Guardian, Barry Neild, The Observer, Sunday 29 April 2012
The schools were encouraged to sign a petition against gay marriage. Photograph: Mike Kemp/Getty Images/Rubberball |
The education
secretary, Michael Gove, is to examine claims that rules were breached when
Catholic schools were asked to encourage their pupils to sign a national
petition against gay marriage.
The
Catholic Education Service (CES) wrote to nearly 400 British secondary schools
to encourage support for the petition organised by Coalition for Marriage, a
Christian campaign that has registered more than 47,000 signatures for its
campaign.
A spokesman
for the Department for Education said yesterday that it was looking into
complaints that the request violated regulations concerning impartiality.
"Schools
have a responsibility under law to ensure children are insulated from political
activity and campaigning in the classroom," the spokesman said.
"While faith schools, rightly, have the freedom to teach about sexual
relations and marriage in the context of their own religion, that should not
extend to political campaigning."
The
investigation was welcomed by the British Humanist Association, which said the
CES request broke the 1966 Education Act's rules on the political
indoctrination of schoolchildren and balance. "Any gay, lesbian, bisexual
or transgender pupil at a school whose head declares that gay marriage and
civil partnerships are unnatural is obviously going to feel discriminated
against and trapped," said BHA's faith schools campaigner, Richy Thompson.
The CES,
which acts for Catholic bishops, denied breaking any laws. It insisted that
both its letter and the online petition were positive affirmations of marriage.
"Catholic state schools have always been permitted by law to teach matters
relating to sex and relationships education, including the importance of
marriage, in accordance with the teaching of the Catholic church," it
said.
"The
Catholic church's view on the importance of marriage is a religious view, not a
political one."
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Catholic nuns group "stunned" by Vatican slap
"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Based in Greece, Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to built Africa to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.)
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