Catholic schools should not be used as a venue to express political aspirations, the Hong Kong Catholic diocese has told its teachers and students, reminding them to not spread “ideologies of hatred and violence” at the start of the new school year.

In a letter to Catholic schools sent on Wednesday, the episcopal delegate for education Peter Lau said school staff should work together to ensure daily operations can recover as soon as possible from last year’s “social incidents” and trouble caused by the suspension of classes due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Schools should protect freedom of speech in and outside of class, while students and staff must “express opinions in a peaceful, rational and respectful manner, while caring for the principles of education,” Lau said in the letter, titled as a “back to school memo.”

But Lau issued a warning that “no one should use the school as a venue for expressing political aspirations,” nor should anyone spread “ideologies of hatred and violence.”

Schools should “stay alert” and ensure that any school clubs made in the school’s name, and all students wearing uniform during off campus activities, required prior approval.

Any deviation in student behavior should first be dealt with by the school, and students should be given a chance to turn over a new leaf. The school said it would consider other methods to deal with more serious cases, without mentioning specifics.

There are around 250 education institutions with Catholic backgrounds, according to official figures of the diocese. Almost half of them are run by the church, while others are run by charities such as Caritas.

Lau told Apple Daily the letter was not an order that schools had to follow and that similar memos were sent at the beginning of every school year.

“From the teachers’ point of view, you can’t silence students,” Lau said, adding that schools should have freedom of speech and academic discussions should be allowed.

“But if a teacher or student advocates others, or incites others by intimidation to follow his or her actions, that shouldn’t be allowed,” he said.

When asked if activities such as students forming human chains constituted as off campus activities that required prior permission, Lau stressed they were not against such activities, but it was possible that they could fall under that category.

Last September, students from around 200 secondary schools formed human chains to protest against the now-withdrawn extradition bill that has since evolved into a citywide anti-government movement.

In July, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung said schools should stop students from carrying out activities such as chanting slogans while forming human chains, as they often carried strong political messages.

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