Very good news for Church schools but  nothing new at all.

I remember in the 1970s, when I was on the teaching staff annd on the board of St Augustine’s College, Pietà, we had pupils of different creeds. We had pupils from Scandinavia and from India who were not Catholics.

They used to follow the school curriculum but did not attend religion classes. We never had clashes or laments. They simply left the classroom during the religion lesson.

I am not contrary to pupils of different creeds being accepted in Catholic schools. I guess it would be better for pupils of different creeds not to receive religious education in Catholic schools.

The reason being that if there are different denominations the school has to provide teachers for every denomination, apart from other complications. Besides it would no longer be a Catholic school.

I still remember when, in Tunisia, the Sisters of St Joseph had a big school in Tunis where there were both Catholic and Muslim students.

Many times, Catholics and Muslims had arguments and sometimes the sisters had to call in the police.

The end result was that the school was closed and used for spiritual retreats for the clergy. Many times, history repeats itself. Prevention is better than cure.

At the time, pupils attending schools came for religious education in our parish while the girls went to the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. They used to come immediately after school.