The Catholic Church has launched its first charter for Catholic schools in an effort to promote better understanding of what it describes as their "distinctive educational provision".
The document, which lays out the essential elements of the church's philosophy of education, is being circulated to all Catholic schools, directors of education, and Scotland's 129 MSPs.
Michael McGrath, director of the Catholic Education Service, said the launch of the charter was "an attempt to offer a more positive vision of what we are trying to do and help people understand that".
He said he wanted the wider community to understand that denominational schools are "inclusive in the sense that they honour life and the dignity of each person, they try to give people an understanding of gospel values, which are shared and celebrated, and promote the importance of committing service to the common good and social justice".
However, he added: "We would not want to imply that Catholic schools are superior to any other kind of schools, morally, academically or intellectually."
Ronnie Smith, of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said it was "a positive development that it was prepared to recognise the contribution that can be made by staff of a variety of backgrounds."