Catholic Schools In Ireland No More…

Catholic Schools In Ireland No More…

 Catholic Schools In Ireland No More...

Strange things are afoot in Ireland. It has been announced that from 2014, all children in the rapidly expanding multi-denominational school sector will be taught atheism in a course based on books like Richard Dawkins’ The Magic of Reality. This is the first ever atheist curriculum in Ireland, and – like it or loathe it – it is groundbreaking.

Click on picture of shamrock to read the rest of the article.

Comments (58)

  • Margaret Mary

    That’s really terrible. The only thing I can think is that even though Ireland has gone to the wind regarding the Catholic faith, re. politicians, abortion etc. I think there would be enough parents with enough faith to decide to home-school their children and really make their mark. That would be a real signal to the Church and the State that they cannot get away with corrupting the children.

    September 28, 2013 at 5:11 pm
  • catholicconvert1

    Ireland, as with everywhere in Europe, is having it’s religious heritage being forcibly removed from above, by militantly secular governments. I think it is interesting for Ruairi Quinn to say that Irish society is changing. Look at the statistics. 85% of the Irish claim to be Catholic and 50% (give or take a % point) attend Mass on Sundays, a majority of the Irish electorate support the Church stance on abortion and other moral issues. Atheism and Islam are still in single figures, under 5%. Ireland is still a very Catholic nation. I wouldn’t be too worried though. 93% of schools are still under Church control, and this is a perfect opportunity for the hierarchy to start teaching true doctrines to combat this. I also think there are several Protestant and Jewish schools in Ireland.

    September 28, 2013 at 5:28 pm
    • Margaret Mary

      CatholicConvert1,

      I see what you mean but don’t you think that if the schools begin to teach atheism and other anti-Catholic topics, the faith will be weakened in the younger generation, especially since the hierarchy and priests are already weak themselves.

      September 28, 2013 at 6:24 pm
  • catholicconvert1

    Part of me thinks this is God’s Will, Margaret Mary. It is all part of a chastisement, which will endure until the Consecration of Russia. There is nothing that can be done properly until that glorious moment. Ireland needs a Prime like John Charles McQuaid. The Irish should gather in their thousands and pray the Rosary outside Leinster House.

    September 28, 2013 at 7:35 pm
  • catholicconvert1

    ‘Prime’. I meant Primate. I was going to say ‘a Prime Minister like De Valera, to legislate for Catholic morals’, but changed my mind at the last minute.

    September 28, 2013 at 7:36 pm
  • editor

    This is a complete hatchet job on Catholic primary schools in the republic of Ireland. Nothing less.

    Here’s the “consultation” (joke) leaflet being given to parents – note, the deadline is November. So, all the usual tricks are in place to make sure that either very few responses are received or that the parents they WANT to respond (with the “right” answers) are in the majority.

    The ignorance would be laughable if it were not so tragic. Because Ireland now has different “beliefs and traditions” (not just “Catholic” and “Protestant”) the schools have to be turned upside down to cater for this “diversity”.

    I wonder if they do this shake-up of schools in non-Christian countries, to cater for the “Catholics” and “Protestants”? A strictly rhetorical question. I think we all know the answer to that one.

    I sincerely hope that the Catholic laity in Ireland are alert to what is going on here – the removal of Catholic statues and pictures to make room for pictures of the Buddha and Hindu gods etc – in other words, I hope they are alert to the fact that Our Lord is to be well and truly demoted in their land: one of the few places left on earth, where we might expect to find Christ at the head of the nation – as required by Catholic Social Teaching.

    Let’s hope the huge numbers of pro-lifers who tried so hard and so laudably to fight the passing of the Abortion Act, regroup to fight this further attack on the Catholic Church in Ireland. I sincerely hope they have more intelligence than to fall for the baloney in that leaflet; all the talk about catering for “diversity” blah blah is a cover for sabotaging Catholicism. Nothing less. Politicians don’t give a toss about “different beliefs and traditions” – they simply hate the one Tradition that comes from God. That’s it in a word: Catholicism. Don’t, dear Irish brothers and sisters, let them get away with it.

    September 28, 2013 at 10:44 pm
  • Catching smoke

    Was going to write about this myself. the focus should be on creating an unbiased form of teaching religion with a touch of philosophy thus incorporating atheism, there’s no need in my opinion for a purely atheist based course. I think the key is to avoid teaching of any kind of bias, so religion should be taught objectively and factually as should atheism in order to avoid any manipulation and allow the children the tools to decide what is right and wrong themselves.

    September 29, 2013 at 12:03 am
    • editor

      Catching Smoke,

      What you describe is already on offer in state non-denominational schools.

      Religious schools however, in this case Catholic schools, exist for the express purpose of passing on – with commitment – the Catholic religion, and to educate pupils in such a way that they will see where their Faith fits into the world view.

