Truth, Beauty and Goodness: Dialogue with the Divine

The nature of Catholic schools is ever-changing, as they increasingly draw upon young people from a wide variety of social, cultural and religious backgrounds. This has often impacted upon religious instruction and people’s commitment to and support of the mission and ecclesial identity of the school. For the greater part, Catholic schools are pluralistic in nature. This diversity has become more pronounced in recent decades with the emergence of cultural postmodernity, characterized by a significant shift in people’s core values, and their religious beliefs and practices. Catholic schools can effectively respond to these challenges, and to the diversity of their own communities through the provision of a robust Religious Education curriculum that is engaging, promotes dialogue and is characterized by quality pedagogical practices. Through the integration of the Liberal Arts, Sydney Catholic Schools found that Religious Education can be enriched by the search for ‘truth, beauty and goodness’, which represents a dialogue with the divine.