As Britain drifts towards being an ever more secular society, the interests of religion and the concerns of the religiously minded are likely to appear to the majority as unimportant and hard to fathom. It is this indifference and incomprehension, rather than overt hostility, which leads local government officials in South Wales, for instance, to think it does not matter if transport services for Catholic schoolchildren are withdrawn, as has been decided. It is easy to imagine them thinking, “Why can’t they send their children to the local state school, just like the rest of us?” The pre-election statement of the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, published this week, identifies the right of parents to have their children educated in accordance with their faith as a