Opening of Academic Year
The Mater Dei Centre for Catholic Education was delighted to host again this September, the Annual Dublin Diocesan Mass for the Opening of the Academic Year, celebrated by Dr. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin. Both the Minister for Education Joe McHugh TD, and the Minister of State for Higher Education Mary Mitchell O’Conner TD, were in attendance this year, along with heads of Catholic education trust boards, teacher union leaders, members of boards of management and senior management, and others from across the Catholic education sector. The President of Dublin City University, Professor Brian McCraith, and Deputy President, Professor Daire Keogh, were there to welcome guests to the DCU St. Patrick’s Campus.
In his homily, Archbishop Martin emphasised the importance of education but noted it, ‘can at times be caught up in a closed culture of the purely pragmatic and shy away from the larger vision.’ Often, he said, ‘I find mission statements in schools that talk only about excellence within the activities of the school but fail to stress that if that idea of excellence does not challenge young people to move above and beyond their own world then it has failed. Young people must be accompanied on a path of formation that permits each one, especially those who are troubled and marginalised, to find their true gifts and flourish as who they are.’
The Irish educational system has, the Archbishop commented, ‘achieved much and we have much to be proud of. All of us gathered here today are committed to ensuring that all the children of Ireland today and tomorrow may belong to an educational community that respects them and offers them what they need to flourish.’
However, the Archbishop observed, there can be inequality in school provision: ‘We have wonderful schools but we also have schools which are under resourced and in poor condition. As Archbishop, going around this diocese, I encounter both. The best schools are those really rooted in their community. I am especially concerned when I find schools in poorer communities with poor facilities. I am concerned about certain groups who experience educational disadvantage. I think of the situation of children with autism. Their educational needs require an injection of new resources. Traveller children are still at a disadvantage.’
‘The Catholic school,’ the Archbishop concluded, ‘must be a place where the presence of the Holy Spirit can be sensed.’ The Gospel reading at the Mass suggested, he said, that, ‘the Spirit is sensed where hearts are no longer troubled and people are not afraid and where a deep personal peace is experienced… Catholic education will find true recognition in society not just by campaigning for a privileged place but when it really becomes a beacon in society of the Spirit who cares.’
The Mass was followed by supper and the opportunity to meet new colleagues and catch up with familiar faces. Congratulations to Mgr. Dan O’Connor, Fr. Damian McNeice, and the team from the Dublin Diocesan Education Office, for making this a memorable evening for all who were available to gather in.