In a society searching for meaning” “

“The Church and Catholic schools can serve the world and Europe by proposing the Gospel as message of hope and of life in a society yearning for responsible freedom, solidarity, justice and respect for the creation”, says ETIENNE VERHACK , general secretary of the European Committee for Catholic Education (ECCE). In his contribution to the 7th Report on Catholic Schools in Italy published by the Centre of Studies on Catholic Schools (CSCS) and presented in Rome in recent days, Verhack traces a panorama of religious education in five European nations: France, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain and Hungary. The first four of these countries were chosen because situated “in the north of the continent, in societies where secularisation is stronger and it is therefore interesting to see how Catholic schools are trying to respond to this challenge”, explains Verhack. Hungary, on the other hand, was “chosen as representative of Central and Eastern Europe”. From this kaleidoscope of situations a common denominator emerges: the need for some common interventions. We present a summary of the national situations described by Verhack, and an account of the Italian situation in the same Report. FRANCE: RELIGIOUS IGNORANCE. In the majority of state-funded Catholic schools “courses of religion are not taught in the way they are in other countries because the system of secularism (law of 9 December 1905 on the separation between Church and State) does not permit it”, points out Verhack. Nonetheless, the Debray Report on the teaching of religion in state schools (2002), the findings of the Stasi Commission (2003) and the recent law on the public display of religious symbols (2004), as well as “the continuing interrogation of religion by science and vice versa”, show that the question of the “teaching of religion” remains open. For at least thirty years, Verhack continues, “the religious ignorance of pupils” has made “the teaching of history and literature” difficult, according to many teachers. That’s why, according to Verhack, “‘religious culture’ needs to be taught in a better way in Catholic schools, by coordinating three levels: the cultural dimension of the Christian faith, the religious dimension of culture in general and the presentation of Christianity in an intelligent manner to all pupils”. Among the main networks of religious congregations active in France in the field of education, Verhack recalls the society of St. Vincent de Paul with its 70 institutes of every level and grade (its technical and vocational schools are attended by young Muslims in percentages that in some cases reach 75% of the total), and the 40 “Lassallian” institutes. HOLLAND: A PRIVATE AFFAIR that “is not tolerated to be openly expressed or rendered visible in public”: that, according to Verhack, is how religion is considered in Holland. In Catholic schools, “heavily subsidized and free in their choices”, “the link with the institutional Church in most pupils and in part of the teaching staff has been almost lost”, and even in families “parents themselves are almost embarrassed to speak openly of the inspiration they derive from their faith”. “How can the young be guided to the richness of the faith” and “how can a more central role be given to religious education in Catholic schools?”. These are the main questions that still remain open in Holland. BELGIUM: PERMANENT FORMATION. The “Thomas” project has been active in the Flemish region since 2002. It offers teachers of religion and educators active in the pastoral service of the Church a forum of dialogue and exchange. The inter-diocesan commission for the pastoral ministry in schools and the Flemish secretariat for Catholic schools promote projects for the ongoing training of teachers in higher secondary schools and opportunities for reflection and retreats. Similar projects are also being run in French-speaking Belgium, though greater difficulties are encountered in secondary than in primary schools. GREAT BRITAIN: WITNESS. “In the Catholic schools of this country – reports Verhack – an effort is made not to confine religious education to courses for the teaching of religion alone, but to develop it through the whole curriculum”. That explains the crucial role of “the community’s witness to spiritual values” and “the importance of the leadership and moral credibility of the headmaster”. HUNGARY: A YOUNG INSTITUTION that especially accepts Catholic pupils: that’s the character of Catholic schools in Hungary. Teachers of religion comprise both priests and laity. They are trained either in universities or in faculties of theology, but have no “teacher training”. Two hours per week are allocated to religious education, for which “a new series of manuals” is currently being prepared”. ITALY: BUILDING SITES OF FORMATION. There are 10,957 Catholic schools in Italy (for a total of over 650,000 pupils, including over 5,000 disabled children and over 20,000 foreigners). Italian Catholic schools, stresses the above-mentioned Report, “play a major role in forging the intellectual formation of the young and in education”. In the view of the Bishops’ Conference, “the present-day missionary mandate of Catholic schools” consists in the “development of a civil ethos capable of being combined with the seeds of humanism strongly rooted in a large part of the population, and fostered especially by the Christian tradition”. There are over 20,000 Catholic teachers of religion. The strong points of religious education in the country, according to the Report, are “the capacity to respond to the questions about the meaning of life depending on school grade” and “to the moral and existential problems” posed “as the age of pupils gradually increases”. “Interfaith and intercultural dialogue”, inevitable “in response to the growing presence of pupils belonging to different religions”, can also be “a positive challenge”. The Report also describes the situation of teachers of religion, based on the examination of a representative sample. Interviewed by the researchers, the teachers expressed, in particular, “the need for better training, able to bring them up to the professional standard of other teachers”, and the “need to combine the human with the theological sciences”. As regards how they judge their own activity, most teachers say that the number of hours dedicated to religious education (two per week) is “too few”. On the other hand, they judge positively their “dialogue and rapport with students” and “their link with the ecclesial community”. CONCLUSIONS. Training not only of teachers of religion, but also of the whole teaching staff, and the promotion through them of the dialogue between science and faith; introduction of systems of cooperation between teachers, parishes, religious groups and communities; personal formation of the young to make them capable of defending and justifying their own religious convictions; and the training of headmasters: these, according to Verhack, are the main tasks that need to be addressed in all the countries of Europe. As regards Central and Eastern Europe, “it is essential – he says – that the Bishops’ Conferences establish proper general secretariats for Catholic schools to take their interests to heart, defend the freedom of teaching” and “make the training of teachers more professional”. “We consider – says the ECEC secretary – that secularisation is still too often considered an inconceivable hypothesis”, while “the lack of teacher training in Hungary could mean that the youth of Central and Eastern Europe are no longer so ‘receptive’ to Catholic religion as might be thought”. That only underlines the importance – concludes Verhack – of “encouraging the young to a life dedicated to the service of others, following the model of the selfless abnegation of Christ”. Alcide De Gasperi, “a european who came from the future” “I will clearly indicate what are the sacrifices we can and must make in the name of European solidarity and the reconstruction of a more just world”: that’s a passage taken from one of the first official speeches on the international scene made by Alcide De Gasperi, following World War II. The same sentence is shown blown up at the centre of the exhibition dedicated to the great Italian statesman, which has just opened in the seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The exhibition, being held under the auspices of the President of the Republic, concludes the various events held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of De Gasperi in August 1954. The exhibition, with the title “Alcide De Gasperi – A European who came from the future”, has been mounted in a huge area of the European Parliament. It comprises many panels recounting the biography of the statesman from the Trentino, newsreel and documentary clips of the period, cartoons, photographs that trace his life from boyhood to political involvement, first in Vienna, then in Rome, and the original contribution he made to the reconstruction of Italy after the twenty years of fascist rule, the war and the Liberation, and his emergence as one of the “founding fathers” of European integration. The exhibition, which has already toured Rome, Milan, Trent and various other cities in Italy and abroad, will be inaugurated tomorrow afternoon in the presence (among others) of Senator for Life Giulio Andreotti (president of the De Gasperi Foundation), De Gasperi’s daughter, his first biographer, Maria Romana, European Commissioner Franco Frattini and the head of the European People’s Party Hans-Gert Poettering.