Sir, – Given the environment in which we now live in this country, perhaps taking religion out of our national schools might be the better thing for all involved. At the moment, those children, of a different faith or none, must feel rejected during the religion classes, when they are either sent to a different room, or are made to sit at the back of the class. Their situation is even worse during the preparation period for first holy communion and confirmation. And apart from the students, it is now pretty obvious that most of our young teachers are no longer practising the faith. So, we can only imagine how they must feel in their role as catechists. However, if the parishes were to take on the roles of faith formation, and teaching religious knowledge outside of school-time, they would benefit greatly. The critical aspect of the change from school to parish would involve the parents making a serious commitment to passing on the faith to their children. And this would be in keeping with the acknowledged stages of faith development, whereby the parents are the ones who sow the seed of faith and nourish it in the children. At the moment, it is doubtful if many Irish families practice the faith in the traditional way, by saying prayers before bedtime and going to Mass at the weekend. So, if religion were taken out of our national schools, a new approach to evangelisation would have to be devised so that, at least, we would have the faithful and the few. – Yours, etc,
Fr PAT SEAVER,
Farranshone,
Limerick.