Religious in schools

BY THANDI BOSMAN

Once Catholic schools were run by members of religious congregations. But as their general numbers decreased, so did their presence in schools, as THANDI BOSMAN reports.

Catholic schools are run on strong Catholic principles and Catholic philosophy, but many in South Africa no longer have religious Brothers and Sisters teaching in the schools.

Those who are still teaching at Catholic schools take on the challenge through their vocation and mission.

“Religion is central to the life of a Catholic school and it is never compromised. Both Catholics and non-Catholics benefit from a Catholic atmosphere, and it deepens the faith” of Christian learners, said Sr Bridget Cronin HC, principal of Holy Cross Convent Primary School in Aliwal North.

The Holy Cross Sister, who has been teaching for 38 years, said that there are only a few religious still teaching at Holy Cross.

“We have five Sisters involved in our school: the principal, the bursar, one doing foundation phase computer, two involved in playground duty, and one doing art and other jobs,” Sr Cronin said.

St Dominic’s Priory High School in Port Elizabeth “has been remarkably consistent in maintaining its identity” as a Catholic school, said Fr Phillip Vietri CO.

Fr Vietri has been teaching subjects such as history, life orientation and religion for 20 years. The school’s strong Catholic identity is supported by two priests and a religious Brother as well as a Dominican Sister who assists with the school administration.

At the Dominican school, Fr Vietri said, the Catholic faith is nurtured by the Fathers and Brother who are all part of the Oratory of St Philip Neri.

Br Michael Theron CO teaches mathematics and religious education at St Dominic’s Priory. He said that in the past two years the number of religious at St Dominic’s has doubled, from two to four. Still, “in relation to the rest of the staff, even four is a small number” of religious in a Catholic school, Br Theron said.

But even a few religious at a Catholic school can make a difference.

Sr Cronin said that the presence of the Sisters benefits Holy Cross school, especially the quality of Catholic education. There are also obvious economic considerations.

“In our school we have fewer Sisters and this does affect us as we have to employ more lay staff, and this involves more salaries.”

More than that, she added, “we have to make sure that the Catholic ethos is upheld”.

Holy Cross also has to adapt to all the changes in the education system, but Sr Cronin said that this never compromises the Catholic education at the school.

As the only independent Catholic school in Port Elizabeth, St Dominic’s has been “strengthened and consolidated over the years”. Fr Vietri said: “Many Protestant parents send their children here for the Christian ethos”.

With a strong Catholic ethos and influence that the priests and religious Brothers bring to St Dominic’s Priory, Fr Vietri said, “teachers who come here tend to accept and cooperate with the school and its Catholic identity”.

To uphold a strong Catholic ethos, schools need to do more than “teach children [to] be good boy scouts”, but also leave them with the experience of Jesus, Br Theron said.

At St Dominic’s “we feel that there is no point in just teaching ‘Catholic ethos’ without a firm proclamation of the person and message of Jesus Christ himself. Without this proclamation, the so-called ‘ethos’ would be a void and meaningless concept”, said Br Theron.

Sr Cronin said that priests and religious have “dedicated their lives fully to Christ” and therefore their presence provides a good influence in the school environment. “They can teach the Catholic faith and it may bring religious vocations,” the nun said.

St Conrad’s College in Klerksdorp, caters for boys and girls from pre-primary until high school. No religious are teaching at the school, but two Brothers of Charity work there.

Rina Grant, St Conrad’s training phase head and religious education coordinator, said  that Brs Luc Massenhove and Paul Chishinte, who live at the school, are “involved in the maintenance of the school and often assist with various lessons, especially religious education”.

Brs Massenhove and Chishinte also assist at the school’s sister institution on the property, the Triest Training Centre, which accommodates and trains mentally and physically challenged adults.

Mrs Grant said that the Brothers’ presence alone “serves as a living example of true vocation and commitment” to the learners.

“Their daily lives require patience, perseverance, faith and many more virtues. These are visible to the learner body and the learners are afforded the opportunity to experience first-hand the challenges and joys of the religious,” Mrs Grant said. They would not experience this at non-Catholic schools.

Parents should consider Catholic schools because these provide a spiritual formation.

“It enforces their religion and teaches tolerance and acceptance of all other forms of beliefs and therefore enhances their Christian growth,” Mrs Grant said.

Sr Cronin added that by sending their children to Catholic schools, parents can deepen their own faith as they “follow their children’s progress in the faith”. The Holy Cross nun said that she had experienced parents going back to Church “by example of their children”.

Those in the consecrated life can share and offer their experience, and support the needs of learners “in a way that married people with families cannot,” Fr Vietri said.

“We are sacramentally present to the children, and closeness to the Church’s ministers is an essential element of the modern Church. We are trained and educated to teach religion and to know the faith, and daily contact can solve so many problems and questions in the lives of people struggling to live out their faith in the Church,” Fr Vietri said. Learners “see in us the continuity, rather than the compartmentalisation, of their faith”.

As the numbers of religious in Catholic schools diminish, the responsibility of maintaining their Catholic ethos rests with teachers who might not be Catholic.

“In former times the Sisters did all the religious education at Holy Cross, and we knew the Catholic doctrine that we taught. Now we have one Catholic teacher in our school, so we have to monitor more closely,” Sr Cronin said

“We are very lucky to have Sisters in our school and so our Catholic ethos is central to the life of the school” and its survival can be ensured.