THE newly-crowned Archbishop of Westminster claims that Catholic schools have a crucial role to play in creating a society founded on values such as “honesty, justice, compassion and courage”.
Catholic Archbishop Vincent Nichols
Archbishop Vincent Nichols told an audience at Heythrop college, University of London, that schools need to concentrate on developing children’s character rather than just focusing on results.
In comments that are set to provoke secularists who have campaigned for less religion in schools, he said that faith is a crucial dimension in education.
According to this report, his address follows a growing call for acts of worship to be abolished in schools and accusations that faith schools are being selective in choosing children from affluent backgrounds.
He responded to claims that Catholic schools had been indoctrinating their students, by stating that education can not be free of values.
Nichols said:
Today we live in a society which tends to instrumentalise everything. In other words, everything is broken down to clear objectives and attainments and each is given its price.
He argued that all schools would produce more rounded children and a healthier “human ecology” – or environment – if they were more open in allowing religion to flourish.
There can be no genuine human ecology that fails to recognise the faith and religious experience which is innate in human beings and central to many people in our schools today.
An important part of the construction of a healthy human ecology is therefore that expressions of faith and the practices of religion are given their space within a school, both according to the school’s own tradition and mandate and according to the variety of faith and religion which are in that school.
In 2006, as chairman of the Catholic Education Service, he provoked anger among ministers when he won his campaign against quotas for faith schools, forcing Alan Johnson, then Education Secretary, to back down over proposals to require them to accept more pupils from non-faith backgrounds.
Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, claimed that children are not interested in religion and should be allowed to be free of it in school.
Religion already has a disproportionate amount of time and resources in British schools. The idea we need more of it flies in the face of all the facts that show it’s over-represented and that children are not responding to it.
A spokesman for the Department of Children Schools and Families said:
Good religious education encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity, belonging and self-worth. It enables them to flourish individually within their communities and as citizens in a diverse society and global community.
The Freethinker was founded in 1881 by GW Foote, an outspoken critic of religion. After the publication of 
June 5th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
It wasnt the text in this article that first made me think this archbish is a plonker – it was the hat.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
A trick I always like to play when reading articles on religion is to replace the word "faith" with "belief without evidence". It makes their statements even more moronic. A case in point from above:
"he said that faith is a crucial dimension in education." automatically becomes "he said that belief without evidence is a crucial dimension in education."
Give it a try if you don't already have high blood pressure.
June 5th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
"Good religious education encourages pupils to develop their sense of identity, belonging and self-worth"
No it doesn't, it encourages children to indulge in sectarianism and prejudice.
June 5th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
I think he's got a bloody cheek presuming to lecture from a position of moral superiority considering the recent cases of child abuse brought to light in Ireland. How dare he even contemplate the notion that his brand of child abuse is beneficial to society in any way shape or form!
June 5th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Why stop at faith schools? Let's give the Catholic Church loads of taxpayers' money to run residential homes for orphaned kiddies and other unwanted sprogs. I'm sure the Christian Brothers and Sisters of Mercy would instill a wonderful sense of self-worth in the little darlings. I'm sure many would wake up screaming with joy for years afterwards at the thought of how well they were integrated into the 'human ecology'.
Or, put simply – what a hypocritical old bastard. Religion really does deprive these people of any human decency, even as they claim the exact opposite.
June 5th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
These religious plonkers are no more than cynical politicians, dressed in funny hats and pantomime garb, and using their influence to steal money, intimate the poor and scared and enrich themselves in the process. Evil bastards.
June 5th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
What I want to know is why isn't he being mercilessly flamed by the mainstream media? Why is the government not rushing to provide assurances that him and his ilk will be kept away from education from now on? How come we are the only people who can see the elephant in the room?
June 5th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Irritating how the fish headed leader of the kiddie fiddlers refers to religious schools as “faith schools” All touchy-feely PC bollocks to make what are really sectarian schools sound more acceptable. Anyone with an ounce of common sense know that religious schools are divisive and deprive children of a balanced education – and most people don’t want them.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
I think it was Sinclair Lewis (Elmer Gantry) who first described priests as "dressing like Mother and wanting to be called Father." I am aware that the reason Karol Wojtyla wore long dresses in even the hottest weather was to hide the triple-strength diaper he was obliged to wear 24/7 because, as a chronic retard, he had never been potty trained. But what is England's new Head Choirboyfucker's excuse? Could it be that constantr contemplation of all of those delicious choirboy arseholes at his disposal makes it impossible for him to remain detumescent?
