Roman Catholic Schools

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30827, 12 August 1965, Page 12

Roman Catholic Schools

Sir,—ln reply to D. O’Flaherty, the answers to “Uninformed’s” questions will provide us with the facts. Every Roman Catholic should demand a reply to these questions and if Mr O’Flaherty knows the answers he has an obligation to acquaint us with them. Is not Mr O’Flaherty’s letter just the extension of a blind faith in the decisions of the hierachy? Should my original letter and that of “Uninformed” culminate in a direct presentation of the facts from the hierachy, then 1 will be satisfied. The situation is surely deplorable w-hen a Roman Catholic has to write to the public press for redress.—Yours, etc., CATHOLIC LAYMAN. August 9. 1965.

Sir,—Bishop Ashby has truly inherited an unfortunate legacy in the matter of education, but we must still have his answer even if it is an unhappy one. Or is it that the clergy even now tells the laity as much as the clergy thinks it is proper for the laity to know? This is not just a matter of primers going to state schools; no reasonable person is going to

take up arms against this. The issue is, where do we go from here? Education has become such a burden on Roman Catholics in both the parish schools and at the secondary levels, that Roman Catholics are entitled to know what the long-term policy is. Where else would people invest such amounts of money with so little information in return? Education is our problem, too, and it must be shared—shared in pastoral letters that contain the essence of any matter under discussion.—Yours. LAITY 1965. August 9, 1965. [ln the absence of Bishop Ashby the Director of Catholic Education for the Christchurch Diocese (the Rev. Father T. Power) replies: “The interest of ‘Catholic Layman,’ ‘Laity 1965,’ and other correspondents is welcomed. On the introduction of school fees in 1960, the laity were given details of the problems facing Catholic education in the pastoral letter of the hierarchy read at all masses on December 13, 1959. The remedies proposed then could not foresee the large increases that would occur in teachers’ salaries from 1962 onward; e.g„ starting salary in 1960 was £540 p.a., in 1965 its is £765/ £Bl5 p.a. As the financial burden increased, the Bishop each year, informed his parish priests of the problem and in many parishes this information was passed on to the laity. As His Lordship’s repr<tentative on the Diocesan Federation of the Parent Teacher Association, 1 personally acquainted delegates with the situation each year. During the last six months a very thorough investigation has been made and the findings have been discussed and approved separately by parish priests, religious superiors of the teaching orders, and the executive of the Diocesan Federation of the Parent Teacher Association. As for the future, the measures proposed cover the situation to the end of 1967, after which date quite a number of contingencies (e.g., entrants to religious orders, population growth, salary scales) make accurate forecasting difficult, but the Bishop has given an assurance that the matter will be kept under constant review. On the financial side, it is estimated that after next year the accounts will show a credit balance. However, if your correspondents would care to call at my office, 245 Cashel street, I would be happy to supply any further information.”]