Letters

School chaplains

Arnold Jago

Contents - Aug 2014 - Buy a copy now Wilcannia-Forbes: An unusual but welcome ordination - Peter Westmore Culture: US Supreme Court's landmark decisions support faith - AD2000 Report News: The Church Around the World Factors in the success of Australia's young adult ministry - Br Barry Coldrey Fatherhood: mirror of God's relationship with the Son - Anne Lastman Uncovering the ideas behind the 'culture of death' - Donald DeMarco Pope Francis condemns 'Gender ideology' as 'demonic' - Patrick Byrne Eyewitness to history: the canonisation of St John Paul II - Wanda Skowronska Pope Francis discusses the Church's moral teachings - LifeSiteNews Miracle on death row - Cedric Wright War of words: changing society through language - Audrey English Letters: Use of iPhone at Mass ... - Audrey English Letters: Still at it, Mr Westmore! - Anne Lastman Letters: School chaplains - Arnold Jago Letters: Naming a lost baby - Robert Bom Books: IN SEARCH OF CARDINAL STEPINAC: A Complete Biography, by Fr Zvonimir Gavranovic - Fr Steven Ledinich (reviewer) Books: RICH IN YEARS: Finding Peace and Purpose in a Long Life, Johann Christoph Arnold - Michael E Daniel (reviewer) Books: PRAY FOR ME The Life and Spiritual Vision of Pope Francis, by Robert Moynihan - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Books: NEW OUTPOURINGS OF THE SPIRIT, by Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI - Br Barry Coldrey (reviewer) Books: Order books from www.freedompublishing.com.au Reflection: The Assumption: Mary leads us to Heaven - Bishop Anthony Fisher

The Australian federal government has allotted $245 million for funding school chaplains for another four years.

However, on 19 June 2014, five High Court justices upheld a legal challenge against such funding.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott wants the program to continue and says the funding might be directed through state governments. So it's all about funding. Or is it?

The rules governing chaplains these days are restrictive – no "proselytising", no encouraging personal commitment to God, no teaching Christian moral values.

You'd think only very fanatical atheists could object – those wanting, not just to end funding, but to boot chaplains out altogether.

In an alternative universe, the government mightn't fund education at all, with the churches providing schools, and parents – aware that children need absolute standards – choosing faith-based schools rather than "secular" institutions.

History suggests it could happen again if the will were to be there.

Mother Mary MacKillop (Saint Mary of the Cross) never permitted government funding of any schools that she pioneered.

ARNOLD JAGO
Nichols Point, Vic

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 27 No 7 (August 2014), p. 15