Secular Sunday #533 – Religious Hospitals, Religious Schools, and State Money

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Editorial

Religious Hospitals, Religious Schools, and State Money

 

The proposed structure for owning and running the planned new maternity hospital is complicated. The Religious Sisters of Charity currently own the land as Catholic Church property, and the Vatican has to authorise any change in its use.

The charitable object of the new St. Vincent’s Holdings is to ‘promote patient care through the St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group’ and the charitable objects of St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group includes to ‘conduct and maintain the Facilities in accordance with the Health Care Philosophy and Ethical Code of the Religious Sisters of Charity’.

So how would Article 44.2.5 of the Constitution (under which every religious denomination shall have the right to manage its own affairs) as interpreted by the Supreme Court (under which they may control medical institutions either directly or through a board of guardians or trustees), influence the new publicly funded Maternity Hospital with its proposed structure?

Atheist Ireland published an analysis of these complications this week, along with an analysis of the plan for the State to pay rent to the Catholic Church for schools that may be divested to Community National Schools. This would be a transfer from from one type of religious school (a denominational school) to a different type of religious school (a multi-denominational school).

While these scandals continue, we are three weeks away from the next census on Sunday 3 April. After lobbying by Atheist Ireland, the Religion question is slightly improved. The words ‘if any’ have been added and ‘No religion’ is now the first option. Please help to record the rise of the nonreligious in Ireland, and ensure that State decisions about funding education are based on accurate census data.

As always, you can help us to continue this work by joining Atheist Ireland as a member, or by asking anybody who you think may be interested in joining us to do so. We are an entirely voluntary body with no paid staff, and we depend on our members to continue our work. You can join Atheist Ireland here.

– Secular Sunday Editorial Team

Éire Aindiach

Éire Aindiach

 

                                         
Chun ár gcuid feachtais a leathnú agus a neartú, tá sé beartaithe ag Éire Aindiach níos mó úsáid a bhaint as an Ghaeilge.
Ba mhaith linn meitheal a eagrú, chun cuidiú le:
  • Polasaithe agus feachtais Éire Aindiach a phlé ar an raidió nó ar an teilifís
  • Cuidiú le doiciméid ghaeilge a scríobh
  • Bualadh le polaiteoirí chun stocaireacht a dhéanamh
Táimid i mbun aistriúcháin a dhéanamh ar dhoiciméid polasaí faoi láthair, agus teastaíonn cabhair uainn le aistriúchán agus profáil.  Más maith leat bheith páirteach san iarracht seo, cur ríomhphost chugainn ag gaeilge@atheist.ie.

English translation:

To broaden and strengthen our campaigns, Atheist Ireland have undertaken to make more use of the Irish language.
We are looking to assemble a group of volunteers, to help with:

  • Discussing our policies and campaigns on radio or tv
  • Helping to write documents in Irish
  • Meeting with politicians to lobby them
We are in the process of translating policy documents at the moment, and we need some help with translating and proofreading.  If you would like to assist with this effort, please email us at gaeilge@atheist.ie.

Atheist Ireland News

Multi-denominational schools are multi-religious, not inclusive

 

 

If the Catholic Church divests a school to a Community National School, it is divesting from one type of religious school (a denominational school) to a different type of religious school (a multi-denominational school.)
Atheism, humanism, and secularism are not denominations. The term denominational is a religious designation. Multi-denominational means multi-religious. It is not inclusive of families from atheist, humanist and secular backgrounds.
Paddy Lavelle of Education & Training Boards Ireland (a private body) has told the Irish Times that the Community National School model is based on a multi-denominational ethos rather than a religious one, and this means all children are treated equally throughout the school day, regardless of any aspect of their identity.
If Community National Schools do not understand that denominational is a religious term, what hope is there for respect for the convictions and equality of nonreligious families?
There are now more nonreligious in the country than all the minority religions put together, and this will probably rise significantly after the next census on the 3rd of April.
Paddy Lavelle from the ETBI (a private body) went on to say that faith formation was taught in religious schools, and that in Community National Schools children follow a multi-belief and values education curriculum.
Faith formation is taught is religious schools, including in multi-denominational schools. The courts have said that faith formation is an element of religious education. Parents have rights in relation to the religious and moral education and formation of their children.
Just because a course is referred to as multi-belief, parents still have the Constitutional right to remove their child from the course (Article 44.2.4). Parents have a constitutional right to ensure that their children do not attend any multi-belief and ethical courses that is against their conscience.
It is not up to Paddy Lavelle, the ETBI, Community National Schools, or the NCCA, to decide for parents what is or is not against their conscience. The recent Burke case at the Supreme Court has upheld the rights of parents in relation to the religious and moral education and formation of their children.
The court linked Article 42 with Article 41 (the rights of families) and the Supreme Court in the Campaign to Separate Church and State case found that Article 42 must be read in the context of Article 44.2.4.
The Admission Policies of Community National Schools do not outline how parents can exercise their right for their children to not attend religious instruction or the celebration of religious festivals throughout the year such as Christmas, Eid and Diwali as referred to by Mr. Lavelle of the ETBI in the Irish Times article.
The Toledo Guiding Principles say about these religious festivals that:

