, bringing a mix of skills, knowledge and experience.
The main role of a governing body is at a strategic level, holding the head teacher to account; overseeing financial performance and setting the budget; managing admissions criteria; and being involved in recruiting senior leadership.
Being a foundation governor involves attending on average three full governing body meetings per year as well as serving on a committee focusing on issues such as staff pay, or admissions. Free training is provided by the diocese.
The 2,175 schools, colleges and academies in England and Wales continue to be true to their mission, by educating more pupils from the most deprived backgrounds, and also outperform national GCSE English, Maths and Religious Education averages.
And as throughout history, Catholics must be prepared to support, promote and defend Catholic education.
If you’re interested in finding out more about becoming a foundation governor, please contact your local diocese.
Character Education in Catholic Schools
St Bonaventure’s, London Borough of Newham and Diocese of Brentwood
Every school has values that they wish to instil in the students that go to their school. These values can often be found in mission statements on the school website and on posters and displays around the school. They are to serve as a reminder of the character and behaviours that the students should embody in their day-to-day lives. Part of creating a positive school environment is making sure that the values of the school are not merely a footnote which is referenced from time to time but are an integral part of the school culture. For Catholic schools, ‘Gospel Values’ are often cited as our key reference frame, but are not always fully articulated and acted upon by staff and students.
Whilst having these specific values is key to any school, it is the implementation of these values that allows for them to stand the course of time. How do you ensure these values are taught and embedded as new students and staff members join the school? This was one of the reasons we have adopted the language of school virtues instead of values. They are morally focused, and aim to develop the goodness in every member of the community.
At St Bonaventure’s, we have a proud history of nearly 150 years of education in East London, with current students and alumni referred to affectionately as Bon’s Boys or Bonaventurians. Until recently, many
found it hard to articulate exactly what this meant despite being able to identify students past and present as being “a real Bon’s Boy” for example. And so our virtues were born out of the idea that there was something identifiable about this collection of students, it was clear to us that there were certain characteristics that our students held and were taught that could be extracted and distilled into a set of school virtues to be spoken about and acted upon as a clear example to all in our community.
Character education acknowledges that school goes beyond academic education, it is also an arena whereby students are taught values, moral ideals and build a positive character which will follow them into adulthood. For our school, those virtues are faith, hope, charity, integrity, courage, humility and kinship; these are values that we instil in our students so much so that when our alumni come back to visit they are able to identify them, but also have demonstrated these values in their careers and speak of the positive impact that attending St Bonaventure’s has had on their lives.
Four years ago, we undertook a project to identify and articulate these virtues, working with some friends of the school, in a consultancy role. They worked with students to work out what it meant to be a student in our school - and
by Andy Lewis
then we went out to parents, staff and alumni to ensure we had got it right. This allowed us to embed the language of the virtues quickly. The first three are the theological virtues, which we felt were both important as a Catholic school, but were genuinely evident in our school, while the other four are distinctly Bonaventurian and reflect our Franciscan charism and history.
Faith holds a central role in the education of the students at St Bonaventure’s and as a result, our values are derived from it and also reinforced by it. We have assemblies where we discuss the virtues explicitly. This allows for our students to have a good grasp of the virtues, being taught and sought out rather than an implicit or vague understanding of the virtues. Repetition through multiple means is key in embedding and providing a common language. For example, we have a large display of the virtues in our collective worship space, 6th form study centre and library. They are also on the walls of every classroom. These had only been on the walls a few weeks when Ofsted visited in November 2022, however nearly every student and staff member referred to them in their meetings and the inspectors felt they allowed the community to well articulate what it meant to be a part of the school and why it was a special and unique place. In the report published in January 2023,
Deputy Headteacher at St Bonaventure’s and the Series Editor of Source to Summit, the new Key Stage 3 textbooks
they highlighted the “Bonaventurian way” which fed into the judgement of being Outstanding in all areas. The distinctly Catholic nature and focus on virtue and character education were evident in the report and pleasing for us as a community, that things we believe to be important had a wide impact on all areas of school life.
Students spend a good proportion of their time at secondary school, they are here for five years of their lives, thirty-nine weeks a year so the virtues they learn at school are critical to their development as young people. School plays an important role in individuals' lives academically, socially and morally, therefore there is a responsibility to focus on character building. Virtues that the school hold must be actualised, be that through the way that staff act, assemblies that highlight these virtues and the students having the opportunity to put these values into action. This is imperative because school is more than just getting students to pass their GCSEs, it is about the future. It is about creating welladjusted people, who will be people of integrity; humble, charitable, community-minded individuals who are good citizens - we want them to be virtuous.
When students are at school, they are in the care of the staff at the school, and we act in loco parentis, so every staff member should be ambassadors of the school and it’s values. They too should embody the virtues and behaviours that are expected of the students and be a visble example for students of how they are to act and uphold these virtues. The hope is that the virtues resonate with the students and they regard it as a badge of honour in which they take with them throughout life. It is a sound basis for moral values of how to behave
regardless of circumstance. The way that we reinforce this behaviour is by reference to the virtues on a daily basis, they feature in daily acts of collective worship, as well having a weekly focus on one of the virtues and looking at what corresponding ‘Bon’s behaviours’ and ‘Bon’s basics’ come from these. At the end of each term there is a highly coveted “Assisi tie” which is awarded to a student in each group who has lived out the virtues, they are nominated by their pastoral leaders.
The real test of a school’s character is when the virtues are passed onto new members of the school. Our values are authentic to the school, people here believe in the virtues so the culture is very much felt at the school. New members of our community learn how to behave through the behaviours of others, it is also made clear in assemblies and the extracurricular activities our students are involved in like TELCO (part of Citizens UK) where they have been campaigning for the London Living Wage, housing and youth safety issues. Our students and teachers have opportunities to enact the virtues which help to grow that muscle.
It is also seen in our extensive alumni network with many former students continuing to return to the school and volunteering for careers days and volunteering as governors - our current board includes Tim
Campbell MBE as chair of governors, barrister Joel Semakula, former Catholic headteacher Chris Mabey. A recent alumni fund was launched as the school works towards its 150th anniversary to allow alumni keen to give back financially too. This allows an opportunity show real charity and kinship to current students.
Character-focused education, which is informed by the virtues of the school, are an asset in cultivating a positive school culture as there is a clear value assigned to having those qualities and acting in alignment with them. To be courageous, to engage in charity, being humble or even being a good friend are characteristics that are acknowledged when they are exhibited in our students. Virtues are lived values, they are values in action. The positive reinforcement of these virtues alongside the teaching of and reflection of these values in members of staff means that the whole school community is acting out what it means to be a member of the St Bonaventure’s community. We now have a clear language to cultivate our virtue and character education. The challenge to us all is to be an individual of faith, hope, charity, integrity, courage, humility and kinship, so that our community will remain one defined by these virtues for the next 150 years.
Do Justice: A Vision for Renewal in England and Wales
New stories are being told. Stories of renewal and hope are springing up all over the world from people and communities who are searching for a more fulfilling narrative than the one which has dominated in the west for the last forty or so years. As we survey the catastrophic damage to the earth, our common home, as we see inequality between the wealthy and the poor widen, as we hear the calls for dignified working conditions, as we attend to the rights of those who come to our country seeking asylum, as we support our young people every day with their struggles with the cult of appearances and worldly success, we can see the old story unravelling.
One version of the new story has been told by Jon Alexander, in his book Citizens. The author is not writing as a Christian, but much of what he says will have resonance for Christians. He identifies two great stories that have shaped our lives as human beings in recent times: the subject story and the consumer story. The subject story began when we settled in farming communities some ten thousand years ago and began to create boundaries around ‘our’ settlements. As settlements grew, they became states, with standing armies for protection, and expansion. Leaders emerged, which in turn created subjects.
We gave our allegiance to the leader as subjects in return for security and access to the goods and benefits of the state. The leadership model was essentially command and control and the posture of the subject was one of obedience. The subject story was characterised by hierarchy, patriarchy and duty. In most of our institutions we can see versions of the subject story. The next story – the consumer story – begins somewhere in the nineteenth century but finds its form dramatically after the Second
World War in an age of unprecedented economic expansion. This was the story of consumption, when subjects became customers, with rights and expectations, demands even. For many, of course, the consumer story was only a dream, out of reach, leading to envy and anxiety.
There was no neat transition from one story to the next. The subject story did not fade away as the consumer story took hold. The subject story proved to be remarkably resilient. We have seen its return in the rise of populist leaders, who have often manipulated the downside of the consumer story, the ones left behind by the promises of a comfortable life. The consumer story itself has been held up to intense scrutiny, especially for the damage inflicted on the earth. Our desire for goods, for meat, for transport, has led to the extraction of resources from the natural environment in unsustainable ways. The consumer story has lost much of its glamour, although it too is resilient and will not go quietly.
The new story described by Jon Alexander is the citizen story. This is the story breaking out all over the world in co-operatives, community organising, crowd-funding, participatory budgeting, open source sharing of ideas and proposals. If the subject story was characterised by dependence and the consumer story by (the dream of) independence, then the citizen story might be characterised by interdependence. The emerging citizens story sees people working together to discover purpose and values, to facilitate assemblies and participation, to create networks and spaces for creativity and celebration.
Where is the Church in all this? You might say that much of the history of the Church, at least since we became the official religion of the Roman Empire
by Raymond Friel CEO of Caritas
in the 4th century AD, has been closely linked to the subject story. We have struggled to some extent with the consumer story, which many blame for the decline in Church attendance. For many people, Sunday morning is now spent at the out-of-town retail park rather than in church, or enjoying many of the benefits of being a consumer in the comfort of one’s own home. The citizen’s story has been taken up by some in the Church as they see the convergence between, for example, community organising and social renewal. But it is not entirely our story.
What, then, is our story? What can we contribute to this search for renewal and hope? We only have to look at our scriptures for the answer. There we will find what the new Religious Education Directory calls the “story of stories”, the story of our search for God (or as I prefer to call it, God’s search for us, his lost children). The RED, in its model curriculum, places emphasis on the story of Christian revelation. This is very much in keeping with the teaching of Vatican II, when revelation was described not so much as body of knowledge to be gained, but as an encounter with God and an invitation to friendship and sharing in the divine nature (Dei Verbum, 2).
In his message for World Communications Day in 2020, quoted in the RED (p. 61), Pope Francis says that “the Bible is thus the great love story between God and humanity. At its centre stands Jesus, whose own story brings to fulfilment both God’s love for us and our love for God. Henceforth, in every generation, men and women are called to recount and commit to memory the most significant episodes of the Story of stories, those that best communicate its meaning.”
Social Action Network (CSAN)
This Story of stories is not a story just of the past but also of the present. The story continues to be written, in our schools and parishes, our charities and religious orders. This is the story of God’s activity in the world, wherever grace is breaking through to restore dignity and mend relationships. A key message for our young people in our schools is that they are called to be co-authors of this evolving, Spirit-led story as “witnesses and agents of peace and justice” (CCC, 2442).
At Caritas Social Action Network, the agency of the Bishops’ Conference dedicated to tackling poverty and injustice in England and Wales, we are contributing to this story by embarking on a programme for spiritual and social renewal in England and Wales. The programme is called Do Justice, after the verse from the prophet Micah when we hear that what God requires of us is “to do justice, and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God” (6:8).
At the outset, it may be helpful to remind our young people what the Church teaches about justice. We begin with the Gospel, the moment when Jesus announced his mission statement in the synagogue at Nazareth. Reading from the scroll of Isaiah, he says that he has come, “to bring good news to the poor” (Luke 4: 18). The poor that Jesus refers to here are the poor in spirit, the ones who know their need for God. When Jesus goes on to declare, “let the oppressed go free” (4:18) he makes it clear that the salvation he offers is liberation from everything that oppresses human beings, not just sin. The gospel message has a clear social dimension, a vision for social justice, a re-setting of the circumstances in which people are trapped in economic slavery and debt, a “year of the Lord’s favour” (4:19).
With the intention to restore “sight to the blind” (4:18) at the centre of the rhetorical pattern, we are left in no doubt that the heart of the mission of Jesus is compassion. This is where the Gospel begins, but not where it ends. In the past, we have perhaps placed all the emphasis on compassion and not as much on justice, but the Gospel values at the heart of the message of Jesus are compassion, or love, and justice. This is the basis of the Kingdom of God which he is inaugurating: a new social order,
a new way of being in relationship with each other.
Justice, then, is a Gospel value, as well as the corresponding cardinal moral virtue. It’s something you do, as well as something you live your life by. In the classical formulation, justice “consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbour” (CCC, 1807). What is due to our neighbour is what they need to live “a truly human life” (Gaudium et Spes, 26) and includes food, shelter, education, respect. In other words, human flourishing is not simply having enough to survive, but having the means to thrive.
From the subjective point of view, justice is translated into behaviour that is based on the recognition of the dignity of the other. From an objective point of view, it is the criteria of morality in the social sphere. The Church calls for all forms of justice to be respected: commutative, distributive and legal justice (see: CCC, 2411). These dimensions of justice, which stress the responsibilities as well as the rights of the person, can be brought together under the heading of social justice, which refers to the structural or institutional solutions which promote the common good, the flourishing of all.
The Gospel begins with compassion but does not end there. Love insists on justice, which is the foundation of peace and reconciliation. Christians are called to be active in the world, to build up God’s kingdom. The bishops of England and Wales have said that, “Evangelisation always requires the transformation of an unjust social order; and one of its primary tasks is to oppose and denounce such injustices” (CG, 40). The Catholic community, in other words, should not be silent in the face of social injustice. We are called to raise a prophetic voice. Indeed, we are called to go further than pronouncements, we are called to act. Solidarity, as Pope Francis has said, means more than acts of generosity, it also means “combating the structural causes of poverty, inequality, the lack of work, land and housing, the denial of social and labour rights” (FT, 116).
As we write the next chapter in God’s story of salvation, we are called to see what is around us: the poverty, injustice and isolation in our own community. We
are invited to discern in what we see what is of God and what is not of God, what humanises and what dehumanises, with reference to the Gospel and Catholic Social Teaching. We are then invited to act, to discern what is the most effective course of action we as a school or a parish can do to bring about God’s kingdom of peace and justice.
We are inviting the Catholic community to join us as we write the next chapter of our story of hope. We are asking everyone to consider three questions which may help you in your discernment:
1. Where do you see the Holy Spirit at work in your community for the common good – any examples and case studies?
2. Where do you most see the need for spiritual and civic renewal, in your community and on a national level?
3. What resources or support networks would help you in the ongoing work of renewal?
We’d love to hear from you so we can share the stories of what the Catholic communities of England and Wales are doing to bring about justice. In the next few months, there may well be a general election, a time when there will be many competing stories about what it means to be human, what it means to live well, what it means live together. Please share with us your answers to our three questions, so we can tell our story of hope and renewal.
Please contact us with your reflections on our questions at: admin@csan.org.uk and include Do Justice in the subject of your message. For more information about CSAN and the work of its members, visit: www.csan.org.uk.
