The pastoral letter from Archbishop Tartaglia (PDF here and reproduced below) deserves careful study both as a straightforward exhortation for more young people to think of becoming teachers and also as reflecting a number of principles in Catholic social teaching.
At this time last year I appealed to young people to come forward to become teachers. Again this year I ask young people to give serious consideration to my appeal. I also urge parents, grandparents and teachers to encourage young people to pursue Teaching as a vital career choice.
Given the current shortages of teachers and Head Teachers, I also want to appeal to Catholic teachers who are not currently working in Catholic schools. My request is this: please seek an appointment in a Catholic school; ask your Council employer for a transfer to a Catholic school. We urgently need committed Catholic teachers to be working in Catholic schools.
The Bishops and our advisers have appealed to Scottish Government Ministers to ensure that sufficient teachers are being trained to work in Catholic schools. We are working hard with the University of Glasgow and others to improve the supply of teachers who will be able to contribute to the provision of Catholic education for our children and young people.
I must stress that this is a critical issue which may have significant consequences if we cannot produce more teachers soon.
Yours devotedly in Christ,
Philip Tartaglia,
Archbishop of Glasgow
President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
1) The letter reflects the multi-layered aspect of Catholic understandings of society. Instead of concentrating on the State as agent, the letter assumes the existence of several sources of authority (eg: the family, the school, the university, the Church, the State, the individual) all of whom have to work together to promote human flourishing. (The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church referred to below as the Compendium can be found here.)
Political authority must guarantee an ordered and upright community life without usurping the free activity of individuals and groups but disciplining and orienting this freedom, by respecting and defending the independence of the individual and social subjects, for the attainment of the common good. Political authority is an instrument of coordination and direction by means of which the many individuals and intermediate bodies must move towards an order in which relationships, institutions and procedures are put at the service of integral human growth.
[Compendium, 394]
2) The centrality of education of the next generation to social action. Teaching is not just one more job. The teaching of the next generation (both within and outwith schools) is one of the central tasks of human flourishing.
The commitment to the education and formation of the person has always represented the first concern of Christian social action.
[Compendium, 557.]
That connection between the generations largely formed by teaching is again one of the central aspects of the good life:
Procreation expresses the social subjectivity of the family and sets in motion a dynamism of love and solidarity between the generations upon which society is founded.
[Compendium, paragraph 230]
There's a lot more to be said here, but I take the centrality of education and schools to be an increasingly countercultural aspect of Catholicism in a society where children are often seen as just one more life choice for which individuals alone are responsible.
3) Schools as communities and as a cause of communities. Schools of course form a community within civil society for teachers and pupils. But beyond this, they form further communities around them (sports clubs, fund raising activities, friendships etc). As such, they are a key driver of the little platoons which form such an important part of the Catholic understanding of human beings and society.
Civil society is the sum of relationships and resources, cultural and associative, that are relatively independent from the political sphere and the economic sector. “The purpose of civil society is universal, since it concerns the common good, to which each and every citizen has a right in due proportion”. This is marked by a planning capacity that aims at fostering a freer and more just social life, in which the various groups of citizens can form associations, working to develop and express their preferences, in order to meet their fundamental needs and defend their legitimate interests.
[Compendium 417]
Those interested in pursuing a career in Catholic education in Scottish schools can find further information here.
Given the current shortages of teachers and Head Teachers, I also want to appeal to Catholic teachers who are not currently working in Catholic schools. My request is this: please seek an appointment in a Catholic school; ask your Council employer for a transfer to a Catholic school. We urgently need committed Catholic teachers to be working in Catholic schools.
The Bishops and our advisers have appealed to Scottish Government Ministers to ensure that sufficient teachers are being trained to work in Catholic schools. We are working hard with the University of Glasgow and others to improve the supply of teachers who will be able to contribute to the provision of Catholic education for our children and young people.
I must stress that this is a critical issue which may have significant consequences if we cannot produce more teachers soon.
Yours devotedly in Christ,
Philip Tartaglia,
Archbishop of Glasgow
President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
1) The letter reflects the multi-layered aspect of Catholic understandings of society. Instead of concentrating on the State as agent, the letter assumes the existence of several sources of authority (eg: the family, the school, the university, the Church, the State, the individual) all of whom have to work together to promote human flourishing. (The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church referred to below as the Compendium can be found here.)
Political authority must guarantee an ordered and upright community life without usurping the free activity of individuals and groups but disciplining and orienting this freedom, by respecting and defending the independence of the individual and social subjects, for the attainment of the common good. Political authority is an instrument of coordination and direction by means of which the many individuals and intermediate bodies must move towards an order in which relationships, institutions and procedures are put at the service of integral human growth.
[Compendium, 394]
2) The centrality of education of the next generation to social action. Teaching is not just one more job. The teaching of the next generation (both within and outwith schools) is one of the central tasks of human flourishing.
The commitment to the education and formation of the person has always represented the first concern of Christian social action.
[Compendium, 557.]
That connection between the generations largely formed by teaching is again one of the central aspects of the good life:
Procreation expresses the social subjectivity of the family and sets in motion a dynamism of love and solidarity between the generations upon which society is founded.
[Compendium, paragraph 230]
There's a lot more to be said here, but I take the centrality of education and schools to be an increasingly countercultural aspect of Catholicism in a society where children are often seen as just one more life choice for which individuals alone are responsible.
3) Schools as communities and as a cause of communities. Schools of course form a community within civil society for teachers and pupils. But beyond this, they form further communities around them (sports clubs, fund raising activities, friendships etc). As such, they are a key driver of the little platoons which form such an important part of the Catholic understanding of human beings and society.
Civil society is the sum of relationships and resources, cultural and associative, that are relatively independent from the political sphere and the economic sector. “The purpose of civil society is universal, since it concerns the common good, to which each and every citizen has a right in due proportion”. This is marked by a planning capacity that aims at fostering a freer and more just social life, in which the various groups of citizens can form associations, working to develop and express their preferences, in order to meet their fundamental needs and defend their legitimate interests.
[Compendium 417]
Those interested in pursuing a career in Catholic education in Scottish schools can find further information here.
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