Signposts and Homecomings the Educative Task of the Catholic Community. St Paul Publications £3.95.
THIS IS not a book on Catechetics, nor is it singularly devoted to Catholic schools. It covers Catholic education in the very broadest sense and is the most constructive work on this subject ever to appear in this country.
Ten specialists, under the chairmanship of Bishop Konstant, prepared this report over three years, at the request of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, They have performed their task in a way that demands laurels. The report should be read by the clergy, the public, the teachers and even educational experts, for there is much to be learnt by all.
The group has not limited itself to Catholic schools, but to the whole question of the education of Catholics in their religion, at all levels.
The report does not hesitate to ask its own questions. The value of Catholic schools and the quality of education and educators; whether adult education is continuous, or catered for sufficiently; whether the parish and the home really play their part in the advancement of true knowledge and practice of the faith.
The answers to these questions are forthright and pertinent, opening up ideas and new necessities that many Catholics have not wished to face.
The supreme act of the parish is worship at Mass, but there is much more that should be achieved in the' way understanding of faith, morals, and a right way of community living and responsibility.
In all departments of education discussed in the report, two difficulties loom in front of us. Lack of trained personnel and lack of money, and the ambivalent attitude of Government departments of education when faced with the question of religious education.
Graham Jenkins