      That’s what our Masters in Brussels don’t want to happen. They want children who are brainwashed to think that every religion and none is of equal value (or, preferably, of equal unimportance).

      The useful idiots in the education system – and those who uncritically accept their unthinking philosophy – are making it easy for those who hate the Faith to (as far as humanly possible) destroy Catholicism and rob Catholic children of their heritage.

      Your use of the term “manipulation” reminds me of the very first article penned by the man who (shockingly) was appointed Director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service some years ago. He said that in his view, Catholic schools should not “impose” any “particular tradition” on pupils.

      In other words, even if Catholic parents send their children to Catholic schools in Scotland, they will not be taught the Catholic religion with conviction by their teachers because that would be “imposing” the Faith on them.

      Have you ever said “I must not impose a birthday present on my mother”? I mustn’t impose Christmas gifts on my children/nieces, nephews”?

      Of course not. If we love our families we want to give them the very best gifts we can afford to mark key days in the calendar.

      How terrible, then, to think that teaching the Faith by word and example, letting pupils know the claims of the Church, including the claim to be the one, true religion, essential for salvation (clearly explained) is considered to be imposing on pupils or manipulating them.

      September 29, 2013 at 12:20 am
      • Mental Pixelation

        I understand the view that by sending a child to a catholic school the PARENTS are off course going to want and expect a strong catholic stance to be taken and taught to their children. But I believe it is unfair to prioritise the teaching of a particular religion, in this case Catholicism, over another when it comes to education. The education system is about offering a universal, objective place to learn.
        Are you referring offering the chance to learn about a particular religion down to being like a gift? Well that’s just ludicrous firstly the analogy you have drawn doesn’t work as birthday and Christmas gifts are materialistic and therefor not particularly subjective whereas a ‘gift’ of insight to a faith is extremely subjective and is I would argue done primarily for the benefit of the giver than the receiver. I would strongly dislike the ‘gift’ of an invite to attend a Catholic Church but I can imagine you’d enjoy giving me that gift.
        By offering children the chance to learn about Catholicism you are ridding them of the chance to learn about Hinduism, Buddhism and the hundreds of other gods and religious systems out there. You are in effect determining their faith through culturalisation and manipulation and that is how they are going to gain faith? Surely, surely an almighty god would not depend on society to penetrate into the minds of these children, surely a child’s religion shouldn’t be dependent on its background. It might do you some god to look at my most recent blog about the effects of culturalisation.

        September 29, 2013 at 12:32 am
      • editor

        Please note Catching Smoke/Mental Pixelation that the first comment of any new blogger always goes into moderation. Thereafter, comments from that blogger go up automatically. Thus, if you keep changing your username, you will have to keep waiting for me to see and release your comment in moderation.

        Don’t have time to answer your latest comment in detail except to say that children in Catholic schools DO learn about other religions but there is no point having Catholic schools if they can only teach religion in exactly the same way as non-religious schools. All religions are NOT equally true. That is impossible since God is unchanging and unchangeable.

        Catholics believe that our Faith is a gift from God, that the Church is God’s chosen method of getting souls to Heaven. Hence, we believe that to pass on that gift to our children, is not “imposing” or “manipulation”.

        More in due course!

        September 29, 2013 at 8:20 am
  • catholicconvert1

    Catholic schools can and should teach about other religions, but only when a particular belief has a mirror in Catholicism, because that must be where the truthful belief in the other religion originated, as all truth flows from Christ and his body, which is the Church. No other religion can have any truth on it’s own. Fact. The Irish constitution was written by Catholics, and it pledges obedience to the Trinitarian God in it’s opening lines. The Irish Constitution was the most liberal of it’s time, because whilst it upheld Catholicism, through Special Recognition, it allowed complete freedom for Protestants, Jews and Quakers, at a time when the latter were being persecuted by Hitler. Ireland was Catholicism in action, through it’s Christian Freedom, evident in it’s freedom of worship.

    Parents send their children to a Faith School for one reason alone, to be educated in that Faith. Non-Catholic children in Catholic schools are not expected to attend Mass or prayers, and they are free to take Catholic RE lessons with a pinch of salt. Mental Pixelation, I do not know if you are a Catholic, but if you are, you are a modernist one. I would NOT let my children learn about Protestantism, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism etc because they are Satanic, especially the latter three, and as a Catholic parent it would be my duty to shield my children from all threats, moral and spiritual. Why would I want my children to learn about a religion that flies planes into the side of buildings, or invented the Kama Sutra?

