Gravissimum educationis

Gravissimum educationis (GE) is called, after its opening words , the declaration on Christian education , which was formulated by the Second Vatican Council and published on October 28, 1965 by Pope Paul VI. was promulgated.

preamble

The Council Fathers speak of the importance of education for people and social progress. They refer to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959 and the (European) Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1952, in which the rights of children and parents are laid down. Based on the UN Charter of 1948, it says at the beginning:

“All people, regardless of their origin, class and age, have the inalienable right to an upbringing that takes into account their goal in life, their disposition, the difference between the sexes, is adapted to the local cultural tradition and at the same time the fraternal partnership with others Peoples is open to serve true unity and peace on earth. "

central message

All baptized have the right to a Christian upbringing .
Since the parents gave life to their children, they have the most heavy duty and privileged right to raise their children.
Among all means of education, school has a very special meaning.
Parents, who first and foremost have the inalienable duty and right to bring up their children and must be truly free in their choice of school.
Since the Church is aware of her own duty to provide for the moral and religious education of the faithful, “she must be close to the large number of those who receive their training in non-Catholic schools with a particularly loving willingness to help: through the living example of those Catholics who They teach and guide them there, through the apostolic work of their classmates, but above all through the service of the priests and lay people, who impart the doctrine of salvation to them [...] and provide them spiritual help [...] "Parents have the responsibility to take care of it that the children also receive this spiritual help and "keeps pace with the profane and the Christian education."
The presence of the Church in the school sector is particularly evident in the Catholic school. All schools that are in any way dependent on the Church must seek to conform to this model of the Catholic school.
Likewise, the Church devotes her concern to colleges, especially universities and faculties. "The students of these institutions should be trained to be people who are very well versed in their science, are up to important tasks in public life and are witnesses of faith in the world."

New approaches

The upbringing and educational mission of the church is no longer developed by the rights of the institution , but by the child's right to upbringing and education and by parental rights. From this right and the duty of parents to raise their children, the council derives the right to a free choice of school (GE 6). The Council Fathers understand this to mean more than the admission of non-state schools.

“Parents, who have the first and inalienable right and duty to bring up their children, must really be free in their choice of school. The state authority, whose task it is to protect and defend civil liberties, must, in order to preserve the 'distributive justice', ensure that public funds are spent in such a way that parents really freely choose schools for their children according to their conscience can (GE 6). "

The state funding of the free schools serves to realize parental rights and freedom of conscience. However, the council rejects any kind of school monopoly on the grounds that this "contradicts the innate rights of the human person [...] and contradicts the pluralism prevailing in many states today." (GE 6)

Parents, students and school

The special position of family and parents in the field of school and education is also made clear in this Council text. Parents are the first and most important educators of their children. The cooperation between school and home is therefore also important from a Christian point of view. On the day they enter a Catholic school, the pupil should feel that he is in a new environment. The council described schools as an environment shaped by the spirit of love and freedom .

Catholic schools

“The special task of the Catholic school is to create a living space in which the spirit of freedom and love of the Gospel is alive. It helps young people to develop their personality and at the same time to grow according to the new creation that they have become through baptism. Furthermore, it directs all human education towards the message of salvation, so that the knowledge which the students gradually gain of the world, of life and of man is illuminated by faith (25). By opening up to the demands of the times, the Catholic school educates its students to effectively promote the good of the earthly community and prepares them to serve the spread of the kingdom of God so that they can live an exemplary and apostolic life become the leaven of salvation for the human community. "

Other students

Catholic schools are also attended by non-Catholic, including non-Christian students. In some countries these even form the vast majority of students. The council took note of this in this declaration:

"It should be noted that the Church also cares about those Catholic schools, and this applies in particular to the areas of the young churches, which are mainly attended by non-Catholic students (GE 9)."

The religious educational process

The declaration of the Vatican Council always comes back to the dynamic point of view of the whole human education, but according to the Christian view a purely human educational process is inadequate. The human person is to be formed according to the model that is based on Christ. Therefore, although this educational concept takes up human values, it enriches them in a supernatural way, the Council Declaration made clear on this. The quality of the teaching should help the students to educate themselves in a human and Christian way, this is the best preparation for becoming educators of others.

literature

LThK ², The Second Vatican Council II, Freiburg 1967, 358–404. Extensively introduced and commented Latin-German parallel text.
Gertrud Pollak / Clauß Peter Sajak: Catholic school today. Perspectives and mandate after the Second Vatican Council. Herder-Verlag, Freiburg 2006, 222 pp. ISBN 3-451-29156-8

Web links