Education Sunday 2011

19 February 2011

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ

During Pope Benedict’s visit to our country last September, he met with four thousand young people and their teachers at what was called the ‘Big Assembly’.  He was also able to speak and pray with many more students and their teachers through television screens in school halls and class rooms.  The Pope spoke about the importance of young people in the Church and about the vocation and ministry of teaching.

In the presence of the Pope, Bishop Malcolm McMahon, the Chairman of the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales, began ‘The Year of Catholic Education’.  In our diocese we are celebrating this special year with the theme ‘Unfolding Wisdom’.  Our theme reflects the prayer which Pope Benedict prayed at the beginning of the ‘Big Assembly’.  It also reminds us that education never stops.  The need for unfolding wisdom is as important for adults as it is for young people.

Speaking to teachers the Pope said: “The task of a teacher is not simply to impart information or to provide training in skills intended to deliver some economic benefit to society; education is not and must never be considered as purely utilitarian.  It is about forming the human person, equipping him or her to live life to the full – in short it is about imparting wisdom”.

Education is and always has been part of the mission of the Church.  Ever since Jesus told his disciples to go out to the whole world and teach them everything I have taught you, the Church community has sought to proclaim and live the way of Jesus which reveals to us the truth of life.  Education is person centred and is to do with the whole person, drawing each one of us into the life of God and deepening our wonder about the whole of creation.  Education is for life and about life and its purpose is to make us fully alive.

Our first experience of formal education outside of the home is when we go to school.  As adults, our memories of school days may be varied but as a diocese, we can be proud of our schools both at primary and secondary level.  Our schools are about helping our young people to discover the wonder of their being and prepare them for adult life.  This is done within the environment of a Catholic community where the Gospel is lived and celebrated as well as taught in Religious Education.

Talking with the young people, Pope Benedict invited them to be saints of the twenty-first century.  He then spoke of saints as people who were not prepared to accept second best.  “I am asking you”, he said “not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all others.  Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not enough to make us happy.  Being highly skilled in some activity or profession is good, but it will not satisfy us unless we aim for something greater still.  It might make us famous, but it will not make us happy.  Happiness is something we all want… true happiness is to be found in God”.

Our schools are important for the wellbeing of our young people.  They provide places within which young people can find reasons for living and hoping.  They may not always be perfect and sometimes they may not be able to meet the needs of every young person, but when they are objectively judged they are frequently said to be outstanding or good.  A number of our schools are situated in challenging areas and they give to young people a sense of confidence and worth. 

At present there are many proposed changes for schools such as the setting up of Academies.  Whatever way we go, our first concern must be for the formation of young people within a Catholic environment.  Financial incentives may be attractive but they cannot dictate our future if our understanding of education is about unfolding wisdom and respecting the common good.

On Education Sunday I would like to thank all those involved in the life of our schools.  But education does not stop when we leave school.  Called to be a people of hope, we need to be able to speak about our faith to others.  In this year of ‘Unfolding Wisdom’, I would ask each person and every parish to consider what is needed if we are to be a people confident in our faith, deepening our pray, enabling communion and strengthening our mission.

With my best wishes and prayers

Bishop of Clifton

To be read and/or made available in all churches and chapels in the Clifton Diocese on the Education Sunday, 20 February 2011.

You can listen to Bishop Declan read you his pastoral letter in the multimedia panel on the right.

You can watch Bishop Declan read you his pastoral letter in the cliftondiocese.com cliplayer below.  The video below is for online viewing and is compressed in Flash format.  You can download the video in MP4 format in the multimedia panel on the right.