Catholic bishops in England and Wales have every right to be furious with the Order of Saint Benedict, which has undermined decades of work to reassure Catholic parents that their children are safe in Catholic schools.

Catholic bishops in England and Wales have every right to be furious with the Order of Saint Benedict, which has undermined decades of work to reassure Catholic parents that their children are safe in Catholic schools. The Order’s arrogant and casual disregard of safeguarding principles allowed the horrifying abuse of pupils to occur in three schools attached to its abbeys, at Ampleforth, Downside and Ealing.

But there is another more fundamental reason to call time on the Benedictine involvement in education. They are educating the wrong children. The fact that this is true of the entire independent school sector has enabled its Catholic element to escape criticism so far. Independent schools such as Harrow and Eton were founded for the education of the poor, which seems to be why they still enjoy privileged tax status as charities. They exist now principally for educating the children of the rich.

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