Credit where credit is due...

Blogged by James Preece on 5th February 2012

It's no secret that myself and Fiona (previously the Diocesan Youth Manager of the Diocese of Middlesbrough) have not always seen eye to eye. When she was first employed by the Diocese of Middlesbrough, Fiona wrote a "Mission Statement" for the youth service and I dissed it. I called her a muppet.

Anyway, Fiona has moved on now to other things and is working at a Catholic school where she noticed, to her credit, that most of the classrooms in the school were lacking in crucifixes. Thanks to Fiona's efforts, the school recently took a delivery of forty crucifixes and the problem is solved.

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Reader Comments

Ben Trovato said...

Good for her! Personally, I am very fond of the muppets (well some of them).

Mockery of the Sacraments said...

LOL Our host must be quite the pain for the local Catholic set-up in Hull. On the one hand he has what they want to bring in, a young family. He also works with the young people. On the other hand he is their critic. They cannot silence him now because this blog has grown a following & he is known among the young orthodox.

There isn't much that would entice me to visit Hull, let alone darken the doors of a Catholic Church there, but I wouldn't mind being a fly on the wall to hear the wailing & gnashing of teeth from the old liberals when the Preece family wanders into the building.

New Friend said...

This seems a bit one sided. Does anyone know if "Fiona" writes a blog herself or has any comments published about James? If so I would like to read them. Just for balance you understand. I always thought the Muppets, whilst being very funny and irreverent, also contained some pretty cutting social comment so I am not so sure calling her one is really the insult intended.

So far as placing crucifixes I am surprised it is allowed in any school, even if it is "Catholic". I did not think such displays of religious symbols were permitted in any public place other than places of worship. A school is not such a place of worship. It is a school which is primarily funded by the state. In my opinion there should be no difference whatsoever in the appearance of the building, or the content of the teaching, to that which is found in any other state school. If it is a wholly private school then I guess my case weakens a little, but not entirely. The only difference I would expect to see is in the ethos of the school, and it's Christian attitude, which should manifest itself in caring for one another and the community. Therefore Catholics should bring their religion into the school but not expect to receive it there. The function of the school is to teach the same things as any other school.

Ebeneezer said...

Blimey NF I have to say that even by your standards that was pretty inane

Chrysostom said...

So it is now news when a Catholic school has crucifixes on the walls. Has the head who had no crucifixes had to face any questions from his or her governors?

What about actually teaching the Catholic faith as recommended by the Bishops of Lancaster? Any chance?

MOckery of the Sacraments said...

This is a very good point. We have reached a point where none of the teachers or parents cared to see crucifixes on the wall. Perhaps at one time they were there & someone opted to remove them. Whoever did so wasn't challenged.

I saw a piece on a blog called Protect the Pope who said that one Catholic newspaper had suggested ending widespread Catholic education because it has become a farce. http://protectthepope.com/?p=4624

Mark Dobson said...

That's not quite all it says:

"It’s time that the Catholic project of mass education rediscovered its vitality be insisting (sic) on a vibrant Catholic ethos in our schools,based on the Four Pillars of the Faith – Creed,Liturgy,Moral Life and prayer,while the connection with the local parishes becomes ever more strengthened,not gradually growing apart."

Mockery of the Sacraments said...

However the fact that these things are now being openly said is significant. There will always be those who wish to whitewash & they have made themselves heard in the past. The value of this article is that it doesn't deny the grave problems facing Catholic education.

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Genty said...

Good on Fiona. Someone like her is needed to catechise the English lady in a French parish who complained that the crucifix behind the altar was "depressing" and should be removed.

louella said...

Hope they get them blessed....and that this will be the first step on the road to a truly Catholic school. (BTW...Fear or dislike of the Crucifix is a sure sign of the demon)

Richard Collins said...

A good post to start the week well.
NF - there appears to be something that you haven't quite cottoned on to about Catholics - we like to express our faith in a number of ways, one of them is by displaying a crucifix in the home, school or workplace. In this country we can only do that in the first two and we intend to continue to do so. Going down the "State" route will take us to 1984.

Nicolas Bellord said...

Watch it! Blessed Sister Restituta was guillotined by the Nazis for putting up crucifixes in the wards of the Hospital where she worked.

New Friend said...

I knew the hackles would be raised but those who talk about "Catholic" schools being "their" schools just don't get it. They aren't yours. They are ours. They belong to all of us. The state funded ones anyway. You might "like to express your faith" in public. I understand that. There are some things that I, or others, might like to do in public. That's not the point though. It is whether such behaviour is regarded as acceptable to the majority which matters. There is clearly a split opinion on this matter, with those who wish to being joined by those who feel that we should tolerate it, set against those who oppose it.

I personally have long believed that every school, whatever it's foundation status, should not teach a religion nor favour one in its daily routines, or it's symbols. It should present in a completely neutral way that concentrates upon the job of teaching, and not of preaching. That applies to all. Catholic, C of E, Jewish or Muslim.

Why then be Catholic at all? The answer must be in the values and ethics that underpin the faith. The school should live the message and not teach it.

The place to teach religion is at home and in places of worship. School should be for a wider experience.

Mark Dobson said...

"Why then be Catholic at all? The answer must be in the values and ethics..."

The only good reason to be Catholic (and have Catholic schools) is because it's true; keeping you happy isn't quite the top priority, though your eternal happiness is extremely important.

New Friend said...

Mark

You, along with everyone else including me, are entitled to your opinion about whether something is true, or not.

My remark was aimed not at whether you should be Catholic. Thats your business, not mine. It was aimed at whether the schools could differentiate themselves without the religious trappings.

Tom said...

Most Catholic schools were paid for by the Catholic Church, so WE own the land, and usually the buildings. It therefore is perfectly fair to call them OUR schools.

I quite accept that 90% of the funding comes from the State, and therefore most of the control.

Your wishes for the future of State education look ever further away, with the present government setting up the free schools that have ever greater independence. Faith schools and the new academies are also being encouraged with plenty of funding.

I think you need to inform the government about the danger!

New Friend said...

Tom

Any gradual change is bound to have ebbs and flows. What matters is the general direction in which we are progressing.

I don't actually have too many issues with the development of free schools and the concept of greater management from within the community. There is nothing wrong in seeking to promote efficiency, higher academic standards or empowering teachers and heads. There are no dangers there. If however any school tries to introduce a curriculum which seeks to indoctrinate one set of beliefs over another then there are dangers. I don't believe this is what the government want any more than I do, and if it starts to happen will take steps to stop it.

If you cannot see the dangers here then let me point them out. To allow schools to become places in which one religion is effectively "taught" would permit the growth of Muslim schools in which extremism can grow. I don't want to see extremism in our society. I want school to be a place where all our children receive an alternative view to that which might be promulgated at home. I want them to be encouraged to be free thinkers and come to their own conclusions. I want them to hold British values and not those devoted to any other country. I don't want them growing up thinking that killing Christians is a righteous act, or that hating homosexuals is OK, or that only Catholics know the Truth. If they are to come to those views then I want them to at least have heard the alternative and then come to their own conclusions.

JOHN THE ONE said...

NO APOLOGY TO FIONA THEN JIM BOY .
EAT HUMBLE PIE, IF YOU KNEW HER BETTER YOU WOULD NOT TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT. BUT SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE.

Um... said...

Is your keyboard BROKEN?

epsilon said...

Presumably James is just being honest in describing his relationship with Fiona in the past - here he is bigging her up for doing something very significant. What better accolade could one hope for than to get a James Preece's Good Catholic Award:D - I mean it!

Interested observer said...

How utterly patronising; and without the intestinal fortitude to apologise. How sad.