Raymond Friel is the CEO of Caritas Social Action Network. For most of his professional life he has worked in Catholic education in a variety of roles, including as headteacher and CEO of two multi-academy trusts. His most recent book, Catholic Social Teaching: an introduction for schools, parishes and charities, has just been published by Redemptorist Books. In 2022, he was awarded an OBE for services to education.
In Loco Parentis –Autoethnographic Perspectives of Catholic School Leadership in a Post-Pandemic Paradigm
This paper was given at the Research Symposium ‘Female Voices in Catholic Education’, held at St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls, London, in May 2023
I am a Catholic, a teacher, a London secondary school Headmistress, a lay faith leader, a researcher, an autoethnographer; a mother. I am a servant, a disciple of Jesus Christ. That I am able to live a life where work, faith and discipleship seamlessly blend is a blessing. Work in a Catholic school community is truly and wholly a lay vocation. Headship in a Catholic community commands totality of giving and serving, then giving and serving more. It is not just a job; it isn’t really a career. It is a way of life.
I love a good story. Autoethnography as a qualitative research methodology as well as a research method in itself, affords a storyteller the space in which to narrate, to describe, to voice, to speak, to dialogue in past, present and speculative future; to both impart and be part of the action. The researcher becomes the researched. The story, as an interpretive truth narrative, becomes the data. The analysis and perspectives become the theoretical framework that leads to a revelation of an interpretive truth. Life and all its human experiences provide a wealth of data to be analysed and interpreted. Learning from lived human experience, I believe, can lead us to a far deeper human wisdom. If I cannot interpret meaning from this life I occupy, from this world, this society, this community, from this role I fulfil, then why do I breathe at all?
Schools operate in microcosms. We are human communities, families of adults of all ages and children at all developmental stages who come together as members and participants of a mission. In Catholic schools our shared mission is to educate and to care. In Catholic schools we build our provision around need. But what happens to provision when needs change?
The past three years have shaken and destabilised what we now have come to realise as the very fragile foundations of society. The safe houses - constructs of what we assumed was infallible brick - have been revealed to be more like houses of sticks; what we believed to be foundations of rock upon which we built have turned into foundations existing unsteadily upon shifting sands. When the pandemic hit in 2020, everything changed. It was, I believe, the start of a massive paradigm shift.
I can only really talk about the world that I inhabit. I can speculate and proselytise along with anyone about the current state of affairs but, as an autoethnographer, I can only ever have agency and therefore hold some integrity of truth if I place the researcher’s lens over my own experience in these places I inhabit and the people I interact with. So I talk from a position of lived experience, to share some of the perspectives on headship in a post pandemic paradigm.
For this paper I have chosen to present these experiences as glimpses into the lifeworld of a serving Head, told through the media of voices and dialogue. The vignettes I now share are based on truth as lived by children. The voices could be from any number of school communities from anywhere in the country; they are representative voices of encounters and real, lived experiences as shared between children and staff and schools. They offer a real and raw insight into childhood lived experienced in this postpandemic era.
I’m hungry; I’m thirsty; I can’t sleep; my head hurts; my body aches. I’m cold; it’s freezing; I can’t feel my toes.
I have no home anymore.
My house is mouldy; the ceiling is black; there’s fungus in the sink; slugs in the shower; water runs down the walls, there’s no hot water. The air is thick with a repulsive stench of rotting damp.
I have to share a bed with my 3 siblings,
by Dr Louise McGowan
my mother sleeps on the floor. There is no food in our house.
I’m frightened to use the bathroom, it’s up the stairs where those other people are staying - they scare me.
We are cramped into one room, my mother, father, sister, and me and my little brother wets himself and screams all the time.
I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes I hear the bombs, the gunshots, the explosions. I hear the screaming and crying. I am running towards the plane but my legs won’t carry me.
I can’t find my father. I see my brother waving. He has been held back by the soldiers. He cannot reach the plane. The doors are closing. The engines are so loud. We are climbing. My country is disappearing. It’s covered in smoke and fire. The land moves further away. My father has been shot, my brother left behind – they dragged him away. I cling to my mother; don’t let go of me. Don’t ever let go.
Why have you been late every day this week? I do get up early Sir. I have to look after my sister. My mother is asleep; she works every night. She needs to rest now so she can wake for her morning job. I fix my sister her breakfast, get her ready for school, brush her hair and help her clean her face and teeth. We take the bus then I drop her at her school then I run as fast as I can to try and make it before the gate closes. I never do. I just can’t seem to run fast enough.
I’m so tired I can’t keep my eyes open. I can’t read what’s on the board; there are so many words- what do they all mean? If
Dr Louise McGowan is the serving Headmistress of St Claudine’s Catholic School for Girls in northwest London, a member school of the Diocese of Westminster Academy Trust and a school founded in 1888 by the Congregation of the Religious of Jesus and Mary. Her research interests lie in the qualitative methodologies of autoethnography and biographical narrative in the field of Catholic leadership
I just rest my head on the table, just for a minute and close my eyes…. My clothes don’t fit. We have no money to buy uniform. My shoes fell apart yesterday. I am wearing my trainers and my PE kit today - I hope no one notices. I can just say I have a club after school. Term ends soon then it is another school holiday. It’s really hard at home. I’m scared to go out. I wish the time away so it will be over soon and I can go back to school.
They are shouting again. I can hear them. A glass smashes, my mother screams, a door slams. I am hiding in the corner curled up on the floor. My hands cover my ears but I can still hear them. Where is your bag and all your books? Why are you not in uniform? I don’t have it today, Miss. Why not? I didn’t go home last night. They locked me out. What did you do? Where did you go? I walked around for a bit then I just rode on the night buses.
We’ve been evicted. We can’t pay the rent. The landlord had changed the locks. We have nowhere to go. We slept on the streets last night. Tonight we are going to sleep in the shelter. At least it’s warm there.
I miss her, I just want my mum. Why did she have to go? It’s not fair. Now I’ve lost both my mum and my dad. Why does everyone die?
Let’s get you upstairs to the uniform store. I am sure we can find you a new jumper; that one is covered in holes. Do you want to put this set of uniform on so we can give that shirt a good wash? They are waiting for me outside. They created another hate chat and they say things about me. People post ‘likes’ and ‘crying with laughter’ emojis when one of them makes a nasty comment. It never stops. I hate my life. I don’t want to be here anymore.
We did the home visit as agreed. I can’t believe our families have to live like that. No one should have to live like that. It’s a national disgrace! It’s immoral!
I hate school. I wish everyone would get off my case. I can’t face another lesson; I hide in the toilet and I let the tears come.
I sit in assembly and we pray. I pray so hard every day….. but I don’t think God can hear me.
These are just fragments of what we face today in schools; schools in areas of acute social and economic deprivation; schools have quickly become havens,
places of refuge, of sanctuary from often torturous lives and experiences. Children are facing challenges in their lives that no child, indeed no adult should have to face. Schools have to respond and adapt; leadership must be intuitive. But you can only respond to need, and build provision if you really listen and try to understand the reality of the lifeworld of your children.
It all seems so much worse now. Levels of poverty are critical. But the danger is that the longer this goes on, poverty becomes the norm - we may stop seeing it, the children will just accept it. Many are living lives carrying adult responsibilities; you see it in their burden.
Twelve years ago, when I first became a Headteacher, nearly all the focus was channelled towards attainment. Targets, data, key performance measures. Academics first, pastoral care underpinning. Now we face a deluge of pastoral and welfare issues. Academics, achievement, progress now seem to be overshadowed by more pressing needs. In many cases it is more about survival than about scores. All the relentless pressure on results and competition in the education market, the vice-like grip of the inspection regime that will not release, it all seems rather small and pointless compared to the lived reality of what it now really means to educate and to care.
Schools are providing lifelines to children. Society is failing them, the most vulnerable are weakened. Parents struggle to parent; children struggle to be children. But look to the school; it stands like a pillar. It is stable, certain, it is always there; it won’t leave or disappear. It is familiar. It is sometimes the only place a child is greeted with a smile; the only time in a day when a child can feel safe; sometimes the only place they feel loved.
At school a child can be fed breakfast, given snacks, clean water, nourished with a hot meal. They can pick up a toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, deodorant, shampoo, sanitary products, clean underwear. Torn skirts and trousers can be repaired, shoes glued back together. A warm winter coat, gloves and scarf provided. Counsellors, mentors, mental health practitioners, pastoral support carers, welfare officers now form a growing part of the school staff team.
Somewhere amongst all the chaos, children will learn. They are remarkable at that. Their resilience may have taken a knock but a full tummy, a warm and safe
environment, friendly faces, a listening ear. They will learn. And they will study and will sit their tests and examinations. And one day, they will leave and find their place in a world that might or might not care. But, as their Headmistress, I will know I have done for them what any mother would. The hardest part of the job is still in the letting go. In loco parentis - it all begins again.
Where in God’s name are we? Is this really 2023?
It isn’t just the children who struggle with poverty. A hardened shell has formed around many young people now. Reports are being aired that schools are struggling with increasing levels of defiance, nonchalance amongst children, lack of concern for sanction, deliberate acts of disruptive and disrespectful behaviour, combative parents. An age of refusal to cooperate; it brings with it its own sense of hopelessness. And staffwhat of the people who worked through the pandemic, who kept going, who adapted and created a new model of teaching through a screen before society started to re-open and educate in person once more. What has the impact been on the staff? There has been a distinct increase in fragility; absenteeism; staff affected by pressure and stress that now tips one over the edge of a far lower threshold of resilience. Staff are much more sensitive; not so stoic: damage has been done.
I fear for our profession. It is a hotbed of social and economic issues that are looking increasingly exacerbated. Rising tensions accompany the rising cost of living. More people are looking strained under the burden they carry; many more are actively seeking an exit plan. It’s just too much.
And in the midst of all this lies the Headteacher. The figurehead, the leader, the constant, the pillar. The educator, the carer, the facilitator, the visionary, the pragmatist, the soothsayer, the safe harbour, the peacemaker, the politician, the magician; the disciple of Christ.
Unlike Christ, I don’t possess divine strength to carry my own cross to Golgotha. The late Professor John West Burnham once asked: ‘Who cares for the carer?’
Where in all this do I re-fuel? The job is but a fragment of its former identity in this post-pandemic paradigm. But I keep going, one step at a time, one day at a time.
But what troubles me most is this: Who will care when I am gone?
A Point to Ponder with Fr Neil McNicholas Decisions, Decisions!
Whether you turn to right or left, your ears will hear these words behind you,‘This is the way, follow it’. (Is 30 v 21)
What follows may start out sounding like a poetry appreciation session, but it isn’t, so please do read on even if you’re not into poetry. First of all it is said that almost everyone gets the title of this Robert Frost poem wrong – it’s “The Road Not Taken” not “The Road Less Travelled” as it tends to be called. And whether people get the title right or wrong I suspect that, like me, many will be familiar with the third and fourth lines of the final verse but may not have even read the rest of the poem. So let’s take a look at the whole thing before I explain why I was thinking about it.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.
Clearly the poem is about making choices and decisions. The person is faced with a choice between two paths through a wood, one seems more worn, more used, than the other, but he or she doesn’t automatically follow it just because more people appear to have walked that way. Instead they choose the path which seems less used, perhaps just to see what everyone else has been missing, and yet once they start to walk along it, it is more worn, more used, than it first appeared. And so the person continues along that path which, obviously, others have used and so it must go somewhere – in fact, as one commentator said, maybe the other path was more worn because people had gone down it, found it wasn’t a good choice, and turned back (so walking along it twice making it appear to be more used) and then took the other, less worn, path.
In making that decision, the person reasons that they can always come back another day and see what they may have missed by taking the other path, and yet, being realistic, they know they probably won’t because once they have taken the path they chose, it may well open up new experiences (take them in new directions) such that the other path will no longer be of interest. But then in the last verse there’s an apparent contradiction in that if the choice they made of “the road less travelled” made all the difference, then why would they be talking about it “with a sigh” as if they regretted the decision – perhaps the “sorry I could not travel both” of verse one? If the
choice they made did indeed make all the difference, then it’s surely counterproductive to dwell on the “what ifs” of the situation.
The poem provides us with much to think about when it comes to the choices we are faced with in terms of Christian living, not to mention the temptations that attempt to lead us astray and possibly into sin. There are always at least two alternatives and we find ourselves standing at that fork in the road with a decision to make. The fact that one of the choices is clearly well-trodden, well-used, doesn’t necessarily make it the best choice. How many people have made that choice and then found they were wrong and had to retrace their steps and try again? How many may never have recognised the error of their ways? So, then, how do we decide? How can we be sure? We’ll come back to that in a moment.
The same situation confronts us when we are trying to deal with temptation. Very often the choice is actually easier if we have taken the wrong path in the past and then discovered the error of our ways. The important thing this time around is not to be led astray again but to make the correct choice no matter how “grassy” (to quote the poem), how attractive, even how “right” (except not really), the alterative may seem. Just like the person in the poem, one of the strongest temptations may be the “what ifs”, the little voice that
Fr Neil McNicholas was ordained in 1993 and was a priest of the Diocese of Middlesbrough. Whilst serving in various parishes, he has been a member of the religious broadcasting team on local radio; worked as a prison chaplain; a port chaplain; and as a parish priest.
appeals to our curiosity, to justify “just seeing” what a particular choice might be like. But before we know where we are we find ourselves lost in the undergrowth and, while we may now recognise that we don’t want to go any further forward, it might be very difficult to find our way back - which is where the sacrament of reconciliation (confession) comes in.
So how can we be sure of the choices we have to make, or at least the process involved in making up our mind? The grace of God is essential to that process and, just as importantly, being open to that grace. It’s what we call discernment – taking into account all the factors we need to consider, to reflect on, and to pray about before we make up our mind.
One of the more well-known proponents of the process of discernment was St Ignatius of Loyola, indeed it forms the basis of his equally well-known Spiritual Exercises. I don’t think he, or we, would recommend making decisions in quite the way he did in the early days of his relationship with God, although, having said that, there are some elements that are basic to the process of discernment that Ignatius would later develop and teach, but, as you will see, at this stage it needs a little refinement! Once again a fork in the road figures prominently.
It was 1522 and Ignatius was on his way to the shrine of Our Lady at Monserrat in the south-east of Spain. These were early days in his spiritual development and a time when his previous military background wasn’t quite as behind him as it should have been. As he was riding along on his mule, a Moor caught up with him and they began talking about Our Lady and the Moor began to make disparaging remarks about the virgin birth. The Moor eventually rode off and left Ignatius to reflect on their discussion and in fact he became quite incensed by what had been said and the offence
that he felt had been offered to Our Lady and he determined that he would pursue the Moor to the town where he had been going and “strike him with his dagger” in defence of Our Lady’s honour, but at the same time he struggled to be sure that that would be the right thing to do. Still unable to make up his mind, his mule came to a fork in the road and Ignatius decided that he would release the reins and if the mule took the track to the village he would take that as a sign from God that he should find the Moor and kill him. If, however, the mule took the other road, then it would be a sign that God’s will was to let the Moor go - and that’s what happened.
