If your child is not Catholic

No we don’t attend mass. There are only a couple or a few in a school year. Not many parents attend- they need numbers though hence the invite.

Same, and I, and my priest call it Holy Mass so moot point.

🤷‍♀️

If you send your children to a faith school, because there is no option to do otherwise, then you have no choice.

If you send your child to a faith school because you believe that it is the best school, but you don’t subscribe to the faith, then I think that you are, to a certain extent, using the system. Particularly if there is a range of non faith schools locally.

I have a friend whose child goes to a non faith primary school. They aren’t keen on the local options for secondary and they probably won’t meet the distance criteria for the ones they do like. The option is to spend the next couple of years going to church to partake in a religion they don’t follow and don’t believe, so they will have the acknowledgement from the priest that they meet the criterion.

Of course it makes you a hypocrite

Jesus wasn't big on those.

So your kids will be learning to despise you:)

I think saying you “Hate the Catholic Church” …. And they being happy to send a child to a school part-funded by the Catholic Church - is very hypocritical.

Embrace your Hypocrisy, instead of saying it doesn’t exist.

Lifelong Catholic. No one, not even our priest, refers to it as Holy Mass, just Mass

It's an invitation not a summons. Most schools are just glad to keep up the numbers of pupils, they understand that not all of the children will be Catholic.
I wouldn't attend mass if I were not that way inclined.

My ff has her first day at new school tomorrow which is a catholic school. She is year 3 and we are moving her.

I'm not catholic but not an atheist anymore, I don't think anyway.

We chose this school because it seemed lovely and welcoming and warm and they don't tend to teach gender ideology to the degree other schools do. But yes, I would attend if asked.

True. My dc go to a catholic school even though they are not catholic because there was literally no other option. Believe me when I say I tried because I’m very much against the Catholic Church.
They go to church/ mass during school. Dh and I don’t go. I haven’t even mentioned to the school they’re not catholic yet. I will when it comes to the year they do their first communion.
At the moment they learn that god made the world and how god loves everyone etc and that’s fine. I just explain at home that I don’t believe that. They say they do and I say fine, that’s nice.
When they are older I will be making them aware of exactly why I hate the Catholic Church and don’t want them part of it.
When I do the religious homework I tell them this is what’s in the bible rather than this is what happened/ this is how it is.
So no, I’m not teaching them to be hypocrites or anything like that. You can always explain things to children in a way they will understand and go into the details more when they’re ready.

No. There’s no expectation on anyone to go, catholic or not its an invite, not a summons

I did whenshe was in a Catholic school- primary and secondary. She's no longer in a Catholic school, but sings in the Catholic choir and I attend often. I also receive the blessing (not the Communion).
I also find evensong really calming, so I try to pop in every now and again.

I’m a Governor at a Catholic High school. There is no expectation on parents to attend weekday mass, nobody will notice if you are there.

There may be some events you would like to attend around Christmas and Easter - Nativities, special assemblies etc.

We are always oversubscribed .. we have about 50% Catholic and 50% non-Catholic, we teach about all World Religions, and none of our young people are for forced to partake

Those women are the victims of evil. Evil lurks in all areas of life, especially when there is money to be made, my aunt appeared in television documentaries about her experiences in the laundries, she is a committed Catholic.
The wolf in sheepskin.

DS went to a Catholic primary school but isn’t baptised and as we’re atheists, he didn’t take part in any of the Mass rituals. He sometimes attended the church with his classmates when they were preparing for communion etc. and sat at the back reading a book but we, as his parents, didn’t go to any formal church services.

The only time we went to the church was when they were doing the Nativity plays around Christmas. I’d rather not have attended but DH felt it was important to support DS.

I would also say that in any religion or group there are people and people will always be capable of doing significant harm. The atrocities carried out in mother and baby homes, the abuses that have been covered up by the Catholic Church are obviously part of a systemic issue with safeguarding/whistle-blowing etc but the intrinsic values, the biblical teachings are generally positive and bad agents have chosen to manipulate this for their own ends. I think it's important to recognise that the actions of the people involved in those atrocities are not representative of the Catholic faith or overall members.

I agree that if you send your child to a faith school you have to respect the faith but you don't have to attend mass. Or go if you feel you need to explain things to your child or want to know what its like.

I am Catholic and my DC school is a Catholic school. It won't be expected, your DC can opt out too, either way is fine.
The non Catholic children use religion lessons to catch up on other work, or chill out.
A few attended the communion ceremony to see their friends on the day.

Meh. Go if you want to go, don't go if you don't want to. If it is during the week then there will be lots of parents who can't make it because of work. Nobody at the school will care, they are just inviting you out of courtesy and won't judge you either way.

If you want to go then treat it as an interesting cultural visit and a chance to wave at your kid. I'm a staunch atheist but love a good mass with all the hymns and incense and ceremony, and it is a bonus if there is a good choir and an organ and it is in an architecturally interesting building.

I think everyone obviously has their own views on this but in the real world there are loads of scenarios where people who don't have a faith or in fact have a different faith find themselves in a church service such as christenings/baptisms/ funerals/ Christmas services where children are performing etc

I think it's quite possible to stand strong in your non-belief of a religious doctrine and be present at a service. You could frame it as supporting friends or classmates who do believe and being open to learning about their views even though you don't share them yourself. Most churches welcome this and noone bats an eye if some declines to sing hymns or pray or take communion.

I think when you become so firm in your viewpoint (in any area) where you opt out of other people's world then you create space for misinformation and stereotyping. It's also not always easy for a child to be left out when their friends are participating in something. Just have a conversation with your child about it. At the end of the day they should be allowed to make their own mind up about what they want to do.

It’s not. It’s just ‘mass’ here too.

Often there is no choice. The faith school is the school, that's it.

Whilst many Catholics don't demonstrate the morals, they are the official teachings of how Catholics should act and is very important at the Catholic school I teach at.

Hmmm - those poor women who were victims of the nuns in Ireland may disagree with a few of those illustrating Catholic morals!

The nuns who taught me were far less kind than the (few) lay teachers. I often had to sit by myself and was excluded from a lot of class activities being non catholic.

Just out of interest - what religious morals do you disagree with? Let's say Catholic for the sake of this argument.

Kindness? Inclusion? Solidarity? Caring for the planet?

Hate faith schools. UK should have secular teaching and leave religion for home life.
I didn't learn my morals from church but from my family.