Poland’s Minister of Education Katarzyna Hall has invited representatives of Churches united in the Polish Ecumenical Council to the discussion about religion teaching at schools and maturity exams in this subject.

In her speech during a meeting of the Council, the Minister pointed out that parents are interested in bringing up their children in accordance with values that are important to them.

“The world of Polish parents’ values should be the world of Polish schools’ values,” said Minister Hall and declared readiness to conduct further consultations on this matter.

Earlier, the President of the Polish Ecumenical Council Archbishop Jeremiasz said that religion in Poland is without doubt an important element of social life. As he pointed out, a wise education policy in this respect should be obvious and is of interest not only to the churches.

“Religion classes are not a token of expansion of the churches,” Archbishop Jeremiasz said and added that “religious ignorance does not foster the development of a democratic society.”

The Polish Ecumenical Council was founded in 1946 to promote interchurch cooperation. Currently it gathers seven Churches: the Polish Orthodox Church, the Evangelical Church of Augsburg Confession in Poland, the Polish Reformed Church, the Evangelical Methodist Church, the Old Catholic Church, the Mariavite Church and the Baptist Union of Poland. (jm)