Catholic school bans fund-raising for Comic Relief

Students at St Paul’s Catholic College in Burgess Hill in Sussex have been told not to participate in Red Nose Day because some of the money raised might be used to support charities that supply contraception or recommend abortion – activities that conflict with the school’s so-called “Catholic ethos”.

A parent of a girl at the College told the local Argus newspaper: “It is a shame for the children because they wanted to do their bit. It is a pity they can’t take part when children at many other Catholic schools are. Many of the charities Comic Relief helps have nothing to do with contraception or anything like that.”

Much of Comic Relief’s work is done in Africa, where Aids is a major problem and it is considered vital that condoms are made available. The Catholic Church, though, opposes such life-saving methods.

An agreement was made between the Church and Comic Relief seven years ago to ensure Catholics could still raise money if they had assurances it would not be spent on any causes which clashed with their beliefs. Laura McCann, a policy and briefing officer for the Catholic Education Service, said there was no national policy regarding Red Nose Day and schools were at liberty to make their own decisions. She said: “We have been assured by Comic Relief that no money at all goes to abortion charities. Three to five per cent goes to family planning measures. Schools are welcome to take part but they should make clear they don’t want their donations to go towards reproductive health.”

A spokeswoman for Comic Relief said it had kept in contact with the England and Wales Bishops’ Conference since the agreement and remained confident Catholics were able to support Red Nose Day in good faith.

She said: “Our funding in Africa goes to all kinds of projects – providing education, rehabilitating child soldiers, peace-building, fair trade, supporting street children and disabled people and a range of other work helping people in Africa to turn their lives around. A small percentage goes to projects with a family planning component. We support this work because of the important contribution it can make to the health of children and families and to the empowerment of women in Africa, especially in the light of the terrible effects of HIV and AIDS across much of the continent. None of the money we have allocated as grants has been used to support abortions.”

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, asked: “How on earth have we allowed these fanatics to get hold of publicly-funded schools and inflict their religious obsessions on the pupils there?”