Church shouldn’t divest schools without ‘guarantees’ – expert

Church must protect the ethos of Catholic schools not undergoing divestment

A leading expert in Catholic education has warned that the Church should not divest any of its schools without “cast-iron guarantees” that the ethos of its remaining schools will be safeguarded.

Dr Rik Van Nieuwenhove, lecturer in theology at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, insisted the Church needed to look at the “bigger picture” and engage in negotiations to ensure the ethos of Catholic schools which do not undergo divestment is protected.

“This is about negotiating and bargaining and I don’t think the Church should give up any schools without cast iron guarantees that the ethos of the stand-alone Catholic school will be safeguarded and maintained.

“I don’t think we should be divesting any schools right now unless we get guarantees as to what the status of the stand-alone Catholic schools will be,” he said, adding that without such guarantees “we are going to end up with a sort of soft secularism in every school which is not desirable and does not contribute to a more pluralist Ireland”. 

Consequence

Acknowledging that he “is not against” divestment, Dr Van Nieuwenhove said it would be “naïve” to think that divesting a number of Catholic schools would strengthen the ethos of the remaining schools under Church patronage.

“I don’t think the remainder of the Catholic schools will become more Catholic as a consequence. It will not mean that they will be more Catholic. I don’t buy that at all,” he said.

Prof. Eamonn Conway, head of Theology and Religious Studies at Mary Immaculate College, said that Catholic ethos and identity “are not confined simply to the crosses on the walls for the 45 minutes of religious instruction”. “Catholic ethos and identity has to permeate the whole of the school day,” he said.

Impression

Prof. Conway also insisted that there is “no such thing” as neutral ethos.

“The impression is often given that there is such a thing as a neutral ethos. There is no such thing.

“A school always has some kind of ethos or identity and if it’s not Catholic then it may very well be anti-Catholic,” he said.