Why are Catholic Schools Afraid to be Catholic Schools?': Challenges to Leaders of Catholic Secondary Schools

Abstract

The population in the Republic of Ireland (hereafter, Ireland) has become increasingly diverse over the past two decades. New demographics in terms of culture, language and belief systems are enriching her once relatively homogeneous society and a school system which continues to reflect the country’s historic relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. During penal times in Ireland, generally, schools for Catholics were forbidden until the Relief Acts of the late eighteenth century when Nano Nagle, Catherine McAuley and Edmund Rice, among others, began to establish schools for Catholic children. Following Catholic emancipation in 1829, Catholics sought to assert their new-found freedom and to establish schools which reflected their empowered sense of identity. This has resulted in the Roman Catholic Church being responsible for the patronage of 90% of primary schools and approximately 50% of post-primary (second-level) schools in the Republic of Ireland today. While the majority of the country’s population still identify as Roman Catholic, there has been a rise in the number of people in Ireland declaring that they have no religion and an increase in those loosely attached to their Christian identity. The 2016 census highlights the decline in numbers of people identifying as Roman Catholic, falling from 84.2% in 2011 to 78.3% in 2016 (CSO 2017). While these figures are still high, religious practice rates, particularly among young people, have declined considerably. Mass attendance dropped from 91% in 1971 to 35% in 2012 according to some estimates (Ganiel, 2016). Parents within minority faith groups and parents who wish for multi-denominational or secular schooling for their children in Ireland are now seeking to establish primary and second-level schools which reflect their own identity and ethos, for which the Irish constitution allows. However, educational provision has not yet caught up with developments in Irish society. This has resulted in many Catholic schools welcoming a growing religiously and secularly diverse student body within their school communities, both enriching and posing challenges for the schools.