“For example, teachers can often take advantage of holiday periods to teach about religions in culturally sensitive ways.
They need to be careful to make the distinction between teaching about the holiday, and actually celebrating the holiday, or using it as an opportunity to proselytize or otherwise impose their personal beliefs.
Drawing appropriate lines can be more difficult when music, drama or other programmes put on performances during holiday seasons.”

So are children from nonreligious families expected to celebrate religious festivals in Community National Schools? Inclusion doesn’t mean that we will include you in our religion. Atheists, humanists, and secularists are not denominations, and the term multi-denominational is not inclusive.
A start towards being inclusive would be recognising the constitutional right of parents in relation to the religious and moral education and formation of their children, and putting in place supervision or providing another subject outside the GMGY class and religious celebrations. Read online…

 

State to pay Catholic Church rent for school buildings while ignoring rights of parents?

An article in the Irish Times says the Department of Education intends to pay rent to the Catholic Church if it divests to Community National Schools.
This means that the Department of Education will be funding the Community National Schools, and paying rent on top of that to the Catholic Church, while the constitutional conditions for that funding over the years were never met.
Under the Constitution (Article 42.4), the State is not obliged to fund Catholic schools, but it has chosen to do so. There is an obligation on the State to endeavour, and only that, to supplement and give reasonable aid to private schools.
In addition this State funding has other constitutional conditions. The recent Burke case has shown that there is an obligation on the Department of Education to administer these constitutional rights, and it cannot absolve itself of that responsibility.
These conditions have not been given any practical application on the ground in schools, because the Department leaves it up to each school to implement these conditions of funding, notwithstanding the fact that the Constitution says that it is the State that is responsible.
The Supreme Court in the recent Burke case reiterated that the obligation on the state is to endeavour to fund private schools and only that. The Court stated that:

“Article 42.4, in requiring the State to provide for “free primary education”, also places an endeavour, but only that, before the State “to supplement and give reasonable aid to private and corporate educational initiative” and “when the public good requires it” towards “other educational facilities or institutions”.
An overall saver in the constitutional text is that the State, in providing for free primary education and in endeavouring to assist post-primary education in various forms, have “due regard … for the rights of parents, especially in the matter of religious and moral formation.”
This provision reflects a concern for upholding parental authority; a foundational pillar of the Constitution that accords with Article 41 recognising the family as “the natural primary and fundamental unit group of” Irish society. Hence, society is built around the family.”

The constitutional conditions for funding private catholic schools are that parents’ rights in relation to the religious and moral education and formation of their children must be respected (Article 42) and that students have a right to not attend religious instruction in these schools (Article 44.2.4).
The Supreme Court has already said that Article 42.1 and Article 42.2 must be read in the context of Article 44.2.4 (Campaign to Separate Church and State v Minister for Education 1998).
The Supreme Court has also said that the provision of Article 42.4 in the matter of the religious and moral formation of children upholds parental authority, a foundational pillar of the Constitution that accords with Article 41 (the rights of the family).
The Burke case at the Supreme Court changes everything. The Department of Education can no longer absolve itself of any responsibility in relation to Article 42, Article 41 and Article 44.2.4. These are Constitutional rights that they are obliged to administer because they are a condition of state funding of schools.
As an overview of all this:

  • The State is only obliged to endeavour to fund Catholic schools.
  • If they decide to fund Catholic schools, there are constitutional conditions to that funding.
  • The Department of Education has left it up to each school to decide how to implement the constitutional conditions for their funding notwithstanding the fact the Constitution states that this is the responsibility of the State.
  • The Department of education are now going to pay the Catholic Church rent for a school that they decided to fund for years and where the constitutional conditions for that funding were not met.
  • Minorities in these publicly funded Catholic schools are left with a choice of a Catholic education or no education at all, and their constitutional rights in these publicly funded schools are ignored.

