Current of Grace: Catholic schools power up for faith

The key question at the heart of a landmark education conference hosted in Canberra that wrapped up today was how Catholic schools can be powerhouses for evangelisation.

Titled A Current of Grace: Renewing Catholic Schools as Centres of Evangelisation, the conference at the Australian Catholic University’s Canberra campus attracted speakers and participants from across Australia and worldwide.

Over 330 delegates attended the two-day event, including more than 70 international participants from Oceania, Europe, the USA, Africa, and a large contingent from New Zealand.

Day one of the conference focussed on the leadership and staff of our school communities, how principals, vice principals, teachers and others can grow stronger in the Catholic faith and be agents for wider evangelisation.

Day two centred on the students and current programs for “peer-to-peer ministry.”

In breakout sessions, case studies were presented on how evangelisation was implemented in our schools in Australia and overseas, such as the Solomon Islands, New Zealand, England, and Fiji.

The conference heard from keynote speakers such as our Archbishop Christopher Prowse, Barbara Coupar, Director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, Fr Frederick Bechina, a former senior Vatican bureaucrat and now international Catholic Education consultant, and John Galvin of the USA National Catholic Education Association.

The presentations commonly discussed the critical role that Catholic schools can play in strengthening the Catholic faith and sharing it with others.

Archbishop Prowse referred to the “three children” of evangelisation: encounter, discipleship, and mission and how everyone in education – principals, vice principals, religious education coordinators, and those that teach – were “chief evangelists of the school community”.

Barbara Coupar followed a similar line in her presentation when she said, “Every time we speak… those around us [should] get a glimpse of Jesus…You [school and education leaders] are the church to your children. You are the church to your staff. You are the place where they will meet Jesus.”

The conference occurred at a historic time in the Universal Catholic Church when its “Synod on Synodality” is underway in Rome. Speakers drew attention to the connection between evangelisation and synodality, or “walking together,” and to the new and renewed ways of dialogue on the church’s future involving the laity, clergy, and the religious.

The conference was conducted by the Australian Catholic University’s La Salle Academy and the Catholic Schools Youth Ministry, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn.

Organisers were delighted at the level and scope of participation.

La Salle’s ACU Professor and Marist Brother, David Hall, told the Catholic Voice he was encouraged by the number of senior people in Catholic education who attended the conference.

He was also encouraged by the number of priests who attended.

“Because we evangelise alongside them – to have them among us was so significant,” he said.

“The conference gave vigour and life to people who were wanting more.”

Fr Ronald Reagan Okello from Uganda said the conference was a “moment of encounter” and that it had turned the participants into “meaningful disciples of Christ”.

“God has called each of us to make a contribution [as evangelisers]. We don’t need to wait for any more time,” he told the conference.

“This is the time.”