Obama: religious schools block lasting peace in Northern Ireland
June 18, 2013
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US President Barack Obama has argued that parochial schools are an impediment to the establishment of a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.
Speaking to a crowd in Belfast, during a trip to Northern Ireland for a G8 summit meeting, Obama said that “segregated schools” block the path to full reconciliation. “If towns remain divided, if Catholics have their schools and buildings and Protestants have theirs, if we can't see ourselves in one another, if fear or resentment are allowed to harden, that encourages division, it discourages co-operation," he said.
Ironically, President Obama made his comments just as Archbishop Gerhard Müller, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told a crowd in Scotland that religious education upholds the dignity of the human person. Archbishop Müller said that Catholic schools should promote “all that is good in the philosophies of societies and human culture.”
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Further information:
- Obama tells North's youth 'peace is now in your hands' (Irish Independent)
- US president undermines Catholic schools after Vatican Prefect praised them (Scottish Catholic Observer)
- Archbishop Mueller: human dignity central to education (CNA)
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Posted by: -
Jun. 19, 2013 1:10 AM ET USA
More arrogant know nothingness and a glimpse of the real Mr. Obama and his secular anti religious belief system. Nothing like fanning the flames of religious discord. This man is a clear and present danger to the Church and the sooner the Church realizes this the better.
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Posted by: TheJournalist64 -
Jun. 18, 2013 7:27 PM ET USA
Let's see. Didn't this guy turn his back on the perfectly good DC "integrated" schools for his two girls in favor of a Quaker school? Like the Clintons?
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Posted by: unum -
Jun. 18, 2013 6:56 PM ET USA
Another inappropriate remark by a visitor with no manners. Forgive us Ireland. We are not all like our offensive President.
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Posted by: FredC -
Jun. 18, 2013 6:15 PM ET USA
If Obama thinks parochial schools are divisive in Ireland, he must also think they are divisive in the U.S. Will Obama issue another executive order, this time specifying what can and cannot be taught in U.S. schools?
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Posted by: Defender -
Jun. 18, 2013 1:17 PM ET USA
This guy has a real Messiah Complex, doesn't he. It's almost, "Well I've been trying to bring down the Church in the United States, now let's try Ireland."