It would be very convenient if we could let mules do our decisionmaking for us but, alas, we have to do better than that. Nevertheless the basic principle is the same –that we have to be open to God’s will and that means letting go of the reins, so to speak, and allowing God to guide us in the decision or the choice to be made. It’s what Ignatius would eventually call detachment – being as open to one alternative as to another according to what God makes clear we should do. But, of course, often these can’t be snap decisions but require much time and prayer so we can be as confident as possible that we have been open to God showing us his will and not that we are being persuaded by what we would prefer to do. And even when we think we have taken the right road, we still need to keep an eye on the signs along the way just to make sure that we weren’t wrong or haven’t somehow strayed from the right path.
This would be an important process, as we said earlier, in any decisions we have to make in our life as Christians, but especially so when we are faced with temptation to take paths that are other than God’s way. St Ignatius taught that a help to knowing whether we are right or wrong in the choices we have made would be the difference
between spiritual “consolation” and “desolation”. To quote from his Spiritual Exercises:
I call consolation every increase of faith, hope, and love, and all interior joy that invites and attracts us to what is heavenly and to the salvation of one’s soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord.
I call desolation what is entirely the opposite – darkness of soul, turmoil of spirit, inclination to what is low and earthly, restlessness arising from many disturbances and temptations which lead to want of faith, hope and love.
Just as in consolation the good spirit guides and counsels us, so in desolation the evil spirit guides and counsels. Following his counsels we can never find the way to a right decision.
In the ‘Office of Readings” (for Wednesday of Week 4) there is a reading from the 5th century Byzantine saint Diadochus of Photike who, on the subject of discernment, said: Thus the mind will be able to discriminate between the suggestions which pass through it, and will place those which are good and come from God in the treasure house of memory, while it will eject from this natural reservoir those which are evil and come from the devil. Just as through our bodily sense of taste we distinguish unmistakably the good from the bad, so in the same way our spirit is able to feel in all its fullness the divine consolation without being led astray by whatever is hostile to it. The spirit retains an unfading memory of this taste, discerning infallibly what is best.
As a final thought, the world being as it is and the society around being as it is, it is perhaps the Lord’s way that is the road less travelled by and, therefore, with Frost we too might say:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.
Hard-wiring the Charism in a Bedrock of Hope
Since last September’s edition of Networking in a series of articles, I have been sharing outcomes from my research into the spiritual capital of Catholic independent schools in the UK. This piece marks the final instalment of this initial phase of the research. The research itself was inspired by that of Professor Grace whose seminal work, Mission, Markets and Morality (2002), explored the spiritual capital of Catholic schools by engaging Headteachers in a series of semistructured interviews. In my own research I sought answers to the same questions Grace posed but this time to Headteachers in Catholic independent schools, to ascertain the extent to which the spiritual capital of religious congregations is similarly impactful today in their schools. In this piece I shall explore answers to the final two questions:
• What are the challenges in sustaining your distinctive charism?
• How is it relevant today? As ever, it is the words of the Heads which bring us to the reality of the situation and their voices shape the narrative content of the article which highlights what they perceive are the challenges to sustaining the spiritual capital of their schools and its relevance in the 21st century. What unfolds are emergent themes which are not
exclusive to independent schools but will resonate across all sectors of Catholic education.
Succession, formation, markets and margins
When asked about the challenges to sustaining the charism, Heads acknowledged that these were both internal and external. Externally, the greatest threat was identified by one Head as ‘the secular, material culture which, again, produces … minimalist, reductionist views of education’. This Head continues: ‘We’re trying to give a fully complete view of education but the world outside can sometimes dictate the agenda as to how or what it should look like. And that goes back to the point that if we then adapt too much, our countercultural vision of education ceases to exist’. Maintaining this balance of an education of the heart, the head and the hand, as Pope Francis has put it, can be challenging in a school where some of their parent body select a school for reasons other than its Catholicity: ‘…there aren’t that many Catholics within ten miles of the school..and it’s just an irrelevance to most people. It’s not that they’re actively hostile to faith or anything like that…but it’s just sort of quaint’. This lack of significance of the Catholic identity of the school for its potential parent body can lead to other tensions in the economic market of the independent school sector, bringing
an uncompromising reality to Grace’s triduum of market, mission and morality. One Head expresses this as follows: ‘And I know that our Admissions Registrar is concerned about the fact that we have in our strap line, we have the word ‘Catholic’ in there, in a way in which Anglican schools don’t say that they’re Anglican…. it’s putting people off’. The irony of the Catholic core, distinctive identity of a school and its unique educational mission being a ‘brand weakness’ must be acknowledged, however in weakness is strength, and the Head’s response is inspiring and uncompromising: ‘I think it’s essentially saying, ‘Catholic Heads, stick to your guns! You know what you’re doing, your judgement’s good’. I feel confident about the vision for our school, I’ve articulated it and the governors are behind me and generally parents will buy into that. Particularly if they didn’t have that themselves…. their children are getting something of value and they’ll have an understanding of faith in life… they’ll have an understanding of these things’.
The challenge presented by what one Head terms ‘the secularisation of society’ is acknowledged by others: ‘The problem schools like this [Catholic independent] are going to have… …is that there’ll always be a percentage of parents and kids who are indifferent and don’t really want us to push things beyond a certain point. But that’s a creative tension, I think’. Another Head agrees: ‘I
don’t know the way the Lord is going to work with these young people. All I can do is present them with a way of living and a way of proceeding’. This sense of positivity in terms of a Catholic education being counter-cultural and a means of influencing society for the common good is beautifully enunciated by another Head: ‘It’s the existential question, what are we destined to become? It’s Newmans’ “You’re a link in a chain with some purpose that you may not fully understand…” it’s all of that. And if you buy into that world view, which we do, then we have to educate people to also see the world through that filter as well. And recognise that, again, maybe built into our DNA is that sense of hope which recognises the divine in ourselves and each other’. Another Head affirms this sense of hope, referencing the school as a place of encounter at a time when young people can feel alienated from the institutional Church: ‘But you know, as much as it might be the ‘Big Church’ that people kick against, it will be the ‘Personal Church’ that gives them something different’.
And this ‘something different’, is being ‘delivered’ and ‘received’ by a declining number of Catholic pupils and staff – an ‘internal’ consequence of the external challenge of the increasingly secular society that our schools now operate within (cf. the CES Census Data 2022). Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the majority of Heads cited Catholic succession as the main
challenge to sustaining their school’s charism in the years ahead. The appointment of faith committed senior leaders and Heads is key to ensuring a continuity of presence and a majority of those ‘who get it’ rather than those ‘who don’t’. As one Head put it: ‘There are not enough people on the staff who believe in him’. The responsibility of this manifests itself in a number of ways. One Head, many years into the headship of his/her school, said: ‘Best practice is that you will appoint successors who will carry on the baton. And that’s my biggest concern, that my successor will…I don’t know… will have less formation to comfortably navigate through the challenges. It is the challenge for the next generation of Heads… the complexities of contemporary family life and what is their experience of Church?’ But I feel deep down, that is my fear… carrying that baton’. Another Head echoes this in terms of recruitment more generally: ‘...my biggest concern is well informed people who take their faith seriously and want to teach. For me that Catholic intellectualism is quite important’. The solution to this issue for one Head is staff formation and particularly ‘how you form your leadership. Catholic Heads are hard to find and if you’re not genuinely interested in charism or want to understand it, then there’s a risk it will move away. It’s about how you form your leadership and how you recruit into the right positions to help you hold your strategy to account’.
For one Head, this formation for leadership must aim to dispel perceived barriers in terms of suitability for senior roles and encourage an understanding of a personal vocation to leadership: ‘I think it’s a PR job around telling people it’s a great job and it’s also a PR job around not worrying that you’re not good enough..and that is not just good enough academically but more importantly not “Catholic” enough. Because when I have spoken to people about going for jobs, they say “Emmm I don’t know... I’ve used contraception”. And I say, “That’s not a deal breaker. I don’t think you’ll be asked about that at interview!”’. However what one Head would ask at interview, is ‘what is your relationship with Christ?’ A question, the Head acknowledges, that many Catholics would not like to be asked ‘or know the answer to’. However, forming leaders who can articulate a response to this question is the goal, ‘and we can speak to that, get people interested in it and then actually show them that there’s more depth to faith. I think it’s exciting times for the Church’.
Exciting times, indeed, and a time of transition, as a further consequence of our more secularised times is the fall in vocations to religious congregations and their ‘dwindling presence’ in the schools. In discussing this, one Head said: ‘…the fewer concrete connections with the Founding congregation then the more difficult it becomes.
At the moment it’s still a living relationship because we’ve still got them in the school…Once that goes, then that becomes really difficult, it becomes history rather than the present.’ And herein lies the challenge. Is the charism sufficiently embedded that it will continue to grow and be nurtured in the absence of the Congregation’s physical, if not spiritual, presence? Will it matter as much to the next Headteacher and the one after that who will be appointed after the Congregation has left the school? And if not, will it eventually cease to be relevant and significant in the life of the school? For one Head, ‘…it goes back to this phrase I’ve used before … Values everybody latches onto …but what are the beliefs? And therein lies the challenge. What is the faith? What is the belief of the school? And year on year, generation after generation…. what do we believe in?’ Another Head acknowledges this concern but is more optimistic: ‘But you just have to find other ways of keeping that going. There are loads and loads of Catholic schools who weren’t founded by Religious Orders and they can flourish so there’s a lot to learn there. And obviously we can learn from our relationship with the diocese’.
For one Head, the solution to all the challenges is communication – ‘communicating the charism so that it’s understood and it’s sufficiently attractive [because] it’s not even about the charism, it’s about the communication of the importance of religion and
indeed, Christianity and indeed, therefore, the Roman Catholic faith. Is it easy to convey the charism? Well, not always so you have to try very, very hard so that all understand what it is that makes that school distinct and special’. This conversation, which must take place with pupils, parents and staff, ‘is genuinely a challenge but also a joy and a privilege to try to convey on a daily basis…the joy of the Christian message...a message of love, joy and hope… It is extraordinarily rare that schools would actually talk about these things so let’s just get back to those values and try to live out one’s faith in a meaningful, joyful way on a daily basis. That, actually, is the challenge’. And it is a challenge that is embraced by all the Heads because of the relevance of their charisms to nurturing a flourishing life in our contemporary setting.
Charisms – rooted and relevant
The benefits of sustaining their individual charisms are very much what Heads feel makes them relevant to contemporary life and living. For some it is about how it supports individuals to find purpose and meaning: ‘It’s relevant today if that education enables us to understand who we are meant to be and become. And, you know that question is both anthropological and theological in construct’. ‘I think it’s about giving them the confidence and that sense of responsibility to be able to deal with things. And I also think it’s about that sense of faith, isn’t it?’. The significance of this is further
extrapolated by another Head: ‘I have this great belief in the thirst for children to have a relationship with God and, in our more adult terminology, to have a sense of the sacred and the transcendent in their lives. And if you just give in to the world it’s the greatest disservice you can do them. The world offers less and less joy and happiness’.
Other Heads agree but also acknowledge the wider benefits in terms of service to the common good that their charism brings to society at large: ‘Reflection or spirituality or having responsibilities as a person of faith or a Christian to help others, you know. So sometimes our Muslim parents like it more. It’s the irony of all the division. In our schools we have Muslim parents choosing to come here and their children are flourishing because we value religion’. And this commitment to the value and importance of faith, whilst formative in the life of the school, will remain with the pupils and staff : ‘The relevance of faith within the West is decreasing…and there’s no sense that the children are, necessarily, going “to get religion”..but hopefully they will go out with a sense of values and a sense of purpose, always, always, always for the greater good…and then they will find value and give it to a society that greatly needs it…and hopefully find some discernment of faith thereafter!’.
This duality of the reception of the Christian message as faith encounter and/or philosophical consideration, and the inherent
value of each, is described by one Head as a gift: ‘…we talk to these young people who may come from no faith background and say, “You know what? Some of this might be quite useful to you and you can take it or leave it and you can talk about it and you can argue against it and you can reject it and come back to it, but actually, it’s something that will anchor you and potentially be there for you when things get tough” … We have given them a gift and it’s something they appreciate…especially right at the the end of their time here, they’re like, “You know, actually, that’s quite good!” That’s why it is relevant’. And this response beautifully elucidates the dual relevance that Heads feel their charism holds for their school communities: the significance of forming people who will transform society for the better and the hopeful tension that it might also bring them to a consideration of personal faith.
Faith, hope and hard-wiring
What Catholic schools and their charisms provide is a space to consider the big questions of life and a vernacular through which ‘to explore that thing inside our heads and hearts that’s not easily packed away’. These Heads, through their individual school charisms, are nurturing communities to face the challenges of modern living with a sense of purpose through a vital and meaningful connection with the values of their religious congregations. For them, ‘It’s about a way of being…and a good way of being ‘people’
and ‘community’ and a way of teaching which brings all pupils and teachers to a fullness of life which isn’t diminished or diluted’. The acknowledged challenges shape the manner in which the charisms are communicated and shared but their pertinence and relevance remain. As the presence of the Religious Orders and their Trusteeships diminish, their mandate is passed to the Heads whose spirit, hope and faith continues to ensure that their charisms remain at the heart of their schools. This responsibility brings anxieties but also a rebellious passion for leading an educational vision which one Head described as ‘counter-cultural’ but whose future is assured, as another Head put it, because ‘it is in the hard-wiring. And no matter how much society might tell us otherwise, if things are in the hard-wiring they’re always going to come out in the end’.
References
Grace, G. (2002), Mission, Markets and Morality, London Routledge
Catholic Education Service (2022), Digest of 2022 Census Data for Schools and Colleges in England https://cescensus. org.uk/downloads/ CensusDigestEngland2022.pdf
Newman on The Living Dead and Teresa on the School Photo: Thoughts to Chew on in October
I write these words at the beginning of August, on long-term sick leave after a bowel cancer diagnosis just before October 22 half-term. Deo volente, I anticipate being back in the thick of things in a month's time. A small task I have taken upon myself over the last two and a half years in my role as Assistant Head for Catholic Life is to write a weekly piece called Friday Thought. Varying in length (800-1500 words), it consists of a few reflections rooted in a gospel perspective and thrown out via email for the adult members and stakeholders of our school community (staff, trustees, parents, parish clergy, etc) in a humble attempt to offer spiritual nourishment, something to chew on over the weekend, something to take or leave. (Many close friends have told me that they completely ignore the email, which is usually in their Inbox by 8am on a Friday, because they never open anything more than a paragraph in length! LOL.)
