Tommy Sheppard, MP for Edinburgh East, told a Humanist Society Scotland Fringe meeting last year that people should “chip away” at the “power of organised religion” within schools.
His remarks at the event – which was promoting the society’s “Enlighten Up” campaign to end mandatory religious representation on councils’ education committees – only came to light in recent weeks and drew an angry reaction from the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.
Mr Sheppard, who describes himself as a humanist, said the role of religion in classrooms was for “people to learn about it but not for it to define the value system in the school”.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church said the comments were “chillingly intolerant” and a “blatant attack on religious freedom”.
However, Mr Sheppard has denied that he is against the notion of state-funded Catholic schools per se, rather than the requirement for unelected church representatives to sit on education committees that help determine education policy for everyone.
“Catholic schools exist and form an important part of our education system,” Mr Sheppard wrote in a blog.
“If, though, they are to be funded from the taxes we all pay for public education then there must be an expectation that they will provide an inclusive and comprehensive service to the whole community.”
He also stressed that he had “no more or less antipathy towards Catholicism than any other religion”.
He drew a difference between the overall character and ethos of a school, which might be informed by its relationship to a religious faith, and the content of teaching it provides.
“That should not, I believe, be conditioned by religious belief, particularly in sciences and humanities.”
Mr Sheppard went on to say that he knew of several “very good” Catholic schools in his own constituency which uphold that distinction.
“They do excellent work and I have no intention of doing anything other than commending them for it,” he said.
“I’d be lying if I said I saw this situation as ideal according to my belief system, but it is certainly one I can live with and one I have no ‘plan’ to try and change.”
He cited the 1973 Local Government (Scotland) Act, which requires each local authority education committee to appoint three religious members – one Church of Scotland, one Catholic and one other.
“It is an anachronism that will have to be addressed at some point. It is certainly very hard to justify why some faiths and not others should have a vote on committees which decide everyone’s education.”