Archbishop Silvano Tomasi C.S., Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations Offices and Specialised Institutions in Geneva, speaking at the 48th international conference on education, organised by UNESCO, held from 25 to 28 November, indicated that the goal of "education for all" must take into account "the needs of every person and in particular the needs of the poor and most vulnerable, of people with disabilities, of rural and of city slums youth, of young people and adults without any discrimination".

"Educators should remain aware that they carry out their service in co-operation with parents, who are the first 'educational agency' and have the priority right and duty to educate their children. This convergence of efforts is an evident application of the basic principle of subsidiarity", he said.

The Holy See permanent observer then went on to point out that "this educational community is called to promote a school that is a place of integral formation through interpersonal relations based on mutual respect and acceptance. In this perspective, inclusion is not an ideology that wears down all differences and loses sight of the situation of the concrete person, of her history and experiences, and that should remain at the centre of every educational programme".

"An inclusive education embraces all children and youth in their existential context and all persons dedicated to their formation, a comprehensive process that combines transmission of knowledge and development of personality. In fact", he concluded, "the fundamental questions any person asks deal with the search for meaning, of life and history, of change and dissolution, of love and transcendence".

Secularization was the main concern discussed at a European conference on Catholic education, dedicated to "The Catholic School in the European Public Sphere", sponsored by the Council of European Episcopal Conferences and the European Committee on Catholic Education on 1st & 2nd December 2008.

According to Auxiliary Bishop Pero Sudar of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, promoter of the "Catholic Schools for Europe" project, the main concern for Catholic education in Europe -- unlike in other continents -- is the drop in the number of students. In the last three years, there has been a continental decrease of some 200,000 students.

In Western Europe, there are about 7.3 million students in Catholic schools, half of them in France and Spain. But in Eastern Europe, there are less than 200,000 students. This has caused some schools in certain countries to close due to lack of demand.

The bishop considered the causes of this decline, noting above all a growing secularization that creates "a climate of hostility" toward religious values.  "A strong group of promoters of European public life today show a deep distrust, not to say hostility, toward the churches and religious communities," he said.

According to Bishop Sudar, "a strong secular dogmatism is being promoted, characterized by a subtle intolerance toward religion and believers," who are considered "obstacles to progress and peaceful coexistence."

He spoke to Vatican Radio about the project he is promoting in his home country.  It sprung from the need to help the Church survive in Bosnia-Herzegovina, he said. "Because of the war and the emigration linked to it, from 950,000 Catholics we've gone to 460,000. The [education] project was born to motivate Catholics to stay."

It's about "finding a new mentality so that the different ethnicities and religions are not seen as threats, but as positive challenges," he said. Concretely, the prelate noted how in some Catholic schools of the nation, Orthodox priests teach the young Orthodox students, and Muslim leaders do the same for the Islamic children.

"I am convinced," Bishop Sudar said, "that this is today an opportunity for Catholic schools: to give an example, without betraying one's own religious identity, of collaboration with non-Catholics, at the service of the human cause. This is today the best way to evangelize, with a lived testimony."

Nevertheless, the prelate suggested during the conference, the situation of secularization is a challenge to which the Church should respond, given that schools are "very important tools" in the transmission of values, especially to the children of Catholic families.

"The fact that education is affected by the same evils as society: subjectivism, moral relativism and nihilism, makes more present the right of Catholic parents to enroll their children in schools that guarantee a Catholic education," he affirmed.

Moreover, Bishop Sudar continued, the school "should be one of the tools of the new evangelization of Europe" and of "valuing the historical contribution of religions to the European patrimony."

According to Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham, England, president of the bishops' council's commission on teaching and universities, the Catholic school in Europe today has four key characteristics.

First of all, schools need to recall that they have "a key role in the Church's mission to make Christ known to all people. […] All personal development, teaching and learning, formation of the culture and society will be well founded if it's centered on him," the archbishop said.  Secondly, schools "assist parents in the education and formation of their children" and therefore, educational work should be undertaken as a team with the parents, he explained.

Thirdly, the prelate continued, the school "is at the service of the local Church, the diocese and the parish. […] The parish is the place for religious and spiritual formation; the school is the place for cultural formation. Both dimensions should be integrated because the same values inspire them both."  Finally, he said, the school is "at the service of the well-being of society" because "it guarantees the parents' right to have their children receive an education in conformity with their convictions" and because "it helps the development of religious sensitivity, of principles and values," which is "essential for social cohesion."

