The New Zealand Tablet WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 18, 1925. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 44, 18 November 1925, Page 33

The New Zealand Tablet WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 18, 1925. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

At - the opening of the new convent at Palmerston North. Archbishop Redwood spoke emphatically of the importance of Catholic schools, and laid down the plain doctrine of the Church on the duty of parents in connection with the education of their children : “Catholic children must not attend the non-Catholic, neutral, or mixed schools; that is, such as are also open to non-Catholics. It is for; the Bishop of the place alone to decide, according to the instructions of the Holy See, in what circumstances, and with what precautions, attendance at such schools may be tolerated, without danger of perversion to the pupil.” His Grace pointed out the radical difference between Catholic and secular schools, “The Catholic school teaches that man’s first and supreme allegiance is to Almighty God, and believes that if the child is trained to realise this allegiance, the citizen* will not fail in his , duties to himself, his fellows, and the State. The secular school, on the other hand, teaches that it knows and can know nothing about Almighty God;, and that,. Inconsequence, supernatural religion and morality based upon it, can have no legitimate place in education.”

This timely and authoritative pronouncement ought to open the eyes of those few misguided parents who, here and there, for motives of interest or prejudice, or through a'- foolish desire of promoting the worldly status of their children, disobey the directions of their pastors. At a time, when in other countries, serious thinkers are confessing the ruin wrought by godless schools

Catholic parents ought to show a' good example to the rest of the community, and the motto ought to be “Every Catholic child in . a Catholic school.” Some years ago, a non-Catholic magistrate assured us that it was his opinion, and that every day on the bench confirmed it, that the only salvation fur this Dominion was the foundation of religious schools like ours, in which the young people should be taught to be pure and honest and truthful for supernatural reasons. Much water has flowed under the bridges since he uttered these frank words; and there are many who would endorse his sentiments now, in the light of the demoralisation of the past few years. Wherever secular schools have been long established, we hear now the same sad confession of failure. Long ago, George Washington, in his farewell address, warned his countrymen that morality must depend on religion, and his solemn words have since been re-echoed by several Presidents in this century. It was frankly admitted by a French Commission that the attempt to found morality on ethics and on platitudes had only resulted in immorality and anarchy. And, appalled by the lax morals of the young, by the decay of homelife, and by the growing army of criminals all round them, men on the watch towers are calling earnestly for the return of religious .education. Roger W. Babson, world-famous statistician said, in a circular addressed to the students of all colleges; “Education, unless guided by a religious purpose, is a very dangerous thing. Giving economic teaching to the average man is like giving a gun to a maniac. If statisticians have taught us one thing in the last twenty years, it is that the spiritual factor is the greatest factor in the growth of communities and nations.” Dr. John Tigert. United States Commissioner for Education, said at Harvard University; “Education which lacks religion is seriously defective. How shall we direct the will and train the heart as we enlighten the intellect? Naught but religious feeling, the inspiration of the soul, and faith in God can accomplish this. Even ethical teaching and morality will not suffice. . . One French professor complained, My prize pupil in morals is the biggest knave of the lot.’ Morality is indeed the worthy helpmate of religion, but history and experience reveal over and over again that it cannot be substituted for it. Ethical societies have failed to supplant the Church.” Dr. Boyer, Chicago; Training School, said: “The world has never been in need of Christian leadership as it is today. . . . The Catholic Church is leagues ahead of us in the Protestant churches in the matter, of religious education. I say all honor to the Catholics for the principle they have laid down in regard to religious education.” Dr. Snyder, First Lutheran Church, Johnstown, Pa, says: “The most successful criminals of the country are graduates of the public schools. You cannot educate one phase of a man’s being without religion. Educate him physically without religion and you make of him a. brute, Spartan men and Amazonian women. Educate him socially without religion and you rear a nation of libertines, flappers, and other degenerates. Educate him mentally without religion and

you have a set of knaves, thieves, and robbers.” Dr, Riley, First Baptist Church,• Minneapolis, says: “Let the materialism now being taught in our universities triumph everywhere in America and the fruit of it will be found in over-crowded gaols, more crowded hospitals and sanitariums, and' more numerous insane asylums, . . You cannot dethrone God in His own world and keep the world running on an easy axis.” Education without religion is a failure. It is time that the people in New Zealand who borrow their theories from other countries' opened their eyes to the disastrous results similar systems have there.

.Hence, what can be said of those silly Catholic parents who imagine that ,the secular system is going to work wonders for their children ? There is no excuse for a Catholic parent of ordinary intelligence not knowing that the Catholic system alone is based oil sound principles. It has stood the test of centuries of experience, and they who once denounced it are now beginning to admit that the world must come hack to it or else suffer shipwreck. All the hard things said of secular education in America and France by those who have tried it, apply also in New Zealand. Hence, the opportune warning of the Archbishop, in his address on All Saints’ Day at Palmerston North, ought’to he heeded, not only by every Catholic, but? also by everyone who has ears to hear and eyes' to see what is happening in this country, where, as we\ said at tile beginning, a nonCatholic magistrate confessed that the onlyhone lies in the establishment of schools like ours.