Government plans to make sex education compulsory in all schools have been condemned by a pro-life charity but welcomed by the Catholic Education Service.
The move would make sex and relationships education part of the national curriculum. The Government has not announced what this will mean in practice, and will not do so until a consultation has taken place.
It has said that primary and secondary schools will have different requirements. Parents will be able to withdraw their children from classes.
The charity Life said it was “abhorrent” to make sex and relationships education compulsory for children as young as four and said that some campaigners wanted primary school pupils to be taught lessons endorsing masturbation.
Life’s education director Anne Scanlan said: “We have to question what the Government defines as sex education. If it is sex and relationships education in which the emphasis is on relationships, the teaching of self-esteem and self-respect, the avoidance of early pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, then we would support its delivery.”
She added: “If schools are engaged in the delivery of explicit and inappropriate content in the classroom, it should be the absolute right of parents to withdraw their children from such corruptive sessions. We have heard of calls to teach masturbation to four-year-olds as part of sex education and leaflets telling primary school children that it is up to them to decide when to have sex.”
Under present legislation, sex education is compulsory in local authority run schools but is limited to biology lessons.
Faith and free schools do not have to provide sex education.
The changes to the law will see pupils being taught about consent, how to recognise abuse in relationships and how to protect themselves from online grooming.
MPs backing the changes to the curriculum argue that failure to teach sex education in school can lead to “young people developing a sense that sexual harassment and sexual violence are acceptable behaviours and learning social norms that are carried through to adult life.”
A No 10 spokesman said: “The department will be saying more than this in due course. High-quality relationship and sex education is an important part of preparing young people for adult life.”
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool, chairman of the Catholic Education Service, said: “Catholic schools already teach age-appropriate relationships and sex education in both primary and secondary schools. This is supported by a Catholic model Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum which covers the RSE curriculum from nursery all the way through to sixth form.”
He also welcomed the commitment “to protect parental right of withdrawal and involve parents in all stages of the development and delivery of RSE in all schools It is essential that parents fully support the school’s approach to these sensitive matters. The experience of Catholic schools is that parental involvement is the basis for providing consistent and high quality RSE at home and at school.
“We look forward to working closely with the Government to shape any new guidance to enable Catholic schools to continue to deliver outstanding RSE.”
Fr David Hutton, one of the founders of a new Oratory in Bournemouth, has died after a long illness.
Fr Hutton was a priest in the Diocese of Southwark, and was going to join the Oratory-in-formation at Sacred Heart, Bournemouth. In January, he was clothed in the Oratorian habit, so he could die as a son of St Philip.
He died on Ash Wednesday. Shortly beforehand he made his last Confession and reportedly declared: “I am happy!”
A 15th-century statue of the Christ Child that survived an Italian earthquake is part of a newly opened exhibition in Cambridge.
In October, the monastery of Santa Chiara, where the doll is venerated, was struck by an earthquake which reduced most of the building to rubble.
The Christ Child, which survived completely unscathed, was put on display this week at the Madonnas and Miracles: the Holy Home in Renaissance Italy exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum. It is the first time the statue has left Italy.
The Christ Child was created in the 15th century for St Camilla Battista da Varano, a princess-turned-nun who had visions of the Madonna kissing the Christ Child. St Camilla Battista was canonised in 2010.
During the Renaissance era, many Italian women had similar statutes which they dressed and cared for to mimic the Virgin Mary’s bond with the baby Jesus. Every year, hundreds of people make pilgrimage to the church where the doll is kept, to kiss it during the feast of the Epiphany.
The exhibition will also feature three groups of ex-voto paintings from the 15th and 16th centuries, none of which have been on display in Britain before. Ex-voto paintings were created as offerings to the Church in acts of gratitude or devotion.
The exhibition aims to show “how religion remained a powerful force that coloured every aspect of daily life” during the Renaissance.
“Across the length and breadth of Italy, houses were filled with decorative objects and works of art with spiritual significance, designed to aid members of the family in their devotional lives,” according to the programme. The exhibition is on until June 4.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.