According to the different newspapers, the subject of Religion will be 'aligned with the 2030 agenda' (El Mundo) 'The bishops give a progressive twist to the subject of Religion: equality between men and women, denouncing poverty and environmentalism' (El País) 'The subject of Religion is modernized and will include equality and the environment' (ABC)
Does it really represent a progressive turn, a bowing to the Government's guidelines? Does the subject of Religion renounce its essence in favor of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda? What will the Religion class be like from now on?
From the outset, it must be said that we are dealing with a draft of the curriculum, in the elaboration of which the Religion teachers themselves are invited to participate. This draft is the result of a participatory process that the EEC promoted in order to adapt the subject of Religion to the criteria established by the educational law.
What is the main change that can be glimpsed in this draft with respect to the previous curriculum? Simplifying a little, we could say that this curriculum starts from the reality of the student, both personal and social, and sets as an objective his full development in all the dimensions of his personality. And for this purpose, it proposes the answers that Catholic Religion provides to this growth and maturation.
It addresses various topics of the relational, social, growth and personal maturation dimension. In other words, it proposes the topics that the integral education of any person should address. And he wants to do it from a Catholic perspective. It will undoubtedly be a great challenge.
Of course, we Christians have a word to say about the care of the planet, about the dignity of the person, about welcoming immigrants, about dialogue with other religions. On peace. On each and every one of the great issues of today. And we have a word of life and hope that is born of the crucified and risen Christ. A word that will illuminate our world, if it is true to itself, if it brings the light born of the Gospel.
The risk that some may see is that the salt becomes bland, confusing, that it ceases to give flavor. But it is easy to understand that this is not the postulate from which the Episcopal Conference approaches the curriculum, but precisely that of emphasizing the way in which Christians have to live each of these aspects and the theological sources from which we live them.
A simple example may help. Caring for the earth can be approached from many perspectives. The Catholic view would discover in this world a gift from God, the Creator. And, delving into the Genesis account, it would find that human beings are created in the image of God, that they have an inalienable dignity, that they are male and female, that they have a God-given mission to care for all of creation, beginning with their own brothers and sisters. As can be seen, this is a far cry from the current neo-pantheistic vision present in a certain ecologism that proposes the earth as a subject of rights and the human being almost as its enemy and predator to be controlled, to be reduced in number in order to protect the planet in a clearly neo- Malthusian perception.
In conclusion, it is true that the Episcopal Conference has made a change in the curriculum, which all of us who work in this sector felt was necessary. Not so much to give it a more modern or progressive air, but to bring it closer to the reality of the student and his or her needs for growth and maturation.
If the development of the curriculum goes in that direction and is capable of forming Christians who live their faith in the 21st century rooted in Christ, who respond to the problems of today's man, then it will be a true contribution to the education of our time.
If the salt becomes bland, then it will be useless.
That is the challenge.
