The body representing 430 Catholic secondary schools is to press the Department of Education to appoint chaplains to all of them in an attempt to protect their ethos. The group has already met the Minister of Education, Dr Woods. The Association of Management of Catholic Secondary Schools believes there is "no real hope for maintaining the ethos of our schools at present without the appointment and funding of chaplains".
The association's president, Mgr Jim Cassin, said the AMCSS had joined other Catholic groups to "lobby and bring pressure to bear on the Department for the appointment of chaplains". He was speaking at the annual conference.
The other Catholic groups involved include the Conference of Religious in Ireland; the Episcopal Commission; the Catholic Primary Schools Management Association; and the Archdiocese of Dublin.
"If we take seriously our commitment to our identity, the chaplain is crucial. A chaplain has key roles that are indispensable to the school," said Mgr Cassin.
It was also revealed at the conference that religious orders, under the umbrella of the CORI, considered vesting the trusteeship of their schools in dioceses. Sister Teresa McCormack, of CORI, said the orders had looked at this model - where the schools would be the responsibility of dioceses controlled by bishops - but had decided it was not realistic.
If the orders had decided on this course the trusteeship structure would have been similar to that in primary education, where bishops are school patrons.