News release : Catholic Education - Archbishop Vincent Nichols

STATEMENT BY THE MOST REVEREND VINCENT NICHOLS
Archbishop of Birmingham & Chairman of the Bishops' Conference Department of Education

11 NOVEMBER 2003
The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales today (Thursday, Nov 13) issued a strong statement in support of the Catholic schools and colleges serving our society.
Delivering the statement at a media briefing at the conclusion of the Bishops' Meeting in Leeds, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Chairman of the Bishops' Conference Department of Education and Formation and Archbishop of Birmingham, said: "We are firmly committed to playing our part in the education enterprise of this country."

He cited the Pope's recent address to the Bishops, delivered during their Ad Limina visit to Rome in October. Archbishop Nichols highlighted a paragraph from the Holy Father's speech: "Within the context of the evangelisation of culture, I wish to acknowledge the fine contribution of your Catholic schools both to enriching the faith of the Catholic community and to promoting excellence within civic life in general."

The Archbishop said: "During this Meeting in Leeds, the Bishops have reflected on the task of forming faith and proclaiming it to the world." He stressed that Catholic education is within the context of the evangelisation of culture. "Education is an abiding preoccupation of English people and the Catholic Church has always played a key role in this," he said. "There is a considerable raft of Government policies on education all of which entail challenges to the role of the Catholic Church in education."

Archbishop Nichols said the three main issues in this field at present were the place of faith schools and the challenges to demonstrate their effectiveness, the funding of schools and the concern to preserve the rights of the Church, and Government plans for educating 14-to-19-year-olds.

The Archbishop officially launched the key Catholic Education Service document, Catholic Education: A CES Position Paper on Catholic Education in Schools and Sixth Form Colleges. He added: "This was used as a starting point for the Bishops' statement today."
Here is the Bishops' statement in full:

Catholic Schools Serving Our Society
STATEMENT BY THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
The Catholic Education Service has recently issued a Position Paper on Catholic Education in Schools and Sixth Form Colleges, which concludes with these words: "Catholic schools and sixth form colleges are a fundamental requirement if the right of a significant proportion of the community to ensure that their children are educated in a way that reflects their values and beliefs is to be upheld. In carrying out this mission, they provide a demonstrably effective education, as evidenced by pupil attainment. The students come from a wide economic, social, cultural and faith spectrum. In welcoming and responding to this diversity, Catholic schools and colleges are active in equipping their students to live in a multi-cultural and multi-faith society."

We, the Bishops of England and Wales, fully support this statement as a true reflection of the contribution that our schools and colleges make to the well-being of our society. We are concerned that some of the current Government initiatives in education will, even unwittingly, have the effect of undermining that contribution.

Through the Catholic Education Service, we seek to be as fully involved as possible in negotiations with the Department for Education and Skills about the nature of "Faith Schools" and the future funding of them. We are resolved to respond to current policy changes in ways that will enhance Catholic education and develop it.

We urge the Catholic community in England and Wales to continue supporting our schools. This means, not least, meeting wherever possible the financial commitment of finding our contribution towards the cost of providing these institutions, which in England is 10% and 15% in Wales. This demonstrates our genuine concern to provide Catholic education for our community, protects our ability to defend and develop its distinctiveness, and puts us in a strong position to argue for the continuation of such provision.

We also urge support for our Catholic schools and colleges through parents seeking such education for their children. The quality of what is offered in our institutions is, almost without exception, highly regarded and commented upon favourably in Ofsted inspections. Far from being a divisive influence, all the available evidence points to denominational education making a significant contribution in preparing young people to take a proper place in the diverse society in which we live.

November 13, 2003