Luxembourg is to ban religious education in State schools irrespective of the wishes of parents.
The move in the Catholic majority country will see religion classes in schools replaced with lessons on ethics and morals, to include classes on world religions.
The shift, which has been compared to a move towards the secular French model between church and state, comes as a result of a new funding agreement drawn up between the government and faith groups. Under this, state subsidies once paid to established religions will end or be curtailed. Luxembourg will continue to pay stipends towards supporting currently serving priests, for example, but will offer no future payments to clerics now in formation.
As part of the agreement touching on religious education, it is envisioned that the main Catholic seminary at Weimershof will become an interfaith learning centre.
Lamenting the consequences of the ban on religious education, Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich reiterated the right of parents to choose what values their children received via schooling.
Despite Luxembourg not having an Established Church, the country’s ruling coalition – of Socialists, Greens and Liberals – have agreed with the opposition Christian Socialists that the nation’s constitution will be amended in the near future to include a declaration towards emphasising a very strict interpretation of the separation of Church and State.