Re: “Prayer integral in our schools, but there’s more that can be done,” The Catholic Register, October 26. John Kostoff, the Director of Education for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board makes a great point about the need for prayer in our schools. He suggests that schools use the Daily Examen that St. Ignatius of Loyola practiced. However, if students, teachers and trustees were following this spiritual prayer exercise in his board, why did the board approve the government’s Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy that contradicts the faith in so many ways? Or is the article just another exercise in positive Catholic school image management?
Mr. Kostoff knows all too well that Catholic schools have agreed, if students want them, to establish gay/straight clubs. Catholic schools must recognize nearly a dozen different sexual orientations; accept abortion, the re-definition of marriage, family and human sexuality. Now, if in stage three of the prayer we discern these sins, what do we do next?
Surely, if school administrators together with Mr. Kostoff were doing the daily Examen they would have quickly realized that the new politically correct "equity policies" reject much of what Catholics believe and what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches. But this sadly has not been the outcome, the school prayer in question notwithstanding. Talking and writing about prayer in schools is too easily done when there’s no real witness to accompany it, along with the baptismal responsibility to know and fully live the faith. We cannot have both ways: to say that we are governing our Catholic schools faithfully and then choose to defend and live only what is convenient, fundable and politically expedient. The “more that can be done” in our schools is to truly try to live the Catechism without compromise.
Thank you,
Lou Iacobelli
Toronto
NOTE: Circumstances around the arrogant censorship of this letter are related here:
The “more that can be done” in our schools is to truly try to live the Catechism without compromise. -
ReplyDeleteYou are certainly correct. Unfortunately, Catholic education went into auto-destruct mode fifty years ago. Any resemblance between authentic historical Catholicism and the religious operating system in the Catholic schools of Ontario is pure coincidence. The teacher's association (OECTA) would be the biggest opponent to something like the St. Ignatius' Daily Examen. Keep in mind, that our venerable Roman Catechism was abrogated in 1966. Now, how do you abrogate a Catechism without abrogating its contents? The General Catechetical Directory (1971?) was largely ignored. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, despite being, to a large extent, a product of the Spell of Vatican II, is, in some areas, sound. Sadly the spirit of "abrogation" is alive and well. Just take a look at how many bishops supported the inserted paragraphs, in the relatio, halfway through the recent synod. Mr Kostoff's suggestion is good, but where are you going to get the "horses" to carry out such a practice? From OECTA??