‘Parents must prepare children for sacraments’, says religious educator

Catholic parishes and parents must play a bigger role in preparing children for sacraments as pressure increases to reduce the time for religious education in schools, a leading theologian said.

Fr Eugene Duffy, a lecturer in religious education at one of the country’s main colleges for primary teachers, said schools cannot reasonably be expected to continue providing the level of faith formation needed to prepare pupils for first communion and confirmation.

Pressure is mounting to cut the amount of time given to religion in primary schools, currently prescribed at 2.5 hours a week. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment proposes that schools be given more freedom on how to use the remaining 40% of the week after providing for core subjects which could see each school decide what time is used to teach religion.