So after years of public funding, and ignoring the conditions to that funding, the Catholic Church will only divest to Community National Schools, they will charge them rent, and the Department of Education have agreed to this.
This is what an abdication of legal duties looks like and it is an absolute disgrace. Read online…

The National Maternity Hospital and Article 44 of the Constitution

In a democratic republic, the State should own and directly run the national maternity hospital. It should not cede control over this essential public service to any private institution, such as Saint Vincent’s Holdings.
Our Constitution was heavily influenced by Catholic Church teaching. There are Articles in our Constitution that protect the interests of charitable institutions with a religious purpose. Article 44.2.5 states that:

Every religious denomination shall have the right to manage its own affairs, own, acquire and administer property, movable and immovable, and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes.

But what is a ‘religious denomination’ in this context, and how can it ‘manage its own affairs’? The Supreme Court examined this question in 1997, when it was testing the constitutionality of Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act. In that case the Supreme Court found that:

The term ‘religious denomination’, was therefore intended to be a generic term wide enough to cover the various churches, religious societies or religious congregations under whatever name they wished to describe themselves.
These various religious denominations may control religious, educational or medical institutions, whether directly or through a board of guardians or trustees and it appears to the Court that these are the religious educational and medical institutions referred to in s. 37. sub-s. 1 of the Bill and that they are also governed by the phrase ‘institutions for religious or charitable purposes’ referred to in Article 44, s. 2 sub-s. 5 of the Constitution.

The proposed structure for owning and running the planned new maternity hospital is complicated. The Religious Sisters of Charity currently own the land as Catholic Church property, and the Vatican has to authorise any change in its use.
If the deal goes through, there would be a series of companies, with a new St. Vincent’s Holdings becoming shareholders of St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group, which would include the new National Maternity Hospital and three other existing hospitals.
The main registered charitable object of St. Vincents Holdings is:

to advance healthcare in Ireland… by promoting medical education, medical research and patient care… through the St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group and to reflect compliance with national and international best practice guidelines on medical ethics and the laws of Ireland through the provision of support to companies which are registered as charities… and which are the Company’s subsidiaries.

The registered charitable objects of St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group include:

1 To provide Inpatient and outpatient healthcare services on the campus of SVHG Ltd i.e. St. Vincent’s University Hospital, St. Michael’s Hospital, Dun Laoghaire and St. Vincent’s Private Hospital. 2 To conduct and maintain the Facilities in accordance with the Health Care Philosophy and Ethical Code of the Religious Sisters of Charity.

The Health Care Philosophy and Ethical Code of the Religious Sisters of Charity is not available on line. St. Vincent’s University Hospital have this document but have refused to release it under the Freedom of Information Act.
One of the reasons for refusal was they said that the record in question is a document which was developed by and relates to the Religious Sisters of Charity and the Sisters don’t come under the FOI Act. They also said that this record has been superseded by a new ethical code. This issue is now with the Information Commissioner.
Private religious institutions such as the Sisters of Charity do not come under the FOI Act. The response to the FOI request from St. Vincent’s raises further questions because St. Vincent’s Holdings still promote patient care through St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group, which has its own ethical code, notwithstanding that it may have been updated.
The Department of Health response to the FOI request for the Document said that they did not have the Document despite the fact that it was part of the negotiations and the fact that St. Vincent’s Holdings promote patient care through St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group.
St. Vincent’s Holdings state that their ‘charitable Ojects’ reflect compliance with national and international best practice guidelines on medical ethics and the laws of Ireland. Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act is part of the laws of Ireland. The question is whether or not St. Vincent’s is defined as a medical institution subject to Section 37, and consequently governed by Article 44.2.5 of the Constitution.
According to the Supreme Court a medical institution does not need to be directly controlled by a religious congregation to be subject to Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, and consequently governed by Article 44.2.5. Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act also refers to institutions under the ‘direction’ of bodies established for religious purposes.
The charitable object of St. Vincent’s Holdings is to ‘promote… patient care… through the St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group’ and the charitable objects of St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group includes to ‘conduct and maintain the Facilities in accordance with the Health Care Philosophy and Ethical Code of the Religious Sisters of Charity’.
So how would Article 44.2.5 of the Constitution (under which every religious denomination shall have the right to manage its own affairs) as interpreted by the Supreme Court (under which they may control medical institutions either directly or through a board of guardians or trustees), influence the new publicly funded Maternity Hospital with its proposed structure?
If a Catholic religious institution runs a medical institution that carries out terminations then how can it still be defined as a Catholic religious institution? If St. Vincent’s is governed by Article 44.2.5, then could St. Vincent’s healthcare Group or Holdings argue that the State is undermining freedom of religion (Article 44.2.1), disrespecting religion (Article 44.1) and undermining its right to manage its own affairs under Article 44.2.5?
Article 44.2.5 would have no meaning if a Catholic religious institution could not manage its own affairs by forbidding terminations under any circumstances. Read more…

