Letter: Catholic education and faith

I have felt compelled to write my thoughts down for the last two years about various subjects surrounding my faith and education which troubles my mind daily. I am a Catholic mother and have three children aged 10,11 and 12. In the world in which we live, I have constant worries about the children sustaining their faith through into adulthood.

I was brought up through the Catholic state schooling system in both primary and secondary education. The impact that it has had on my life, I feel contributes to the person that I am now.

My own children attended the closest Catholic primary school to where we live, which was an hour round trip every day. I felt that the extra time taken to get the children to a Catholic school was more important than sending them to the local village CE school. Many people in my village thought I was a bit crazy in doing so, but how can I convey the feeling and sentiment of going to our faith schools to non-believers? This subject is often scoffed and smirked at.

My children completed their sacraments of confession and communion with support of the school. When I was at school this was driven by the school as opposed to the parents sacrificing more time to fulfil their Catholic duties. I take no issue with the extra time to fulfil these duties, what I do take issue with, is, why within a Catholic setting, do we have to take minority views on board from non-Catholics who made the decision to send their children to a Catholic education?

If the boot was on the other foot and we were discussing a 'trendier,' minority subject, say for example 'how do you define yourself - man/woman/neither' this type of subject would be handled more sympathetic to the minority group. Why is being Catholic, not treated in a same way? We are now becoming more of a minority group.

When it came to secondary education, my children were going to go to the local Catholic secondary school, however through Covid the transport got cancelled and we had no choice but to send our children to the local secondary comp. The children are happy here, but I worry daily that they are not getting the Catholic education that they need to blossom into leading a good Catholic life. This added to subjects like 'ethics,' that teach children about 'different types' of relationships are now out of my control, unless I choose to segregate my child and make an example of them in front of their classmates.

On our doorstep we a have a local Catholic secondary school, but it is fee paying. In desperation, I rang them to see if there was anything that they could do. I was met with an unhelpful receptionist that to be honest was very rude. She insinuated that unless we could pay the fee there was no point in even having the conversation. This conversation took place approximately 3 years ago.

Every time I drive past the said school, I have feeling of anger towards my own faith. In a time of need, to a practising Catholic family, the faith itself turned it back us. Furthermore, when we socialise in our local village, we often hear stories of ridicule where the 'rich,' parents that can afford the fees, sending their non-Catholic children, laugh and jest about the fact that they say prayers and go to Mass. To say it makes my blood boil, is a massive understatement. This situation completely contradicts what our faith is about, and I would go as far as saying it is an embarrassment.

Covid was a terrible time for most, including the church. We attend Mass every Sunday without fail. However, I feel that Covid has become an excuse for people not to go to church. I also feel that the church does not help the situation either. At our local church we had to book Mass, which we did each week. However, after a few months of doing this, I found that it was the decision of a lay person if I could, or could not attend Mass. With the decision tending to often be the latter, I found no other option but to change to a parish where you did not need to book. My local church is 3 miles away. My new parish is 9 miles away. How is this possibly encouraging young families to go to Mass?

We need to wake up and start asking ourselves some serious questions. Why have I faced so many issues over the last few years? We have lost so many families over the last 20 years and numbers have dwindled. I think the above situations explain some of the reasoning. Even my own sisters and brothers have stopped attending Mass regularly. It troubles me to think where we will be in the next 20 years.

Charlotte Jarvis