Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians
Two hundred years of Catholic Education
On 24 May 1814, Pius VII who had been imprisoned in France by Napoleon Bonaparte returned in triumph to Rome and following a vow he had made during his imprisonment the following year he decreed that the feast of Mary Help of Christians be kept on 24 May.
In 1844, Australia became the first country to have Mary, under the title of Help of Christians, as Patroness.
Thus, today is an appropriate day in which the Church throughout Australia to celebrate two hundred years of Catholic education. It is fitting to acknowledge one of the great achievements of the Catholic Church in our nation which has always looked to the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
From very humble beginnings when Fr John Joseph Therry opened a school in Parramatta which had 31 students by January 2021, the Catholic Church has grown to now have 1,750 schools across the nation, educating around 770,000 students and employing some 100,000 staff.
It is also worth mentioning that there are some 6,000 Catholic catechists educating some 200,000 children attending government and independent schools. In addition to this, during the twentieth century the Catholic Church developed a number of specialist vocational training colleges which would later be transformed into the Australian Catholic University (ACU). In more recent years, ACU has been joined by the University of Notre Dame Australia and Campion College, which together now provide tertiary education for some 50,000 students annually.
All of this is a remarkable achievement.
Here in Tasmania our 39 Catholic schools educate one in five Tasmanian children. Hobart was the second place in Australia where a Catholic school was founded. Fr Philip Conolly rented a cottage in Harrington Street in 1823 which quickly grew to provide education for 50 students, a number of whom were not Catholic.
Our Catholic schools were able to grow and spread because of the extraordinary contribution of apostolic religious orders. In 1847 three Sisters of Charity arrived in Hobart from Ireland and, among their various works, provided religious education to girls at St Joseph’s school on the corner of Macquarie and Harrington Streets.
The development of Catholic education would not have been possible but for the number of religious orders who took on this vital apostolate. Here in Tasmania the Presentation Sisters, who arrived in 1866, established their first school adjacent to the cathedral in Hobart. That same year saw Mary Mackillop and Fr Julian Tennison Woods found the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart and they established their first school in Tasmania in Westbury in 1887. These congregations and many others, both female and male, have made a remarkable contribution such that by the twentieth century Catholic schools were scattered across the island enabling children to receive a Catholic education.
At the time of this bi-centennial the Catholic bishops have written a Pastoral Letter celebrating the achievement of Catholic education but also speaking of the challenges now facing our great educational enterprise. In particular, the bishops have spoken about the need to strengthen and enhance the Catholic identity of our schools. The bishops look to educational leaders and teachers to be committed to this task which includes finding the means by which students can more fully encounter the person of Jesus Christ and embrace a full sacramental life as Catholics.
Our schools are meant to be places where the Catholic faith is experienced and lived. They should enable students to receive a high level of Catholic literacy and be inspired to practice their Catholic faith, especially in and through the sacraments. To achieve this the bishops emphasised the need for a sound religious education curriculum which is attractive and faithfully delivered.
Here in Tasmania this is a priority for the Catholic Education Office. Our innovative program for teaching formation, the Thomas Aquinas Teaching School, is an example of this commitment. In addition to this there is a comprehensive program of support and guidance offered to early career teachers. Enabling our teachers not only to be professionally competent but also men and women of deep faith is vital for the essential mission of Catholic education.
The recent Tasmanian Catholic Youth Festival, a co-operative venture between the Catholic Education Office and the Office for Youth Evangelisation is another example. The collaboration between schools and the Youth Office can enhance bonds between schools and parishes.
As we celebrate a remarkable achievement we look to the future with a clear focus on ensuring that our schools are at the heart of the mission of the Church which is to proclaim Jesus Christ as the Way, the only way, the Truth, the fullness of truth, and the Life, the source not only of the flourishing of human life here but also in eternity.
In this great enterprise we turn to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians and ask her intercession that, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, our schools will produce young men and women who are enlivened by the Catholic faith, sound in human character, and imbued with a spirit to give Christian witness within our Tasmanian community and the broader Australian society.
Archbishop Julian Porteous
Sunday, 24 May 2021.