Scottish Catholic Observer

By Ian Dunn and Liz Leydon

CATHOLIC schools are changing in Scotland and, whether or not independence comes, the Scottish Government must embrace religious diversity and the Church must be positive, the Catholic education community in Scotland has been told.

Academics, teachers, clergy and Catholic pupils who joined Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow and Bishop-elect John Keenan of Paisley for the Cardinal Winning lecture at Glasgow University, heard keynote speaker Professor Tony Finn state with humour and passion that Catholic schools are an asset to the Church, other faith communities and to Scottish society at large.

“For many pupils the school IS the Church,” Professor Finn (above) told the audience at the St Andrew’s Foundation lecture last Saturday, by way of explanation of decreasing Church attendance, yet a constant influx of pupils to Catholic schools. “Catholic teaching and the ethos of Catholic schools have been recognised [outwith our community].”

The professor—the former chief executive of the General Teaching Council for Scotland who was introduced last Saturday by foundation director Leonardo Franchi—added, however, that no matter what percentage of a school’s roll, or its teachers for that matter, is or is not Catholic, it does not make the school itself any less Catholic.

“As Scotland prepares for a referendum in which it will decide whether it should become an independent state, mature enough to take its own decisions, our country must also be mature enough to accept that there is a continuing demand for denominational schools,” he said. “A Scottish Government report has recently stated that there is no evidence at all that the presence of denominational schools helps to promote sectarianism. Catholic schools are not narrow or inward looking; they provide positive service to very wide communities. They never did and never could support such an evil prejudice.”

Caritas Award pupils were among the audience at the lecture.

Professor Finn is a former headteacher and senior officer in Fife, but is now based in Glasgow University. He repeatedly emphasised the need to convey the joy of Catholic schools and speak of the Church and Catholic education with optimism and enthusiasm.

Professor Finn highlighted issues during the lecture—established to honour the late Scottish cardinal it is named after—that he believes the Church and Catholic educators should review as its school population changes.

“I have suggested strongly that we should become more positive in talking about Catholic education, stressing its value and its values and putting behind us any residual recidivist defence of an outdated image of the Catholic school,” he said. “Instead, we should be very proud of the progress which has been made and the standards which have been attained by Catholic schools, progress that has offered life chances to Catholics which by far outweigh the aspiration of those responsible for the 1918 Act; progress which is now attractive to those of many faiths and none.”

During his recent analysis of patterns of attendance and achievement in Catholic schools, the professor said his survey sample illustrated that denominational schools repeatedly outperform non-denominational schools in Scotland.

The professor also said that the Church itself, which has recently seen serious challenges in Scotland and internationally, must itself embrace optimism.

“Despite the Church’s difficulties in recent years, the Christian message still commands support from Catholics,” he said. “Pope Francis has made an excellent start in changing the Church’s image, and so have Cardinal Vincent in England and Archbishop Tartaglia here in Glasgow. Let us accept the mistakes of the past, with humility and sorrow, and move forward to a fairer, more open and mature, less defensive Catholic Church, which is a beacon for good in this country.”

Professor Finn, originally from Cumnock, spoke during the question and answer session at the end of the lecture of the need for the Church to develop the role of women in the Church, something he saw as essential in Catholic education, ‘inevitable in the Church and as advocated by Pope Francis earlier this year.’

The professor added that ‘educating is not a profession but an attitude’ in a Catholic school, quoting from a message from Pope Francis last year.

At the end of Saturday’s event, Dr Franchi revealed educators will not have to wait until next year for the foundation’s—which overseas the education of Catholic teachers in Scotland— next event. In addition to the annual Cardinal Winning lecture, the foundation will be hosting another lecture on Monday October 27 from 5.15pm-7pm, with Professor Tom Devine as guest speaker. A venue, however, has yet to be confirmed.

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—This story ran in full in the March 7 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes

PIC: GERARD GOUGH