Whenever there is a breakdown in communication, there can be fault on either or both sides. If people are not interested in the Church’s message, it is unwise to take refuge in a blanket moaning about a surrounding secular culture. Anyone spending time in Church circles for more than five minutes will be all too aware that we are not always as imaginative as we could be in our proclamation of the gospel, nor do we always walk the walk in embodying the gospel. I have always enjoyed getting to know those for whom faith seems nonsense or problematic. Almost
three decades of priesthood and teaching in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions have blessed me with many encounters with people who have little time for religion and even less time for the Church. (That is not to say, of course, that they were not sincerely searching for meaning - many of them self-designated as “spiritual”.) I have come to realise that my own upbringing, life experiences (both wise and foolish, virtuous and sinful) and attempts to live within the Church as a critical son have provided precious roots and depths from which to draw as I look to translate, proclaim and incarnate the gospel with a fresh, imaginative tone. Although I have probably got in the way more times than I care to remember, I have always done my best to cooperate with God’s grace at work in the human drama of people’s lives. I have tried to accompany people in their struggles with matters of faith, meaning and love - less ‘from the outside’, at the level of argument, and more ‘from the inside’, through the honest, personal exploration of their hopes, dreams, relationships, loves, hatreds, disappointments, mistakes, heartbreaks, shame, laughter and joys. Such work is labelled ‘fundamental theology’ by the Church, but a less grandiose description might call it the great privilege of hobbling along (I use the verb deliberately - see below, Aquinas) with siblings through the strange and mysterious gift called life.
My Friday Thought can draw its inspiration from many sources, but I will limit myself here to naming
by Paul Rowan
Paul was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Liverpool in 1995. He has been on the academic and formation staff of 3 seminaries, in Rome and the U.K. He has taught and been involved in pastoral and chaplaincy work in primary, secondary and tertiary education, which has included pontifical and secular institutions. He is currently an Assistant Head (Director of Catholic Life and Formation) at Beaulieu Convent School Jersey in the Channel Islands.
three: 1) The Church’s liturgical cycle - say, the readings at Mass for the upcoming Sunday, or a saint of the day, the particular week or the following week (depending when the feast falls); 2) An event in the local or wider community (e.g. the Euthanasia debate by our local politicians, the death of the Queen, or the approaching Synod in Rome); 3) Some aspect of our individual or shared human drama (e.g. truth and honesty, the struggle to live with authenticity, sexuality, coping with the mess of the Church or the workplace, bereavement, living joyfully, humour, laughter, etc). With regard to this last point, our shared human drama, I am with Henri Nouwen who (drawing on Carl Rogers) said: “[A]nyone trying to live a spiritual life will soon discover that the most personal is the most universal, the most hidden is the most public, and the most solitary is the most communal. What we live in the most intimate places of our beings is not just for us but for all people. That is why our inner lives are lives for others.” Clearly not everyone can, is comfortable with, brave enough, or should share with others what is personal to them. Some people, however, are called to do so if they are to be faithful to their own particular embodiment of the vocation we all receive from Christ (i.e. the call to love). Friday Thought seeks to explore how the human drama is the theatre of the Spirit, a potential work of gospel artistry as the arena in which God slowly transforms each of us, through a network of relationships with others, into a person of love (the technical word is ‘saint’) in an adventure that lasts a lifetime. One of our tradition’s great philosophertheologian saints, Thomas Aquinas, reminds us of this when he comments on a line from another candidate for the title of ‘GOAT Catholic philosopher-theologian’: “St. Augustine says: ‘Make humanity your way and you shall arrive at God.’ It is better to limp along the way than to stride along some other
route.” (Office of Readings of the Church, Saturday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time). For what Aquinas calls limping along, I earlier used ‘hobbling’.
The Saints are a great mine of spiritual resources when working in Catholic Education. Looking ahead to the month after the one in which this edition of Networking comes out, I am reminded that October provides us with opportunities to consider the lives of John Henry Newman and Teresa of Avila. Although Teresa’s feast day on 15th October makes way this year for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, I will still draw on both her and Newman for what remains of this article, in an attempt to illustrate the kind of thing I try to do (a little longer than usual for the purposes of this article) in Friday Thought. Here goes…
This coming Monday (9th October), we celebrate the feast of Saint John Henry Newman, a brilliant Anglican turned Catholic priest-theologian who made enormous contributions to our understanding of holistic education. A Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford and one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, which sought to re-introduce Catholic elements into the Church of England, Newman became a Roman Catholic in 1845, was ordained a RC priest in 1847 and made a Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1879. Intensely unpopular among many of the English elite because of the perceived treachery of ‘poping’ (an English phrase traditionally used to describe the action of a person of the realm who becomes a Roman Catholic), Newman was also never quite fully welcome in the Catholic Church, where his new coreligionists were a little put out by the recommendations of a hitherto “Protestant” (these were different times)! Popular or not, Newman is considered one of the great literary stylists of the Victorian period: “Nobody has written English that can be compared with Newman's
cloistered silver veined prose.” (James Joyce)
During the first lockdown, once The Sopranos and Game of Thrones had been ticked off my watchlist, I had a go at The Walking Dead, a seemingly never-ending (I eventually gave up!) horror series about Zombies, the undead, or what Hollywood used to call (back in 1968) the ‘Living Dead.’ At the risk of stating the obvious, the Living Dead are former human beings walking around, seemingly alive, but dead on the inside. One of my favourite lines from Newman is: “Fear not that your life shall come to an end; fear rather that your life shall never have a beginning.” Newman warns that we ourselves can, slowly and subtly, become one of the living dead – a zombie, someone who appears to be alive, but is dead on the inside. This is a sort of creeping death, imperceptibly stalking and consuming those whose lives are centred solely on things, whose lives are empty of any realisation that all the things that they possess have actually been given to them as gifts to help them love others. The living dead are those who use people and love things, instead of using things to love people.
A counterexample to zombie living is found in Newman. For all of his intellectual brilliance, one of the things that most shines through Newman’s copious correspondence is his humble concern for others, especially ordinary folk. Though his counsel was endlessly sought out by aristocracy, archbishops and cardinals, he remained humble of heart. Working as a priest in Birmingham in 1864, Newman received an invitation from a manipulative, ambitious and wannabe hidden hand in Rome called Monsignor George Talbot. The latter appealed to Newman’s intellectual pride in an attempt to coax him into delivering a Lenten sermon in one of the Eternal City’s
prestigious churches (run by Talbot - of course there was something in it for him). Newman penned a succinct reply:
Dear Monsignor Talbot,
I have received your letter, inviting me to preach next Lent in your church at Rome, to “an audience of Protestants more educated than could ever be the case in England.”
However, Birmingham people have souls; and I have neither taste nor talent for the sort of work, which you cut out for me: and I beg to decline your offer.
I am etc. JHN.
We don’t have to look far to find, inside and outside the Church and its educational establishments, plenty of Talbots and too few Newmans. This omnipresent and most contemporary of Catholic sins is the confusion of self-promotion with the advancement of the Kingdom of God - what I call the feather-bedding of one’s own agendas in Christ’s name. You spot it very early on in seminary, but it is a very human flaw and by no means confined to the clergy. Consider for a moment the various forms of Catholic social media: they offer an unbelievable evangelising potential, to be sure - but have you ever wondered how much of the stuff put out there is about Jesus and how much is all about the poster’s career and reputation?
Newman challenges us to examine our priorities before God, to consider if we are truly living or merely existing, and then to make adjustments if needs be. The good things we have in our life can be used to do good. If we have money, we can use it to take care of those we love, to put food on the table, to buy a car for the school run, and to go on holiday to recreate our loved ones and ourselves. Or we can use
it to amass more and more of the stuff we cannot take with us when we die. We can use any power we have to care for others, especially those entrusted to us by God. Or we can use it for an ego trip and to assert ourselves (others will suffer). If we like alcohol, we can use it to throw a party to build community, or to soothe a friend in pain as we provide a shoulder to cry on. Of course, we can also use booze to avoid reality. And ICT can be used to evangelise, or to get others (especially those higher up and those we need something from) to notice how great we are. The things we have are good, not bad (this is Catholic spirituality, not Puritan). The problem lies in how we use these things. It’s when we become addicted to things – enslaved to money, alcohol, power, popularity, career, reputation, etc. – that we are zombies, undead, even if we won’t or can’t admit it (most addicts never admit addictions to start with). After we have got the basics in life, the alternative to addiction is to really live. At the end of our life, when we are asked by God, “What was your life all about?” Newman advises us that, “More and more!” is not the right answer – unless, of course, more and more is followed by the word “love”!
Teresa of Avila would endorse Newman’s advice wholeheartedly. Her famous Interior Castle suggests that we are only a mature disciple of Christ and an elder in the community (as anyone working in education should aspire to be) when our concerns no longer focus on the self (Pope Francis often calls out the Church’s ‘self-referentiality). When religious people wonder, “How do I get to Heaven?” (a more Evangelical version is, “Am I saved?”) Teresa would say they are asking the wrong question, because there is a self-focus. God does not expect us to obliterate ourselves, of course, and such questions are fine for spiritual beginners - a jump-start on the journey to God.
But the self is not meant to be our main focus as we move through life. Our real question needs to become: “How can my life be given away to others?” Questions such as “Am I saved?” or “How do I get to Heaven?” translate in the world of education as, “How do I make [insert next rung on the school or faculty ladder]?” or “How can I avoid teaching undergrads so I can work on my next book?” Again, there is nothing wrong with wanting to fulfil our potential. But Buddhism says that I can tell what’s wrong with the world and myself by looking at a group-photo. Do I react by checking if it’s a good shot of the school or faculty? Or do I first check out how I turned out in the photo? Again, Teresa would say that spiritual maturity is not about eradicating our ego, but it is about being content to integrate it into the group-photo (because we will be part of a much bigger group photo in Heaven - the class of those who gave life away in love).
“Fear not that your life shall come to an end; fear rather that your life shall never have a beginning.” What or whom is my life really all about? A good question for us all in the month of October!
Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, life of Saints Teresa of Avila and John Henry Newman, help us, supported by their intercession, to truly live. May our adventures in this world shape us each day to learn that our life is not about us, until that day comes when “the shadows lengthen, the evening comes,the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then, Lord, in your mercy, grant us safe lodging, holy rest, and peace at the last”, with you and our friends, Teresa and John. For you are Lord, forever and ever. Amen.
News from CATSC
Meeting the New Headmaster and St Laurence Education Trust at Ampleforth College, York
Prof. John Lydon was privileged to be invited to lead the Annual Retreat for Governors 2023 on 16th March 2023, by lay chaplain at Ampleforth College and MA in Catholic School Leadership student at St Mary’s University, Gabrielle Foster and Dean, Fr Ambrose Henley, OSB. While at Ampleforth, John was delighted to be able to meet the new Headmaster, Peter Roberts and his wife, Marie, together with members of the St Laurence Education Trust. This is an independent governing body established in 1997 responsible for the financial, educational and strategic management of the school. Prof. Lydon provided training on the distinctiveness Catholic life of the school and the role of governors in the new national Catholic School Inspection (CSI) framework.
The Trust is made up of independent lay Governors of very high calibre from a variety of backgrounds whose skills, experience and talents complement each other. They have overall responsibility for the school to meet all of the requirements set by external statutory bodies such as the Department for Education, the Independent Schools Inspectorate
and the Charity Commission. The Chair of Governors is Mr Edward Sparrow, the Chair of the Finance Committee, Mr Robin Burdell and the Safeguarding Governor is Dr Michael Clarke. Other members of the Trust participating in the training included Meg Baines, Sir Julian Brazier, Martha Byrne Hill, Barbara Matthews and Penelope Walkinshaw.
The Retreat began with morning Mass in the beautiful Ampleforth Abbey. Afterwards, senior leaders and governors gathered for the retreat on the Catholicity of Leadership. The retreat was opened by Headmaster Peter Roberts, followed by student led lectio divina by the Head Boy and Head Girl. A keynote address was provided by Professor John Lydon CATSC Executive based at St Mary’s University, London. He is also Trustee of the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton and Salesian Foundation Governor at St John Bosco College, Battersea, South London.
The governors
and the greater role of governing bodies. First Professor Lydon outlined the principles of Catholic education distinctiveness and the significance of leaders modelling their ministry on Christ. A discussion of the essentialness of maintaining a balance between school improvement and Catholic distinctiveness was particularly animated. Examples were drawn from the approach of Salesian accompaniment of young people, especially participating in extracurricular activities outside the classroom and how this was proven by Lydon’s empirical research to improve academic standards overall.
The second section of the training considered the new Catholic School Inspection Framework. Prof. Lydon referred to the Catholic School Inspection (CSI) Handbook (draft 3) and pointed out how there were in fact:
• 7 references to ‘Governor’, 121 references to ‘Governors’;
• 19 with reference to How the School will be Inspected;
• 109 with reference to How the School will be Judged.
How Catholic schools will be inspected
He continued to outline how schools will be inspected going forward which would involve the following:
• Governors’ active involvement in both the completion of the school’s Catholic Self Evaluation Document and its on-going evaluation (#46)
of the St Laurence Education Trust were keen to learn more about the new national Catholic school inspection system
Professor John Lydon with new Headmaster of Ampleforth College, Mr Peter Roberts.
Members of the St Laurence Education Trust with Prof. John Lydon
• The chair of governors and/ or chair of directors, or any link governor of religious education should be invited to explain:
• How the governing body or board of directors fulfils its responsibility as the guardian of the mission of a Catholic school
• the vision and priorities for the Catholic life and mission of the school, religious education and prayer and liturgy (#48).
• how aware governors and/or directors are of the strengths and development needs of the Catholic life and mission of the school, religious education and prayer and liturgy.
• how governors and/or directors are involved in the completion of the school’s Catholic Self Evaluation Document and its ongoing evaluation
• how they are involved in monitoring these
• to what extent the school understands and relates to its ecclesial identity (emphasis added by Lydon)
• This will often be achieved by discussing appropriate sections of the school’s Catholic Self Evaluation Document, particularly about the leadership and management of the school. Final responsibility for the school’s Catholic Self Evaluation Document rests with governors and/or directors (#48) (emphasis added by Lydon).
This then followed a discussion and outlining of how judgements by inspectors will be made.
How the school will be Judged in relation to Catholic Life and Mission Leadership
Lydon referenced the Handbook directly:
• In this judgement area, inspectors are evaluating how well-formed and committed
leaders and governors are to carry out their role as guardians of the Catholic life and mission of the school, the effectiveness of their witness, their commitment to the spiritual, moral and professional development of all in the school community and the effectiveness of their self-evaluation of this area (#87) (emphasis added by Lydon).
He continued to outline how the following sources of evidence will be taken into consideration:
• records of leader and governor participation in local or national formation programmes that focus on their spiritual and professional formation as guardians of the Catholic life and mission of the school (emphasis added by Lydon).
• evidence of partnership working with the diocese to support the wider family of Catholic schools in the diocese
• the record of school professional development opportunities both historical and planned
• how the leaders and governors of the school truly embrace the principle that parents are the first educators of their children and fully support and empower them in meeting the demands of this vocation. The school has highly successful strategies for engaging with parents/carers to the very obvious benefit of pupils (emphasis added by Lydon).
Prof. Lydon’s citations from the CSI Handbook were further substantiated by the latest authoritative document from the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education (CCE) Document, The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue (2022) where it states:
• The Congregation explains the obligation of Catholic school leaders to protect and promote
the Catholic identity of Catholic schools whilst reaching out to a broader community of students and teachers requires a commitment to dialogue.
