The greatest threat to Catholic education is a “lack of identity from within”, the bishop of Derry said in his address to schools for the new school year.
“Unless we have some idea of what we stand for, we have nothing to communicate that justifies us being a separate sector,” Bishop Donal McKeown said, August 26.
“The greatest threat to Catholic education in Ireland and around the world comes not from outside opposition but from lack of identity within.”
Bishop McKeown continued, saying that handing on faith “is about sharing a rich worldview, laced with imagination, that gives meaning to everything and helps them process the pain of being human”.
Catholic schools will flourish when “we can help the whole school community experience a rich way of being human”, he said.
The bishop finished by urging teachers and staff to “be proud of what you do because it is of eternal beauty and value”.