Colombian leaders back church plan to formalize religious education

Published: 2006-03-02

BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) -- Government leaders, including Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, have supported a church initiative to formalize how religion is taught in the nation's schools. But as the Ministry of Education formulates regulations for the classes, some Colombian religious leaders expressed concern that religious minorities might be slighted in the largely Catholic nation. Bishop Fabian Marulanda Lopez, secretary-general of the Colombian bishops' conference, said a religion course would not teach worship, but instead be like a social studies class, "like when one takes a class about Marxism." Bishop Marulanda, retired bishop of Florencia, Colombia, said he expects that the parents of the students in a class would decide which religion they want taught, and that religion would usually be Catholicism -- about 80 percent of Colombians are at least nominally Catholic. But Bishop Marulanda said students who belong to minority religions need not feel excluded or evangelized.

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