    September 29, 2013 at 1:44 pm
    • Mental Pixelation

      Hi there, I am not a catholic, I am an atheist. But I think it is wrong to deny your child the chance to learn and explore other religions, I think it is infact a greater fete to be a catholic after exploring all religions than to be one because it’s all you’ve ever known. Your comments about flying planes into the side of buildings are examples of highly oversimplifying situations by looking at the actions of minority groups within religions. I don’t think, however, it is oversimplification to understand that Catholicism is in many ways ‘wrong’ itself particularly when considering its view of homosexuality as a sin. And finally if your god is the only god then surely your children no matter what their up bringing will realise this, furthermore how highly coincidental that Catholicism is the correct religion and is also the most popular religion where you come from. I mean obviously you’d be a Hindu if living in china and a Buddhist if in India. So lucky you were born where you were.

      September 29, 2013 at 7:47 pm
      • editor

        You kidding?

        Catholic Convert was born in England, I am Scots. So, we’re not Catholics due to being born in a majority Catholic country. No way. In fact, Catholic Convert is still under instructions (as far as I know) and not yet received into the Church. So, believe me, we’ve not left our brains at the log in menu of this blog!

        In fact, can’t remember WHERE I left mine, and of all the things I’ve ever lost, I miss my mind the most! (The old ones are the best…)

        September 29, 2013 at 8:09 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Christianity is the most common religion in Scotland, I’m not even going to continue

        September 29, 2013 at 8:22 pm
      • catholicconvert1

        Mental Pixelation

        You seem like a nice and reasonable person, but Christianity is not the predominant religion in Scotland. It is what passes for Christianity. Presbyterianism stopped being a Church, along with Anglicanism, Lutheranism, blah, blah, yawn, yawn, when they broke from Rome. You see, because they broke the Apostolic line at the Reformation, they no longer possess valid holy orders or sacraments, and hence, as affirmed by HH Leo XIII in 1896 in Apostolicae Curae, Anglican order are ‘absolutely null and utterly void’ and in Dominus Iesus in 2001, they are no ‘ecclesial communities in the truest sense of the term’. They are properly Baptism, because the rite wasn’t changed, but validity strts and ends with Baptism for Protestants.

        September 29, 2013 at 8:30 pm
      • editor

        Mental Pixelation,

        While the Catholic Church IS “Christianity”, as the great convert Cardinal Newman pointed out (“The Catholic Church IS the Christian dispensation”) nevertheless, in Scotland more than anywhere else in the UK, the influence of the medieval Protestant reformation means that there is an awful lot of hostility towards Catholicism here.

        So forgive me if I say that I’m not even going to continue…

        September 29, 2013 at 8:32 pm
      • Petrus

        It really amazes me when atheists feel comfortable sticking their big beak into other people’s business. Are you a parent, Little Miss Atheist? If you are, I wouldn’t dream of telling you how you should educate your child.

        So-called atheists are just like the illiberal liberals. Always telling others what they should do and what they should think. I have no interest in going on atheist blogs and commenting. Why do you have an interest in coming on to a Catholic Blog and spouting your unintelligent drivel? I will tell you why.

        You do believe in God. But you hate Him. Yours is essentially the cry of Lucifer – “non serviam” – I will not serve. Yours is the sin of pride. You think you don’t need God and can do very well without Him. However, your conscience keeps niggling away so what you do is attack the Body of Christ here on earth – the Catholic Church. It won’t work because we’ve seen your like a million times before and we have the measure of so called Atheism. You’ve picked the wrong place.

        You are very welcome to stay, to discuss and to learn. But your illiberal, proud arguments just won’t wash here.

        September 29, 2013 at 8:40 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        The fact I research theistic views and remain atheists shows I am informed and understand that not only do all religions contradict each other but that theists make no sense I.e. I hate god. Furthermore the fact you don’t research atheist views isn’t a positive, it means you are less well rounded when you make your decision

        September 29, 2013 at 8:43 pm
      • editor

        A bit odd, then, that you want children to be taught about all those contradictory religions, Mental Pixelation. Not exactly logical, is it?

        Still, Richard Dawkins would approve!

        September 29, 2013 at 8:44 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Religion is interesting, fascinating, the ideas of our ancient ancestors are certainly worthy of research but beliefs is ludicrous. So I would certainly want children to learn about these religions, so, not only are they going to swayed into a religious belief without full I depth research but also learn history at the same time, history and culture that our ancestors CREATED and WROTE

        September 29, 2013 at 8:46 pm
      • Petrus

        Why would I want to research the sin of pride? I understand it perfectly. I think believing that the world came from nothing, that nothing caused something and matter appeared and became ordered all on its ownio – but for no reason downright hilarious. Explain how to teach a child that something can come from nothing ?

        September 29, 2013 at 8:49 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Hmm yes the question of how something came from nothing is extremely hard to comprehend, unfortunately god doesn’t answer that though does it? Where did god come from? What made him? Hmm, odd isn’t it. Oh but of course you’re happy for them to learn about how god and thing, came from nothing? Moving the goalposts as per

        September 29, 2013 at 8:50 pm
      • Petrus

        Not at all. Don’t the laws of thermodynamics tell us that there is an eternal being?

