The Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has defended giving priority to baptised Catholics when allocating places at Catholic schools.
Archbishop Martin was responding to a Dublin mother’s complaint last weekend that her four-year-old son had been denied a place in several Catholic primary schools because he is not baptised,
“In Catholic schools they obviously prioritise people who are Catholic,” said Archbishop Martin, after concelebrating Mass at St John Vianney Church in Artane, Dublin, on Tuesday. He added that Catholic schools’ reputation for being good educators has led to over-subscription.
However, he also said the process currently underway of handing over a number of Catholic schools to new providers is too slow, though he denied that the Church was to blame for the delay. In the Irish Republic the vast majority of primary schools come under the ownership and patronage of the Catholic Church.
The archbishop said: “Communities don’t want change, teachers don’t want change, and even in some cases local politicians, who belong to parties who are committed to divesting, create obstacles locally.”
But Archbishop Martin warned that if there is no “real plurality” where people can exercise choice with regard to the school they send their child to, then Catholic schools risked losing their identity.
Separately, the archbishop said that ordaining married men to the priesthood “isn’t a magic solution to the problem” and he said the Anglican Church still had “some difficulties” despite having a married clergy.
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