the launch of the book
The Congregational School. Its History and Significance in Catholic Education in NSW and Australia
pathways, September 2009
In the life of the Church, the Catholic school is recognised above all as an expression of those Religious Institutes which, according to their proper charism or specific apostolate, have dedicated themselves generously to education.
Catholic education has been likened to a platypus: both are unique to Australia.
The organisation and funding of non-government schools in Australia, especially Catholic schools, see taxpayers make a major contribution, yet individual Catholic schools enjoy a fundamental freedom to decide who gets to enrol in the school, who gets to teach in it and what is taught, according to the Executive Director of the Catholic Education Commission of New South Wales, Dr Brian Croke.
"Elsewhere in the world there have been, and still are, major public battles over all these issues. We have only minor skirmishes," he said at the launch of The Congregational School. Its History and Significance in Catholic Education in NSW and Australia.
"A key explanation for how we managed to create that unique model of schooling is set out in (this) Congregational school document (which) reminds us that Catholic schools in NSW date back to the 1820s.
"It was in 1880 in NSW, slightly earlier or later in other states, that government financial support for Catholic schools was withdrawn ... The prevailing liberal doctrine ... presumed that educating all students in a single secular school owned and operated by the government would take the sting out of religious dispute and sectarianism.
"Enter the religious congregations. They saved the day... The Australian bishops, almost all of them Irish of course, turned to the religious congregations of Ireland and England but also Europe to supply teachers to replace the lay teachers whom they could no longer afford to pay.
"The congregations themselves generally flourished until the 1960s when the times began to change once more. By now, Catholic schooling was expanding too rapidly for congregations to keep supplying nuns and brothers to teach in them. At the same time, the Church set out to resolve its own challenges through the Second Vatican Council which opened discussion not only on the nature of the Catholic school but also on the nature of life in the religious congregations, forcing sometimes painful reviews of long established practices.
"Then numbers of religious began to decline."
Dr Croke said that by the 1970s Australian Catholic schools needed rescuing again - through the restoration of government financial assistance which enabled the decreasing numbers of religious to be replaced by lay teachers with only minimum disruption to coverage or quality of Catholic schooling.
"Government assistance has been particularly valuable to religious congregations because it has taken much of the financial pressure off them," he said.
"Unlike the situation in many other parts of the world, I would argue that the unique Australian model has given congregations the breathing space necessary to rethink and regroup.
"Congregational schools, as we now know them, have generally been fortunate to retain in some way the direct presence of the religious and the powerful influence of their charism or tradition."
That influence was most evident, he said, in secondary schools in NSW and in special schools, as all the Catholic special schools in NSW were owned and operated by congregations.
Dr Croke said there was one significant difference between the platypus and Catholic education - the latter was not an endangered species, for which, above all those who taught in the schools and nurtured them, the various and diverse religious congregations of men and women, needed to be thanked.
"Their work endures, their spirit inspires, their ideals encourage. The Congregational School publication illuminates their past, present and future. They can look back with pride and forward with hope."
Long-time Jesuit educator Fr Chris Gleeson SJ, deputising for Bishop Greg O'Kelly SJ, said he agreed with the thoughts of book author Dr Berenice Kerr RSM on the strength of charism in congregation al schools and its provision of 'links to a bigger church world'.
"On the other hand, the author wisely points out that 'charism does not exist for itself. It is fundamentally an instrument for building up and renewing the whole Church. Any tendency to use charism to create what one writer terms a 'parallel church' would be quite contrary to the spirit of the various founders ...', Fr Gleeson said. "My strong sense is that congregations and those who work with them continue to take this caveat very seriously."
Using his experience as a member the inaugural Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) Board, he said that after seven years' preparation, the new structure was aimed not just at maintaining the Edmund Rice charism but developing it not as an end in itself but as a pathway to Jesus.
"As a Jesuit and hopefully someone bringing another set of objective eyes to the EREA Board, I am convinced that its policies and procedures are in keeping with the best of congregational school practice outlined in this fine booklet being launched today.
"By way of conclusion, in the EREA we have but one example of a congregation being absolutely true to its charism and looking for new ways of putting this charism at the service of the Church in the new millennium.
"It is a bold innovation.
"There will always be skeptics about change, of course, even in high places, but we must make change our friend. It was John Henry Newman, soon to be a Saint I hope, who said once: 'To grow is to change, and to be come perfect is to have changed many times'."
The Congregational School. Its History and Significance in Catholic Education in NSW and Australia which has been published by the Conference of Leaders of Religious Institutes in New South Wales. It was launched by CLRI(NSW) president Sr Barbara Bolster RSM at St Ignatius College, Riverview (Sydney).
Copies and support materials have been made available to all congregational schools in New South Wales.
looking back with pride and forward with hope:
above, (from left) CLRI(NSW) president Sr Barbara Bolster RSM (Grafton) who launched the publication, author, Dr Berenice Kerr RSM (Grafton) and launch guest speakers, Fr Chris Gleeson SJ (Brisbane), representing Bishop Greg O'Kelly SJ and CECNSW executive director, Dr Brian Croke (Sydney).
top right, CLRI(NSW) executive director, Sharon Price RSM, and the designer of the book, Matt Anglicas, the graphic designer from St Anthony's College, Brookvale.
full text of the address by BRIAN CROKE
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