        September 29, 2013 at 8:54 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Unfortunately not, there are exceptions to the first law of thermodynamics where ‘everything must come from something’ as has been seen with the spontaneous creation of hydrogen atoms. Just like these hydrogen atoms the Big Bang was a spontaneous creation, very miraculous but not reliant on an external ‘god’

        September 29, 2013 at 9:05 pm
      • Petrus

        Very miraculous is atheistic language for “We haven’t the foggiest” haha.

        September 29, 2013 at 9:09 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Isn’t the whole concept of god an unknown in itself? Very hypocritical

        September 29, 2013 at 9:10 pm
      • Petrus

        Not at all. Tell me, where did you study epistemology, ontology and metaphysics? Surely these are fundamentals for examining the existence of God?

        September 29, 2013 at 9:11 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Being 17 I haven’t studied these in depth, have you? I’d be very surprised if you had. But I intend to investigate for my whole existence for now however from what I do know I am atheist, I very much sense you have stopped questioning your faith and have become settled, that is an error

        September 29, 2013 at 9:15 pm
      • Petrus

        Tell me this, how familiar are you with Saint Thomas Aquinas?

        September 29, 2013 at 9:14 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Oh very

        September 29, 2013 at 9:15 pm
      • Petrus

        What do you make of his arguments on the existence of God? Yes, I have studied those things. In depth.

        September 29, 2013 at 9:16 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Full of flaws, unsatisfactory, multiple counter arguments I remain atheist

        September 29, 2013 at 9:18 pm
      • Petrus

        Explain one flaw for us…..which one of his five arguments do you have a specific problem with?

        September 29, 2013 at 9:19 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        I have had many discussions, debates and interesting conversations about the flaws, and I have had these discussions with people of faith like yourself, it’s not I don’t realise that of course your opinion would be unique to an extent as you are an individual but I know you won’t change my mind, and I know I’ll have a reply to everything, as will you I would rather not take this discussion any further. But don’t be mistaken I do have numerous flaws I just feel it is unnecessary to talk of them now, so I shall politely decline the continuation of this conversation

        September 29, 2013 at 9:23 pm
      • Petrus

        Ain’t that convenient! Haha.

        September 29, 2013 at 9:25 pm
      • Miles Immaculatae

        Where was the spontaneous creation of hydrogen atoms observed? It was within the universe. Therefore it is not accurate to say these were originated ex nihilo, from nothing.

        September 29, 2013 at 9:12 pm
      • catholicconvert1

        That’s it Petrus, in a nutshell. God bless you my son.

        September 29, 2013 at 9:09 pm
  • catholicconvert1

    Mental Pixelalation

    I mean what I say. If I bring my children up to be good devout Catholics, and they know the Church to be founded by Christ for Salvation, but later I let them look at other faiths, and they join it, what hope do they have to be reunited with Christ? Other religions might offer fleeting comfort and happiness in this life but you can’t have it for eternity, and that’s what matters. You make a judgement on where I come from. I am not Irish. I am English, and as you will know England is still dominated by a wishy washy form of Protestantism known as Anglicanism. Catholicism is not ‘wrong’ in terms of homosexuality, the Catholic Church, whose head, Our Most Holy Father, is the Visible Successor to The Lord Jesus Christ here on this Earth. The Church, because it was founded by St. Peter on the sacred request of Christ is totally without error or blemish. I’m guessing that you think we on this blog are hateful people, but let me tell you what the Catechism teaches:

    ‘2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. Its psychological genesis remains largely unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,141 tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.”142 They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

    2358 The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfil God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.

    2359 Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection’.

    As a Catholic, I could not and do not hate these people, and could you say in all honesty that the Catechism is hateful?

    Your belief in diversity is misplaced. It is a smokescreen to allow relativism to creep in and displace Catholicism and it’s truth, and allowing Atheism to fill the void. What would you do if your children became Catholics? I doubt you’d be as tolerant as you purport to be. Atheists are tolerant until one of their own converts.

    Also, I doubt you’d get Hindus in China. I think you got the Hindus and Buddhists the wrong way around.

    I will keep you in my prayers.

    September 29, 2013 at 8:19 pm
    • Mental Pixelation

      I didn’t read all that because it’s like me writing a massive essay on the spaghetti monster and the invisible teapot, pray for me if it offers you comfort

      September 29, 2013 at 8:27 pm
      • editor

        Why would praying for you (or anyone else) offer us comfort?

