catholic school.....not!

siobhan.murphy

My Child went to a Gaelscoil catholic school and started in the Gaelcholaiste,I assumed it was catholic,religion is on the timetable but not taught,when I asked what they do durning the religion class I was told they can do homework or the children who came to the school from an english speaking primary school had the option for extra lessons in Irish.
I would like my child to have some sort of religious education.
what can I do??

lmaopml

Siobhan, just research a little before deciding. Every school has an ethos. Some are denominational some are multi denominational, there are currently no non-denominational schools in Ireland, only those who cater for variety, or with an ethos of some sort. Gaelscoil teaches your child in 'Irish' but has a multi denom ethos.

Gaelscoils usually do really well, but as far as I know they are multi denom, and I would expect them to teach religion as a 'subject' only with no 'prayer' before school, lunch etc. As far as I know they have always taught this way.

Jester Minute

siobhan.murphy wrote: »

My Child went to a Gaelscoil catholic school and started in the Gaelcholaiste,I assumed it was catholic,religion is on the timetable but not taught,when I asked what they do durning the religion class I was told they can do homework or the children who came to the school from an english speaking primary school had the option for extra lessons in Irish.
I would like my child to have some sort of religious education.
what can I do??

Ask the local priest and then if that proves unhelpful, go to the bishop.

PDN

siobhan.murphy wrote: »

My Child went to a Gaelscoil catholic school and started in the Gaelcholaiste,I assumed it was catholic,religion is on the timetable but not taught,when I asked what they do durning the religion class I was told they can do homework or the children who came to the school from an english speaking primary school had the option for extra lessons in Irish.
I would like my child to have some sort of religious education.
what can I do??

As a parent you can educate your child in religious matters. Which is how it should be.

Jester Minute

PDN wrote: »

As a parent you can educate your child in religious matters. Which is how it should be.

That would probably be for the best right now, given what is being taught in many supposedly Catholic schools.

However, in a Catholic school, there should be Catholic catechesis. It's not clear to me from the OP, that this is actually a Catholic school.

siobhan.murphy

I just assumed it was a Catholic school,but I have found that there is no religion of any sorts being thought at the school.
I know the primary school a gaelscoil was Catholic, even though it was multi denominational Catholism was a subject and was thought with great emphasis on it,so thats why I found it extremely strange that there is no religion of any sort being taught in the Gaelcholaiste

Piano man

OP, I was in exactly the same situation as you a few years ago - I went to a catholic Gaelscoil, and then the secondary 'follow-on' school turned out to be multidenominational with no religious instruction or catechesis worth talking about.
It ended up with my parents moving me to another school with a solid Christian ethos.

siobhan.murphy

Piano man wrote: »

OP, I was in exactly the same situation as you a few years ago - I went to a catholic Gaelscoil, and then the secondary 'follow-on' school turned out to be multidenominational with no religious instruction or catechesis worth talking about.
It ended up with my parents moving me to another school with a solid Christian ethos.

I dont think I would change schools but I find it a v.strange set up,
Im not a religious nut and not all that holy,but I am Catholic my kids are and I think its important they have some sort of religious education.
Really dunno what to do about this,or shud I be even wasting time about it?

Piano man

As far as I know, in America, the vast majority of schools are non- or multi-denominational - schools with any kind of religious ethos are in the minority.

My advice, for what it's worth is, firstly, pray about it!, second, talk to your local priest, and whatever steps you take, make sure your children's education is adequately supplemented so that they are introduced to and built up in the beauty of their faith.

You don't have to be a religious nut!, but I get the impression that this is important to you, and so it should be. Fair play to you for looking for a better alternative.

God bless

Onesimus

Same happened me when at secondary school. Since the church is still in control and that your child is attending a catholic school you should e-mail the local bishop about your problem.

dont count on a response though, many are wolves in sheeps clothing.

I am homeschooling my children. if you would like links on how to do this then please pm me.

anyone can homeschool, although it would be a good idea for you to at least have some qualifications and at least feel confident that you can do so.

28064212

Why is it on the timetable if it's not taught? That doesn't make any sense. Are they trying to fill the religion teacher post?

As PDN said, if you want your child to be taught the 'Catholic' way, it's up to you (and your church). The current secondary school religion syllabus is fairly multi-denominational

PARKHEAD67

siobhan.murphy wrote: »

My Child went to a Gaelscoil catholic school and started in the Gaelcholaiste,I assumed it was catholic,religion is on the timetable but not taught,when I asked what they do durning the religion class I was told they can do homework or the children who came to the school from an english speaking primary school had the option for extra lessons in Irish.
I would like my child to have some sort of religious education.
what can I do??

