The DECR deputy head asks the Vatican representative in Russia to clarify the position of the Catholic Church on the issue of teaching religious disciplines in secular schools

The deputy head of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR) of the Moscow Patriarchate, Bishop Mark (Golovkov) of Yegoryevsk, sent a letter to the Vatican representative in Russia, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, with a request to clarify the official position of the Holy See on the issue of teaching religion in schools. The request was prompted by a statement by the head of the Catholic Archdiocese of Our Lady (with its center in Moscow), Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, who called for a cautious approach to the idea of ​​​​teaching the fundamentals of religions in secondary schools.

According to Bishop Mark, such a position “not only undermines the dialogue between the two Churches, but also causes serious damage to the preaching of Christian values ​​in Russia.” The letter to Archbishop A. Mennini says that the presence of directly opposite opinions on the issue of teaching religious disciplines in schools “adds complexity to Orthodox-Catholic relations in Russia.”

“Teaching an 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,” the letter says.

June 9 Fr. Igor Kovalevsky, who officially represented Russian Catholics at the round table on the problems of relations between the state and religious organizations, refused to comment on Bishop Mark’s letter. However, he noted that, in his opinion, the state should support religious education not in general education, as the Russian Orthodox Church wants, but in confessional schools.

On June 11, in an interview with Interfax, Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz rejected the reproaches against him (the full text of the statement was published on Portal-Credo.ru ). He said that his words “can in no way be considered in terms of confrontation with other faiths and religions, in particular with the Russian Orthodox Church, which bears the main concern for the spiritual and moral revival of Russian society.”

“My words spoken at the meeting of the Council for Interaction with Religious Associations under the President of the Russian Federation were dictated solely by concern for the good of the Fatherland and were expressed with deep respect for the participants of the meeting, for all confessions and religions of Russia,” said T. Kondrusevich.

On June 14, the deputy head of the DECR MP, Archpriest, commented on T. Kondrusevich’s position. Vsevolod Chaplin. According to him, what is surprising is the fact that “the Russian Catholic hierarchy does not identify itself with the position of the Catholic Church in... countries that continue to insist on Catholic education in public schools (Lithuania, Poland, Italy and Spain. - Ed. ), but with the position of anti-clericals who demand its abolition."

“The other day,” Archbishop Vsevolod continued, “the archbishop slightly modified his position, saying that in some countries teaching religion is a normal thing, but in countries that have experienced anti-religious persecution, it is ineffective, since the religious knowledge of children here is of an abstract nature. So what, the respected archbishop proposes to us to consolidate the abnormal situation that has been created by the persecution of the Church?”

On June 20 , Interfax published the text of the LNG’s appeal to Pope Benedict XVI in connection with the archbishop’s statements. According to the authors of the document, T. Kondrusiewicz “found himself in anti-Christian company” with “an anti-church and anti-national lobby, which is a coalition of relics of Soviet atheism and aggressive propagandists of totalitarian secularization”; he “not only opposed the “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture,” but obstructed the position of the Catholic Church in supporting religious Catholic education in countries with a Catholic majority.”

“This is a challenge not only to Orthodoxy and the majority of Russian citizens, it is not only solidarity with aggressive anti-Christian forces, but it is also a challenge to the Catholic Church, which consistently supports religious education in schools,” the letter says. “Therefore, we hope that Kondrusiewicz’s demarche will receive a proper canonical assessment of the leadership of the Catholic Church."

(In addition, the United Fatherland website published a commentary by the LNG regarding the Union’s appeal to the Vatican.)

On June 22, Archbishop Antonio Mennini sent a response letter to Bishop Mark of Yegoryevsk, in which he said that the Catholic Church supports the desire to introduce teaching the basics of faith to children in Russian schools. “The Catholic Church in Russia will support the aspirations of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding the religious and spiritual education of the Russian people, in the spirit of respect for the principles of freedom of conscience,” the letter says. The archbishop also stressed that the Vatican has “always welcomed the teaching of the Catholic religion in all schools.”

The SPG welcomed the letter from Archbishop Antonio Mennini, seeing it as a refutation of Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz's statement.

Sources

• A representative of the Moscow Patriarchate accuses Archbishop Kondrusevich of undermining the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue // Interfax. 2005. June 8.
• "IZVESTIA": "The Russian Orthodox Church criticizes anti-Semites and Catholics" // Ibid. the 9th of June. (Article by O. Timofeeva from Izvestia.)
• Archbishop Kondrusiewicz rejects criticism of the Russian Church in its destructive approach to the issue of teaching religion in schools // Ibid. June 11.
• DOCUMENT: Statement by Metropolitan Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz regarding the teaching of religion in school // Portal-Credo.ru. 2005. June 13.
• A representative of the Russian Church reproaches Archbishop Kondrusevich for actually agitating for the expulsion of religion from schools // Interfax. June 14.
• Will Metropolitan Kondrusiewicz be excommunicated from the Catholic Church? LNG commentary // United Fatherland. 2005. June 19.
• Appeal of the Union of Orthodox Citizens to Pope Benedict XVI in connection with the statement of Archbishop T. Kondrusiewicz regarding the teaching of religion in schools // Interfax. June 20.
• The Vatican supports the desire of the Russian Orthodox Church to introduce a school course on the fundamentals of faith // Interfax-religion. 2005. June 22.
• The Union of Orthodox Citizens called on the Russian state to use the experience of Italy in relations with the Church // Ibid. June 24.