Christ at the Centre: Why the Church Provides Catholic Schools

This text provides a concise and authoritative account of why the Catholic Church provides schools and what constitutes the Catholic ethos of a Catholic school. It further clarifies the Church’s requirement that those holding key posts in Catholic schools should be practising Catholics, and explains what that means.

This is a clear, systematic document which will help many people, including Catholic teachers, parents, and governors as well as non-Catholic educationalists and government officials, to understand the mission of Catholic schools.

The questions examined include: What are the fundamental characteristics of a Catholic School? How do these make Catholic schools distinctive? Who are Catholic schools provided for? What is a Catholic school’s ethos? What does the term ‘practising Catholic’ refer to when applied to key school posts? What are the requirements for appointments to key school posts?

Mgr Marcus Stock is a priest of Birmingham, England, diocese. He is currently Acting director of the Catholic Education Service.