EREA launch speech

 

 

 

Friends of Edmund Rice Education,

 

I begin by acknowledging the living culture of the traditional custodians of the land we stand on today and pay tribute to the unique role they play in the life of this region. I do this at a very significant time in the history of our nation.  The Federal Government has formally apologised to the Indigenous people of this land recognised the displacement of a generation of Aboriginal people and the hardship that resulted. Reconciliation, justice and right relationships are values at the heart of Edmund Rice Education.

 

As someone who has received most of my education from the Christian Brothers, I am very proud to be standing here today on this momentous occasion. Today we should acknowledge that we stand on the 'shoulders of giants'! On this day when we formally launch Edmund Rice Education Australia, we should acknowledge the dedication and commitment of the Christian Brothers, the vowed custodians of the charism of Edmund Rice. We acknowledge their contribution to Catholic education in this land and the great gift they are to the Australian Church. Edmund Rice would surely be pleased at the bravery and trust you have shown in the future by establishing Edmund Rice Education Australia, a new expression of this charism. We are indeed privileged to have many Christian Brothers here with us today. On behalf of past, present and future generations of young Australians, I thank you Brothers.

 

I also acknowledge and thank the leaders of our Australian Church, some of whom are with us today. Edmund Rice Education is a work of and for our Church; a generous and inclusive Church that shows deep love for the poor and marginalised; a Church which strives to usher in the Kingdom of God- the promise of fullness of life and true freedom for all in our troubled world. The Charter for Edmund Rice Education and the foundations upon which we stand clearly direct us to the 'margins', to the disadvantaged, to those who lack hope. The Church we serve promotes service and compassionate engagement with the world as indispensible to the way Christians worship a loving and expansive God.

 

Edmund Rice schools are called to be places of evangelisation, places where the priorities of the Christian Gospel are brought to bear on every facet of life. They are places where individuals form relationships with Christ, and hearts and minds are forever changed.  The Jesus we proclaim described his mission as bringing life in its fullness to the whole of humankind. Our schools need to be places where students and teachers - all of the community - can experience Christ and the power of that presence to make deep meaning of life. Yeats once said that: "Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire!" Surely this fire should translate into a passion for life, meaning and purpose!

 

The Gospel must also come to bear on our school culture and structures.  Edmund Rice schools must be places where who we are and what we try to do is permeable to the priorities of the Christian gospel.  Our policies, our relationships, our inclusivity, what we see as being important, what we celebrate, who we serve, what we challenge, all need to be guided by the priorities of the Gospel. We must challenge versions of the world which define success solely in terms of money, accumulation of things and over-emphasis on status and security. Our aim is to equip young people to critique our consumer culture and its version of the good, the well-lived, the important and the meaningful life. How well we do these things should become our guide to authenticity, our measure of success.

 

It is a reality that many of our schools have become comfortable and attractive to those who may primarily seek our 'fruits but not our roots'. Edmund Rice Education must resist in a society that increasingly sees education as a commodity which can be bought. We must resist the temptation to have our schools being used principally as vehicles for socio-differentiation and creeping elitism. At times even the parents of our students need to be reminded that we are on about more than strong academic results, 'good discipline' and providing a 'caring environment', as important as these qualities are for any school community. To set our priorities and define our success solely by league tables and sporting achievements betrays the foundations upon which we stand. Edmund Rice Education in this land can model a family of schools where those who can look after those who can't; where co-responsibility becomes the norm; where the strong accept responsibility for those on the margins.

 

Regrettably, some voices in the Church say that Catholic education has past its 'golden era', and that Catholic schools increasingly lack relevance in the Church's mission. There may be some validity in these claims if Catholic schools are being driven by agendas that cannot be linked to the Gospel, by economic rationalist thinking and by the 'gods of the HSC, TEE and VCE'. If the thing that we can boast most proudly about to the world is our ability to get good tertiary entrance rankings out of the students, then perhaps our schools should be closed or at least re-named to more honestly reflect our paramount aims and aspirations. This is not an attack on the pursuit of academic excellence, but rather it is a call for honesty and authenticity. Let us always be guided by the words of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador, who, shortly before he was killed, reminded his people:  'Judge not your success by your numbers or the quality ofyour buildings ... judge your success by the quality of your hearts and your efforts to live the call of the Gospel.'

 

As great as the past may have been, we have an obligation to forge an even better future. Over reliance on 'tradition' can see the perpetuation old patterns of the past without questioning their relevance. This is 'traditionalism' and it stifles the prophetic. Br Philip Pinto, Congregation Leader of the Christian Brothers, when addressing Brothers in Brisbane last week said: 'We need a new story. The old is exhausted and exhausting'.  The Brothers have entrusted a significant part of their story to Edmund Rice Education Australia. We must do our part in the creation of the 'new story'.

 

Edmund Rice Education Australia has responsibility for the schooling of 40,000 young Australians; I am told that 20 per cent or one in five of boys in Catholic secondary schools in our nation attend an Edmund Rice school.  What an awesome responsibility!  But at the same time, what a magnificent opportunity to make sure that that the priorities of the Gospel which so heavily motivated Edmund Rice, contribute to the religious and educational fabric of our nation. This opportunity must not be lost!

 

I thank all who have had anything to do with the preparation of these launches. They are a true celebration of our past and our future.  We vow to do our very best to be faithful to our mission and may the charism of Edmund Rice, inspired by the Gospel, take on a new expression on a national scale so that we can be bearers of hope for our Church and our society.

 

I thank you sincerely.