Letters

Catholic schools

Don Gaffney

Contents - Nov 2011 - Buy a copy now Homily: Benedict XVI: From his All Saints Day homily - Pope Benedict XVI Ad Limina: The Australian bishops' 2011 ad limina visit to Rome - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World Pastoral visit: Benedict XVI calls his visit to Germany 'a great feast of faith' The Lion of Munster: Blessed Cardinal von Galen: a voice against tyranny - Babette Francis WYD Madrid: World Youth Day 2011: Experiencing Christ's presence - Dr Joe Santamaria WYD Madrid: World Youth Day: Becoming sons and daughters of Christ - Sam Rebbechi Society: Finding hope in the midst of secularism - Cardinal Raymond Burke Saints: G.K. Chesterton: Is there a case for his canonisation? - Karl Schmude Letters: Catholic schools - Don Gaffney Letters: First Parents - Fr Brian Harrison OS Letters: World Youth Day Madrid balance sheet - Fr Edward P. Evans Letters: Planetary Spirituality - Grahame Fallon Letters: Climate change - P.C. Wilson Letters: Immoral policies - Anthony English Letters: Vatican II - Kathleen Donelly Letters: Atheism - Fr Bernard McGrath Letters: Same sex marriage - Brian Harris Letters: Islam - John Frey Letters: Catholic healthcare for Cairns - Dr Tim and Anne Coyle Letters: New parish in India - Fr S. John Joseph PP Letters: Advocate needed - Oliver Clark Books: STRAINED RELATIONS: The Challenge of Homosexuality, by Bill Muehlenberg - Dr Joe Santamaria (reviewer) Books: ST THOMAS BECKET, by Michael Green - Michael E. Daniel (reviewer) Books: SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, by Ivan Gobry - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Donations: Support the Fighting Fund! Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: The Church's architecture: faith translated into vision - Bishop Arthur Serratelli

Maria Plustwik's account of Catholic schooling is sadly accurate. My own family is descended on one side from the Scots and on the other from the Irish. Each side kept the faith through the hardest times, and passed on the strongest tradition to their Australian descendants. Mary MacKillop was first cousin to my great-grandfather, Donald Mackintosh.

I have seven children and 27 nieces and nephews, and also 38 cousins mostly with families. With very few exceptions, our children's faith was destroyed before we could fully understand what was happening. In the next generation, essentially the only ones to retain their faith were the home-schooled. I bitterly regret trusting my children to the Catholic school system, which in Queensland finds scarcely two percent of its graduates practising the faith.

Maria made two particularly accurate comments. Firstly, the damage was done not so much by what was taught but rather by what remained untaught. And secondly, now the children of our children are being taught by a generation who have not learned the faith themselves.

If we parents do not continue to resist this tragedy, aren't we also sharing the guilt ?

Cardinal Pell has organised an efficient fightback. Unfortunately for our children we don't have that here.

DON GAFFNEY
Tarragindi, Qld

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 24 No 10 (November 2011), p. 13