Independent Catholic News reports the view of Archbishop Vincent Nichols that “Catholic schools in England and Wales must strongly oppose any action or proposal that would sexualize children or be seen as in any way promoting sexual activity outside the context of married relationships.”  (Archbishop Nichols is Chairman of the Catholic Education Service of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.)

Addressing Governors of Catholic schools in the North East of England on Saturday 27th September 2008 , the Archbishop of Birmingham insisted: “In Catholic schools sex and relationship education must always be designed and delivered according to the teaching of the Church. It is this alone that gives critical stability to what Catholic schools do and to the coherence of the arguments they make.”

The Archbishop emphasized: “This is not simply a matter of responding to or resisting public opinion or widespread behaviour. It is a conviction of faith that here lies the correct use of the wonderful gift of human sexuality, both as an expression of a conscious and faithful self giving to another, and as an action of such intimacy that it creates human life in partnership with the Creator of all.”

He continued: “The Catholic school must be centered on the faith. Christ is the centre of a Catholic school and RE is the core of the curriculum, because it is in RE that we seek to systematically understand what it is to live life in relationship to Christ and in the light of the truth that he brings.”