Polish Bishops for the 14th Week of Education: Dear Parents, ensure that your children participate in religious education in school

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The hierarchs acknowledge that in addition to the mental, intellectual and physical spheres, the educational process should also include the spiritual sphere. “The need for a relationship with God is, after all, one of man's natural needs” – they emphasize.

The bishops point out that “cooperation in the process of education is a great good, the value of which can be seen in the context of today's difficult educational challenges”. “To carry out the process of education together requires the recognition of the right to diversity and the right to preserve one's identity according to one's own convictions and religious beliefs. What is needed is respect, respect for those values in which parents want to bring up their children. This cannot be destroyed in any way. Christian parents have the right to bring up their children according to their faith” – they add.

“Dear Parents, ensure that your children participate in religious education in shool.On the day of their baptism you made the decision for them to embark on the path of faith” – Polish bishops emphasize. They point out that from the point of view of the effectiveness of upbringing, it would be disastrous if there were a “contradiction between the values transmitted by the school and those transmitted by the parents. And this would be the case if a child brought up in a Christian family were to be persuaded in a school environment to do the very opposite of the belief in God – because the school would be implementing an educational programme based on values contrary to the message of the Gospel”.

“Parents, whose taxes also support the school, have the right to demand that the school, by means of the religious instruction present in it, educates their child in harmony with the system of values handed down in the family and the Church” – they write.

Press Office of the Polish Bishops' Conference

We publish the full text of the Letter:

LET US EDUCATE TOGETHER

Pastoral Letter of the Polish Bishops' Conference for the 14th Week of Education

Dear brothers and sisters,

In today's first reading, God calls by the mouth of Moses on the people of Israel to observe the laws: “Observe them carefully, for this is your wisdom and discernment in the sight of the peoples…”(Deuteronomy 4:6). God, as the Good Pedagogue, educates his people by leading them towards ever greater perfection. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches that mere observance of the law is not the essence of religion. What is most important in it is a living relationship with God. Jesus states: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me”(Mk 7:6).

Fidelity to principles without deep inner inspiration is short-lived. It will not stand the test. In a situation of temptation or in the face of fear, man will abandon externally imposed rules, especially when there is a chance that human justice will not reach him. This situation has another negative dimension. Demanding that man abide by external norms without inner transformation will lead to frustration and to the rejection of even the most righteous rules, which he will find meaningless. This is especially true of young people. Hence, one of the most important objectives of education is to accompany the pupils in the formation of the sphere of inner convictions and motivations from which their later life choices will result. Next Sunday, 8 September, will mark the beginning of the 14th Week of Education, which will be held under the motto: “Let us educate together”. Its aim is to support the Church, the family and the school in their joint efforts around the education of children and young people.

1. The right of Christian parents to bring up their children on the basis of Gospel values

Parents have the right to the religious and moral upbringing of their children according to their own convictions. This is guaranteed to them by the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The Church, on the other hand, at the Second Vatican Council, recalled that from the perspective of faith, the concern of parents to ensure that the child's religious upbringing is harmoniously coordinated with the general upbringing is not only the right but also the task of parents. The Declaration on Christian Education states: “ The Church reminds parents of the duty that is theirs to arrange  (...) Christian formation to a degree that is abreast of their development in secular subjects. Therefore the Church esteems highly those civil authorities and societies which, bearing in mind the pluralism of contemporary society and respecting religious freedom, assist families so that the education of their children can be imparted in all schools according to the individual moral and religious principles of the families” (Declaration on Christian Education, n. 7).

Fortunately, those times are now history when parents' rights were taken away and the state tried to impose an alien view of the world on Polish families through schools, aiming to bring up the “new man”. A telling sign of their definitive end was the return of religious education to Polish schools and kindergartens on 1 September 1990 after 29 years of absence. This fact caused particular joy in the heart of St. John Paul II, who stated at the time: “Thanks to the recent changes in our homeland, religious education has returned to the classrooms and found its place and reflection in the educational system. Personally, I am very happy about this. At the same time, however, I would like to repeat here (...): it is given to you and at the same time inflicted on you” (John Paul II, Włocławek, 6 June 1991).

2. Religious needs among the basic human needs

When accompanying the pupils and forming oneself, all spheres of upbringing must be taken into account. The omission of any of them leads to the disruption of harmonious human development. It should be remembered that in addition to the mental, intellectual and physical spheres, the educational process should also include the spiritual sphere. The need for a relationship with God is, after all, one of man's natural needs. This truth was beautifully expressed by St Augustine in his Confessions: “For You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You” (Confessions I, 1).

Attention is now being drawn to the alarming increase in depression and anxiety disorders in adolescents. In such situations, competent psychological and psychiatric help is of course always necessary. However, it must not be forgotten that an important factor for mental health is a maturely lived religiousness. Many of you, dear brothers and sisters, know from your own experience what a support in life is faith and trust in God's providence. It is also worth reaching back into the past and referring to the lives of our ancestors. The generations before us lived through times of partitions, wars and natural disasters. Many of our ancestors had to find motives for hope after the loss of their loved ones and even had to regain possessions lost due to the turmoil of history more than once. They relied on faith in God and trust in God's presence which give meaning to life.

3. The necessity of cooperation in the education process

Cooperation in the process of upbringing is a great asset, the value of which can be seen in the context of today's difficult upbringing challenges. To carry out the process of upbringing together requires the recognition of the right to diversity and the right to preserve one's identity according to one's own convictions and religious beliefs. What is needed is respect, respect for those values in which parents want to bring up their children. This cannot be destroyed in any way. Christian parents have the right to bring up their children according to their faith.

Dear Parents, ensure that your children participate in religious education in shool.On the day of their baptism you made the decision for them to embark on the path of faith. It was then that the priest reminded you that by asking for your child to be baptised, you “accept the obligation to bring him up in the faith...”. And he asked: “Are you aware of this obligation?”. You then replied: “Yes, we are aware”. Perhaps some of you feel that you are not fully fulfilling your responsibilities for the Christian upbringing of your children. Religious education in school, although it can never replace the role you have to play in your child's life, is nevertheless a great support and facilitator. A religious teacher – whether a priest, a religious sister or a lay person – will sow a seed in your child's heart that may not immediately bear fruit. It may happen that an already mature person, after various life experiences, recalls the words heard in a religious eduaction lesson at school and says: “I still have a chance”. Just like in the parable of the prodigal son, even if someone happens to go astray, he will have a place to return. Besides, religion lessons are a natural part of education in our culture and civilisation, the foundation of which is Christianity.

Catastrophic from the point of view of the effectiveness of upbringing would be the contradiction between the values transmitted by the school and those transmitted by the parents. And this would be the case if a child brought up in a Christian family were to be persuaded in a school environment to do the very opposite of the belief in God – because the school would be implementing an educational programme based on values contrary to the message of the Gospel. Parents, whose taxes also support the school, have the right to demand that the school, by means of the religious instruction present in it, educates their child in harmony with the system of values handed down in the family and the Church.

We invite all Parents, Teachers of Religious Education, Educators and Chaplains to cooperate in the education of children and young people. We hope that the Week of Education, lived this year under the motto “Let us educate together”, will inspire us to join efforts in this work.

Thanking the Parents, Educators and Teachers for their efforts and dedication, we bless everyone from our hearts.

Signed by: Cardinals, Archbishops and Bishops present at the 398th Plenary Assembly of the Polish Bishops' Conference

Warsaw, 10 June 2024

The Letter is intended for pastoral use on Sunday, 1 September 2024.