Teach the wrong thing

The Russian Orthodox Church did not like the caution of Catholics in matters of religious education at school

The improving good-neighborly relations between the Orthodox and Catholic churches in Russia suddenly showed a crack. The reason for this was the recent careless speech of the leader of Russian Christians of the Latin rite, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz. Having attended a meeting of the Presidential Council for Interaction with Religious Associations, His Eminence did not realize the importance of such an issue as teaching the basics of religion in school, and called on his “colleagues” to strictly distinguish between knowledge and faith, teaching the history of religions and catechesis. In simple terms, the archbishop suggested that the authorities limit themselves to the historical and cultural aspect of teaching, leaving spiritual education outside the scope of the school curriculum.

As you know, for the Russian Orthodox Church this issue is painful and fundamental. As Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsky, deputy chairman of the department for external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, said yesterday, “teaching the abstract history of religions does not lead to the results that the church has the right to expect from the religious education of the younger generation.” Bishop Mark called the position of the Catholic side unconstructive and said that it “not only undermines the dialogue between the two churches, but also causes serious damage to the preaching of Christian values ​​in Russia.” The deputy chairman of the department for external church relations even sent a letter yesterday to the representative of the Holy See in the Russian Federation, Archbishop Antonio Mennini. He indicated in it that the current misunderstanding “adds complexity to Orthodox-Catholic relations in Russia” and asked “to clarify the official position of the Holy See both in terms of a general view of religious education in school and in individual specific cases.”

It is noteworthy that several months ago the Russian Orthodox Church already quarreled over different approaches to the problem of religious education with the Union of Muftis of Russia. In early March, the SMR, under the leadership of Ravil Gainutdin, advocated a clear division of educational institutions into secular and spiritual, and demanded that the history of religions in public schools be taught only by secular teachers and only as part of a general course on the history of world culture. Then the situation was somewhat straightened out by the statement of another Supreme Mufti, Talgat Tajuddin. He accused Mr. Gainutdin that his public statements were not only unfounded, but also dangerous, as they posed a threat to the Islamic community of Russia, and thereby supported Muslim-Orthodox relations.

Kirill VASILENKO