Bishop Richard Umbers has encouraged the latest graduating cohort of the Archbishop’s Leadership Formation Program to model the relationship between faith and reason “to so many students, but also our own society.”
Over 30 schoolteachers completed the staff faith formation and networking course run jointly by Sydney Catholic Schools and the Archdiocese of Sydney, also known as the “Two Wings” program.
They were presented with plaques and medallions at a ceremony at the archdiocesan chancery on Wednesday 28 August.
The Two Wings initiative forms teachers under age 35 in the SCS system on the relationship between faith and reason within the Catholic tradition, to help navigate issues in modern society and evangelise in and outside the classroom.
The graduates are the second cohort since the program started in 2022, which identifies potential future leaders in Catholic education.
“[Faith and reason] go together, and in fact we find in our world in the west that faith increasingly creates a preserve for reason,” Bishop Umbers told the graduating class in his address.
“This is the worldview in which we undertake our education, our planning, our horizons.”
The program was initially conceived in 2020 by Bishop Umbers with Manager of Network Catholic Identity at SCS, Dr Robert Haddad.
Participants are required to attend a series of lectures on Catholic leadership, theology and philosophy, their choice of Scholarship at the Cathedral or Bishop’s Blend events, complete a 1000-word essay and attend a two-day retreat.
Four graduates from the cohort will travel to Ecuador this week at a subsidised cost for the International Eucharistic Congress.
The remaining graduates will have the chance to attend next year’s International Jubilee Youth Festival in Rome.
“Without reason we can end up in superstition. But without faith, reason many times can find itself in a cul-de-sac, in problems that it can’t see a way out of,” Bishop Umbers said.
“These cannot be taken for granted and we, through our practice of the faith and carrying out education, are contributing in a very real way.
“What I’m hoping through the education that you impart to so many of the students, they are able to appreciate and take on board this mutual relationship of faith and reason.”
Dr Robert Haddad told The Catholic Weekly that the success of the first two cohorts is proof teachers are “hungry to know more.”
“These young aspirants, some already leaders in their own rights, get to know the organisation’s vision. The archdiocese likewise gets to know the great future leaders of our system. It’s a reciprocal benefit,” Dr Haddad explained.
The program is a shining example of collaboration between the archdiocese and Sydney Catholic Schools, he added.
“These aren’t separate entities; the relationship is very organic between them. It’s quite clear both are very keen for this to continue.”
The next cohort is expected to begin near the end of 2024.