Bishops’ call opens debate on school role in sacraments

LINKS between home, schools and parishes must be strengthened to build young people’s faith, Irish Catholic bishops said yesterday.

However, the message came as primary school principals opened a debate on whether children should continue to be prepared for the Catholic sacraments in the classroom.

Launching their pastoral message on nurturing children’s faith, Bishop of Galway Dr Martin Drennan said the future of the Church depends on today’s children, whose future is dependant on adults.

A strong point made in the pastoral message, to be circulated in parishes next Sunday, is that the faith of children is best nurtured when home, school and parish work together.

“Firstly and most importantly, children learn about faith in the home. Their faith is supported in the school by the hard work of teachers and chaplains, and by both priests and people in the wider parish community,” the bishops say.

But they also acknowledge the pressures that affect families, particularly on young couples who work long hours.

“Many people now seem to have more of everything except time. The gift of time spent with their children is one of the most precious gifts that parents can give,” write the bishops.

They say that the home has always been central to the Catholic faith, as it is where children learn the message of Christ for the first time in the love their parents show them and in ordinary everyday things like bedtime prayers.

“It has become harder and harder to gather the family around the kitchen table for meals, but it is an investment of time that is repaid many times over,” says the pastoral message.

The bishops cited the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, as one of the Catholic tradition’s rich opportunities for developing relationships with God.

But the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN) has suggested that preparation of pupils for First Communion and Confirmation should be handed to parents rather than school teachers.

Although he did not say that religion classes should be taken out of school, IPPN director Sean Cottrell said many young teachers have reservations about teaching religion.

“The Church is acutely aware that the more the school is associated with preparation for sacraments and general faith formation, the greater the likelihood that children will cease to practice once they leave primary school, as this practice is only associated with the school,” he said.

“The more a school does for parents in faith formation, the more those parents are disempowered from ever having to make a decision or to play a meaningful role in their children’s religious education,” Mr Cottrell said.

Curriculum guidelines recommend that primary pupils receive half an hour of religious education every day.

But in multi-denominational Educate Together schools, the time is given to general tuition about different faiths rather than instruction in any specific faith.