        September 29, 2013 at 8:32 pm
      • Mental Pixelation

        Psychologically that’s why you prey. It feels like you’re doing something, something good or right, it feels like someone’s listening, it feels like you’re not alone, it feels like there’s always someone to turn to, it feels like there’s some chance I might change, so yes it indeed offers you comfort, in numerous ways

        September 29, 2013 at 8:35 pm
      • editor

        Mental Pixelation,

        No, that’s not why I/we pray. We pray for a lot of different reasons, but always, at the core, we are communicating with God – to thank Him for His goodness, to ask for help for ourselves and others, not to “feel good” – feelings are irrelevant. The great Catholic saints and mystics reveal in their writings how they are often felt bereft at prayer, dry, no consolation, feeling God at a great distance if at all. Feelings do not count. I speak to my family members around me whether I feel like it or not (and I very often DON’T feel like it!) but I need to speak to them for all sorts of reasons – to enquire about their well-being, to give news, to ask for help of some kind, sometimes same reasons I speak to God. Feelings are irrelevant. The famous “Rosary Priest” Fr Peyton once heard someone introduce him as “the priest who loves the rosary” to which he replied that he prayed the rosary, not out of feelings of “love” but because Our Lady asked us to pray the rosary. Duty, in other words. Duty is THE finest expression of true love, of course, it’s why a wife will remain faithful to her husband when he falls gravely ill and many would write him off as a “burden” – that’s real love, but it’s not sentimental mushy emotionalism that so often passes for “love” these days.

        I’ve quickly read through all of your posts, and found them all very interesting. At some of them there is no reply button, so I’m going to say a few words here, although I apologise for not covering everything.

        The first thing I’d say is this: in my entire life, and believe me, it is quite some time since I was heard saying “I’m 17…” (unfortunately!) but, to repeat, in my entire life, I have never gone looking to investigate atheism, never read a book by an atheist, never searched for an atheist blog. EVER.

        Yet, here, at Catholic Truth, we have visits from atheists on a fairly regular basis. Always full of criticism about religion in general, Catholicism in particular. I find this particular difference between us, very interesting indeed. The fact is that – as Petrus said somewhere above – there IS no such thing as a real atheist. God has implanted a seed in our souls, so that we can all reach Him. Some of us just resist more, preferring the currently populist view about religion as something boring and a waste of time. Far from being boring, it is the most exciting thing of all – the interior life: the battle within our own souls, a real adventure.

        Which makes it a great pity that so many people, yourself included, set great store by questioning, doubting, searching and so on, before “accepting” God/the Church etc.

        Yet, if we only believe that which we can find acceptable to our limited human intelligence, that is not supernatural faith. It is of no more consequence that believing that a fresh cream meringue is delicious because we can taste it. There’s no faith required.

        It all boils down to this, Mental Pixelation: we either live as if there is no eternity – no judgment, no heaven or hell – in which case we can do what we choose without fear of consequences, a position which, paradoxically, doesn’t seem to bring happiness. OR we can take the plunge and make a real act of faith in the existence of God and His will for us – which is to be saved (from Hell) through the graces/helps He gives us via His Church. St Thomas Aquinas tells us that this is the right way round: not the “question so that you get to see the truth and understand it all then believe…” But we must make the leap of faith and then seek understanding.

        You’re very young (she said with green eyes popping furiously!) so it may be that you have plenty of time to think, reason, discuss etc. until, please God, you make that leap of faith. Being an atheist does not satisfy, by all accounts.

        On the other hand, Mental Pixelation, you may have no time at all. None of us can be sure of having the next ten minutes, let alone months and years ahead.

        So, my best sisterly advice to you is – make that leap of faith… NOW!

        September 30, 2013 at 12:03 am
  • catholicconvert1

    Why the Dickens would you join the blog, if you are not going to have the decency to read all of my post? And to add insult to injury you start rambling on about a spaghetti monster or an invisible teapot. How odd. That’s the trouble with Atheists, they are frightened of the truth. I will pray for you, not to give me comfort, on the contrary, but so that God may reveal His love and truth to you. I never feel as if I’m alone because I have friends and family. Please read that post, with you (un) graciously refused to read, for whatever reason.

    September 29, 2013 at 8:45 pm
    • Mental Pixelation

      So god needs you, in order to know I need him to reveal himself? He doesn’t just know? Not very omniscient then

      September 29, 2013 at 8:52 pm
  • scottish priest

    prayer has nothing to do with feelings. (feelings are a bonus). I am surprised that you an atheist place so much emphasis on feelings and for the record psychologically that is not why we pray. As a priest I studied philosophy sociology psychology and theology and not only is faith reasonable it is the most exciting pursuit in life. We an neither prove nor disprove as Thomas Aquinas said we can question and ther lies the clues

    September 29, 2013 at 8:46 pm
  • catholicconvert1

    No Pixelation, God does not need either of us. We are nothing but dots on this world. God knows what the both of us need. However, I pray for you because, you as a humanist place mankind on a pedestal and cannot accept a power higher than man, and are thus incapable of prayer. God reveals Himself not only by your very existence, but also through acts of mercy which you undertake in your life. That is evidence of Him in you.

