Prayer and short presentation of the Dutch situation of Catholic Education

Opening of General Assembly of CEEC

On Friday mor­ning 17 april, I opened the 106^th General Assembly of the European Council of Catholic Education convend in The Hague with a prayer and a short address on the Dutch catholic school system and the need for educa­ting young people to be peace-makers.

CEEC CONFERENCE - OPENING

Prayer

Lord God, Send us your holy Spirit and fill us with discern­ment and understan­ding. Grant us a heart that seeks Your will above all things. May Your words guide our decisions and enlighten our path. Let Your wisdom flow through our thoughts and actions. May our choices reflect Your truth and lead to life.
Lord, help us to treasure wisdom above riches. Let us find joy and purpose in understan­ding Your ways. Grant us wisdom that shields our souls and preserves our spirits. Guide us into deeper wisdom and faith.
Lord, open our ears to wise counsel and our hearts to correction. Help us learn from those You place in my life and from each other in these days.
We ask you this, through the intercession of the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of good counsel, through Christ our Lord.

Opening of the mee­ting

Brothers and sisters,

Welcome

First of all, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all to the Netherlands, to The Hague. I am pleased to welcome you in my capacity as the represen­tative for Catholic education within the Bishops’ Conference and, in that role, as a board member of the Dutch Catholic Schools Council.

School-struggle

The Netherlands has a long history of Catholic schools. In 1868, the Dutch bishops issued a pas­to­ral letter, in which they called for the establish­ment of Catholic schools. This subsequently sparked a ‘school struggle’, waged alongside with the Pro­tes­tants, a struggle for equal civil rights for schools on a denomi­na­tio­nal basis. Gradually, laws were passed that provided increa­sing fun­ding for private schools until, in 1917, equality between public schools and “private” denomi­na­tio­nal schools was enshrined in the Constitution. In 1920, this equality was legally codified in normal law.

Principles of Catholic social doctrine

Underpin­ning this legislation were the fun­damental principles as set out in Catholic social teaching: schoolteaching is, in principle, formation and education, for it is not a matter of impar­ting impartial, neutral knowledge, but of the education of children and young people. The responsibility for this upbrin­ging lies with the parents, who have a natural right. The parents have the right to shape that edcuation in accordance with their values and standards, provided that these - in short - respect public order and human rights. It is inappropriate therefore to let parents face additional finan­cial bur­dens when exerci­sing this fun­damental right, particularly given the subsidiary role of the civil authorities. This was and is the foundation stone of the Dutch educational system.

Freedom of education under threat

But this freedom of education is constantly under threat. On the one hand because Article 23 of the Constitution which deals with educational freedom, is repeatedly called into question, and on the other because all kinds of obligations are being imposed on schools that effectively jeopardise freedom of education. And, of course, in a secularized society, a third problem is fin­ding teachers and board-members who can uphold the Catholic identity.

A threat from within

This is all the more difficult because, since 1966, the Dutch bishops of the time have asked religious orders and parishes to transfer the manage­ment of their schools to private foundations and associations. Nevertheless, we are also seeing positive signs, such as young people sho­wing greater interest in religion and philosophy of life. Together with the current bishops and on their behalf within the Dutch Catholic School Council, we are constantly see­king ways to shape and inspire the Catholic identity.

Peace Palace

This city is also home to the Peace Palace, which was built in 1913.It is just a mile away from here. The Peace Palace is home to two judicial institutions, the Inter­na­tio­nal Court of Justice of the United Nations and the Per­ma­nent Court of Arbitration. I could not fail to mention this in these times of wars and conflicts, which harm civilisations and affect the life of the entire world, with the loss of so many lives of civilians and military personnel. These two courts work towards the same goal on a daily basis: the peaceful settle­ment of dis­putes between nations through arbitration, mediation, or adjudication.

Education for peace

May that peace be with us, as the risen Lord Jesus Christ wishes for His disciples and as Pope Leo XIV ceaselessly repeats. May that peace prevail. May we all be inspired to educate peace-makers. In this education for peace, our Catholic schools once again play an extremely important role.

I wish you all fruitful, blessed days of consultation and mutual inspiration.