Last Updated on: 22nd November 2023, 01:07 am
Data from The Children’s Society has revealed that young people in the UK have the lowest levels of life satisfaction in Europe. This has caused the United Nations to express concern over UK education, particularly the requirement that collective worship of a “broadly Christian character” is compulsory in schools. The UN committee has called for the law to be repealed and for pupils to be given the right to withdraw independently from religious worship.
A new book, St Augustine’s Sin, provides personal perspectives on faith school education from a one-time Christian Brothers pupil, and from a primary school teacher. It also examines how current teaching in faith schools may affect a child’s vulnerability.
In 2021, an inquiry in France found that children are more likely to be abused within Church settings than state schools, holiday camps and sporting organisations. At the same time, the UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse reported that 100 new cases of clerical abuse are being reported each year. Despite this, the Church of England recently dismissed the panel of experts who provided independent oversight of how it dealt with abuse.
St Augustine’s Sin investigates why abuse is more prevalent within the Church than in other settings and why the Church has been so lax in addressing the issue. The book traces the origins of clerical abuse all the way back to one of the Church Fathers, Saint Augustine of Hippo, and provides meticulous notes linking to evidence. It is hoped that the disturbing findings within this book will serve as a warning to all parents.