• A solid, permanent formation of leaders and teachers is seen as critical to educating to dialogue with diversity, and to accompanying students growing in knowledge of themselves, of their own attitudes and resources, and capacity to make life choices with awareness (emphasis added by Lydon).
Pope Francis and a Culture of Dialogue
The work of the Congregation of Catholic Education is further strengthened by Papal statements. In relation to what falls within the remit of the Congregation for Catholic Education, it seemed therefore appropriate to offer a more in-depth and up-to-date reflection and guidelines on the value of the Catholic identity of educational institutions in the Church, so as to provide a set of criteria responding to the challenges of our times, in continuity with the criteria that always apply. Moreover, as Pope Francis said, “we cannot create a culture of dialogue if we do not have identity” (Source: Pope Francis, Dialogue between His Holiness Pope Francis and the Students, Teachers and Parents of Collegio San Carlo of Milan, 6 April 2019) (emphasis added by Lydon).
CCE’s The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue (2022)
Lydon highlighted key aspects of the latest Congregation for Education document and how it is divided into three key chapters:
• Catholic schools in the mission of the Church
• The actors responsible for promoting and verifying Catholic identity
• Some critical aspects
Catholic Schools in the Mission of the Church
Education is described with the eloquent image of the polyphony of movements (#46): team movement, ecological movement, inclusive movement, and peace-making movement, which generate harmony and peace. There is also talk of a global educational pact (#33), an invitation that “assumes great value for Religious Families with an educative charism that over the centuries have given birth to many educational and formation institutions” and of education in the culture of care that “is born in the family (#36), the natural and fundamental nucleus of society, where one learns to live in relationship and in mutual respect” and extends to educational institutions in a fabric of relationships (emphasis added by Lydon).
The Actors Responsible for Promoting and Verifying Catholic Identity
“who with their work promote and evaluate educational projects, inspired by the Church’s teaching” (#37) and act at various levels. The introduction of the concept of an educating community is significant, “responsible for ensuring respect for the life, dignity, and freedom of pupils and other members of the school, implementing all the necessary procedures for the promotion and protection of minors and the most vulnerable” (#40).
Some critical aspects
First of all, the choice of teaching, non-teaching and direction personnel. Taking into account the different contexts and possibilities, it is necessary to formulate clear criteria for discernment regarding the professional qualities, adherence to the Church’s doctrine, and consistency in the Christian life of the candidates (#79).
And also critical aspects:
…that may arise from the “contrasting perception of the Catholic identity of educational institutions. It often stems from the interpretation, not always correct, of the qualification of ‘Catholic’ and the lack of clarity of competences and legislation.” Finally, some ways of meeting and convergence are suggested to consolidate Catholic identity: Be builders of unity; Be generators of development processes; Be developers of real and lasting solutions (emphasis added by Lydon).
In concluding, Prof. Lydon remarked on the essentially of excellent and continuing formation opportunities for all members of a school’s community and the significant role senior leaders and governors have in making sure this takes often. Without a core team leading on this the mission and identity of Catholic schools cannot remain vital.
This was followed by prayer with the Benedictine monastic community and a special meal in the School Guestroom where Prof. Lydon’s birthday was celebrated with birthday cake and candles!
Professor Lydon, CATSC Treasurer, Guest of Honour
Farnborough
November 2022
Professor John Lydon, Professor of Catholic Education at St Mary’s University and Editor of International Studies in Catholic Education, was the Guest of Honour at the Distribution of Prizes at Salesian
College Farnborough. The College recognised and celebrated the achievements from the Academic Year 2021-22 of students ranging from Years 7 to 13. Students were presented with Advanced Level and GCSE certificates, as well as special subject prizes and awards for attainment, effort and achievement, many of which are donated annually by sponsors whose generous support was acknowledged by the Headmaster.
Following the distribution of Prizes, Professor Lydon gave the following address.
My life as a Salesian student
I am sure at least some of you have at least glanced at my short bio printed in the programme which outlines my education journey from my years as a student at Thornleigh Salesian College Bolton to my appointment as Professor at three Universities. You may be surprised, but not totally I hope, that I am going to highlight the seven years on that journey experienced as a student at Thornleigh Salesian College where boys from what would be described today as disadvantaged backgrounds were afforded the privilege of an outstanding holistic education, in my case being part of a renowned Brass Band and various sports teams, in keeping with St John Bosco’s vision, encapsulated in the iconic aphorism “honest citizens and good Christians.” Many students apart from me benefitted greatly from the ability of teachers, predominantly Salesian priests and Brothers at that time, to spot and nurture potential. I started as one who gave “an annual masterly display in the sack race” in the words of the late Fr John Ashton SDB to becoming 800 metres champion for Lancashire, mainly due to the late Fr McCambridge’s acknowledgement that if I could move so fast in a sack I might well move faster on a track. That recognition of potential was especially empowering, manifested
in the range of subsequent roles, activities and achievements listed in the programme.
Address to Students
While sack races may no longer feature at Salesian College Sports Days, I am sure that many students present in this School Hall tonight will have had similar doors opened to them by virtue of the vast range of extra-curricular activities on offer at Salesian College, recorded in The Salesian 2019-2021. I felt exhausted by the time I read through a range which must capture the minds of hearts of every student in the College. I was particularly inspired by the account of the commitment of so many staff and students to the Lourdes Pilgrimage. Such commitment, together with an engagement in the wide range of liturgies, will, I am sure, constitute resources of faith derived from a religious tradition, analogous to the experience of students in similar Colleges referenced in research studies. I am convinced equally that engaging in the extra-activities will have an equally profound influence on your future lives, particularly in terms of building relationships in your careers or, possibly, your taking up the challenge of some form of volunteering project which, in my 31 years of experience of teaching in a nearby Salesian School, was certainly the case for many students.
Address to Teachers
I wish to address, finally, the leadership of the school and all
staff. Without your outstanding commitment, the majority if not all of these activities would never get off the ground. The wide-ranging activities on offer must reflect, in my view, a leadership vision which is canonised in Salesian tradition. The genesis of this vision is worthy of a brief mention. One of the earliest Salesians, Don Giuseppe Vespignani, has recorded his first memory as a Salesian when, in respond to the question ‘What should I do?’ St John Bosco replied ‘Go to the Pump’. At the water pump in Valdocco, Turin, near the site of Bosco’s first Oratory, boys often came together. Bosco expected his educators to be where the young people were. Such encounters in a non-formal context have the effect of building up trust which forms the basis of every educational practice or encounter. Several studies have argued convincingly that there is an integral link between extra-curricular engagement and academic performance. To these studies can be added further compelling evidence based on the outstanding academic results achieved by the students of this College recorded in the programme. At this point I wish to add my congratulations to those already expressed on these outstanding achievements.
In a recent article published in an academic journal, the Salesian Provincial Fr Briody and I quote a series of Salesian academics on this theme which lies at the heart of the Salesian education vision. I will quote just one. Fr Arthur Lenti, an American Salesian speaks of the powerful influence of Salesians one of the principal advantages of the involvement of animators in recreation lay in its fostering of family spirit.
Creating a family spirit in all Salesian education institutions was the primary aim of St John Bosco and my experience on several visits leads me to believe that Salesian College Farnborough is a School which
constitutes a genuine Salesian community where the quality of relationships between staff has a significant influence on the way in which students relate to teachers and to each other. In this short address the words ‘community’ and ‘family’ have been cited an equal number of times, reflecting Bosco’s preference for ‘family’ as opposed to ‘community’. Schools can flourish only when there is a commitment to a collegial model of leadership and to creating the structures and processes whereby people can share their ideas and beliefs and work together to achieve them. The concept of empowerment is linked inextricably with that of collaboration, releasing the potential of individuals. thereby allowing them to flourish. A participative approach to leadership can only take place in an institution in which the leader spends a great deal of time interacting with colleagues in creating an enthusiastic and dedicated commitment to a vision. I will conclude by quoting the 8th successor to St John Bosco:
When we think of the origin of our Congregation and family, we find first a community, which was not only visible, but indeed quite unique, almost like a lantern in the darkness of night: Valdocco, the home of a novel community and a pastoral setting that was widely known, extensive and open…Such a community gave rise to a new culture, not only in an academic sense but in that of a new style of relationship between young people and educators, between laity and priests…
I am convinced that this “new culture” thrives in Salesian College Farnborough, a model of what a 21st century Salesian College should look like, encapsulating the holistic vision of St John Bosco, marked by a spirit of trust and joyful optimism where holiness consists in being cheerful.
Professor Lyndon with students receiving awards
Congratulations to Dr Paul Jerome Bryant!
Our warmest congratulations to Dr Paul J. Bryant who was recently awarded his PhD by St Mary’s University in the Spring Term 2023 on An Exploration of Emerging Visions of Leadership in Contemporary Benedictine School Chaplaincy. This was especially delightful as much of the research had to be conducted largely during the Covid 19 pandemic. However, this period had some positives for Dr Bryant as he had more writing time than usual! As the the Head of Theology Philosophy and Religion and Lay Chaplain at The Pilgrim’s School, Winchester, he brought a wealth of experience and knowledge to his dissertation.
Rev. Dr Martin Poulsom SDB, acted as External Examiner, who is currently Programme Convenor for both the BA degree in Philosophy, Religion and Ethics and MA degree in Theology, Ecology and Ethics, Roehampton University, South West London. He is an experienced and expert examiner in the disciplinary areas of Catholic education and youth work, religious congregations that work in the area of education, systematic theology and philosophy and is esteemed in his publishing. He has examined over 10 PhDs and brought considerable expertise to the viva panel in both the literature and the methodological approach presented in Bryant’s thesis.
Dr Jacob Phillips acted as Internal Examiner and is currently the Director of the Institute of Theology and Liberal Arts at St Mary’s University. He has specialist knowledge in the area of Christian contemplation within the Catholic theological tradition and is also an experienced PhD examiner. He has supervised various PhD theses which engage with aspects of the religious life. He is also involved in an innovative Responsible Leadership project which seeks to apply principles of virtue theory to the challenges of the modern-day workplace.
Assoc. Prof. Michelle Paull, Course Lead in MA London Theatre & MA Playwriting, St Mary’s University, acted as independent chair. Prof. John Lydon and Dr Caroline Healy were Dr Bryant’s supervisors.
Dr Bryant’s work explored the emerging visions of leadership in contemporary Benedictine school chaplaincy. His research articulated the essential interconnectedness of the following elements:
• The Benedictine monastic tradition, its development in education, the distinctive nature of contemporary Benedictine school chaplaincy, and the challenges it faces such as transmitting the Benedictine charism and renewing spiritual capital.
• Benedictine leadership: the four Benedictine leadership models of abba, shepherd, doctor, and steward; invitational leadership; and servant leadership, and how lay Benedictines can lead in a way that is discernibly Benedictine.
• Emerging visions of leadership in contemporary Benedictine school chaplaincy as demonstrated in the perceptions and experiences of practitioners and leaders in Benedictine education.
This involved conducting a number of in-depth semi-structured interviews which were conducted in three different English Benedictine schools where all participants had
direct or indirect experience of contemporary Benedictine school chaplaincy, and were at varying stages of their career.
The findings were analysed considering the conceptual framework established in the literature review and using reflexive thematic analysis. This was followed by a chapter in which conclusions were reached structured around the principal elements of the literature review and the empirical research. These conclusions became the foundation for several recommendations which focussed primarily upon the ongoing challenges of providing spiritual accompaniment on the Benedictine path, forming lay chaplains in the Benedictine leadership charism, and renewing spiritual capital in Benedictine schools. The thesis concluded by affirming that contemporary Benedictine school chaplaincy can maintain a distinctive Benedictine ethos if Benedictine habits, and traditions, continue to permeate the lives of the chaplains and the schools; and if these are protected under the guidance of wise trusteeship.
The examiners commended Dr Bryant on his exemplary work, suggesting that, going forward, he should seek to publish on the subject of Benedictine chaplaincy. Dr Bryant is particular to engage in postdoctoral research. We look forward to celebrating with him and his family at a formal graduation ceremony in Westminster Cathedral in July 2023.
Congratulations to Spring Graduates 2023 from the MA in Catholic School Leadership!
Many congratulations to over 25 part-time students who graduated with their MA in Catholic School Leadership recently! It was a
L to R: Dr Jacob Phillips, Rev. Dr Martin Poulsom SDB, Dr Paul Jerome Bryant, Prof. John Lydon and Dr Caroline Healy
beautiful sunny spring day on Saturday, 25th March 2023 at St Mary’s University, Twickenham where the ceremony took place in the lovely university chapel Students came from as far as Ireland to attend the ceremony, as well as from across England and Wales. A wonderful day was had by all.
Studying during the pandemic
The outstanding achievements of the students were even more remarkable as this cohort had largely begun their studies in 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic and were dealing with extremely challenging circumstances within their professional lives at school and personal lives with their families. The programme was delivered in person and online as a dual mode which the students really appreciated. The dual mode of delivery is here to stay as it proved popular with students living at a distance from St Mary’s University.
Some highlights from Graduation
Five students graduated travelled to attend the ceremony from Ireland, together with their families, including Paula O’Hare-Armstrong, Noelle McBarron, Ursula Mullan, Marie Murray, and Vanessa Gillespie (graduated in absentia). Ursula and Marie are two sisters who were studying for their MA at the same time! These graduates follow a long line of over 50 students who have
graduated from Ireland since 2018 due to a special partnership with the Rt. Rev. Bishop Donal McKeown and the Diocese of Derry and key partner contact in the Diocese, Thérèse Ferry. Students receive a £500 bursary for each of the three years of their studies.
Fr Anton Thushyanthan also follows in a long line of other priests from the Diocese of Jaffna, Sri Lanka to graduate with this degree, following the long-standing relationship the programme has with the Bishop of Jaffna, Rt. Rev. Bishop Justin Gnanapragasam who sponsors and supports their studies.
One graduate from the programme, Gerard Flower, from the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton was supported by the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev. Bishop Richard Moth (also Chair of the Board of Governors, St Mary’s University) and Diocesan Education Director Julie Oldroyd with a reduction in his tuition fees by a third, on his successful completion of the programme.
Some students are also considering higher level studies at doctoral level. We wish all the graduates continued success in their professional careers in Catholic School Leadership.
Sponsorship
Students have also been most fortunate to receive sponsorship
from Culham St Gabriel’s Charitable Trust, the Hockerill Foundation and their primary or secondary schools as part of their continuous professional development (CPD) provision.
If you are from Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, England, Wales or Scotland and are interested in completing the Masters in Catholic School Leadership Programme, please contact Course Lead, Dr Caroline Healy caroline.healy@ stmarys.ac.uk or Professor of Education, Professor John Lydon: john.lydon@stmarys.ac.uk. You may be entitled to exemptions from previous postgraduate or professional qualifications and if you are an alumnus of St Mary’s University Twickenham, 20% reduced fees are applicable. Applications are now open for a September 2023 start.
