The “Law for the reform of the educational system is unacceptable, as well as representing a total surprise”, declares the Spanish Bishops’ Conference in a statement, commenting on the recent approval of the new Organic Law of Education, about which the Spanish Church was kept wholly in the dark and which eliminates the obligation of the teaching of Catholic religion in schools. In particular, the general secretary and spokesman of the Conference, Father Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, said he was disappointed, because the opinion of the Church was neither consulted nor taken into any consideration at all. So “the approval of this law is the sole responsibility of the government”. In fact, Father Juan explained, “it is a law unknown to the mixed Commission which met on 23 June to negotiate questions involving Church-State relations”. The new law eliminates compulsory religious education in classrooms, which, as Father Martinez has emphasized, “violates the fundamental right of parents to decide on the education of their children in conformity with their religious, moral and educational convictions. We invite parents, teacher, pupils, Catholic institutions and society in general to promote a legal defence that may permit the education of children and adolescents in a context of justice and freedom”.
