Polish bishops demand full return of religion classes ahead of school year

Ahead of the start of the school year in Poland, local bishops there again raised concerns about changes introduced by the Ministry of National Education. They call for the full restoration of religious education and warn about mandatory “health education.”

We feel “obligated to speak out in the spirit of pastoral care for the young,” the episcopate writes in a statement titled “A Young Person Deserves More.”

The document was published Aug. 24 and signed by the presidency of the Polish Bishops’ Conference headed by Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gdańsk.

“Religion classes are not a privilege of the Church” but “a constitutional right” based on “freedom of conscience and religion and the right of parents to raise their children in accordance with their own beliefs,” the document stresses.

They also say religious classes can help nonbelievers in schools better understand the history of the nation and Europe as well as the arts, culture, and literature. “Especially in times of crisis,” the document says, religion is a “guiding light that prevents them from getting lost.”

The episcopacy raised concerns that the Ministry of National Education placed “religious education classes before or after other school activities,” reduced “teaching time to one hour per week,” eased mixing of such classes, and removed their grade from the grade point average. They said these measures marginalize religious formation in schools and called for “the immediate restoration of these classes to their proper place and for a genuine dialogue with representatives of religious communities.”

At the same time, the episcopate says “formation of values” is not “opposed to pluralism,” as it “enables respectful dialogue and building community.” Thus, it is not opposed to the choice between religion and ethics classes.

Polish Catholic leaders also voiced reservations about the new compulsory subject “health education.” Although it leaves the theme of sexuality optional, they said it “does not solve the problem,” since such “a sensitive area of human life must respect parents’ right to decide” on its form.

They also argue that sexuality should be presented in the context of marital and family relationships, because in this context it serves the true good of humanity. They add that “the lack of a clear position that marriage is a union between a man and a woman is also concerning.”

So far, the proposed changes have sparked controversy due to conflicting views of education. Apart from bishops, the Coalition to Save the Polish Schools opposed “health education” for its allegedly “anti-family and gender-ideology character.”