Editorial: New Guidance from Rome

FAITH magazine hails the arrival of the new Directory of Catechetics. This is important – indeed essential – for our Catholic schools. It updates and affirms the previous Directory, and issues some useful and practical guidelines for those charged with teaching the Catholic Faith.

 

In particular, the Directory tackles a topic much discussed in the West today. Are men and women different? Should we speak of the two sexes as being different from one another? Are we allowed to teach the facts of biological differences between males and females?

 

 

This is a matter of religious freedom, and also of the specific contribution that Catholic schools make to the common good.

 

The Church defends religious freedom. This is important for us in Britain – and of even greater importance in countries with despotic governments. That includes China. Vatican negotiations and a “China agreement” spell danger if they include any sort of commitment to allowing the Chinese government to appoint Bishops. The Church understands that a nation is more – much more – than its government. The Church’s primary relationship is not with any government and indeed a healthy distance can ensure the best practice. The great St John Paul grasped this truth and taught it to the world. The Communist governments of Eastern Europe and the USSR did not represent the sum total of the lives of the people of those territories. The Church can and must speak to people with the voice of truth. The Pope's task is to “confirm the brethren” in faith and to be the rock on which the truth is upheld.