June 5th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
They`re "weasel words" Steve! When I read about "sense of identity" etc, I am reminded of Norman Tebbit and those other fascists praising Margaret Thatcher for her wisdom in recognizing people`s "inherent tribalism": ie "play the race card"!! They`re not far from the BNP.
June 5th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
At least it`s Catholic child abuse, Serai!
June 5th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
What sheer arrogance to presume that only religion can instill in children the qualities of "honesty, justice, compassion and courage"! On second thoughts – where`s the evidence of "honesty, justice, compassion and courage in HIS particular sect?
June 5th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
What sheer arrogance to presume that only religion can instill in children the qualities of "honesty, justice, compassion and courage"! On second thoughts – where`s the evidence of "honesty, justice, compassion and courage" in HIS particular sect?
June 6th, 2009 at 12:07 am
So the kids need to learn non-material values, and the qualities of "honesty, justice, compassion and courage"?
Can't say I disagree – so let's introduce western humanism, which contains all the higher values you could ever need, without the kids having to swallow any superstitious gibberish – or clerical bodily discharges.
June 6th, 2009 at 12:49 am
'instrumentalise'? That's not even a word. He just made it up as he goes along…which is what they do.
For the first time, I've had the wind knocked out of me! This man's blind pig-ignorance and appalling arrogance to call anything catholic as 'honesty, justice, compassion and courage” after the Ryan Report from Ireland is nothing short of an utter and complete social outrage!
And 'crucial'? Religious or catholic education (the top of the list oxymoron) is about as crucial as the Ebola virus. I'm so outraged here I have to stop every few moments while typing this to get my anger into some kind of order… where are the outcries against this religious and catholic barbarian? How DARE he say that without his brand of filthy lies in our schools there are no values…what fucking values, Bis? The raping children values? The covering it up values? The lying, sneaking, cowardly, vicious, sadistic, selfish, self serving, parasitical values of the Roman catholic church?
Go fuck yourself with your mitre you stinking Catholic cunt!
(yes…I'm angry…)
June 6th, 2009 at 12:58 am
I am assuming he refers to the methods used in catholic paedo grooming centres, err I mean 'faith schools'.
Honesty = confess or it will be beaten out of you anyway. Justice = something you don't deserve and shouldn't expect. Compassion = something you will probably have for your fellow sufferers, but not something you can expect from your 'godly' elders and betters. Courage = something you will certainly need to endure the abuse!
June 6th, 2009 at 7:11 am
I think that`s it WH! They`re either playing with themselves under those ridiculous robes, or there`s a cute little "altar boy" kneeling under there sucking them off. I can just picture it!!
June 6th, 2009 at 7:13 am
Those kids in his "compassionate" child brothels certainly learned "courage" Callisto!
June 6th, 2009 at 7:25 am
honesty, justice, compassion and courage? Well I can remember being forced to spend an entire lesson doing benediction (sitting quietly in front of a wafer of bread and venerating it.. no kidding) and then because us 15 year olds had behaved badly in the "lesson" the whole class got a detention for the next day. Honestly, where is the justice and compassion in that? I should have had the courage to stand up and say "this is nonsense", but I didn't.
June 6th, 2009 at 8:43 am
I can picture it too!
http://patterico.com/2008/06/1.....-kozinsk...
June 6th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
If Nichols had honesty, justice or compassion he would never have entered the priesthood.
Dressing like a sci-fi character in public, wearing a big knob on his head, or shamelessly living off the poor? OK, that might take courage ……of a sick, twisted kind peculiar to religious proselytisers.
June 6th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
What people appear to want is selection. They want to get their kids into a school that has no obnoxious, disruptive little oiks in it. These used to be called grammar schools but most of them were abolished as they were discriminatory. The advantage of the faith school is that it can discriminate while pretending not to and those that don't get in are spared from the stigma of the reason that they didn't being that they are too thick to qualify. At least grammar schools discriminated honestly.
The upside to all this is that by selecting kids of above average intelligence they are probably raising the next generation of active freethinkers. I would be very surprised to find that the majority of commenters on this blog were not people of above average intelligence who have had an above average amount of god imposed on them during their childhood.
