The “European Forum for the teaching of religion in schools” was founded in 1984, after a meeting held in Alsace (24-28 October) by the Katholisches Schulkommissariat II in Bayern, on “The teaching of religion for secondary school pupils in Europe”. At the end of the meeting the need emerged to create a “permanent forum” to study and provide information on the problem of religious education in state schools at the European level, and to hold a further meeting in another country two years later. The proposal became a reality in Munich in 1986. After the meetings of 1984 and 1986, a further 8 sessions have been held at two-yearly intervals: in 1988 in Luxembourg; in 1990 at Slagelse (Denmark); in 1992 at Graz (Austria), on “Religious education in secondary schools as service of the Church to united Europe”; in 1994 at Madrid; in 1996 at Bressanone (Italy), on “Identity and dialogue: requisites for religious education in Europe”; in 1998 in Lisbon; in 2000 in Bratislava (Slovakia) and in 2002 at Schmochtitz (Germany). The next session, in 2004, will be in Palermo (Italy).
