The Archbishop of Genoa and president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, remarked last week that, “Christianity rejects and will always reject being reduced to a civil religion at the service of those in power, whoever they may be.” During a recent conference on pastoral ministry, the cardinal explained that Christianity “unites man with God, earth with heaven.”
Referring later to religion classes in Italian schools, Cardinal Bagnasco said it is not “a privilege Italy is granting to the Church” since the classes do not consist of “an hour-long catechesis.”
The Church-State accords permit the teaching of religion not as catechesis but rather as the basis of recognizing that the “Catholic religion has inspired the culture,” and not only in Italy but in all of Europe, he said.
Religion in schools is not an intrusion into education, but rather part of the Church’s mission in education, the cardinal said.
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