Catholic Identity & Mission News

Australian Catholic Schooling

Recently, a colleague recommended that I watch a video of American Bishop, Robert Barron, on the topic of ‘The Future of Catholic Schools’. In this interview, published on Youtube in June this year, Bishop Barron lamented the decrease in enrolments in Catholic schools in the United States and attributed the problem to ‘none’ and ‘nuns’. In part, he said that increased secularisation (the lack of Christian, or any, faith), meant that people weren’t seeking a religious education, and that without ‘nuns’, ie. free labour, schools were very expensive to operate, and therefore expensive to attend. Bishop Barron and his interviewer agreed that the situation for Catholic education was perilous and urgent action needed to be taken. 

Australian Catholic schooling differs from the United States as we have an ‘education system’ overseeing and supporting our schools, whereas they do not. Nevertheless, the concerns raised by Bishop Barron reflect general concerns of how Catholic education has changed. Where once, every student was a baptised Catholic and the vast majority attended Sunday Mass, where nuns were a dominant presence in education and a religious vocation was a familiar post school pathway, today these things are the exception rather than the rule. 

However, when I think of what we offer at St. Peter’s College by way of ‘Catholic’ education in our multi-cultural / multi-faith community, I believe we work to counter these issues like ‘none’ and ‘nuns’ through education and by empowering our staff and students through opportunities to engage with the teachings of Jesus Christ, and of Catholic Social Teaching. We know that Jesus is ‘the way, the truth and the life’ (Jn 14:6) and as such, I sometimes think that if we just left Jesus to do the talking, we wouldn’t have the chance to complicate the message! 

For instance, this Monday, many staff will participate in another Twilight Theology session. This time, the topic is ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ in Matthew’s Gospel. This is a sermon that theologians agree is authentic teaching of Jesus and that St. Augustine referred to as ‘holding all the precepts needed for our guidance in the Christian life’. Our staff, all lay people (not nuns, brothers or priests), will learn about, and from, this sermon. In turn, it is hoped that it will inform their work in the College both in what they do, and say. 

Similarly, our Year 10 students have their annual Reflection Days coming up. Their theme this year is ‘Identity and Belonging’ and the day will allow the students the time and space to consider their life journeys so far, the people and events that have shaped them, and when and where they experience God. All are invited into a personal relationship with God but in our hyper-stimulated world, we don’t often allow ourselves to slow down and reflect. These reflection days are divided into sessions which give an idea of their priorities such as ‘I have called you by name’, ‘Comforting the disturbed, disturbing the comfortable’ and of course, ‘Be not afraid’. 

I know I’ve used this quote of Pope Francis before that we are not in an ‘era of change, but a change of era’ but it’s particularly true in this context. We can’t go back in time, nor should we really want to. As Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, ‘do not worry about tomorrow’ for ‘today’s trouble is enough for today’ (Mt 6:34). And so today, and in the weeks ahead, we will continue to proclaim what we know is true, the Good News of Jesus Christ, and we’ll entrust our efforts to the Holy Spirit in good faith. 

Fiona McKenna

Deputy Principal - Catholic Identity & Mission