About the MA in Catholic School Leadership / PG Dip / PG Cert
Professor John Lydon, Professor of Catholic Education and Lead Practitioner
Prof. John Lydon holds degrees in education and theology from the Universities of Durham, Liverpool and Surrey. His doctorate focused on teaching as a vocation for lay teachers in a contemporary context. As well as teaching at the University of Notre Dame, London Global Gateway, he is the former
Director of the MA in Catholic School Leadership Programme, and the new Editor of the leading International Studies in Catholic Education journal, St Mary’s University, London.
Significant areas of Lydon’s scholarship and research focus on spiritual capital, Catholic school leadership, the maintenance of distinctive religious charisms and the relationship between these and competing school paradigms in the 21st century which focus on the marketisation of education and school effectiveness in the UK. He is a doctoral supervisor and mentor to post-doctoral researchers from Africa who are enhancing their research capability in the area of Catholic education. Lydon is a sought-after speaker and regularly delivers lectures in the United States, especially at NCEA, but also Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Most recently he gave a keynote address to the Pontifical University of Parana in Curitiba, Brazil in February 2023.
Lydon was recently appointed Multidisciplinary Expert of the Catholic-Inspired NGO Forum for education working in partnership with the Vatican Secretariat of State. He is leads on the research agenda for the Executive of the World Union of Catholic Teachers and is an executive member of the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges of England & Wales and the Catholic Union of Great Britain. He is a Trustee of the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton and also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. His key publications include:
‘Professor Gerald Grace and the concept of ‘Spiritual Capital’: reflections on its value and suggestions for its future development’. In: New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research in Catholic Education (June 2021).
‘Salesian Accompaniment in Formal & Non-Formal Settings’ (2021) In: G. Byrne & S. Whittle (eds.) Catholic
Contemporary Perspectives on Catholic Education (2018, Gracewing Publishing).
Getting Embedded Together: New Partnerships for Twentieth-Century Catholic Education, Chapter 15, pp. 191-202. In S. Whittle, S, (ed.), Researching Catholic Education (2018, Springer).
Teaching Religious Education in Catholic Schools in England and Wales. In M. Yuen (ed.) ‘Teaching Catholic Social Ethics and Civic Education’, Hong Kong Journal of Catholic Studies, No. 8, January 2018, pp. 92-122 (2018, Chinese University of Hong Kong).
Initial and Ongoing Formation of Catholic School teachers and Leaders – a perspective from the UK pp. 60-69. In: The Formation of Formators/La formazione dei formatori (2017, Congregation for Catholic Education, The Vatican).
The Contemporary Catholic Teacher: A Reappraisal of the Concept of Teaching as a Vocation (2011, Lambert Publishing).
‘Transmission of a Charism’, International Studies in Catholic Education (2009, TaylorFrancis).
Dr Caroline Healy, Course Lead
Dr Caroline Healy holds degrees from the Universities of Wales, Massachusetts and Brunel, London. She is Course Lead for the MA in Catholic School Leadership and is a PhD doctoral supervisor at St Mary’s University, London and also Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
She has held roles in higher education for over 25 years and has experience of teaching in the systems of the UK, United States and Ireland and carrying out research in collaboration with a number of European countries. Caroline is an Executive Council member of the World Union of Catholic Teachers and
General Secretary of the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC) for England & Wales which represents the majority of Catholic schools. She recently organised a joint conference with the Network for Researchers in Catholic Education (NfRCE) and CATSC at St Mary’s University in May 2022. She is an elected member of the Council of the Catholic Union of Great Britain, to advance Catholic education in the wider public arena. She is a Trustee of the St Mary’s university charity SHOCC which promotes student and staff volunteering in schools and orphanages in Africa.
Caroline is privileged to have been invited to contribute to Professor Gerald Grace’s recent festschrift (2021) entitled ‘Catholic Education and a New Christian Humanism: in Honour of Grace’. In: S. Whittle (ed.) New Thinking, New Scholarship and New Research in Catholic Education (London: Routledge). She is also currently part of an exciting philanthropic-funded research project concerning the research capacity-building of post-doctoral researchers from Africa.
Her other recent publications include
Healy, C. & J. Lydon (2021) ‘Shepherding Talent: an informal formation programme for aspiring school leaders’, Chapter 13, In: G. Byrne & S. Whittle (eds.) Irish and British Reflections on Catholic Education (Singapore: Springer).
Hast, M. & C. Healy (2018) “It’s like fifty-fifty”: using the student voice towards enhancing undergraduates’ engagement with online feedback provision, Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, Vol. 7, No. 1, Spring 2018, pp. 139-151.
Hast, M. & C. Healy (2016) ‘Higher education marking in the electronic age: Quantitative and qualitative student insight’. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences. ISSN 1877-0428
by Dr Sean Whittle Senior Lecturer in Catholic Education, St Mary's University
What is Gerald Grace’s Contribution to the Philosophy of Catholic Education?
Here Dr Sean Whittle gives an abridged version of his discussion of Gerald Grace and the philosophy of Catholic education. The full text is freely available at: https://www. taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oaedit/10.4324/9781003171553-12/ gerald-grace-philosophy-catholiceducation-sean-whittle
Introduction
Despite Gerald Grace’s conviction that he is primarily a sociologist of education, he has done much to nurture the philosophy of Catholic education. Gerald Grace has made three decisive contributions. First, he has repeatedly drawn attention to the contemporary need for a clear articulation of the philosophy of Catholic education. Second, Grace has skilfully used his role as founding Editor of the journal International Studies in Catholic Education (ISCE) to foster and promote fresh debate and clarification around the philosophy of Catholic education. The third, for Grace the distinctive philosophy of Catholic education is built around the imperative of serving the educational needs of the poor. This is, of course, contrary to the typical approach of advocated in Church teachings, which builds the philosophy of Catholic education around parental rights. It will be pointed out that
Grace’s stance on the philosophy of Catholic education has potentially far reaching impact on Catholic education in the UK. I would argue that Gerald Grace ought to be regarded as being prophetic in his
convictions about how the Church in the modern world should be framing its philosophy of Catholic education around the option for the poor.
Grace’s seminal work, Catholic Schools: Mission, Markets and Morality (2002), drew attention to the lack of contemporary work on the philosophy of Catholic education. Grace thought the relative underdevelopment a philosophy of Catholic education ‘surprising’ and that a suitable defence of it might have been expected, one ‘constructed by Catholic philosophers’ (2002 p. 16). At the same time Grace shares the concerns raised by McLaughlin (1996) who drew attention to the tendency to use phrases such as Gospel values or statements form the various education guidance documents act as a proxy for a properly developed philosophy or theory of Catholic education. The problem with them is two-fold. First, such theological slogans give the false impression that there is a clearly worked out account of what they actually involve or refer to. Second, they have stifled the task of developing a robust theory of Catholic education because they are repeatedly not recognised for what they actually are (according to McLaughlin, they are instances of Catholic ‘edubbabble’). As a result we have become numb to the profound lack of content in theological cliches such as Christ being at the centre of Catholic education or appeals to Gospel values.
For Grace the way to justify and frame Catholic education is
through appealing to both Vatican II’s Declaration on the Extreme importance of Christian Education (Gravissimum Educationis, 1965) and the education document was issued twelve years after the close of Vatican II. It was promulgated as a guidance document issued by the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education and it had the title The Catholic School (1977).
For Grace, more so than Gravissimum Educationis, this document gives an emphatic alignment between Catholic education being primarily a service to the common good of society and crucially it is directed at serving the poor. This document had the benefit of being composed in the exciting early years of the reception of Vatican II. There was already a growing sense of the Church’s ‘option for the poor’ and the realisation that its priority is not supporting the status quo but on being on the side of the poor. The 1977 document applied this insight to Catholic Education. For Grace this emphatic alignment between the Catholic school and serving the poor gives the 1977 guidance an importance that supersedes the council’s declaration. This means that the educational mission of the Catholic school can be summed up as serving the poor.
In Catholic Schools: Mission, Markets and Morality (2002), Grace described the tortuous situation that Catholic headteachers market place that they have been forced to operate within. As Grace explains
If schools in a market economy in education must show good
company results in academic success and growing social status, what becomes of the Catholic school principle of ‘preferential option for the poor’? (Grace, 2002, p.181)
In order to survive there have had to be compromises and accommodations. Grace is maintaining that Catholic education has had to adapt to making academic achievement and league table position an ever increasing priority. Given this they are being deflected from their primary mission. Grace’s 2002 work remains a rallying cry to take urgent action to ensure that there will be sufficient spiritual capital to allow future Catholic school leaders to maintain the core mission of Catholic education, particularly in the face of market values dominating education, which have now morphed into the move towards acedemisation.
Gerald Grace’s Role in Promoting Debate About the Philosophy of Catholic Education
As the founding editor of the International Journal for Studies in Catholic Education, Grace has been able to nurture a dialogue about the philosophy of Catholic education. It was in Volume 3, that he presented the first article that dealt specifically with the contemporary philosophy of Catholic education, written by Professor Brendan Carmody (2011). Grace’s firm hope was that ‘this contribution will stimulate a debate and further articles on this crucial subject’ (2011). His astute observation was correct, because it resulted in, to date, three other contributions that have sought to take further this formal philosophical reflection over the aims and justification of Catholic education.
Nestled alongside these more formal contributions, Grace’s editorship of the journal ISCE
has, over twelve years, sought out further opportunities to put the spotlight on the philosophy of Catholic education. For example in the inclusion of works in the book review section. The editor of ISCE has always opted to offer readers detailed and high quality book reviews, which feature very few works, typically just two or three per edition. Crucially, works about the philosophy of Catholic education have been included in this highly select review of works in the field of catholic education studies. For example Professor Richard Pring’s philosophical analysis, The Future of Publicly Funded Schools (2017) was afforded two reviews in the same edition (ISCE 2019, issue 1). In all this Grace, as editor of ISCE, has performed an important service in nurturing debate and dialogue surrounding the contemporary philosophy of education.
Grace’s stance on the philosophy of Catholic education – a reappraisal.
For Grace an embryonic philosophy of Catholic education is found in the 1977 document, with its central paragraph (58), which declares ‘first and foremost’ the Church is making its educational provision available to the poor. It is one that characterises the Church’s education work as something which is depicted as both an offer and a service to those who are poor, deprived of family help and affection and those who are far from the Catholic Christian faith. In being an offer, Catholic education is not being framed in terms of the parental rights or as something that could be imposed on others. As an offer it has the quality of being ‘gift-like’ and like all genuine offers it comes without any strings or conditions attached. In addition, in being a service, Catholic education is something openly or freely available to those who are in need of it. In that sense it is not a commodity which can be traded or
bought. This is a point emphasised in the list of those for whom a Catholic education is intentionally seeking to serve – those who are poor or are in significant need. These are the marginalised or underclass of society and as such they are the least able to pay and stand in most need of the offer and service afforded in a Catholic education. Another facet of this embryonic philosophy of Catholic education is the clause of the sentence which declares that the offer and service is specifically extended to those who far from the faith. This means a Catholic education is not, first and foremost, something that is exclusively for the children of Catholic parents. Thus, it is possible to draw out from these insights the central elements of a highly inclusive and socially just philosophy of Catholic education.
This conclusion is powerfully reinforced when paragraph 58 of the Catholic School is read as a whole, rather than just the sentence that Grace homes in on.
Since it is motivated by the Christian ideal, the Catholic school is particularly sensitive to the call from every part of the world for a more just society, and it tries to make its own contribution towards it. It does not stop at the courageous teaching of the demands of justice even in the face of local opposition, but tries to put these demands into practice in its own community in the daily life of the school. In some countries, because of local laws and economic conditions, the Catholic school runs the risk of giving counter-witness by admitting a majority of children from wealthier families. Schools may have done this because of their need to be financially self supporting. This situation is of great concern to those responsible for Catholic education, because first and foremost the Church offers its educational service to " the poor or those who are deprived of
family help and affection or those who are far from the faith ". Since education is an important means of improving the social and economic condition of the individual and of peoples, if the Catholic school were to turn its attention exclusively or predominantly to those from the wealthier social classes, it could be contributing towards maintaining their privileged position, and could thereby continue to favour a society which is unjust. ( The Catholic School, 1977, par. 58, emphasis added).
Catholic education has an important role to play in transforming socio-political relationships within societies across the world. Thus, the Church has to ensure its educational provision and service are put to work improving social justice throughout society, rather than (in advertently) maintaining the power or privilege of the wealthy in society. This is a philosophy of Catholic education that puts the pursuit of social justice at the centre stage of its work. With this level of sociological analysis, it hardly surprising that Grace, given his grounding in the sociology of education and his practical commitment to inclusive and socially just education practices would have been drawn to the significance of paragraph 58.
Concluding observations
It is interesting to speculate, albeit briefly, on what the potential impact might be if Grace’s stance on the philosophy of Catholic was to be widely taken up and put into practice, particularly in the UK. First, there would be a significant readjustment of admission policies for those seeking a place in Catholic schools. Typically, in English Catholic schools, baptised Catholic children are prioritised for admission. However, Grace’s philosophy of Catholic education would mean also prioritising poor and socially disadvantaged students. It is important to reiterate
that it is for all who are poor and needy, rather than just povertystruck or disadvantaged Catholic children. Almost inevitably this would lead to a further decline in the proportion of Catholic children in English Catholic schools.
In addition, those who are ‘far from the faith’ need to be able to find a welcome in Catholic schools. This firm inclusion of those who are ‘far from the faith’ has some wide-ranging implications for the intentions and goals of a Catholic education. For example, no longer can the fostering or reinforcement of Catholic identity be a central goal. Trying to inculcate a Catholic identity in those children who are ‘far from the Catholic faith’ would sound alarm bells about the risk of indoctrination, or just the simple failure to welcome these students without wanting to convert them. Thus, Grace’s stance allows us to envision a highly inclusive Catholic school, in which there may well be only a minority of students from Catholic families, and because it welcomes those who are far from the faith, it does not impose the Catholic faith on its students. Presumably this would call for a reconfiguration of Religious Education in Catholic schools, moving away from overtly Catholic content and embracing the need to teach a range of worldviews. This sounds very much like the non-confessional account of Catholic education that others have argued in favour. When it comes to specific education policies, the stance Grace adopts towards the philosophy of Catholic education challenges educational policy in a number of ways. At the obvious level, it would seriously challenge the existence of private or fee-paying Catholic schools. Given that education is a service to society, it ought not to be reduced to a commodity which can be purchased by the wealthier members of society. As such, it becomes incredibly difficult to
justify the existence of Catholic independent schools. At the less obvious level, another but perhaps far more wide-reaching educational policy that is called into question is the drive towards ‘academisation’, in which schools in England can be directly funded by the Department for Education. The Academy agenda has been highly disruptive, in particular allowing ‘market forces’ and competition between schools to increase way beyond those worrying levels which Grace first described over two decades ago in Catholic Schools: Mission, Markets and Morality (2002). A situation where Catholic academies are in open competition with other Catholic schools goes directly against the primary mission of serving those who are most in need of a Catholic education. Perhaps the only way of justifying the academisation of Catholic schools would be through a radical reconfiguration of Catholic academies into schools that are exclusively for poor and socially disadvantaged students. Thus, an educational landscape where Catholic independent schools have a changed role and Catholic academies are first and foremost for the poor and deprived, irrespective of faith tradition, would be one that stands in marked contrast to the current situation. Grace’s promotion of the embryonic philosophy of Catholic education found in paragraph 58 of The Catholic School is allowing him to be prophetic in his convictions about the aims and content of Catholic education in the twentyfirst century. In the light of this prophetic voice, the challenge now is to nurture this stance and develop in more robust terms what it means to frame the philosophy of Catholic education around the option for the poor. There is thus a striking convergence between what Grace has been calling for over the past twenty-five years and what has come to the fore with the papacy of Pope Francis.