    September 29, 2013 at 9:24 pm
  • Leo

    “The security of the State demands that we should be brought back to Him who is the way, the truth, and the life, not as individuals merely, but as human society through all its extent. Christ our Lord must be reinstated as the Ruler of human society. It belongs to Him, as do all its members. All the elements of the commonwealth; legal commands and prohibitions, popular institutions, schools, marriage, home-life, the workshop, and the palace, all must be made to come to that fountain and imbibe the life that comes from Him.” – Pope Leo XIII, Tametsi, 1900

    “In a word, the communists claim to inaugurate a new era and a new civilisation which is the result of blind evolutionary forces culminating in a“humanity without God”. – Pope Pius XI, Divini Rdemptoris, 1937

    There is no doubt that the control of education is another significant battle in the on-going and escalating war against the Kingship of Christ and Christian civilisation that is being conducted by the lucifer’s useful idiots amongst the present Irish government, or rather the commissars in charge of the Irish outpost of the UN’s and EU’s New World Order.

    Just to recap briefly , this government has closed the Irish embassy to the Vatican, on a ridiculous, trumped up justification of cost savings, has brought forward a Constitutional amendment (still subject to legal challenge) that seeks to allow the State usurp the place of parents, has through deception and disdain for democracy, with the help of an eagerly compliant media, legalised the killing of unborn children up to birth. A previously little discussed aspect of the legislation was the part which declared that Catholic hospitals will required to act against divine law and become part of the killing apparatus. So, it’s not enough for this Government to establish abortuaries to conduct what they kept telling us all would be very rare killings (as if that was supposed to somehow make it all acceptable!). No, they want to see Catholic hospitals getting blood on their hands. A lot of thought, over a long time has gone into all this.

    And in case we forget, the government were also talking at one time of legalising to break the Seal of Confession; although this matter seems to have gone cold, to the best of my knowledge. Charming, charming people, these social engineering antichrists. No doubt some amongst them have eyes on future appointments in the EU Commission and elsewhere.

    And of course, pushing the Church out of education is a very important part of the antichrist agenda. Here’s an informative link, two years old, on what’s going on in Ireland. I think the plan is very clear.

    http://donum-vitae-blog.blogspot.ie/#!/2011/11/goldfish-in-heaven.html

    I wonder how any half sane parent would react when some atheistic teacher refers to their little darlings as “scraps of energy, randomly generated.” And I thought it was all about boosting kids’ self-esteem these days. Said teacher might be advised to bring some means of self-defence to the next parent teacher meeting.

    Your post on 28 September, 10.44 pm, was spot on, Editor. The consultative process will be a sham, I’m sure. This government, which is eagerly doing the work of the father of lies, has already made its contempt for democratic representation very clear with their absolute determination to legalise the killing of the unborn. Unfortunately, to say the very least, those responsible for the “consultative” leaflet are emboldened enough to complain that instruction of children in the sacraments takes time away from instruction on English and Maths. Welcome to liberal, tolerant, apostate Ireland.

    The secularist education agenda, like that of abortion, is all so blatantly in line with the virus like spread of cultural Marxism throughout the Western World. Indeed the errors of Russia continue to spread far and wide.

    If anyone thinks that talk of Communists and the New World Order is over the top, or is in any doubt about how important education is in the battle being waged by the forces of organised naturalism, just do the research on the Frankfurt School, or Saul Alinksy and his disciples, or the Communist Manifesto, or the Humanist Manifestos.

    I would also recommend reading the following very informative article by Cornelia Ferreira. There is a second one on New Age education and two on Catholic education that are also very well worth reading.

    http://www.canisiusbooks.com/articles/art_na_ed1.htm

    September 30, 2013 at 6:00 pm
    • editor

      Leo,

      Your first link (Donum Vitae) looks very interesting – I had a quick scroll so know next time to wear my sunglasses!

      Yes, the ridiculous remark about preparing primary children for the Sacraments thus taking time away from Maths etc. is exactly the argument used by Protestants in the days when there were such people as “Catholics” and “Protestants” as opposed to the ecumenical beings in vogue today.

      Laughably, there are still people crediting Pope John Paul II with the fall of Communism, blissfully unaware that it is Catholicism that is falling, not Communism which is alive and kicking.

      Thanks for both links. Will study in due course.

      September 30, 2013 at 9:21 pm
  • Leo

    Of course one of the greatest assets of the forces of organised naturalists is the ignorance and apathy of their prey. Bread and circuses are doing their job perfectly. Televised sports and soaps, the cult of half-wit celebrities, or obsession with self-image are turning minds to mush and diverting attention very effectively, while the sheep get herded into a tighter and tighter circle.

