Bishops Demand MEN Restore School Religion Classes to Proper Standing

Following the Polish Ministry of National Education reducing religion classes to once a week, the Catholic Episcopate’s Presidium has issued a sharp appeal demanding an immediate restoration of the subject’s proper standing.

New Schedule and Restrictions for Religion Classes

Starting September 1, 2025, school religion classes take place once a week—either before mandatory educational activities begin or directly after they end. Schools can only schedule religion during the regular school day if an entire class participates.

Previously, students had two hours of religion weekly, a volume that could only be reduced with the consent of the diocesan bishop or the competent authorities of other churches and religious associations.

Episcopate Presidium Statement

On Monday, August 24, members of the Presidium of the Polish Bishops’ Conference issued a statement declaring that the curriculum lacked broad dialogue with educational communities and ignored the demands of the Roman Catholic Church.

Signed by KEP Chairman Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, Deputy Chairman Archbishop Józef Kupny, and Secretary General Bishop Marek Marczak, the statement expresses pastoral concern for the younger generation at the threshold of the new school year.

Criticism of Marginalization

Clergy emphasized that religion classes are a constitutional right of students and parents, rooted in freedom of conscience and religion as well as the right of parents to raise children according to their own convictions.

The bishops assess that placing religion before or after other classes, reducing it to one hour weekly, permitting combined classes, and removing the religion grade from the grade point average leads to their marginalization in Polish schools.

Support for Civil Bill Initiative

Presidium members expressed support for the civic bill “Yes to Religion and Ethics in School,” which aims to guarantee every student classes shaping the axiological foundation of life.

Prepared by the Association of Lay Catechists in response to MEN changes, the project assumes two mandatory weekly lessons of religion or ethics, with grades included on certificates, promotion considerations, and grade point averages, having gathered 500,000 signatures.

Concerns Over Health Education

Beginning this school year in the fourth grade of primary school, health education becomes a mandatory subject, an area bishops acknowledge is significant for disease prevention and mental health.

However, the hierarchy expressed concern over the vision of man, marriage, and family emerging from program assumptions and textbooks, questioning the mandatory character enforced by the Ministry of National Education.

Sexuality Education and Parental Rights

Clergy highlighted a dedicated section on sexual life organized as optional elective classes called “health education – sexual health,” urging respect for parental rights.

The bishops called on parents to continuously monitor their children’s education in this sensitive sphere, emphasizing that sexuality should be presented strictly within the perspective of marriage and family relationships between a woman and a man.