...Gerald Grace, that is, or, to give him his full title, Professor Gerald Grace, Director of the Centre for Research in Catholic Education and of the Institute of Education at the University of London.
Professor Grace was wheeled out to speak up for liberty, equality and fraternity on this morning's Ed Stourton show on Radio 4. He was batting for Westminster Diocese in the Cardinal Vaughan affair.
Now Prof Grace has been described as "a world renowned education author and academic," words guaranteed to loosen one's bowels, speaking as one who worked in education for a large part of his life. But, it's Sunday and I have vowed to make any comments or posts as Christian as possible (I try that every day but don't always succeed).
The stance that Prof Grace took was that the Vaughan was imposing stringent entry conditions and that this was against the ethos of a state school (I paraphrase somewhat as I am off to Swansea shortly for reasons that will become clear later).
Bishop Stack came on and backed him up by claiming that such conditions of entry discriminated against refugees from the Sudan. At this point the old thin red mist began to rise again and I had to take a firm grip of myself. Has the Catholic world gone completely barking mad? Has Lewis Carroll come back to earth to write another drug induced fantasy?
"Enough! Enough" I cried! I am in need of respite care away from such idiocies and
un-Christian thought prompting issues.
We shall take ourselves off for the 5pm EF Mass at St Therese de Liseux at Port Talbot (a 150 mile round trip for us) and enjoy a Chinese brunch in Swansea, home of Dylan Thomas among many others.
And after Holy Mass? Well some soothing tea and buns and a great deal of Catholic laughter - but no red wine, I'm driving!
Professor Grace was wheeled out to speak up for liberty, equality and fraternity on this morning's Ed Stourton show on Radio 4. He was batting for Westminster Diocese in the Cardinal Vaughan affair.
Now Prof Grace has been described as "a world renowned education author and academic," words guaranteed to loosen one's bowels, speaking as one who worked in education for a large part of his life. But, it's Sunday and I have vowed to make any comments or posts as Christian as possible (I try that every day but don't always succeed).
The stance that Prof Grace took was that the Vaughan was imposing stringent entry conditions and that this was against the ethos of a state school (I paraphrase somewhat as I am off to Swansea shortly for reasons that will become clear later).
Bishop Stack came on and backed him up by claiming that such conditions of entry discriminated against refugees from the Sudan. At this point the old thin red mist began to rise again and I had to take a firm grip of myself. Has the Catholic world gone completely barking mad? Has Lewis Carroll come back to earth to write another drug induced fantasy?
"Enough! Enough" I cried! I am in need of respite care away from such idiocies and
un-Christian thought prompting issues.
We shall take ourselves off for the 5pm EF Mass at St Therese de Liseux at Port Talbot (a 150 mile round trip for us) and enjoy a Chinese brunch in Swansea, home of Dylan Thomas among many others.
And after Holy Mass? Well some soothing tea and buns and a great deal of Catholic laughter - but no red wine, I'm driving!
Thanks for cheering me up! I laughed out loud at your post. Of course it's very depressing really - disappointed in VN's part in all this, but not surprised. Something of the night about him? Hope you have a good trip. I'm off to the clapping Gloria :(
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most worrying about Prof. Grace's remarks was his comment, with reference to the Vaughan parents, that "It's not their school."
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, Prof. Grace, being the world renowned expert on Catholic education that he is, seems to be unaware of the teaching of the Church, in the Second Vatican Council, that parents are "the primary and principal educators" of their children (Gravissimum Eucationis, 3), that parents "must enjoy true liberty in their choice of school" (GE, 6), and that "the right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others" (Pope John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, 36).
I've long since ditched the programme. So could you tell me if there was a counter argument to that of Grace and Stack?
ReplyDeleteYou often hear complaints about the selfish baby boomer generation, having enjoyed all the benefits of national prosperity, consigning the next to financial hardship and poverty.
Replace the word financial with spiritual and it seems our baby boomer generation of bishops is running true to form.
Genty, there was a counter argument put valiantly on behalf of CVS but, of course, there was no continuity to the interview so the counter argument (to Sudanese pupils, "ownership of the school not being the role of the Diocese etc) was not made as Anna Brown was not aware of +Stack's and Grace's comments.
ReplyDelete