Attendance to religion classes, Romania's latest hot potato

One of the hottest topics in Romanian education these days is that students (or their parents) will have to file a written request to attend religion classes in schools. Their option, expressed from September 2015, will cover a whole cycle of studies - primary, gymnasium and high school, and cannot change until the end of that cycle. The Orthodox Church has expressed string views on the topic. According to Patriarch Daniel, the head of the Orthodox Church in Romania, religion can’t be replaced by anything as it’s the most profound science, the science that makes the connection with God, and signing up for this discipline is an act of public confession of faith. The Patriarch said that “children also need a spiritual and intellectual formation in school, together with other children and in dialogue with other disciplines they are studying in school,” reports local Mediafax. In this sense, he read the call of the Consultative Council of Religious Affairs of Romania according to which the history and culture of Europe can’t be understood without religion knowledge. That is why, religion is taught in the public education system in almost all European countries. “Religion classes help reduce the negative effects of contemporary crisis of identity and orientation, as they propose viable models of goodness, holiness and human coexistence. Religious education contributes to overcoming religious ignorance that can foster ideological attitudes of intolerance,” reads the Council’s call, cited by local Mediafax. The Consultative Council of Religious Affairs of Romania met on Saturday, February 28, and took note of the Constitutional Court’s reasoning on the status of religion classes. The Court ruled in November last year that an article from the Education Law on the obligation to make a written request for a student not to attend religion classes is not constitutional. Officials of the Court said that, following the ruling, such a request will be made only by those who want to study this discipline. The Consultative Council of Religious Affairs of Romania has asked the Parliament to make it clear, when it will complete this article, that a student has to register or withdraw from religion classes based on a written request. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com