Catholic children may be turned away from faith schools

Staff reporter

Children from Catholic families may be refused places in Catholic schools if a new admissions policy is adopted.

A new group consisting of leading Catholic educationalists and barrister Patrick Treacy, is seeking a change to the admissions policy of Catholic schools to reflect the changed nature of Irish society.

The Faith in Our Schools group is suggesting that up to 10% of places in Catholic schools be set aside for children, including unbaptised children, who do not belong to the faith community of the school.

Prof. Eamonn Conway of Mary Immaculate College told The Irish Catholic the proposal “is by way of a compromise which obviously isn’t ideal”. 

Responsibility

“If as a result of this it means any Catholic child is excluded from a school that would be very regrettable and certainly the parish community has a responsibility to ensure their parents are provided every support to enable their children to grow in faith.

“However, one advantage to this proposal is that it does witness to the Church’s mission in the area of education beyond the confines of the Church’s own faith community,” he said.

Niall McVeigh, Deputy President of Cistercian College, Roscrea, told this newspaper the proposal is “coming down to the art of compromise”. 

“We are looking at a pluralist society and it is important we cater for this but in doing so we are really coming to understand our own vocational call. We are trying to be as inclusive as we can be and it’s going to come down to this compromise,” he said.