Teach her religion yourself. its so multi-cultural nowadays that you could be accused of racism for teaching about Jesus.Sad but true.

strobe

PARKHEAD67 wrote: »

Teach her religion yourself. its so multi-cultural nowadays that you could be accused of racism for teaching about Jesus.Sad but true.

Or to put it another way......not true in the slightest?

Jester Minute

Christians are going to have to call the world's bluff. We cannot continue to go along with the PC/equality agenda when it conflicts with our faith. We must take the consequences, whether that be sneering contempt, loss of employment, or even jail. It is the witness that is the important thing. We have to witness to the Truth and then take the consequences.

JimiTime

Jester Minute wrote: »

Christians are going to have to call the world's bluff. We cannot continue to go along with the PC/equality agenda when it conflicts with our faith. We must take the consequences, whether that be sneering contempt, loss of employment, or even jail. It is the witness that is the important thing. We have to witness to the Truth and then take the consequences.

The problem with this approach, is that IMO, it encourages 'active zealousy'. In other words, people go looking to pick a fight. There are many self righteous Christians unfortunately, who love to show off how much they 'suffer for the cause' just as much as they love people to see how 'holy' they are. There is absolutely no doubt that this world and its ways are becoming more and more at loggerheads with Christianity, but we must be careful not to shout 'oppression' at every turn. By all means speak out where appropriate, but temper our approach with much wisdom. TBH, the best thing Christians can do, is BEHAVE like REAL followers of Christ. THAT is the witness that this world needs, and what we as Christians seem to be lousy at. I include myself in this btw.

Jester Minute

JimiTime wrote: »

The problem with this approach, is that IMO, it encourages 'active zealousy'. In other words, people go looking to pick a fight. There are many self righteous Christians unfortunately, who love to show off how much they 'suffer for the cause' just as much as they love people to see how 'holy' they are. There is absolutely no doubt that this world and its ways are becoming more and more at loggerheads with Christianity, but we must be careful not to shout 'oppression' at every turn. By all means speak out where appropriate, but temper our approach with much wisdom. TBH, the best thing Christians can do, is BEHAVE like REAL followers of Christ. THAT is the witness that this world needs, and what we as Christians seem to be lousy at. I include myself in this btw.

Yeah I know what you mean. And agree entirely with the authentic witness which is required.

Rather than go looking for fights, we simply present the truth in charity. Then we accept and embrace the consequences, whatever they might be. And I'm not interested in whining oppression, we simply be the witnesses and so what if we are hated for it, we rejoice! But we shouldn't hide in a hole because we are afraid of being witnesses, aka martyrs.

siobhan.murphy

ok Im going to email bishop and see what he comes back with,if anything

recedite

siobhan.murphy wrote: »

My Child went to a Gaelscoil catholic school and started in the Gaelcholaiste,I assumed it was catholic,

Why? :pac:

lmaopml wrote: »

Gaelscoils usually do really well, but as far as I know they are multi denom,

Rubbish, the only thing Gaeilscoileanna have in common is that they teach through Irish.

If a group of muslims want to set up an Islamic Gaeilscoil, they can.

OP, next time you enrol a child in school, take the trouble to find out who the Patron is first.
Your attitude seems to be that Gaelscoilenna are put there for the benefit of white, catholic, true gael roaring republicans.

siobhan.murphy

If I wanted my Child in a multi denomintional school I would have enrolled him there,as there is one in the town.

recedite

Fair enough. Sometimes it's hard to find the exact combination of indoctrinations that you require. You could try setting up your own school, but when you also expect the taxpayer to pay the teachers salaries and the capitation grants to the school, you will need to get a good number of other people on board first.

siobhan.murphy

@ recedite I think you need to look at the original post.

Jester Minute

siobhan.murphy wrote: »

ok Im going to email bishop and see what he comes back with,if anything

If there is a priest who has responsability for RE in that school, then he should be approaced first. If, after two attemmpts to contact him proves fruitless, got to the bishop.

siobhan.murphy

Jester Minute wrote: »

If there is a priest who has responsability for RE in that school, then he should be approaced first. If, after two attemmpts to contact him proves fruitless, got to the bishop.

I should have mentioned this,the reason I assumed it was a Catholic school was because at the start of the school year the 1st year students had a mass celebrated to welcome them,the priest is Catholic.
anyway on remembering his name I rang him and he was taken aback to say the least!
He asked me to contact the principal(passes the buck)!
and to get back to him after.