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Boycott Threat at School Over Catholic Icons
[Source: The Hrerald (Glascow), April 7, 2006]

Parents have threatened to withdraw their children from a primary school on Scotland's first joint campus because of a row over crucifixes and a statue of the Virgin Mary.

They claim the communal area in the shared non-denominational and Catholic school contains religious iconography and are threatening a boycott.

The controversial Caldercruix campus in the Monklands area of Lanarkshire, which incorporates Glengowan Primary School and St Mary's Primary School, was opened in January despite a legal challenge from the Catholic Church.

Some parents of non-Catholic children are threatening to withdraw them from school because crucifixes and the statue are kept in the communal foyer.

They have a petition with 200 names which they are sending to North Lanarkshire Council claiming St Mary's school staff have turned the foyer into a chapel and asking for the items to be removed.

One mother, who signed the petition but asked not to be named, said: "We were told there would be no religious symbols going up in the shared part of the school.

"The most annoying thing is that the council has gone back on its word. We wouldn't have agreed to the school if we knew this was going to happen. This is not about bigotry, but we were promised there would be no iconography. School is for education and should have nothing to do with religion."

The campus was opposed by senior Catholics including Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell, who claimed it would affect the quality of Catholic education.

Pupils use a communal main entrance which takes them into a shared foyer. There are then separate entrances to each school, one to the left for St Mary's and the other to the right for Glengowan.

No-one at the school was available for comment yesterday. But council leader Jim McCabe said staff at St Mary's had done nothing wrong.

He added: "These are two unique and separate schools that share a facility. They have always been entitled to have a crucifix above their entrance."

Murdo Maciver, North Lanarkshire Council's head of educational provision, said: "Within the shared campus, each school is able to decide on how it wants to promote its own individual identity and both schools have the opportunity to build this into the internal main entrance to their own school."

Elsewhere, more than 100 parents, children and politicians gathered outside Glasgow City Council's chambers yesterday in a protest against council plans to close 28 primary schools across the city.

The march in George Square was the first time members of three local Save Our Schools campaigns have demonstrated together.

Save Our Schools spokeswoman, Anthea Irwin, said: "The march was a real show of strength from across the city. It shows that the campaign is really united now, which is really positive. It shows the council that we will fight on."

Strange Heaven: The Virgin Mary as Woman, Mother, Disciple and Advocate
[Source: Publishers Weekly Reviews, May 15, 2006]

Strange Heaven: The Virgin Mary as Woman, Mother, Disciple and Advocate by Jon M. Sweeney.
Paraclete, $21.95 (220p) ISBN 1-55725-432-X

Pious devotions to Mary the mother of Jesus, once derided as superstitious by non-Catholic Christians, are reconsidered by award-winning Protestant author Sweeney (Born Again and Again). Drawing upon excellent scholarship, Christian history and spiritual traditions, Sweeney recounts how a humble Palestinian teenage girl came to be revered by many Christians as the "mother of God." While there is a dearth of historical facts about Mary, it matters not to the Christian imagination, for "It is her myth that draws us: her power to fascinate us intellectually is only surpassed by her ability to inspire devotion." Sweeney is clear that Mary's significance transcends even her role as the mother of Jesus. Mary's virginity influenced the development of Christian sexual ethics, she is praised in the Islamic Qur'an and some would say that her role in redeeming humanity is equal to her son's. Sweeney is very evenhanded when addressing some of the more controversial Catholic beliefs about Mary--his prose comes across as earnest and respectful, while remaining informed and unafraid of critique. This book may not convince Protestants that Mary deserves the privileged place that the Catholic Church gives to her, but it is a fascinating and well-researched exploration of a powerful female archetypal figure.

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