Asking the Hard Questions

Teaching RE in the Catholic School

Loreto Schools January 2015

Catholic Schools Week 2015

Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School (Vatican Congregation for

Catholic Education1988)

What makes the Catholic School distinctive is its religious dimension which is found in•The educational climate•The personal development of each student•The relationship established between culture and the Gospel•The illumination of all knowledge with the light of faith

Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School…

• Not all students in Catholic schools are members of the Catholic Church; not all are Christians. There are in fact countries in which the vast majority of the students are not Catholics. The religious freedom and personal conscience of individual students and their families must be respected and this freedom is explicitly recognised by the church.On the other hand, a Catholic school cannot relinquish its own freedom to proclaim the gospel and to offer a formation based on the values to be found in the Gospel. To proclaim or to offer is not to impose, however, the latter suggests a moral violence which is strictly forbidden, both by the Gospel and by church law.

The Joy of the Gospel• The Church herself… needs to grow in her

interpretation of the revealed word and in her understanding of truth. Differing currents of thought in philosophy, theology and pastoral practice, if open to being reconciled by the Spirit in respect and love, can enable the Church to grow, since all of them help to express more clearly the immense riches of God’s word…

For those who long for a monolithic body of doctrine guarded by all and leaving no room for nuance, this might appear as undesirable and leading to confusion. But in fact such variety serves to bring out and develop different facts of the inexhaustible riches of the Gospel.

CSP: The Catholic School and RE

The booklet is a timely contribution to the discussion on denominational education in general and Catholic Education in particular. Note 5.4 The Catholic School integrates RE into the curriculum while providing opportunities for catechesis5.5 Catholic Schools give expression to the Teachings of Vatican II5.6 Catholic Schools Educate to Intercultural Dialogue

Religion and Education: What Curriculum?

(Religion and Education –Re-Imagining the Relationship)

Learning about Religion - focus on knowledge

Learning from Religion – focus on the learner

Learning into Religion – focus on the living tradition and the encounter with God that it presupposes

Another Perspective ….with thanks to Suzanne Dillon

•The Hidden Curriculum

•The Specific Curriculum

•The Real Curriculum

•What are the hard questions for you?

•How are you dealing with them?

“We love this beautiful planet on which God has put us, and we love the human family which dwells here, with all its tragedies and struggles, its hopes and aspirations, its strengths and weaknesses. The earth is our common home and all of us are brothers and sisters.”(Pope Francis: The Joy of the Gospel)

A Word of Welcome

A Word of Witness“True Faith in the incarnate Son of

God is inseparable from self giving, from membership in the community, from service, from reconciliation with others. The Son of God, by becoming flesh, summoned us to the revolution of tenderness”

The Joy of the Gospel – Pope Francis