Catholic Church issues guidelines to schools regarding non-Catholic children

In order to ease the integration of non-Catholic children into Irish schools, the Catholic Church has issued guidelines regarding inclusion policies.

The guidelines were provided in response to a report which was issued by the Department of Education and Skills in reference to diversity within schools.

The document entitled Catholic Primary Schools in a Changing Ireland: Sharing Good Practice on Inclusion of All Pupils addresses a number of issues and suggests alternatives for non-Catholic children if they choose not to take part in religion classes or religious-based activities.

Regardless of the student's religion, the guidelines state that all students should be invited to Catholic celebrations, but are in no way obliged to attend.

The report has, however, drawn criticism from Atheist Ireland who conclude that while the report claims to be inclusive, the human rights of atheist and secular families are not respected.

Elaborating on that point, Atheist Ireland state that while children have the choice to opt out of religious-based activities, the ethos of the school remains the same..

The group claim: "There is nothing in this document that promotes respect for the philosophical convictions of atheist and secular families, as it simple dealS with religious belief and not philosophical convictions such as secularism."

The document concludes by stating that the guidelines are "offered as a service to Catholic primary schools as they reflect on their practices with regard to the holistic education of all pupils in the school."