    And whether people talk about “conspiracy theories” or “paranoia” or whatever, or whether they even care or not, the foundations of Christian civilisation, built over two millennia by the Catholic Church are being systematically and methodically attacked. In reality, it’s the culmination of a program that has being going on, both openly and secretly, in different stages, for at least five centuries.

    “And, in truth, the teaching of morality which alone finds favour with the sects of the Freemasons, and in which they content that youth should be instructed, is that which they call ‘civil’, and independent,’ and ‘free’, namely, that which does not contain any religious belief.” – Pope Leo XIII, Humanum Genus, 1884

    “With the greatest unanimity the sect of the Freemasons also endeavours to take to itself the education of youth. They think that they can easily mould to their opinions that soft and pliant age, and bend it whither they will; and that nothing can be more fitted that this to enable them to bring up the youth of the State after their own plan. Therefore in the education and instruction of children they allow no share, either of teaching or of discipline, to the ministers of the Church…and that nothing which treats of the most important and most holy duties of men to God shall be introduced into the instructions on morals.” (ibid)

    I don’t think any parents should have any illusions about what is happening in education. America has given the lead in many secular developments in the West, over the last century. Here’s an insight into some of the forces at work in education there for several decades.

    Rhoda Lorand, a member of the American Board of Professional Psychology, made some observations about the attitudes of educators before the U.S. House Sub-Committee on Education. Her testimony related to House Resolution 5163 having to do with education. Her words are as follows:
    “The contempt for parents is so shockingly apparent in many of the courses funded under Title III, in which the teacher is required to become an instant psychiatrist who probes the psyche of her pupils, while encouraging them to criticize their parents’ beliefs, values and teachings. This process continues from kindergarten through the twelfth grade.”- Alex Tanous and Katherine Fair Donnelly, “Your Kids Are Psychic!,” Instructor Magazine, April 1980, 65.

    The January/February 1983 issue of The Humanist carried this article titled “A Religion for a New Age.” The author stated:

    “I am convinced that the battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity that recognizes and respects the spark of what theologians call divinity in every human being. These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level preschool day care or large state university.- Frances Adeney, “Some Schools Are Looking East for Answers,” Moody Monthly, May 1982, 19.

    Does anyone seriously think that the rest of the Western World has escaped the clutches of the education ideologues? I know what I’m betting on when it comes to the case of Ireland. In the wake of abandoning the unborn, this country is a cursed land. If we can’t see right from wrong when it comes to taking life, I’m not optimistic on the issue of education.

    As with so many other issues, the challenge is to once again establish the Social Kingship of Christ over our lands.

    “When a country’s Christianity is reduced to the proportions of domestic life, when Christianity is no longer the soul of public life, of the power of the state and of public institutions, then Jesus Christ will treat such a country as He Himself is treated. He will continue to bestow His Grace and His Blessings on those who serve Him but He will abandon the institutions and authorities that do not serve Him, and such institutions, authorities, kings and races become like the sands of the desert or like the dead leaves in autumn which can be blown away by a gust of wind.”- Cardinal Pie of Poitiers.

    September 30, 2013 at 6:02 pm
  • editor

    Leo,

    “I don’t think any parents should have any illusions about what is happening in education.”

    The sorry fact is, Leo, that in what appears to be the majority of cases, parents don’t care. They are fixated on their children’s academic success with a view to future material wellbeing and social status, and the rest isn’t important to them.

    I once offered some material about explicit sex education to a parent (not a Catholic, I have to say) who rejected it saying “I don’t want to know.”

    I believe that attitude is widespread.

    September 30, 2013 at 9:25 pm
  • Leo

    Editor

    I would certainly share your opinion on what the priorities of parents are these days. Apostate parents, tragically, aren’t likely to take their responsibilities towards their children’s souls very seriously. I can think of children whose main religious influence in the home probably consists of watching Father Ted DVDs. I know, it’s not a laughing matter.

    It’s beyond doubt that the vast majority of second and third level educated “yoof” of today are religious illiterates compared with the humble, pious souls of previous generations who led anything but pampered and privileged lives.

    What parents are likely to discover in ever increasing is that as well as being religious illiterates, lacking in moral formation, their offspring, thanks to the Statist education philosophy as outlined by Cornelia Ferreira are likely to be badly handicapped when it comes to the 3 Rs, basic communications skills, and the use of logical thinking. And it’s the same forces attacking from different directions.

    My eye was caught by the reference to John Dewey (1859-1952), “the ‘father’ of progressive, modern education. Not surprisingly, he taught that education was a tool for social change. Education is not to develop the child’s talent and knowledge, but only to prepare him to fit into society, into the absolute State.”

