Why should Catholic schools teach about religions of the world?

Faculty of Theology and Philosophy

School of Theology

Catholic schools teach about religions.pdf (PDF, 60KB)

Kath Engebretson

Abstract

On the part of Catholic educators there is often difficulty in articulating not only the stance taken by the Church in regard to religions other than Christianity, but also their own stance. Some of this difficulty in articulation centers on the extent to which the Church recognizes other religions as capable of mediating salvation to their adherents. With unanswered questions in their own minds, and perhaps fearful of questions from students which they may not be able to answer, Catholic teachers can be tempted to leave a study of world religions out of their religious education curriculum. This is regrettable not only from educational and sociological standpoints, but also from a theological one. In this paper I argue that the theological position taken by the Catholic Church to other religions, not only allows but encourages their study in a Catholic school.

Introduction

The fact that inter-faith education is a necessary part of Catholic education, can be demonstrated on many grounds, including theological, sociological and educational. In the multicultural, multi-faith community of today's Catholic classrooms, it is difficult to dismiss education about other religions on sociological or educational grounds. However, many Catholic teachers may not be able to argue for their teaching about other religions on theological grounds, even though this is a particularly rich area for theological consideration. Indeed it is all too easy for some to argue against inter-faith education in Catholic schools, on the basis of the mistaken premise than the Catholic Church adopts an exclusivist approach to salvation, and categorically states that actual membership of the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation. This position denies the spiritual riches of other religions and is not in keeping with contemporary Catholic interpretations, particularly as given in papal statements. This paper seeks to set out the contemporary Catholic theological position on salvific potential of other religions, with an eye to the educational implications of this. In the historical analysis I am deeply indebted to Francis Sullivan's (1992) Salvation Outside the Church? surely the classic text in the field. Acknowledging this debt, I claim that the argument that the Church adopts an exclusivist approach to other religions cannot be cited in defense of leaving a study of world religions out of the Catholic religious education curriculum.

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