St Pius X High School, one of the 12 Catholic high schools in the Diocese of Maitland and Newcastle, will change its name when it expands its teaching cohort to include Years 7 through 12 in 2025.
The school, which opened in January 1959 and became a flashpoint of a royal commission into instances of clerical child abuse in 2013, has traditionally taught students through Years 7 to 10, but a major overhaul of the Catholic school system, announced last May, will see the Adamstown college join San Clemente at Mayfield in opening to HSC students over the next four years.
The Diocese released a statement Wednesday saying that in the course of its consultation on the transition, the school community had raised issues with the college's connection, or "charism", with St Pius X.
It said it respected "the history of St Pius X at Adamstown" and would "continue to acknowledge this" but noted that a key recommendation on its teaching transition was to "discern the potential of a new charism and cultural identity".
Pope Pius X was canonised in 1954, and served as Bishop of Rome from 1903 until his death in 1914.
He was noted for his conservative theology and rejection of what he termed "modernism" in the Church, which sought to reconcile Catholicism with modern culture in response to Enlightenment thinking.
Former students and survivors of abuse at the school have been sceptical of the Diocese's move to change the college's name and questioned its motives.
"The school has a history," Bob O'Toole, the co-founder and chair of the Hunter's Clergy Abuse Network, said Thursday after the Diocese posted a call for feedback on the name change to its website.
"Why change the name?"
"Personally, I'm not in favour of changing the name. It is still the same school and maybe (the Diocese) needs to make some recognition that in former times, it was a dangerous place to be."
He said survivors who had been in contact with him had questioned whether the change was "an attempt to cover up or shield the current cohort from the past". At least one person he had been in contact with this week had said they had no knowledge of the Diocese's intentions.
"The Diocese of Maitland and Newcastle recognises, respects and will continue to acknowledge all aspects of St Pius X High School's history," the Diocese said in further comments Thursday.
"We now want to explore name options to enhance the spiritual formation of students and embrace a new spiritual charism and educational identity for the school."
During a "listening assembly" attended by 400 of the school community, held as part of the Diocese's consultation last year, the organisation said it had resolved to maintain the charisms of its other schools in the region; namely that of the Marist and St Dominican associations of St Francis Xavier and San Clemente.
St Pius X will formally take on a new name at the beginning of 2025 when the first class of Year 11 students commences, and has invited the school community to have their say on finalising the new charism.
Feedback has been sought for the names "Lumen Christi Catholic College" and "Assisi Catholic College", and the Diocese has opened a submissions form for other suggestions on the proviso that names be "clearly Catholic", "non-offensive" and "easy to pronounce".
Suggestions should also "animate the culture of the school" and "inspire modern secondary school students", the Diocese said.
Mr O'Toole said the change had potential to cause trauma among the school community, and inspire complex feelings of grief among survivors, and urged anyone experiencing difficulty to reach out to his organisation for support.
In May 2022, the Diocese undertook an overhaul of its education model to expand the cohorts of three of its high schools in a "staged and planned way" over five years.
It said at the time that the current model of multiple year 7 to 10 schools feeding into a large senior secondary college was "an appropriate response to the educational needs and funding realities of the 1990s" but "the educational context of the current day has changed significantly".
The decision drew the ire of some in the Catholic schools community, with parents describing it as "disappointing" amid concerns for student performance particularly during the HSC, but schools director Gerard Mowbray said at the time that "students' learning outcomes and wellbeing have been at the core of this decision making".
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