Poland's Constitutional Court has suspended a government decree on religious education in schools until further notice.
The regulation may not be applied until a final decision is made, said Constitutional Court President Julia Przylebska to the new TV channel "wPolsce.pl" on Thursday evening.
The ordinance issued by the Ministry of Education at the end of July stipulates that schools can form cross-grade groups for religious education if fewer than seven pupils choose the subject in a class.
The Catholic Church and the Polish Ecumenical Council are opposed to the merging of classes and have jointly appealed to the Constitutional Court.
According to the Polish Bishops' Conference, cross-grade religious education would contradict pedagogical principles and lead to serious problems.
However, the main issue before the Constitutional Court is the right of the churches to have a say in the organisation of religious education.
Bishops see "good decision"
The churches accuse Education Minister Barbara Nowacka of having ordered the changes to the elective subject without their consent.
However, the law requires "agreement with the church side".
The Bishops' Conference welcomed the interim injunction by the Constitutional Court. This was a "good decision", said its spokesman, Fr Leszek Gesiak.
The new school year begins in Poland next Monday.
The future of religious education has been widely debated in the country for months. Education Minister Nowacka wants only one hour of religion per week from the next school year - instead of the current two hours.
Meanwhile, the bishops are calling on parents to register their children for the elective subject.
Parents have the right to demand "that the school educates their children through religious education in accordance with the value system that is taught in the family and the church", they write in a pastoral letter that will be read out in churches this weekend.
In recent years, more and more children and parents have decided against the elective subject, especially in large cities.