Pope reaffirms right of parents to educate their children in freedom

By Lisa Zengarini

Pope Francis has reiterated the need to protect the right of parents to raise and educate their children consistent with their convictions. They should not be constrained “in any sphere, particularly in that of schooling, to accept educational programmes contrary to their beliefs and values,” he said.

On Saturday, the Pope addressed participants in the General Assembly and Conference of the European Parents’ Association taking place in Rome on 10-11 November. He stressed that “the fundamental role of parents in the social order” must “be acknowledged at every level.”

A demanding task, especially in present cultural context

Pope Francis noted that the educational mission of parents is a demanding task, especially in today’s “cultural context, at least in Europe, marked as it is by ethical subjectivism and practical materialism.”

“Parents thus find themselves constantly having to show their children the goodness and reasonableness of choices and values that can no longer be taken for granted, such as the importance of marriage and the family, or the decision to accept children as a gift from God.”

Faced with these difficulties, Pope Francis highlighted the importance of “mutual support and encouragement, so that parents can be helped to develop a ‘passion’ for their educational mission”, which essentially amounts to teaching their children “what it means to be fully human.” 

A vital contribution to building a "healthy society"

This mission “can be said to be successful when children come to realize the beauty of life” and “grow confident and enthused about the prospect of embarking on the adventure of life,” which, said the Pope, “presupposes the deeper realization of God’s immense love for us.”

Indeed, “when we realize that at the root of our being is the unconditional love of God our Father, then we see clearly that life is good, that being born is good, and that loving is good.”

These are also the foundations of a “healthy society”. Hence the crucial role of parents in transmitting values, thus forming “solid citizens capable of contributing to the workplace, civic affairs, and social solidarity.”

“Raising a child represents a genuine contribution to society," he said, "because it means training a young person in sound and respectful relationships with others, a readiness to cooperate in view of a shared goal, responsibility, a sense of duty and the value of sacrifice for sake of the common good.”

“Lacking this”, Pope Francis remarked, “children grow up as ‘islands,’ disconnected from others, incapable of a common vision, and accustomed to considering their own desires as absolute values.  As a result, society ‘deconstructs’, grows impoverished, and is progressively weakened and dehumanized.”

Church’s commitment to support parents in their work 

While insisting on the need to protect the right of parents to raise and educate their children according to their beliefs and values, Pope Francis reiterated the Church’s commitment to accompany and support families in their work and the importance of a closer collaboration with all institutions involved in education.

In this regard, he recalled the “Global Compact on Education” which he launched in 2019 in order to consolidate a shared commitment on the part of all institutions that deal with young people and “Compact on the Family” with cultural, academic, institutional and pastoral actors, in order to focus on the family and its various relationships.

Global Compacts on Education and on the Family

The intent of these initiatives, the Pope explained, “is to overcome a number of ‘breakdowns’ that are presently weakening the world of education: the breakdown between education and transcendence, the breakdown in interpersonal relationships, and the breakdown that distances society from the family, creating inequalities and new forms of poverty.”

Bringing his address to a close, Pope Francis encouraged the European Parents Association “to move forward with hope” in its commitment, “drawing constant inspiration and support from the Gospel’s witness to the holy parents Mary and Joseph.”