Rome, Italy, Nov 7, 2008 / 18:13 pm
The prefect for the Congregation for Catholic Education, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, has said conscientious objection by parents and students to civic education that is contrary to their convictions “is not only opportune but necessary.”
In an interview with Italian media, the cardinal was asked whether it is licit that parents and students exercise conscientious objection to a school course that, “as in the case of Spain, promotes a society based on relativism and anti-Christian nihilism,” he responded, “Yes, of course, because the fundamental rights of man recognized in the Universal Declaration of 1948 are being damaged.”
The Polish cardinal recalled that during the Communist regime, he joined with others in conscientiously objecting to communist ideology by, “organizing courses in the Catholic faith,” which at the time were illegal.
According to Cardinal Grocholewski, “All dictatorial regimes seek to steer schools into making citizens docile” to their slogans, which in the end convert them into “slaves.”