Education

Human beings fully alive is the glory of God, St Irenaeus tells us. Human beings fully alive is the goal of education, a goal that as Catholic educators in the Church of Armagh we take very seriously.

It is the responsibility of the whole Christian community to share its vision of the human person and the purpose of human life. This vision and purpose is revealed in Jesus Christ who came that we may have life and have it to the full.

Education begins in the home. The Christian family, Pope John Paul II reminded us, is the first community called to announce the Gospel to its members to bring them to full human and Christian maturity.

Working in partnership the community of the home, the parishes and schools in the diocese function as Catholic communities of faith and love committed to leading the young and not so young to the fullness of human life and Christian maturity.

Education is more than schooling. It begins in the cradle and continues to the grave. It is carried out in the home, the school, the parish, the workplace and in places of recreation. It happens in a variety of ways: giving example, sharing, reflecting on experience, witnessing, instructing, loving and forgiving, nurturing and challenging, joining in family and community rituals, praying. It has many forms, happens in many places with many different learners and teachers, but it always has the same goal: the human person fully alive.

This section of the website offers some information on some of the ways and stages and places in which the educational vocation is lived out in our diocese.