*|YOUTUBE: [$vid=a-ZMcajI4L8]|*


Calling concerned teachers

If you are a teacher and concerned about unwanted religious influence contact Chris at teachers@atheist.ie

List of Atheist Ireland Submissions


Buy this book “Is My Family Odd About Gods?”

**Schools Special Offer**
Atheist Ireland are offering the book ‘Is my family odd about godsfree (excluding postage and packaging).  This means that you can get this book for the total price of 10 euro. This offer is aimed at families with school going children, who would like to read this book. This offer is limited to one book per family unit and for postage within Ireland only. Read more…

Have you noticed that your school and your teachers may tell you one thing about religion, while some of your friends and family may have different ideas about god?
If you think that this is a little odd, then this book is for you. Buy this book here.

Lessons about Atheism

Atheist Ireland has published a set of free lesson plans about atheism for children aged 8 and up. We welcome feedback, which we will use to develop the lessons. You can download the lesson plans here


Be Good without Gods

Atheist Ireland ‘Good Without Gods’ Kiva team members have made loans of  $35,775 to 1244 entrepreneurs in the developing world. You can join the team here. Before you chose a loan, make sure you do not support religious groups. You can check the loan partner’s social and secular rating here.

Notme.ie

Atheist Ireland’s ‘notme.ie‘ is a place where people can publicly renounce the religion of their childhood. Currently there are 1911 symbolic defections. Many share their reasons for making a public symbolic defection which you can read here

Petition on Schools Equality PACT 

Atheist Ireland currently runs one petition – The Schools Equality PACT. This seeks to reform religious discrimination in state-funded schools. Currently this stands at 4,108 Help us reach it’s target of 5000. Please sign and share this petition if you haven’t already done so. Thank you.

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Annual membership is nominal; €25 waged, €10 unwaged/student and €40 for family membership. Please consider becoming a member. Membership means:

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You can join Atheist Ireland here.

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Census 2022

3 weeks to the Census on Sunday 3 April. If you’re not religious, mark ‘No Religion’.

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Opinion and Media

Material on atheism, secularism, human rights,politics,science etc. collected from media and the blogosphere from Ireland and beyond; used without permission, compensation, liability, guarantee or implied endorsement. We aim to include a variety of diverse opinions and viewpoints.

 

Blogs & Opinions

 

National

 

Parents may not get to choose patron of ‘reconfigured’ Catholic schools.

 

By Carl O’Brien

 

School patrons such as Educate Together fear they will be excluded from a new pilot programme aimed at transferring the patronage of Catholic schools to a multi-denominational patronage. Under a plan formally announced on Friday, Catholic bishops will “co-operate fully” with the Department of Education in seeking to facilitate a more diverse school patronage in eight pilot areas where there are no multi-denominational primary schools. Read more…

‘A nun called me a destroyer of lives’: how adoption rights activist Susan Lohan fought the Irish establishment

 

By Caelainn Hogan

 

A “destroyer of lives”. That is what a nun called adoption rights activist Susan Lohan when she sought answers from the religious order that brokered her adoption. Instead of being given the truth, Lohan was told not to ask questions. She was born in 1964 to one of thousands of unmarried mothers forcibly separated from their children – usually women who had no choice but adoption due to their circumstances. Read more…

Possible transfer of patronage for eight Catholic schools agreed in pilot project

 

By Patsy McGarry

 

