AIBU to think weekly mass at Catholic schools feels quite intense?

My children are at catholic primary school, they have fortnightly mass in church, plus regular assemblies at school, extra masses at Easter and Christmas and a mass diary to get signed from weekend masses for communion and confirmation years. Yes it’s a lot but if you want your children to go to that school it’s kind of a suck it up situation. If you dont agree with it then find a different school

Its normal for faith schools? Many CofE schools are the same. My dc had a weekly church service all through primary. Collective worship/assembly is something all schools have to do anyway.

Wait till you find out there probably run by priests and nuns!

What is ‘cultural Catholicism’ ??????
Weekly Mass is normal. If you don’t want a Catholic education don’t choose a Catholic school.

If your children are Catholic and it's a high performing school, I don't see what the issue is? Catholics are supposed to go to mass weekly and it's clearly not affecting their education.

The Catholic girls’ school in my town growing up had famously strict nuns who it later emerged did beat pupils.

It sounds as if another school would be better for your children. Don’t underestimate the effect of all that shame and guilt.

My primary aged children like Mass with school, and the parishioners love it. It gives the school choir a purpose, they learn how to behave in public and puts off people who want to send their children to a Catholic school without the Catholic bits.

Even my eldest's secondary, which is far more diverse, has compulsory Mass and doesn't make exceptions for children of other faiths. Their view is don't like it, don't send your child here, and people know where they stand.

I wouldn't send my child to the (excellent) local Hindu or Jewish schools but as Catholic, why are you objecting to your children being encouraged to practice their faith?

What do you actually think the point of a church school is? Like surely it's having stuff like this?

I wouldn’t send my children anywhere near a catholic school in the first place. We’re atheists & besides this, Catholicism should remain in the 1500’s

Your being a bit silly to be so surprised that a faith school is providing regular opportunities to practice the faith

DH is Catholic, and the school is absolutely excellent, so I suck it up.

I also view atheism as the absence of belief in any gods and the denial of their existence, both of which apply to me. I’m not against anything, in the sense of actively being against it. I just don’t believe it.

My main priority is getting DD to very best education I can to give her the best possible prospects and options in what is becoming an increasingly competitive world. If that means a bit of religion and her attending mass, that’s fine with me. Also, half her family are Catholic and actually do attend church on a regular basis. We can’t both win.

Please tell me this is a joke. Ooh is the "faking your way into a better high school" faith primary school a but too faithy for you? Sod. Off. Please do not waste their time.

Don't like it don't apply.

Don’t send your kids to catholic school if you don’t want them to do catholic things…

I was catholic schooled and that sounds about right to me (although mass wasn’t open to the public when we had school mass).

I think if you’re getting Catholic schooling it should be ever present - and we definitely had multiple religious touch points throughout the day in terms of saying prayers etc.

The views on contraception etc were only ever taught in RE, and we had very normal teachings on contraception in PHSE. I don’t remember same sex relationships or sex outside of marriage coming up (other than to explain they were not okay in Catholicism), but there were plenty gay kids and my parents are unmarried so there was no shame etc attached to it.

OP-are you one of those posters who say, whenever anyone objects to the existence of faith schools “Oh a little Christianity doesn’t do any harm”?

It’s Brits’ demented obsession with ‘good schools’ that has people with fuck all interest in religion start to fake Catholicism as soon as they get pregnant. If the local ‘good school’ was a Hare Krishna school, they’d all be signing up for that. Just do what people in other places and send your offspring to whatever school is nearest, on the grounds that most schools are adequate.

There’s absolutely no inherent reason why a Catholic school is going to be any better than the local comp. Especially , if, as the OP points out in horror, the kids are missing class for Mass! Surely all the non-Catholic schools who don’t waste time on all that pesky praying, should be charging ahead?

I went to catholic schools at both primary and secondary. I’d agree a weekly compulsory mass is a bit much - especially for the pupils, who won’t want to be there. (Show me a girl at my Catholic convent secondary who did, and I’ll show you the token odd bod.)

No harm done, it taught us how to cope with being bored shitless - a useful life skill. We sent our kids to Catholic schools too. They’re complete atheists as a result 😂 Sometimes, the quality of the school overall outweighs a minor inconvenience.

Its only once a week and probably helps the children in a spiritual way

Im now an atheist but was brought up catholic and went to catholic schools. We had a weekly mass in Primary. If people don't want their kids to have a catholic education they need to send them to a non dominational school.

It wouldn't be my bag, I'd send my kids to a different school. If there's no actual choice then you have to suck it up, move somewhere there is choice or go all out and refuse to allow your child to attend mass. Which given the school can actually discriminate on grounds of Catholicism is probably not going to fly.

Had this growing up but only on occasion did the school go to Mass. I dimly recollect it for All Saints or Soul's Day, most of the big feast days were holidays from school. There were prayers at the start of every class, which I resented as an atheist but it was the only school locally [in Ireland].

Fair? So it is said Catholic schools are providing the best education. There are secular schools, which you advocate. Why aren't they doing that?

Mine went to an RC Primary and Secondary. Prayers every morning and at the end of the day. Ditto before and after Lunch. Masses were frequent. Religious Studies taught a lot. I mean, it goes with the territory, it's a Catholic school.

It’s one hour of the week where they won’t be on their phone and if they are not interested in what is being said (quite likely) they be alone in thought and it won’t do them any harm at all.

It doesn’t, though. Sunday Mass is an obligation, not weekly Mass. But as the OP’s utter horror at her children being exposed to a weekly Mass at a Catholic school is what she posted about, it’s hard to imagine she’s a regular Mass goer.