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From the first moment that a student sets foot in a Catholic school, he or she ought to have the impression of entering a new environment, one illumined by the light of faith, and having its own unique characteristics. The [Second Vatican] Council summed this up by speaking of an environment permeated with the Gospel spirit of love and freedom.

The ‘religious dimension of the Catholic school’ is its identity and mission, always founded in the person of Jesus Christ as it comes to us through the Good News. In very explicit ways, the religious dimension ensures a thorough integration of identity and mission into the whole of the educational experience of every learner.

The Catholic school is commissioned by the Church to attend to the full flourishing of the person as created in the image and likeness of God. By its work of educating in openness to the mystery of God and in response to Jesus’ commandment of love, the school becomes a presence of the Church in the local and wider society. The Catholic school therefore has a clear religious identity, operating in a context of Catholic faith and promoting the formation of students’ identity in dialogue with that faith.