A pilot arrangement involving the possible transfer of patronage for eight Catholic schools to other managements has been agreed between the Catholic bishops and the Department of Education. The pilot areas are in Arklow, Athlone, Cork, Dublin, Dundalk, Galway, Limerick and Youghal. Read online…

 

State to pay Church rent for schools that become multi-denominational

 

By Carl O’Brien

 

The State will pay rent to the Catholic Church for its schools that transfer to multi-denominational patrons under new 40-year leases. The arrangement forms part of a Department of Education deal with Catholic bishops aimed at giving greater choice in primary education for families. Read more…

Maternity hospital board duo raise fears over governance

 

By Justine McCarthy

 

Two directors of the HSE have opposed a decision by its board to submit a final business case for the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) to the Department of Health because of continuing concerns about ownership, governance and control.
Minutes of an HSE board meeting from November 26, published last Friday, show that Deirdre Madden, a UCC law professor and the board’s deputy chairwoman, and Sarah McLoughlin, a UCD research scientist, dissented from the decision to submit the plan. Read more…

 

School divestment process is a fiasco

 

By David Graham

 

Sir, – Long after the publication of the report of the Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector in 2012, the comic fiasco of the Government’s school divestment process – now called “reconfiguration” – is the gift that keeps on giving (“State to pay Catholic Church rent for schools that become multidenominational”, News, March 11th). Read more…

International

 

Raif Badawi: Saudi blogger freed after a decade behind bars

 

By Charlie Mitchell, Ottawa

 

The Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has been released after being imprisoned for a decade in the kingdom for “insulting Islam”, his Canadian-based wife has said. Ensaf Haidar, who lives in Quebec, wrote on social media: “After 10 years in prison, Raif is free!” Badawi’s family and supporters had been calling for his release since February 28, when his sentence officially expired. Read more…

 

Scotland – Million fewer will say they are Christian in census

 

By Constance Kampfner

 

A million fewer people in Scotland are expected to identify as Christian in this year’s census compared with 2011, polling has revealed. Over a decade ago just over half of people in Scotland said that they were Christian, but according to research carried out by YouGov that has dropped to about a third. About one in 20 are estimated to align with other faiths. Read more…

NSS condemns faith school cancellation of gay author

 

By The National Secular Society

 

The National Secular Society has said religious control over state schools must be challenged after a Catholic diocese cancelled a talk by a gay author. Simon James Green (pictured), an award-winning children’s author, had been due to visit John Fisher School in Croydon on Monday. He was scheduled to hold talk about his book for teenagers Noah Can’t Even, which features a gay protagonist, to commemorate World Book Day. Read more…

 

Mubarak Bala’s persecution

 

By Femi Macaulay

 

There is no doubt that the unlawful detention of Mubarak Bala, based on alleged blasphemy, is a case of unconscionable persecution.  The 37-year-old president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria has been detained for about two years, since April 2020, without any formal charge. This oppression is happening under Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and implicates him in actions that violate religious freedom. The police are also complicit in this abuse of power. Read more…

Humanists UK urges UN support for Nigerian humanist Mubarak Bala

 

By Humanists UK

 

Humanists UK has urged the UN to keep pushing for the immediate release of the President of the Nigerian Humanist Association, Mubarak Bala, and to ask the Nigerian Government to repeal its law criminalising blasphemy. Mr Bala has been imprisoned without trial for almost two years, after facing accusations of blasphemy. UN experts have previously made a similar call, and in an intervention today at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Humanists UK asked them to repeat this. Read more…

If you are a blogger or vlogger writing or talking about atheism, secularism, ethics, skepticism, human rights etc. and would like us to include your work here please email the link to secularsunday@atheist.ie

 

Podcasts, Videos and Interviews

Ireland

Do you host an Irish-based podcast on atheism, secularism, science, skepticism, human rights etc.? Let us know and we will link to it here.

RTE Player Ireland’s Dirty Laundry:  Part two of two. Survivors of the Magdalene Laundries system share their experiences during and since their incarceration, and reveal how they are still fighting for redress

Newstalk – Catholic schools are very popular: principal launches passionate defence of Catholic schools

International

Freethought Radio – Drunk, High and Hypnotized
The Friendly Atheist Podcast – Not All Outreach is Good Outreach
NPR – Young people are finding community outside of organized religion  

Media Watch

News and views from Ireland and around the world. Sharing is not an endorsement. 

Ireland

 

International

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