“A suitable method to promote religious education (RE), that is geared to the individual needs of pupils, parents, teachers and schools” and that “will lead to greater clarity about the objectives, procedures, expectations and role of RE in secondary schools”: that’s how Linda Quigley, head of the national catechetical Office of the Irish Episcopal Conference, comments on the document that the bishops published on 10 February, under the title “Towards an action plan for religious education in secondary schools”. The document is intended as a “practical guide” that, while privileging the contents of the school curriculum, “also tackles the questions posed by the chaplaincy services and the role of parents and parish and diocesan counsellors”. The hope continues Quigley is that “these guidelines may facilitate the participation of all those involved in education (students, parents, tutors, teachers, heads, diocesan counsellors, and especially the community) in the process of the formulation of a strategy for religious education. By working together concludes Quigley we will help the young to understand and appreciate the moral, spiritual, religious, social and cultural values of the Christian view”, and enable them “to discern the presence of God in the world and be willing to respond to it”.
