Vatican warns against secularized public schools

September 09, 2009

The Congregation for Catholic Education on September 8 released the text of a letter to the presidents of bishops’ conferences on religious education in schools. The letter, dated May 5 and signed by the congregation’s prefect and secretary, summarizes Catholic teaching “about the role of schools in the Catholic formation of young people, about the nature and identity of the Catholic school, about religious education in schools, and about the freedom of choice of school and confessional religious education.”

Emphasizing and right and duties of Catholic parents to educate their children in the faith, the letter warns against secularism in state-run schools:

The marginalization of religious education in schools is equivalent to assuming – at least in practice – an ideological position that can lead pupils into error or do them a disservice. Moreover, if religious education is limited to a presentation of the different religions, in a comparative and “neutral” way, it creates confusion or generates religious relativism or indifferentism. In this respect, Pope John Paul II explained: “The question of Catholic education includes […] religious education in the more general milieu of school, whether it be Catholic or State-run. The families of believers have the right to such education; they must have the guarantee that the State school – precisely because it is open to all – not only will not put their children’s faith in peril, but will rather complete their integral formation with appropriate religious education. This principle must be included within the concept of religious freedom and of the truly democratic State, which as such – that is, in obedience to its deepest and truest nature – puts itself at the service of the citizens, of all citizens, in respect for their rights and their religious convictions”

“Catholic schools,” the document adds, “are characterised by the institutional link they keep with the Church hierarchy, which guarantees that the instruction and education be grounded in the principles of the Catholic faith and imparted by teachers of right doctrine and probity of life.”

 

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Further information:

• Circular Letter To The Presidents Of Bishops' Conferences On Religious Education In Schools (Congregation for Catholic Education)
• Vatican Letter on Catholic Education (Zenit)