June 6th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
It should be noted that this is the kind of person that rises to positions of power within the Catholic Church. A thoroughly unpleasant lying hypocrite makes the best Catholic.
June 6th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Captainjjb. This reminds me for some reason of RE classes at primary school. The school was nominally a CofE school but back in the sixties that didn't really mean anything and they had no teachers that were qualified to teach RE so the local vicar used to come in once a week to do it. The lesson used to consist of a hour spent copying out religious tracts in latin. I have often wondered, was he so utterly incompetent in the art of bringing young souls to Jesus, or was he perhaps a vicar who had seen the light and being trapped in the vicar job was doing his best not to. I would love to believe the latter but I suppose I will never Know.
June 6th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I think you`re right in every respect there Stonyground. (I know – it`s boring having someone agree with you all the time, isn`t it?) When I was a boy, the Plymouth Brethren had an organization for boys called "Crusaders" (it may still be going for all I know, though "Covenanters" was later much more popular, being less elitist). The unashamed object of this organization was to ensnare INTELLIGENT young boys, by means of innocuous activities like sport, games and outings, and indoctrinate them with evangelical beliefs. As soon as it became known that I had been selected for grammar school, an evangelical colleague of my father`s got me inveigled into the "Crusaders" on the pretence that I would greatly benefit from the activities and opportunities that it provided for boys like me. Nothing was said overtly, but it was quite clear to me from the very outset that Secondary Modern "oiks" (as you so rightly put it) were most definitely NOT welcome!! "Plus ca change" as they say!
June 6th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I nearly said that there`s a rich seam of material for a cartoonist here, but what you`ve directed us to is even better remigius! I haven`t laughed so much for ages (well – not since the "Jesus Light Switch" over on http://thebeattitude.com/ anyways ["Don`t Turn Jesus On"]!! I hope no readers of this blog mised all that – if you did it`s under the "Funny Stuff – A Very Inappropriate Golf Lesson From Jesus" post!).
June 6th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I nearly said that there`s a rich seam of material for a cartoonist here, but what you`ve directed us to is even better remigius! I haven`t laughed so much for ages (well – not since the "Jesus Light Switch" over on http://thebeattitude.com/ anyways ["Don`t Turn Jesus On"]!! I hope no readers of this blog mised all that – if you did it`s under the "Funny Stuff – A Very Inappropriate Golf Lesson From Jesus" post!).
June 6th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I nearly said that there`s a rich seam of material for a cartoonist here, but what you`ve directed us to is even better remigius! I haven`t laughed so much for ages (well – not since the "Jesus Light Switch" over on http://thebeattitude.com/ anyways ["Don`t Turn Jesus On"]!! I hope no readers of this blog mised all that – if you did it`s under the "Funny Stuff – A Very Inappropriate Golf Lesson From Jesus" post!).
June 6th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I nearly said that there`s a rich seam of material for a cartoonist here, but what you`ve directed us to is even better remigius! I haven`t laughed so much for ages (well – not since the "Jesus Light Switch" over on http://thebeattitude.com/ anyways ["Don`t Turn Jesus On"]!! I hope no readers of this blog mised all that – if you did it`s under the "Funny Stuff – A Very Inappropriate Golf Lesson From Jesus" post!).
June 7th, 2009 at 7:37 am
Sontyground, actually I remember "RE" being great fun at CoE Primary School (early 70's) mostly because it consisted of singing hymns, which I loved (the words were irrelevant to me) and beating each other up at cub scouts. It was the Catholic senior school that completely screwed it all up. Every week I went through three lessons worth of complete drivel, although your experience really takes the biscuit, copying out latin, LOL, great stuff.
June 7th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
My dad had some strange experiences at school (very similar to this), back in the 1920s, but yours really takes the biscuit I think, Stonyground! Things were not a whole lot better when I was at Grammar School, where we had a "Divinity" teacher who thought it a good idea to send some boys to the library each week to bring all the theology books to the classroom, whereupon we would select one each to peruse! Unfortunately (or, as you say, maybe fortunately), the demented woman`s catchphrase (in a strong Saath Effrican accent) was "Would you just raise your heads a moment?", whereupon she would begin to lecture us on the evils of either failing to wear our caps in public, or "eating in the street" ( a major sin in her eyes), so you can just imagine how much we actually learnt in her 40 minute lesson!! When the school became a Comprehensive in later years she actually said to a friend of mine: "We`re teaching children that we didn`t even know existed"!!!