Fluidly faithful to Catholicism? Catholic Education and the Institutional Church
The readers of Networking magazine are invited to the upcoming 2023 annual conference of the Network of Researchers in Catholic Education (NfRCE) where a warm, west of Ireland welcome awaits them. This exciting ‘Fluidly Faithful? Catholic Education and the Institutional Church’ conference highlights the cutting- edge work of internationally recognised academics, expert educators as well as research students as they present over forty papers and three keynotes exploring the complex relationship between Catholic schools and the Church.
This year’s NfRCE conference takes place in Mary Immaculate College on October 19th and 20th and is held jointly with the Catholic Association of Teachers, Schools and Colleges (CATSC). It provides an exciting opportunity for participants to gather together, learn from each other and reflect on the great opportunities and significant challenges Catholic educators face currently. Teachers in Catholic schools are ideally placed to reflect on the relationship between education and the institutional church and to evaluate whether Church teaching connects with the reality of their everyday lived experience in schools. Keynotes and papers will
focus on the Church’s radical mission to educate and its rich teaching on education as universal right while exploring the nature of leadership, religious practice and identity in Catholic schools, colleges and universities. The conference title ‘Fluidly Faithful? Catholic Education and the Institutional Church’ sets out to explore what faithfulness to the Catholic tradition might mean for Catholic education. This is important as an estimated 17.7 % of the world’s population are Catholic, and with the exception of Europe, membership of the Catholic Church is increasing in all continents (Fides News Service 2021). When it comes to education, the World Union of Catholic Teachers estimates that 28,000 Catholic schools in Europe educate over 8,500,000 pupils. Indeed, the Catholic Church is the largest global educational provider. While exploring challenging questions, the conference also celebrates a range of innovative, inclusive, vibrant educational practices and exciting research taking place in Britain and Ireland. The conference title ‘Fluidly Faithful? contains a really important question mark. It sets out to read the signs of the times, to listen to teachers, academics and researchers as they explore and question what is happening in Catholic education when faith is proposed and not imposed. At a time of growing secularisation, religious pluralism and declining levels of religious practice, Eamon Elliott’s paper will reflect on the experience of non-Catholic teachers in Catholic schools. Conference participants will be encouraged to ask ‘How can
by Patricia Kieran
Patricia Kieran is Associate Professor of Religious Education and Director of the Irish Institute for Catholic Studies (IICS). She lectures in Religious Education in the Faculty of Education at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick and she has published books and articles in the area of Catholic education, interreligious dialogue, theology and education. In the past she has been involved in organising international conferences on religion and education including: ‘Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Catholicism in Ireland and Beyond’ (2021); Inter-belief dialogue in Contemporary Ireland (2016); Understanding Islam in Irish Education (2013) and Religious Pluralism in Educational Practice in Ireland (2012).
Mary Immaculate College, the venue for the 2023 NfRCE conference
Catholic education be faithful to the institutional Church? What might it mean to be a Catholic educator in an era where there is declining religious practice? What are the latest innovative and creative approaches to Catholic education?’ In another paper Dr Louise Mc Gowan will speak on living Catholic Headship and what it means to be a school leader in a Catholic School. Dr Mary Mihovilović will reflect on the English Catholic School System and positioning for a Catholic Multi Academy Trust (CMAT) led system.
Over two days the conference will provide attendees with an opportunity to explore the challenges facing Catholic educators at a time when some Catholics are unsure of what they believe, while others self-describe as spiritual and not religious and have little attachment to the institutional Church. Research on the voice of the child, carried out by Associate Professor Maurice Harmon, who will also present a paper at the conference, revealed young children’s multiple, complex, familial and personal religious and non-religious identities. In Harmon’s research in a Catholic primary school, one child said “My parents...well, my dad’s atheist, my sister is Christian, my mother is Catholic…they’re really religious.
Um, my brother I think he’s atheist as well. There’s a few atheists in my family but a lot of them are Russian Orthodox and Christian. I am Catholic, I think!”
Conference Location
The conference takes place in Mary Immaculate College, in its vibrant post-graduate and research school. Mary Immaculate College is situated in the city of Limerick, located on Ireland’s longest river, the Shannon. The venue is just 15 miles from Shannon airport with its regular public transport to Limerick city and flights to UK airports (London, Birmingham, Manchester). Alternatively, those wishing to attend can fly to Dublin airport or travel by Ferry (Holyhead and Liverpool) to Dublin and travel via bus (Eireagle/ Green bus approximately 2.5 hour journey) or train (Heuston Station) directly to Limerick city. The organisers have negotiated competitive B&B rates in local 4-star hotels within walking distance of Mary Immaculate College and conference information on accommodation, venue, transport, schedule, keynotes, registration etc. is available on the Conference Padlet site: https://padlet.com/ carleighgarcia/nfrce-annualconference-19th-20th-october2023-6pal5rkwnen7wdb
Limerick is vibrant city, with a thriving music, cultural and arts scene. It is a fitting location for a conference on education as the city is home to Mary Immaculate College as well as the University of Limerick, the Technical University of Munster and Limerick College of Art. Mary Immaculate College is Limerick’s oldest third level college and it is the largest remaining Catholic third level college in Ireland. It was founded in 1898 by the Mercy Sisters in order to educate female teachers and to respond to the appalling poverty and lack of educational opportunity for the poor in late nineteenth century Ireland.
Why focus on Catholic Education and the Institutional Church?
Countless Vatican documents prioritise educational excellence and the transmission of faith as the central purpose of the Catholic school. In official Church teaching the Catholic school is presented as a respectful, inclusive place for nurturing and sharing religious commitment and practice. The Church stresses that it esteems teachers most highly as they are called to witness to their faith in Jesus Christ through their teaching and in their interactions with students. The institutional Church teaches that the Catholic school is a place where faith is
Mary Immaculate College
communicated and witnessed. However, everyday life in a Catholic school may appear quite different. What happens if staff and students do not identify with the Catholic tradition? What impact have declining levels of religious practice and religious literacy had on Catholic education? Where are the signs of hope and where are the green shoots, the counter narrative voices who contest this sense of a weakened connection and loyalty to the institutional Church? Voas describes this weakened commitment to institutional religion as a form of 'fuzzy fidelity'. For many Catholics, the rituals and beliefs that sustained their parents and grandparents’ generations no longer seem as meaningful or relevant to their lives. Clerical child-sex abuse and dissatisfaction with Church teaching on homosexuality and the role of women have also contributed to greater disengagement with the institutional Church. In Germany a record half a million people left the Catholic Church in 2022, up 44% on the numbers leaving the Church in 2021. In Ireland, latest Census data (CSO 2023) shows that in just six years, the number of people who self-describe as Catholic has declined rapidly, falling by ten percentage points, from 79% of the total population in 2016 to 69% in 2022. The situation is complex as in Northern Ireland the percentage number of Catholics has actually risen slightly from 45% in 2011 to 45.7% in 2021.
Selected conference papers and topics
Given this changing and challenging socio-cultural context, it is important for Catholic educators to reflect sensitively and critically upon the identity and future of Catholic education. Those attending the conference will have ample opportunity to
engage with educators from Ireland and the UK, to dialogue with dynamic researchers and to develop their own thinking and educational practice. Each day plenary sessions will stimulate dialogue while scheduled panels will enable experts to give a short input on key issues and emerging research in their field. It would be impossible to describe all of these exciting papers but it is possible to highlight a few. Professor Robert Bowie’s paper explores the relationship between Catholic schools and the magisterium of the Church. Quentin Wodon, a leading economist with the world bank, will give a presentation situating Catholic schools in the UK and Ireland in a wider ecclesial and global context. Indeed, the largest number of enrolments in Catholic schools occur in Africa and Asia. Wodon’s research challenges any tendency to focus exclusively on Catholic schools in the northern hemisphere. Current projections suggest that by 2030 half of the world’s secondary schools will be in Africa. Further, when it comes to research into Catholic education, issues that dominate Catholic schools in Africa or Asia are often vastly different to those that concern educators in the UK and Ireland. The wider perspective that Wodon will bring to the conference will help broaden understandings of the identity, diversity and mission of Catholic education while highlighting the global reach of the institutional Church.
One might wonder why the Catholic Church invests such energy and resources into Catholic schools. Why not leave education in the hands of the State? A keynote by Professor John Sullivan on ‘Why the Church and the University Need Each Other’, will trace the close partnership that existed between both institutions in the early Church, while outlining
how, in later centuries the relationship between both often became distant, awkward and sometimes fractious. He will argue that both need each other and that Catholic Higher Education institutions operate on the front line of the encounter between the wider culture and the Church’s life and tradition. A keynote from Dr Aiveen Mullally and Associate Professor Patricia Kieran will ask ‘how do initial teacher educators view the institutional Church?’ Their research explores pre-service teachers’ belief identities as well as their attitudes to non-religious families and students. A paper by Paul Bryant explores Benedictine hospitality as a foundation for pastoral care in response to gender ideology in Catholic schools while Dr Ann Casson and Dr Ann Pittaway’s paper presents the findings of an empirical postpandemic study of church school families' sense of belonging to the Parish. Professor Roisín Coll and Fr Stephen Reilly will give a paper on the three way Church-StateUniversity partnership supporting Catholic Teacher Education in Scotland.
The conference will be opened by Professor Eugene Wall, President of Mary Immaculate College. It will include scheduled time for Taize prayer, regular comfort and coffee breaks and opportunity for leg stretches. At the end of the first day there will be a drinks reception and harp recital. There will be time to get to see a bit of Limerick and the conference fee includes lunch and coffee and tea on both days. Everybody is welcome to attend this conference and there is a particularly warm welcome for teachers, early career researchers and those who just want to dip their toe into the water to see what lies within!
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An Act of Vocation: Implementing the Religious Education Directory
Featuring authors Ann-Marie Bridle and Rebecca Jinks
The vocation of working in the Catholic classroom has always been an act of love and indeed sacrifice; a mission to share beauty, truth and goodness with the young minds entrusted to us. Many teachers talk about the privilege of their job, and the personal joy and sense of satisfaction that it brings.
However, it's a job that is not without challenges, and continues to get tougher. A glance at the current vacancies shows that concerns of a ‘recruitment and retention crisis' are not looming, but already here. Catholic schools need to constantly consider how they can create the right conditions for their staff to not only survive, but thrive. Workload reduction is certainly key in this - but for Catholic schools we need to seriously consider our commitment to the restoration, recovery and self-care of our staff. Our schools need to be places of supernatural nourishment.
In spite of all of this, and on top of the everyday demands of a full time job in school, there are some teachers who then spend time in their evenings and weekends, working on resources to aid other teachers and students across the country. Whilst there have always been “teacher-authors” - classroom experts willing to do some additional work to help the system more widely - many Catholic teacher-authors seem to have been ‘called’ by others, sometimes a little reluctantly. My own personal ‘call’ came after a chance meeting with the late Professor Anthony Towey at the London RE Hub conference in 2015things escalated at lightning pace from a cup of coffee to being signed up as an author for Oxford University Press’ Edexcel GCSE textbook.
Authors Rebecca Jinks and Ann-Marie Bridle were both examiners for GCSE - another form of additional vocation. It is clear that it is important that we ensure Catholic papers are marked by Catholics whenever possible, so we need the faithful to step forward to take on these additional roles. Due to their expertise, they were put forward by the exam boards to work with OUP for their Eduqas GCSE book. There has been an urgency to find those willing to attempt a balance of teaching and authorship: 2016 saw the GCSE (and A Level) reforms and a need to produce a range of textbooks and other resources for Catholic specifications within a very short timeframe; 2023 has seen the new Religious Education Directory (RED) published with a relatively short implementation window. It is worth noting that the Catholic primary sector is in great need of Catholic RE resource work for the RED, and it is hoped that call will be answered imminently.
After an exam specification is published, such as those in the 2016 GCSE/A Level reforms or when the RED was launched in January 2023, it is then over to publishers to work with these documents to help transform them for the classrooms. This is where teacher-authors are vital, utilising years of expertise and practice, alongside the latest education research and pedagogical techniques to ensure that resources are of the highest possible quality. It must be noted that these publishers and teacher-authors also need to work with draft copies of the aforementioned documents in order to get resources to teachers in time for implementation - it would not be possible to deliver timely whilst waiting for final versions. This does result in
Andy Lewis
Deputy Headteacher at St Bonaventure’s and the Series Editor of Source to Summit, the new Key Stage 3 textbooks
extra work for writers, as Ann-Marie says,
“We've had to be really adaptable and willing to return to spreads many times in order to ensure that what is written is faithful to the final version.”
Textbooks and other resources for Catholic RE have additional processes which make it a longer journey - additional theological reviews and edits to ensure that not only does it pass the Catholic Education Service (CES) endorsement, but also gain a nihil obstat (“nothing hinders”) and imprimatur (“let it be printed”) too to give schools and teachers the confidence that the resources are free from moral and theological error. Rebecca says,
“Getting the balance right between the academic and the faith filled nature of the course. I really like the rigour of the RED but know that there is much more to the curriculum for RE in Catholic schools. Also, writing text that speaks to all young people was important – we know that many of our Catholic schools are very diverse and that this needs to be a book that responds to this.”
The response within schools to teachers who write the textbooks that their students use in class can at times be quite surreal - not only because the students see your first name - but moments like this one shared by Ann-Marie,
“My headteacher brought the book along to assemblies and
ToknowYou moreclearly
explained to the year groups about my expertise in my subject. I enjoy seeing the reaction of my students as I certainly seem to have more credibility once they know I've authored a book!”
Rebecca, who has a son who uses her GCSE book already, adds,
“It’s always funny seeing the penny drop moment when students see the name on the front of the book –“is that you?” Colleagues are really encouraging about the writing I do –I’ve even signed a book or two!”
Thankfully Ann-Marie and Rebecca feel a great sense of pride in their work. Rebecca says,
“If anyone has seen the books first hand, they’ll know that they are beautiful resources. This makes me really proud – the team have crafted something wonderful. You can view an online copy for free on the OUP website if you’d like to see for yourself! I’m really proud of the way we’ve worked together despite being geographically detached too. Being an author requires some confidence – are my words the best words? I’m proud of myself for taking that leap of faith to say yes to writing!”
Each and every teacher-author has made great sacrifices to ensure they meet deadlines and produce the work they have promised. This is on top of a busy teaching schedule, leadership roles such as being Head of Department, exam marking, and of course family life. Both Rebecca and Ann-Marie cited many late
evenings, giving up weekends and school holidays to work on the books. However, as Rebecca says,
“The young people who use our books are the next generation of the Church and we owe it to them to help them to develop an articulate, well-informed faith that they see to be relevant to the world today.”
