“We do not claim that everyone should study religion, but that everyone should be educated according to his/her own convictions”, declare the Spanish bishops, in a communiqué issued on 23 June, in which they announce the setting up of a mixed Church-State Commission to discuss questions that concern the teaching of religion in schools. During the preparatory meeting held in Madrid the representatives of the bishops expressed their “concerns” about Spanish education in general and about “the specific difficulties that arise from the organic draft legislation on education” in particular. The bishops recall that “the Constitution obliges the State to guarantee the rights of parents to religious education [for their children] according to their own convictions”: “Since religious and moral education is a fundamental right they emphasize we believe that it is essential for the formation of pupils and for an integral formation. It follows that it cannot be undervalued, and must be accorded equal value with other subjects taught at school”. In practice, the bishops explain, “to ensure that this subject be taught with minimum guarantees, religious education must be given parity with the fundamental disciplines in conformity with what is established in the international Accord between the Spanish State and the Holy See; in other words, it must be taught on the same academic and educational conditions as the other subjects on the curriculum”. This implies that “the academic authorities adopt appropriate measures to ensure that receiving or not receiving religious education does not presuppose any form of discrimination in school activity “.
