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JMJ
It's easy to get loaded down with all the bad things happening in the Church / World.
Now here's some good news!
P^3
School keeps the faith
By Laurel Stowell
10:54 AM Monday Nov 23, 2015
THE STORY GOES that when the Education Review Office visited the schools of St Anthony's Catholic Parish the inspectors were sure the schools had been tipped off, because the children behaved so beautifully.
They decided to catch the schools out by visiting again when they were least expected. They did, and found the children equally good.
Wanganui's St Anthony's Parish is made up of families from the traditional Society of St Pius X within the Catholic Church. It has two schools on its Alma Rd site. St Anthony Catholic Primary is for children in Years 1-6. St Dominic College is for girls in Years 7-13 and St Augustine College is for boys the same age. The two senior schools are together for convenience as St Dominic College.
There are 130 pupils in total. Seventy of them are in the senior schools, including 10 girls from out of town who board with the Dominican Sisters of Wanganui on the site.
The Education Review Office has always given the schools good reviews. Principal Andrew Cranshaw said their biggest issue has always been providing suitable premises.
The school is remedying that, and will soon have a total of 18 classrooms. A building has been removed and is being replaced by a new $800,000-$900,000 two-storey block with an administration centre for the school and parish, and four classrooms. It should be finished by May next year.
Worldwide there are 104 schools that cater for children of Society of St Pius X (SSPX) families. Those in Gonville started in 1994, with 10 children. Since then their appeal, combined with the Latin Masses said daily at St Anthony's Church, have drawn about 100 families to Wanganui. The schools are expected to go on growing, especially with female boarders.
The families in the parish come from 24 different nations including Maori, Pacific Island, Indian, Canadian, Malaysian and Filipino, and all those flags fly in their church processions.
Fr Cranshaw said the society loved that diversity.
"The Catholic Church is universal and the school is likewise for everybody. We do attract people from overseas because we offer a stable family environment from the start to university age. The parents can come and settle down, and put their children in school in a Christian environment. That's certainly a real support to them, because in today's day and age [finding] that can be really challenging."
St Anthony's Church seats 150 people but its congregation numbers 400. On Sundays cars line Alma Rd and masses are said three times a day to accommodate them all.
The people of Gonville are also treated to two colourful church processions a year, featuring priests in flowing robes, women in lace head coverings and little girls strewing flowers along the footpaths.
It was "God's choice" to consolidate SSPX families in Wanganui, Fr Cranshaw said.
"When the SSPX started its work in New Zealand in the 1980s the very first parish that we started was here, because that's where the need manifested itself. The faithful said "Please come. We are ready to help"."
The late Alida Peek and Elizabeth Hubers, with Pat Grace, Colin Smith and Jon and Betty Hos were among those original faithful. They were part of a Rosary group that met regularly and heard about Fr Cummings, from the Redemptorist religious order, who travelled New Zealand and Australia celebrating the traditional Latin Mass for small pockets of Catholics. They invited him to Wanganui.
Those original people still have children and grandchildren who are members of the parish.
Wanganui's community spirit makes it a good place for the schools.
"There's a really good focus on the well-being of the community, rather than just on profit and personal interest," Fr Cranshaw said.
He's at the schools most of the time. But he's also responsible for propagating the SSPX faith elsewhere in New Zealand, and in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, and has to travel.
Wanganui is lucky to have the schools, he believes.
Wanganui is lucky to have the schools, he believes.
"A non-profit entity offering a Christian education for families in a low decile area can only be a plus."
He sees SSPX families as a smaller community within the larger Wanganui community and said they had strong values - but not separatist ones. They work and have friendships and interests outside their church.
The most noticeable differences from other Gonville residents could be their larger families, who watch less television and whose women dress more modestly.
"TV doesn't play a very big part in their lives and we encourage it to play no part at all, because we find it so corrosive."
SSPX people have big families because they like them, he said, and not just because birth control is contrary to nature and "against God's law".
"There are many, many benefits for children and parents in having lots of children."
Big families help to fill the school roll, and there were plenty of babies at the St Anthony end-of-year production recently.
The two schools are private, which gives them "a bit more freedom and a lot less money".
It costs a family $2000 a year for the first child in a school, $1700 for the second, $1500 for the third and so on - a big cost for some.
"We are not dealing with high income earners. We have parents with very moderate incomes who make a lot of sacrifices to send their children to the school."
About 20 per cent of costs are paid by fees, 40 per cent comes from government and another 40 per cent comes from national and international donations and fundraising. A bikeathon in August, where each student rode for an hour, had many overseas sponsors. It raised $62,000. A car raffle is planned for 2016, and donations of smaller prizes are being sought.
It helps school finances that none of the teachers are paid. There are 25 staff members, including 10 religious sisters who live onsite and four priests who live offsite. People are chosen to join the Dominican Sisters and International Society of St Pius X based on their ability to teach and suitability as role models.
"We don't take anyone. We are very, very picky.
"Our staff, if they are not already registered teachers, are pursuing qualifications to become registered teachers. That's a requirement for any school in New Zealand, except a charter school."
The school does take students who are not Catholic, but not many and only if their families show interest in the Catholic faith by attending Mass.
The school has a classical curriculum, with a strong foundation in arts and sciences, music and physical education. Students get one period of catechism a day. From Year 7 onward they all learn Latin and French - French because its the language most staff are qualified in.
"We find that a significant number of those who come from our traditional circles are French speaking."
Senior girls and boys are taught separately because they learn differently - not to keep them apart. Fr Cranshaw said they had plenty of chances to spend time together outside of classes in their families and at breaks.
"There's definitely a focus on forming the girl to develop her femininity and not to lose it. There's a tendency in modern society to perhaps overly focus on what women can do, but to the point where she forgets where her greatness is - being a mother. She's geared to forming and nurturing life."
The boys are prepared for fatherhood.
"They need suitable jobs to provide for the family but also (need to) know how to work in a team, to also form others, educate others."
Year 11 to 13 students sit Cambridge International Examinations, and have a three-term year that fits with exam timing. There's a 90 per cent pass rate for Year 11 students. In Years 12 and 13, the pass rate ranges from 70 to 90 per cent.
Most go on to university, and go into the military, law, politics, medicine, the arts, trades, engineering and science. One, Megan Foster, is just finishing her fourth year of fine arts at Auckland University.
Classes are small and the schools provide a family environment with pupils of all ages together at breaks.
"It's very easy to keep on top of issues like bullying. There's also very good teacher-pupil ratios and interaction."
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