Having a strong personal faith is an important part of working on a resource for Catholic RE, Rebecca says,
“Our young people have a great deal to offer the Church and vice versa – I see the work that I’m doing as an extension of my broader vocation. My vocation calls me to teach and lead in a Catholic school, but also to take an active role with children and young adults at Church – I want them to have access to high quality resources, in line with other subject materials, that show them the intellectual and enriching nature of the Catholic faith.”
As an editor for a new resource, I couldn’t be prouder of what our author team has already achieved and continues to work on with books for Year 8 and 9. We all felt Catholic RE deserved something academic but also attractive - we have been inspired by Pope Francis’ call to share what is beautiful, true and good in our schools. Ann-Marie’s words perhaps best sums up the work that we all do,
“Catholic schools are so fundamental to our evangelisation mission as a Church; supporting the implementation of the new RED is one small part of a greater mission that we all have as Catholics.”
Find out more OUP’s Source to Summit here: www.oxfordsecondary. com/sourcetosummit
The Year 7 book was published on 8th June 2023 and was the first book to be endorsed by the Catholic Education Service for the new KS3 RED curriculum.
By Willie Slavin MBE
News Roundup
Catholic Union launches campaign to 'scrap the cap'
The Catholic Union has launched a major new campaign to lift the 50 percent cap on faith-based admissions to new free schools.
People are being asked to sign an open letter to the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan MP, to 'scrap the cap'.
The letter is available for people to sign on the Catholic Union's website and will be delivered to the Department for Education after the summer holidays.
The 50 percent cap on faith-based admissions applies to oversubscribed free schools with a religious character in England. Introduced by the Coalition Government in 2010, the cap has made it impossible for new Catholic free schools to open as the policy is incompatible with Church law.
The Catholic Union, along with the Catholic Education Service and others, has been calling for the policy to be reversed since it was first introduced. The 2017 Conservative manifesto committed to lifting the cap, but this was never achieved.
As well as making Catholic education more widely available, the letter to the Education Secretary says that lifting the cap "would help boost morale" in a sector that has struggled with pay and conditions and the pressure of inspections.
Rt Hon Sir Edward Leigh MP, President of the Catholic Union, comments: "The 50 percent cap is a source
of huge frustration to the Catholic community in this country. There has never been any justification for the policy or any evidence to support keeping it in place. I have raised this matter with successive Ministers in the Department for Education. We have come close to getting the cap lifted in the past and with the help of Catholic teachers we can make the Government see sense. Lifting the cap would be a huge vote of confidence in Catholic schools in this country and I know would be welcome by people from other faiths."
Liverpool: Faith Primary Academy Awarded School of Sanctuary Status
Schools of Sanctuary is a national network of over 400 primary and secondary schools, nurseries and sixth forms all committed to creating a culture of welcome and inclusion for everyone, especially those seeking sanctuary.
Leading on securing the accreditation was Faith Primary Academy's deputy headteacher, Miss Danielle Fox. She said: "Inclusion is valuing and nurturing every individual and equipping them with the tools to reach their potential and become positive contributors in society.
"As a school, inclusion is at the very core of everything we do. We believe that if we get inclusion right, everything else will follow."
Headteacher of Faith Primary Academy, Miss Sarah Williams, added: "We are absolutely thrilled to have
been awarded School of Sanctuary status. We have been working hard to achieve this accreditation and it is wonderful to be recognised for our efforts."
Keeping the flock cool at St Augustine's Priory
When you need a haircut, going to the hairdresser is the answer. At St Augustine's Priory, the hairdresser comes to you, as long as you are one of their flock of sheep. It was shearing time at this Ealing Catholic independent school for girls when shearer Tom Davis arrived recently to give all their sheep a summer shearing.
The Priory Farm at St Augustine's Priory is a working farm with chickens, ducks and sheep. Under the aegis of the Priory Farm Manager, Lauren Fraser, interested senior pupils are trained in the care of the animals and become student farm managers. Throughout the year, local schools are also welcomed to visit and learn about the animals, their way of life and how to care for them.
Cheshire: School supports refugees through powerful project
Pupils worked together to create a project of hope, faith and support
Students at a primary school in Ellesmere Port recently took part in an inspiring project as part of their education about social justice. As an accredited Rights Respecting School, St Bernard's RC Primary strives to inform its students about the Rights of the
Child. The initiative, created by UNICEF, encourages schools to protect, respect, and promote children's rights.
The 'Everyone's Welcome' project at St Bernard's explored this topic and how it links to the plight of refugees in particular. Through discussions, research, and reading, children learnt about the experiences of refugees and talked about how they can show their support.
After reading 'The Silence Seeker', children in Year 3 felt very motivated and proactively worked as a team to design something uplifting for those in the refugee community. Together, they created a variety of 'welcome boxes' and inside were messages and images representing hope, love, and faith.
Classes in Year 5 and 6 expressed their support through creativity. Year 5 utilised their DT skills to create a range of pencil frames; containing written ways they could aid refugees. Year 6 produced stunning pieces of art to reflect freedom after being inspired by the book 'Dreams of Freedom' which signifies the importance of having the freedom to be educated, safe, and yourself.
Additionally, all pupils expressed their appreciation for what they have through poetry, highlighting what home means to them. They also wrote thoughtful and caring prayers for the refugee community.
Following the completion of the project, the work of the whole school was exhibited in the hall, with families and visitors invited to view it.
It was an impactful event. Guests felt moved by pieces pupils created and left feeling more
driven to help those in need and more educated about the lives of those who seek asylum.
St Bernard's RC Primary also created a YouTube video to showcase students' work and motivate others to spread the word about how the refugee community can be welcomed and assisted. It included hopeful quotes, messages, and informative figures.
Mrs Julie Le Feuvre, Head of School, said: "As a Rights Respecting School, we are dedicated to educating our pupils about their rights, but also about the difficulties that other children and people may face, and how we can come together to support them."
Survey exploring faith formation in young Catholics
Do you work with young Catholics in a school, parish, diocese, youth group or other organisation? If so Dr Karen Towey Senior Lecturer and Programme Lead for the Foundation Degree in Youth Ministry at St Mary's University, would love to hear from you.
Dr Towey is conducting a pastoral research project, exploring the successful transmission and formation in the faith of Catholic young people in England - looking at what works or doesn't work, in the wake of the Covid pandemic. See the survey here: https:// stmarys.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/ catholic-young-people-successfultransmissionformation-2
By Willie Slavin MBE
Loving Leadership
By Michael Quigley Austin Macauley Publishers
ISBN: 9781398468696
There is something so positive, optimistic and demanding of attention in this relatively short but compelling book that grabbed the attention of this reviewer with an extensive experience of leadership in both education and in the charitable sector. Whether the attraction is based upon a forlorn wish that had this book been available forty years ago when I was taking on my first headship, the shedding of much blood, sweat and tears might have been avoided.
What I can say with some certainty is that the hard won lessons of those forty years allow me to witness to the authenticity of both the grasp of the ambitious vision behind the title and the attention to the detail of bringing it to its effective realisation. In a very real sense Michael Quigley has come as close as any author in spelling out just what that over used phrase ‘Gospel values’ looks like in reality. While Michael is writing for ‘anyone who wants to make a positive difference in another’s life’, there is no mistaking the influence of a Catholic family formation and his early work as a Primary school teacher where his insightful understanding of both the human condition and the art of teaching has been hugely influential in his own development as a businessman and now, a very busy consultant. Not withstanding the multiple layers of influence in his own development, he traces his first appreciation of loving leadership to his teenage volunteering on Pilgrimages to Lourdes for several years in a row. He records his appreciation of ‘the values people held, which informed everything they did. It was real loving leadership in action.’ He is effusive in his appreciation of the formative example of a priest, a close family friend, who inspired the framework of this book and for his company, Kataholos. The Quigley six point formula following an introduction:
1. There is no enemy: there is always a choice of how we perceive other people;
Book&Media Review
‘do we see them as friend or foe, enemy or ally or us and them. People are assets, not liabilities, valuable, not meaningless, they are always capable of good, never a lost cause.’
2. Grow and develop: provide an environment where people feel safe and comfortable and challenged to achieve their greatness.’
Create a culture of learning, provide mentors, provide opportunities to grow,
3. Embrace Paradox: In a revealing insight into how bereavement and its post traumatic effect has been transformative in his own life, Michael Quigley commends the paradoxical outcome that revealed how ‘life can be deeper, richer and fuller than you can comprehend – but you must allow your older self to die and be willing to continually change and grow to become this fuller person.‘The most challenging and difficult of experiences contain within them the opportunity for post traumatic growth for you.’
4. Relationships are sacred: Given that relationships are at the heart of all human encounters, the author is particularly helpful in this section by offering five key strategies, sound advice and insightful techniques into how to develop and sustain successful relationships making full use of his experience in both education and in business.
5. Think long term: An early lesson from his teaching experience and the realisation that every level of education is part of a lifetime progression for every pupil even if the long term outcome is unclear, there is no doubting the value of that future objective. He deals in detail with motivation and offers insight into five types, each applicable to particular circumstances.
6. Meaning matters: In stating that ‘one of the great privileges of life is to help a person discover purpose and meaning in their life’, Michael Quigley powerfully signals the difference in this approach to leadership. This is not a functional - learn the lessons of leadership and apply them and have a more successful school or business with measurable outcomes. This advocates a more formative process with the potential to be transformative at both
institutional and personal levels. It relies heavily on the ability and passion to tap into the inspirational power of being able to share a vision – recognised as: ‘Vision is the life-force of the loving leader.’ Neither does it shy away from confronting the obvious and all too familiar issues of finding meaning in the apparently mundane and in facing the negative responses to change and challenge. This chapter is an object lesson in how to confront life’s big questions in an insightful, systematic series of progressive conversations.
Each of these chapters comes with a concise summary, listing key issues and a series of searching and consolidating questions. I found these features so helpful for quickly locating each chapter within the whole narrative in a book that lives up to its proclaimed usefulness as a dipping in resource.
There is however no doubt in my mind that the distinctive feature of this book within the ‘Leadership Canon’ is its insightful embrace of the spiritual dimension that takes it well beyond the transactional level of much that passes as training. It both demonstrates and cultivates an acute depth of the uniquely sacred value of the relational in all human encounters. And, although there is no attempt at articulating a theological perspective to its vision, there is an unmistakable imprint of a theological intuition in action at every level in this immensely valuable contribution to bringing to life those values that are the life blood of our Catholic Christian faith.
In an appreciative Foreword to the book, Dr Kevin Treston, the internationally renowned Australian Catholic educationalist endorses the book as: ‘ideal for anyone engaged in any level of leadership to invite readers to deepen their appreciation of practical leadership which is characterised by sacred values of love, respect, relationships and purpose.
Readers living in the UK who would like to buy a signed copy, can email michael@kataholos.co.uk
For further information about Michael Quigley’s range of services consult: https://kataholos.co.uk/our-story
MISSION TOGETHER
It has been a year since the introduction of the Catholic Schools Inspectorate. This move not only provided a strong national framework with many resulting benefits, but also underscored the importance of mission and the significance of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) in our schools and colleges.
With this renewed focus, Mission Together’s latest assembly - Together in India - aims to illustrate the difference mission and CST make in the lives of children around the world.
Mission Together is the children’s branch of Missio – the Pope’s charity for overseas mission. Every year Mission Together produces a Together in… assembly focusing on one of the many overseas projects helped by its young supporters in England and Wales. These assemblies enable pupils to discover more about the children supported through the project, and to stand in solidarity with their sisters and brothers overseas through a commitment to sharing and prayer.
This year, our CST-inspired assembly focuses on a project run by the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco which aims to educate and empower vulnerable children in a ‘slum resettlement area’ in India.
The project, called Marialaya, which means House of Mary, is located in Kannagi Nagar within the densely populated city of Chennai. Housing over 100,000 residents, but with poor access to work, education, utilities and transport, Kannagi Nagar is plagued with crime, violence, and limited opportunities. Marialaya offers hope and progression to children and young people through various programmes of support.
Our Together in India assembly highlights some of the programmes that are offered by Marialaya. In doing so, the assembly demonstrates how the Religious Sisters and the children they support show us examples of CST in action. The assembly is punctuated with reflective questions and calls to action, encouraging pupils in England and Wales to consider how they
can live out CST too.
A set of short films accompany Together in India. The films feature children supported by Marialaya and provide an insight into the impact of mission and CST in the area. The films are followed by reflection questions, scripture, calls to action, and a CST-themed prayer. Our Together in India resources can be accessed via the Teachers Resources tab on the Mission Together website. missiontogether.org.uk
Facilitating and encouraging prayer is an essential element of Mission Together’s work. And so, in addition to our new CST prayers, we have produced a set of prayers based upon the Catholic character virtues followed in schools. Our CST and ‘Virtues and Values’ prayers can be accessed via the Teachers Resources tab on the Mission Together website. missiontogether. org.uk
On the Teachers Resources tab, you will also find our Inclusive Catechesis webpage. These resources have been specially created in partnership with Renarkably Made Catechesis to meet the needs of children and young people who are differently abled. Our inclusive prayer ideas, based on CST themes, can also be adapted for use with EYFS.
Additional Mission Together resources that enhance Catholic life and mission in the Autumn term include our Little Way Week materials. This year, Little Way Week begins on Monday 25 September and ends on Friday 29 September. The term ‘Little Way Week’ comes from St Thérèse’s simple philosophy that through small, loving actions we can share God’s love with the world.
As the patron saint of mission and Mission Together, we are proud to share the story of St Thérèse through our selection of school resources. These include a Five Fact Assembly, liturgical prayer, activities, comprehension tasks, and our Little Way Week Planner.
All Mission Together resources aim to help children recognise themselves as members of God’s global family, working in solidarity for the benefit of all, but with a special concern for those living in poverty.
To this end, our new reading challenge - Words for our Worldhopes to raise pupils’ awareness of their place within God’s global Church family. Words for our World invites pupils to journey through our global home by reading books based within each of the Mission Rosary continents: Africa, the Americas, Europe, Oceania, and Asia.
The challenge is not simply for pupils to read their way around the world, but to encourage them to pray for their brothers and sisters within those continents too. Words
for our World also aims to help pupils discover, through the Mission Together Virtual Map (found on the Pupil’s Pages tab), how children around the world share their faith in Christ with others. As an additional act of solidarity, schools are invited to designate Words for our World as a sponsored challenge, with funds raised supporting Mission Together’s many overseas children’s projects.
Mission Together resources are free, but the overseas projects we support rely on your donations and prayers. By supporting Mission Together, you are helping to provide feeding programmes, residential care, educational, pastoral, and spiritual support to some of the world’s poorest children.
If you are interested in supporting Mission Together in your school, please visit missiontogether.org.uk
If you are interested in becoming a Mission Together volunteer, either delivering assemblies or being part of our Consultancy Board, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact Claire at missiontogether@missio.org.uk
