British Catholic Action Group decries joint-religious schools

London, England, Jul 5, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A Catholic group in the U.K. aiming to preserve authentic Catholic teaching is expressing outage at proposals throughout the U.K. to establish schools allowing joint religious and sexual education for Catholics and Anglicans.

John Gunn, Catholic Action Group‘s National Coordinator said today that, “Catholics as well as Anglicans in the United Kingdom should have a right to be taught their full faith and not a watered down version which is a complete compromise to another denomination.”

The group noted that despite opposition, the Catholic Dioceses of Wrexham and Liverpool have both approved measures allowing for the joint schools.

Supporters of the schools say that the mixed education would allow for students to explore the Catholic and Anglican faiths as well as other religions and gain a higher respect for all.

However, according to Robert Williams, the group’s secretary-himself an Anglican convert: “We and other groups have made direct representations to Rome on this important issue. Rome knows that parents expect their children to be properly educated in their faith.”

“They will hopefully put a stop to this non-sense,” he added.

Catholic Action Group noted that while a number of joint education Catholic-Anglican schools have existed in the U.K. since the 1980’s, permission for the schools was only granted with the understanding that religious education would be separate.