    It hardly needs stating that that “absolute State” offers no homage to Our Lord.

    Another thought occurs to me when the subject of Catholic schools in Ireland is brought up. Politicians and anyone else who is trying to generate investment in the country constantly hark on about how well educated the workforce is. If that is justified, it appears to me that those politicians or opinion formers who complain about the 96% Catholic patronage of schools have a bit of explaining to do.

    October 1, 2013 at 12:37 am
    • editor

      Leo

      You are absolutely spot on with your observation that the Irish politicians will praise the success of their education system, claiming a “well-educated workforce” while going along with the UN view that Irish schools are not quite good enough, thanks to the “Catholic bit”. Politicians peaking with forked-tongues? Whatever next!

      Driving yesterday, I heard a retired military man interviewed on the radio because he’d heckled the Defence Secretary during his speech at the Conservative Party Conference. In the news bulletin, we’d heard that the Defence Secretary offered to meet with the man to discuss the issues but the man had refused. When this was put to him in the interview, the gentleman replied immediately that he’d refused to meet privately with the Defence Secretary because he doesn’t trust him – he had already mentioned a private letter from the Secretary in which the Secretary had said the opposite to what he subsequently said on the issue (disbandment of a regiment). But, the man added, I’m happy to debate with him in a public forum. Everything should be out in the open. Got it in one.

      If only someone from the UN would agree to publicly debate the issues surrounding their dominance in governments across Europe, with a concerned member of the public. That’ll be the day. For all the talk about the need for “transparency” and “democracy” we’re fed lies and more lies and – if you watch the carefully selected audience on the carefully orchestrated Question Time on BBC TV once a week – the useful idiots usually offer a round of applause (and a vote at the next General Election) to reward our utterly dishonest political masters.

      October 1, 2013 at 10:14 am
  • crofterlady

    First we get an emasculated Mass. Then emasculated clergy and now spineless bishops. Read this article on Irish “Catholic” hospitals:
    http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/9/mater-misericordiae-hospital

    October 1, 2013 at 12:10 pm
  • catholicconvert1

    The so called Catholic doctors and nursing staff should be excommunicated for allowing the murder of unborn children. It’s a Catholic hospital. End of.

    October 1, 2013 at 1:13 pm
  • Leo

    Thank you, Crofter Lady for posting that link.

    What must Saint Oliver Plunkett, and all the other martyrs for the Faith, be thinking right now? “Catholic” hospitals in Ireland are now part of the killing apparatus, in the sight of all the world.

    The defense of the inalienable right to life of the unborn has been abandoned, save for the efforts of all the “obsessed” pro-lifers amongst the laity, the brave and faithful amongst our clergy, and the doctors, nurses and hospital staff prepared to face white martyrdom rather than butcher innocent life.

    This is really only a reflection of the satanic, masonic revolution against the Kingship of Christ. This is where liberty, equality, and fraternity, or the belief that authority is derived from the people, takes society. If it’s legal, it must be accepted. This is what endless talk of ecumenism, religious liberty, and collegiality results in within the Church. There is your truth, and my truth, but no Truth, no immutable Divine Law, worth dying for.

    What are the chances of the Irish bishops quoting the following words after their next Bishops Conference meeting?

    “The binding force of human laws is in this, that they are to be regarded as applications of the eternal law, as in the principles of all law…Where a law is enacted contrary to reason, or to the eternal law, or to some ordinance of God, obedience is unlawful, lest while obeying man we become disobedient to God.” – Pope Leo XIII, Libertas Praestantissimum 1888

    October 1, 2013 at 10:20 pm
  • bededog

    The sudden change in Irish culture is horrifying. I was born and educated in Ireland and the Catholic faith was a way of life – nothing heavy or oppressing – just a way of life. In 1967 myself and two friends emigrated to Australia and continued with our faith over there – and how lovely it was, on the long voyage home, to be able to hear exactly the same mass, in Latin, at all the different places we stopped along the way. My two friends now live in Dublin and are both still attending the (new) Mass – but their children have given up attending Mass – in just one generation. I think this is a general state of affairs in Ireland now – so they probably won’t mind their children being taught atheism in school.

    October 4, 2013 at 11:53 am
  • catholicconvert1

    Could your friends not have done something to get them to keep their faith, i.e by taking them to a Latin Mass and a Traditionalist Priest?

    October 5, 2013 at 3:30 pm
    • bededog

      Yes, Catholic Convert, they could have and should have – but they did not. My two friends believed that what ever the Church taught after Vatican 2 must be right (because the Pope said so)and they considered me and my late mother to be heretics because we did not attend the Novus Ordu. Their children’s faith did not stand a chance.

      October 5, 2013 at 11:36 pm

Comments are closed.


%d bloggers like this: