The Catholic Church in Britain has become embroiled in controversy
The Catholic Church in Britain has become embroiled in controversy after it effectively banned schools from teaching students about Islam as part of religious studies Express newspaper reported.
Under new General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) reforms, UK schools are required to teach more than one faith in religious studies, which came as part of a governmental plan to integrate students from different religious backgrounds, and it is intended to drive extremism out of classrooms.
Catholic schools have opted to only teach students about Judaism alongside Christianity. This decision effectively rules out teaching about the world’s second biggest religion.
Iqbal Sacranie, the former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said that this decision has undermined Pope Francis’s message of greater tolerance between the faiths. He urged Catholic leader Cardinal Vincent Nichols to think again.
It is noteworthy that critics say that a significant numbers of pupils who attend Catholic Church schools in Britain come from an Islamic background and that the Catholic Church has more than 2,000 schools under its domain in the country.
