THE two leaders of Scotland’s Catholics have clashed over proposals for faith and non- denominational schools to share the same buildings.

Keith O’Brien, the Archbishop of Edinburgh and St Andrews, has rejected claims by Mario Conti, the Archbishop of Glasgow, that proposals for Catholic and Protestant pupils to be taught on shared campuses were “offensive” and akin to calling for the repatriation of the Irish.

The proposal for shared campuses has the support of the first minister, Jack McConnell, who believes they could break down barriers and help tackle sectariansim in Scotland. “It would bring to an end the segregation that exists in some communities based around your schooling rather than any common interest in the community,” he said.

Archbishop O’Brien said he believed there were advantages to shared campuses. The practice has already worked at some schools in Edinburgh and he believes it could be applied in other parts of Scotland.

Archbishop Conti reacted angrily to McConnell’s suggestion, which he said was “offensive”. Sectarianism, he said, was fuelled by the “poisoned fruit of the religious wars of yesterday” and insisted the abolition or amalgamation of Catholic schools was like asking for the “repatriation of the Irish”.

Archbishop O’Brien, who is chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said he believes shared campuses have allowed Catholics to attend their own schools despite financial restrictions and limited school rolls in some of Edinburgh’s suburbs and outlying areas.

“There are separate schools with shared facilities and I have been more than happy with the way they’ve worked in the archdiocese for some time,” he said.

“I am also pleased to see officials and staff from other areas which have not had shared campuses coming to Edinburgh to see how they operate.

O’Brien said McConnell’s intervention in the debate was “reasonable” but dismissed any link between Catholic schools and bigotry. “I don’t think sectarianism is anything to do with schooling,” he said.

Edinburgh city council is proposing to build a new shared campus for the Catholic St Augustine’s High and Forrester High, a non-denominational school, if its bid for a second phase of privately-financed schools is approved by the Scottish executive this spring.

Council figures also expect North Lanarkshire to send a formal delegation to examine Edinburgh’s joint campuses.

At the end of last year Joseph Devine, the Bishop of Motherwell, also criticised the idea of shared campuses. He claimed the structure would “not respect the ethos of Catholic education” and argued that the identity of Catholic schools could be lost.

McConnell has launched a consultation, to define how religion should be observed in schools, that has the support of the Church of Scotland. The consultation is part of an executive drive to tackle the root causes of sectarianism.

Donald Gorrie, the Liberal Democrat MSP who has championed legislation to combat sectarianism, provoked anger among Catholics when he said that “society might be better” if the separate schools system were abolished.

Kirsty Wark, the broadcaster, urged head teachers to question the separate funding of Scotland’s 412 state Catholic schools.

Catholic educationalists have described the calls as insulting, insisting that the schools are dedicated to religious tolerance.

A recent survey by the National Centre for Social Research showed 81% of Scots in favour of ending separate Catholic education with only 13% in favour of retaining it. oDaily religious assemblies are to be phased out at schools in Edinburgh and replaced with purpose-built rooms where individual pupils can go to pray throughout the day.

Under proposals being considered by the council, secondaries would be equipped with “quiet places” where pupils can go to study about their own faith, meditate or pray.

They would end the tradition, already fast disappearing, of pupils gathering in school halls at the start of the day to sing hymns and listen to bible readings. Only a third of schools still hold daily assemblies.

The move has the backing of the Church of Scotland which believes that daily assemblies are outdated. In its submission to a government consultation on religious observance, it recommends that five or six assemblies each school year is sufficient in most secondaries.

Edinburgh council’s head of education, Rev Ewan Aitken, has agreed proposals with council officials to build in space for a quiet room in each new school. Last November, the council unveiled a £1 billion plan to rebuild or upgrade a number of city schools as part of its second public private partnership scheme.

If the executive approves the request, Boroughmuir High, Broughton High, Craigroyston Community High, Forrester High, Portobello High, St Augustine’s RC High and Tynecastle High would all be demolished and replaced by 2007 complete with “quiet rooms”.

Aitken said religious activity in most non-denominational schools is now restricted to memorial services, Christmas and Easter services, prize-givings and school assemblies.

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