BISHOP CLEARY ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

New Zealand Tablet, 19 October 1911, Page 2087

BISHOP CLEARY ON RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

(By telegraph, from an occasional correspondent'.) .. IGISBORNE, October 17. f ; A highly successful bazaar was opened on Tuesday night in the Garrison Hall, Gisborne, in aid of thebuilding fund of the local Catholic school, A great crowd was in attendance, almost filling the vast hall, and the handsome style and decorations, and contents of the ten stalls presented a beautiful and harmonious color picture. ~ His Lordship Bishop Cleary and Rev. Fathers Lane, Dignan, and Finn were present. At 8 o’clock his Lordship addressed the’ large assemblage as follows:—In 1476 a great battle was' fought at Granson. Charles the Bold was defeated; his camp was captured, and among the loot a soldier found a magnificent diamond. Not knowing the value of the gem, he threw it away, but sobering knowledge soon came to him and he sought and sought for the precious bit of carbon, till he found it, and now it is an outstanding ornament in one of the most valuable collections of crown jewels in Europe. Thirty-four years’ ago a paltry majority in New Zealand found the bright jewel of religion in the schools. Not realising its value, they cast aside this precious heirloom of. the ages they adopted two new religious dogmas that were first introduced into human history by - the French Revolution. These dogmas are: (1) That religion has no , necessary or useful connection with education,' and (2) That a political majority has the moral right to exclude religion from the schools. On these two’ sectarian dogmas, or views of religion, they based the Education Act that is still in force in the Dominion. The law provides for the endowment of the State creed by giving free instruction to those whose consciences .accept these dogmas; it offers no such privilege to those whose consciences repudiate the article ,of the State creed. The consciences of Catholics and of a considerable body of people of other faiths dissent in various degrees of intensity from/ the State dogma—that religion is no necessary or useful part of education, and that any puiibium juAjuiiujr . -ii o.d uiiu , mvi tw x xght :to drive, religion* out of its old and prescriptive place in education. Catholics claim equal treatment for consciences. We claim as much consideration for the consciences that reject as for the consciences that accept the articles of this State creed. We do not know on what bedrock

principle any government can discard in the school life of the children so a moralising agency as religion. We do not know on what educational or social principle the faculties of a child should be treated as watertight compartments, or why the budding citizens should be . subject to opposite influences in the school and in the home. We do not know on what principle of statecraft any political party should, in ■a Christian land, treat the life of a .school .child as something quite apart from the life of a Christian. Herbert Spencer defines education as a preparation for complete, living, but no living can be complete which leaves out of consideration the . ultimate purpose 'of life, and no education really - prepares for life, which ignores or thwarts life’s purpose. We Catholics, like many other’s, do not know oh what principle of statesmanship the religious view of life, and that view only, is excluded by law from the school preparation for life, and from no other phase of our public or social life; for the principles of religion are reflected in our laws and in our school and commercial institutions. Indeed, religious principles and religious ideals are the breath of life —of all that is best in our, Christian civilisation. Now, this is a bazaar in furtherance of the old, and even still almost universally accented doctrine of the essential union of religion with education. It is an appeal to all friendly hearts on behalf of principles that, are as old as the family, that are older than the State, that are rooted in the very idea of true education. I believe the time will come when as much consideration will be extended by the laws of this Dominion to those who believe as to those who do not believe in religious education : That as full a measure of justice will be accorded to the considerable body of people, who cannot in consequence compromise in the matter of religious instruction and training, as to the large' groups of various faiths, who, in this matter, can in conscience meet, upon a common platform of compromise. The jewel of religion will then once more shine in the crown of education. In the meantime we Catholics will continue to tread, as we have so long trod, the path of sacrifice for the sake of the loved ‘ little ones ’ of'Christ. We know that the future is for those that secure the children, and we feel confident that what we sow in tears and in sacrifice to-day, we shall to-morrow reap in joy. His Lordship then formally declared the bazaar open. - The stalls represented America, Ireland, Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Africa, India, and , Scotland. There) was also a large refreshment stall, and each stall and its assistants had its distinctive and appronriate color, which lent much animation to the scene. There was a magnificent display of goods worthy of any metropolitan centre. A series of clever and varied dances was staged by Professor Cardston, and the great success of the inaugural evening bids fair to make this the record event of its kind in Gisborne, •