Archbishop Nichols noted four challenges that correspond to these characteristics, "keys for the Catholic school of the future": pluralism, commitment to the truth, liberty and solidarity.

House of Commons Passes Embryology Bill

Cardinal Keith O'Brien says that after last Wednesday (22nd October 2008), the value of human life in the United Kingdom is eroding even further.  The cardinal said this in reference to Wednesday's approval of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill.

With a vote of 355-129, the bill passed through its third reading in the House of Commons. The bill passed through the House of Lords earlier this year. After a debate on the amendments introduced by the House of Commons, the bill could become law by November.

The bill permits the creation of animal-human hybrids for medical research, the creation of "savior siblings" genetically matched to an older sick sibling (meaning that those who do not match are eliminated), and loosens access to in-vitro fertilization for lesbian couples by eliminating the requirement for children to have fathers.

A scheduling motion precluded a vote on an amendment to the bill that would have extended the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland.

Christian leaders united their voices before the vote to request Westminster Parliamentarians to leave the abortion issue in Northern Irish hands.  Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, Archbishop Alan Harper, Presbyterian Moderator Donald Patton and Methodist President Aian Ferguson sent Members of Parliament a joint statement Oct. 17, asking them to vote against the proposal.

"The law on abortion in Northern Ireland should be a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly," they wrote. "We would ask that, on this issue, Members of Parliament take account of the Northern Ireland political parties, and the strongly held conviction of the majority of the people of Northern Ireland, by voting against the amendment."

At the Synod of Bishops in the Word of God, the mkost commonly quoted Scripture passage is the sotory of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13:35).  The story is a great model or paradigm for catechesis, teaching, Bible study and above all for Christian living.

"Catholic schools are a concrete manifestation of the right to freedom of education and they contribute to the common good of society," says Benedict XVI.

ZENIT reports that the Pope expressed this conviction on 25th Septmber 2008 during an address in the apostolic palace at Castel Gandolfo to representatives of Italian Catholic educational centres, who are taking part in a meeting organized by the Italian episcopal conference's Center of Studies for Catholic Schools.

"The Catholic school is an expression of the right of all citizens to freedom of education, and the corresponding duty of solidarity in the building of civil society," said the Pope, quoting a document of the Italian episcopate.

"To be chosen and appreciated, it is necessary that the Catholic school be recognized for its pedagogical purpose; it is necessary to have a full awareness not only of its ecclesial identity and cultural endeavor, but also of its civil significance," he explained. This "must not be considered as the defense of a particular interest, but as a precious contribution to the building of the common good of the whole society."

The Catholic school has an important role, Benedict XVI concluded, as it is the instrument of the "Church's salvific mission" in which "the close union is achieved between the proclamation of the faith and the promotion of man."

CNA reports that the British government has drafted a proposal to end the 300-year-old legal exclusion of Catholics from the British throne. MP Chris Bryant, under instructions from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, has written a planned parliamentary act to revoke the exclusions.

The 1688 Bill of Rights, the Act of Settlement in 1701 and the Act of Union in 1707, combined with the provisions of the Coronation Oath Act of 1688, effectively excluded Catholics or their spouses from the line of royal succession. In recent years several royals have lost their right of succession because of their marriage to Catholics.

The Coronation Oath Act requires the British monarch to "maintaine the Laws of God the true profession of the Gospel and the Protestant reformed religion established by law [...] and [...] preserve unto the bishops and clergy of this realm and to the churches committed to their charge all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain unto them or any of them."

Eight years ago the Guardian newspaper launched a campaign for a change in the law, challenging the Act of Settlement on the legal grounds that it conflicts with the Human Rights Act.   Geoffrey Robinson, a constitutional lawyer who represented the Guardian in its legal challenge, argued that the centuries-old act violates the Human Rights Act’s anti-discrimination provisions and its protections of “the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion” and the right to “peaceful enjoyment of possessions,” which he construes to mean possession of a place in the royal succession.

Any change in legislation would also require the consent of member nations of the British Commonwealth.

Reform of the Act of Settlement and related laws, in some experts’ opinion, would also move Britain towards the disestablishment of the Church of England and remove the rationale for the monarchy’s religious requirements.