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Russian Catholics support teaching Orthodox culture in Russian schools

Moscow, October 25, Interfax - Leaders of the Russian Catholic community favour the idea of teaching the Basics of Orthodox Culture in the country�s high schools.

�The Catholic Church has always supported the teaching the Basics of Orthodox Culture in schools. It has always supported and will support a nurturing component of any education,� said Fr Igor Kovalevsky, the Secretary General of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in Russia at a round table meeting held Thursday in Moscow.

He reminded that as far back as in the medieval epoch, higher educational institutions existed under the auspices of the Catholic Church.

Fr Igor also expressed his opinion on the much-talked-of letter by ten members of the Russian Academy of Sciences who accused the Church of an attempt to �clericalize� the society. Fr Igor believes that this is �a private opinion of individuals, but not the judgment of the whole scientific community.�

Speaking of teaching religious subjects at school, he mentioned the problem of teachers and tutorials.

�A lot of work has to be done here to minimize negative reaction of some members of our society,� said Fr Igor.

In his turn, another participant of the meeting Marat Murtazin, rector of Moscow Islamic University, voiced the position of the Council of Muftis which states that all traditional religions should be taught and they should be taught as an elective subject.

He also said that they will soon finish the work on the textbook on Islamic Studies which are planned to introduce in some schools, including schools with the ethno-religious programs.

I personally think it's a good idea.

I support it as long as it doesnt become agenda driven to supress the other groups that are non Orthdox.
Stephanos I

"In his turn, another participant of the meeting Marat Murtazin, rector of Moscow Islamic University, voiced the position of the Council of Muftis which states that all traditional religions should be taught and they should be taught as an elective subject."

The rector of Moscow Islamic University offers a very different position than teaching the Orthodox culture. How far along is this debate? How will its conclusions be integrated into the Russian schools?

Terry

This American Catholic supports Russian Orthodoxy being taught in Russian Schools.

It used to be that Catholicism was a mandatory subject at public schools in many Catholic countries such as Spain and Italy, and even today some form of "cultural Catholicism" is mandatory in the public school systems of many Catholic countries in Europe and Latin America (especially in Italy, where crucifixes remain mandatory in school rooms).

In my country, the Philippines, the educational system is basically secular and sometimes a tad anticlerical or (more frequently) immoral, but it is not essentially hostile to Catholicism. The lack of religious education is not due to proscription but due to the fact that we have very, very few lay catechists and almost no priests and nuns engaged in teaching public school children. Nevertheless, it is common for Catholic prayers to be publicly recited by teachers and administrators in public schools (even in predominantly Muslim areas!), for images of Our Lord, of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints to be prominently displayed in public schools and government buildings, and for important events in public schools to be celebrated with the Holy Mass.

I do not see how Catholics can be supportive of Catholic traditions being kept alive and well in the public school systems of Catholic countries, and yet be so hostile to the idea of Orthodoxy being taught in the public school systems of -- surprise, surprise -- Orthodox countries. Let's not be hypocrites. Or, to be consistent, we should oppose all religious education in public schools, period. Sad to say, this latter position is something I hardly find compatible with Catholicism.

See my post above.

I did. My post wasn't aimed at you.