How living togeheter?” “

The ever-stronger presence of non-Catholic pupils, Hindus, Muslims or of other faiths, in the schools run by the Catholic Church is now a well-established trend in the United Kingdom. In the 156 private schools, i.e. independent of the State, and in the 2196 public schools run by the Church, one pupil out of three does not follow the Catholic faith. LABORATORIES OF DIALOGUE. “For us it’s a positive trend, a sign that even those who aren’t Catholic have great confidence in our educational methods and choose us”, explains PETER WALSH, head of educational policies in the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. “Schools with pupils of various religions are also an important opportunity for dialogue, because pupils get to know each other and learn to live and work together. Of course, attention needs to be paid to the needs of non-Catholics”. It is just in this, i.e. in the capacity to accept non-Catholics and respond to their needs, that the ability of Catholic teachers and headmasters consists, according to Walsh. “During Ramadan, Catholic schools facilitate fasting, if pupils wish to practice it and parents are given the opportunity to withdraw their children from religious education classes and prayers throughout the year – continues Walsh – but the ethic of our schools remains Catholic. That is our strength and the reason why the families of other religions choose us for the education of their children, because we know how to place the person with his/her human and religious aspirations at the centre of the educational process”. According to Walsh, this “happy experience of co-education” will continue even if the majority of non-Catholics is increasing. “Of course it will be necessary to think of new strategies, but I don’t think it’s an insurmountable problem, but rather the sign of fruitful co-existence between different faiths”. THE SCOTTISH CASE. What is a future hypothesis for schools in England and Wales is already a reality in Scotland. In the Catholic school of St. Albert’s, in Pollokshields, a working-class suburb on the south side of Glasgow which contains one of the largest and best integrated Moslem communities in Scotland, 90% of pupils are Muslims. This is a fact that has never been a problem for either of the two religions until January this year, when the Islamic pressure group “Campaign for Muslim Schools”, decided to ask the Catholic Church to cede the school to the Islamic community, arguing that it was inappropriate for Muslim pupils to participate in Catholic religious services. The school and diocesan authorities expressed their surprise at the request. “Although parents have the chance to withdraw their children from morning prayers and Sunday Mass, I know no one who has chosen to do so”, explains Father JOHN GANNON, the priest responsible for the religious education of pupils at St. Albert’s, “Many choose the school precisely because it has a religious rather than secular ethos and we have built up a relation with the Muslim community that has lasted for years. If the school were to become Muslim, its teachers and headmaster, highly esteemed by parents and pupils, would have to seek work elsewhere”. “In this district Catholics and Muslims live together, leading parallel lives and without sharing very much. The school permits an experience of real exchange that goes beyond mutual tolerance”, says Father Gannon. By defending this dialogue, the Catholic Church has made it clear that it does not want to cede the school to the Muslim community. This is explained by Father THOMAS CHAMBERS who represents the Archdiocese of Glasgow on the municipal committee for education responsible for the school. “There is nothing odd about the fact that there is a high proportion of Muslim pupils in a Catholic school. It’s the same story in every major city in the UK and in Europe. There is no need to change for that reason”. At the very same that Glasgow was discussing the destiny of St. Albert’s, Cardinal KEITH O’BRIEN, archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, made an appeal for religious co-existence. “There is no doubt we can live and work together in a modern Scotland, acknowledging that the greatest enemy of our faiths is the growing secularism that surrounds us”, said the archbishop.