Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow has marked Catholic Education Week by writing a personal letter to every Catholic teacher in Catholic schools in the archdiocese, urging them to openly share their faith with young people.

“Do not be afraid to share with your pupils your own experiences and insights of faith,” Archbishop Conti (above) says. “Do not be ashamed to share with them your devotional life and your own prayer and Church life. Young people are captivated by authenticity and by sharing your faith in a natural way you are carrying out a priceless apostolate.”

The celebration of Catholic Education Week, which began on Sunday and runs until Saturday, has This is Our Faith as its theme this year.

Archbishop Conti continues his letter by urging Catholic teachers to redouble their efforts during the upcoming Year of Faith, which was recently announced by Pope Benedict XVI, to run from October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013.

“It is hoped that during this year we will see a genuine renewal of Faith at all levels and Catholic teachers have a key role to play,” he writes. “In the newly published recommendations for the Year of Faith, we read: ‘The Year of Faith can be an opportunity to pay greater attention to Catholic schools, which are a perfect place to offer to students a living witness to the Lord and to nurture their faith. This can be done when making use of good catechetical tools like the compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Youcat (the new catechism for young Catholics.)’”

The archbishop adds that, in his ten years as Archbishop of Glasgow, he has been ‘deeply impressed at the faith and commitment of teachers across the archdiocese.’

“I ask you to use this Catholic Education Week to take some time out to reflect on your vocation to teach—your God-given vocation as a Catholic teacher,” he writes.

Letter in full

To all Catholic Teachers in Schools in the Archdiocese of Glasgow

1 February 2012

Dear Friend

I take the opportunity of our annual celebration of Catholic Education Week to write to you to offer my support and encouragement for the work you do and the example you give in our schools.

I commend to you the excellent resources prepared by SCES for this Catholic Education Week and for the introduction of “This is Our Faith.” I am confident that we are at the threshold of a new era in religious education with materials available which are truly excellent in content and appropriately pitched for the young people in our care.

This year has been proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI as a Year of Faith. It will begin on 11 October 2012 and conclude on 24 November 2013. The Pope wishes this Year of Faith to coincide with the anniversaries of two great events which have marked the life of the Church in our days: The 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council by Blessed Pope John XXIII (11 October 1962) and the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church by Blessed Pope John Paul II on 11 October 1992.

It is hoped that during this year we will see a genuine renewal of faith at all levels and Catholic teachers have a key role to play. In the newly published recommendations for the Year of Faith, we read: “The Year of Faith can be an opportunity to pay greater attention to Catholic Schools which are a perfect place to offer to students a living witness to the Lord and to nurture their faith. This can be done when making use of good catechetical tools like the compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Youcat.”

Teachers have a privileged role in working with parents to help develop in each young person a solid faith based on a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. You are called on to open the “door of faith” to young people. As the Year of Faith document reminds us: “This door opens wide man’s gaze to Jesus Christ present among us, ‘always, until the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:20).

In my 10 years as your Archbishop, I have been deeply impressed at the faith and commitment of teachers across the Archdiocese. I have seen with my own eyes how you put your faith into action to the benefit of the young people in your care. I ask you to use this Catholic Education Week to take some time out to reflect on your vocation to teach – your God-given vocation as a Catholic teacher. Do not be afraid to share with your pupils your own experiences and insights of faith. Do not be ashamed to share with them your devotional life and your own prayer and Church life. Young people are captivated by authenticity and by sharing your faith in a natural way you are carrying out a priceless apostolate.

With my warmest gratitude for all that you do.

Yours devotedly in Christ.

+Mario Conti

Archbishop of Glasgow