Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madrid (Fides Service) - The Catholic Bishops of Spain are calling for freedom of education and pledging full support for the demonstration in Madrid, tomorrow Saturday 12 November to protest against a proposed new Education Law.
In a pastoral letter “November 12 Demonstration: an extremely serious matter” Archbishop Francisco Gil Hellín of Burgos said if a peace loving sector of society such as parents and families “takes to the streets” the situation is very critical. “Not only does the government refuse to listen to parents’ opinion with regard to the religious education of their children, it intends also to impose its own ideas. In the context of all kinds of obstacles and a policy which has reduced family assistance to one of the lowest in Europe, - the archbishop said - the government now wants to impose a certain type of state education which is the exact opposite of the education desired by our children’s parents”. Parents have the right to give children a religious and moral education. This is a right which the state must guarantee not eliminate, and it must guarantee also the conditions in which it can be exercised. “Only a totalitarian and dictatorial policy can supplant parents" archbishop Gil Hellín stigmatises.
Archbishop Agustín García-Gasco of Valencia said in a recent pastoral letter : “If our government intends to impose its own concept of life and make the Christian family and its educational requirements a reality to oppose, families will inevitable speak out as it is their lawful right in a democracy. We Bishops are with parents, we are for life and freedom”.
For his part Archbishop Fernando Sebastián of Pamplona said “society has the right to defend and demand democratic education which is at the service of the convictions and wishes of people not the ideology of the government of the day”. He said what he finds most negative in the LOE is the “statement that education is a public service, a primary right of the State and consequently a monopoly and concession of the state” which supposes "a very authoritarian concept of education”.
“As Bishops we have the duty and the right to speak out to oppose this proposed Law on education because very important values are at stake” said Bishop José Sánchez González of Sigüenza-Guadalajara. The Bishop’s main concern is that the law fails to respect rights and freedoms. In this way “the state assumes an excessive and predominant role almost exclusive, practically restricting parents and institutions to a secondary role”.
Archbishop Antonio Cañizares of Toledo who is Primate of Spain, said the main drawbacks of the proposed LOE law are that it fails to give religious instruction adequate academic status, it fails to guarantee the right to open and run private schools and it fails to guarantee the right of parents to decide how children are educated. He said that since national leaders refuse to listen to parents the latter have ever right to use every other lawful means to make their views heard and rights respected. In fact although parents have collected three million signatures to protest the law, they have received no attention. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 11/11/2005, righe 41, parole 539)
