LANCASTER, UK, January 6, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a newly released pastoral letter on education, Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster has questioned what the Catholic Church should do about diocese-funded Catholic schools where the majority of pupils and teachers are not Catholic.
More than 80 percent of the pupils at some diocesan schools in Lancaster are reportedly non-Catholics, and one school supported by the diocese, Sacred Heart primary in Blackburn, could become an Islamic faith school due an almost total lack of Catholics in attendance.
“More than nine-in-10 of the school’s pupils were Catholic a decade ago but that number plummeted to just three per cent this year,” according to a Telegraph report.
“Is it right or sustainable to expect our Mass-going population of 21,000 to support our schools and colleges in which often the majority of pupils, and sometimes teachers, are not practising Catholics?” Bishop Campbell asked. “Is it time for us to admit that we can no longer maintain schools that are Catholic in name only?”
Bishop Campbell wrote in his pastoral letter to parishes that they must “address some demanding questions that will grow larger the longer we put them off.”
“We are living through a time of great transition for the Church,” he noted, “in which Christianity changes from a religion adhered to by the majority out of social convention to once again being a way of discipleship deliberately chosen by some, but not all; chosen by the faithful out of conviction.”
He observed that as little as a generation ago “parishes in wonderful neighbourhoods … were teeming with large, young families,” but are now “quiet and empty,” while those in outlying areas “seem to be thriving.”
“Faced with fewer priests and smaller congregations, where should our parishes and schools of the future be located? Where should we consolidate and merge others?” Bishop Campbell asked.
Bishop Campbell also asked the faithful to consider “our missionary or evangelising efforts” in light of Pope Benedict’s call to celebrate a “Year of Faith” from October 2012, “to help us all to appreciate the precious gift of faith, to deepen our relationship with God and strengthen our commitment to sharing that faith with others.”
Observing that “All of us know someone … who used to be a practising Catholic, but isn’t any more,” and for whom the Gospel message has become “stale,” the bishop said, “our love and concern for them means that they should be the primary object of our missionary or evangelising efforts, our energy and resources.”
“The Church only exists to evangelise – that means buildings, churches, parishes, schools and colleges are only valuable insofar as they help the Church in that mission of salvation!” Bishop Campbell concluded.
Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham, chairman of the Catholic Education Service of England and Wales, concurred with Bishop Campbell’s concerns.
“Bishop Michael Campbell has raised an important question during a time in which we are all having to examine our priorities. The Church has established her own schools because she considers them as a privileged means of promoting human formation and education in the Catholic faith; as such, Catholic schools contribute to the common good of society and support the Church’s evangelising mission, and are a valuable investment in our young people,” Bishop McMahon said in a statement.
The full text of Bishop Campbell’s Pastoral letter is available for download here.