1. Ruling by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia
Parents and the public in the Republic of Croatia are aware that the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia adopted a ruling by which the Ruling on the Introduction, Monitoring and Assessment of the Implementation of the Health Education Curriculum in Elementary and Secondary Schools has been rescinded … as well as its integral constituent: the Health Education Curriculum (Notice from the May 22, 2013, Session, 1.I, of the Constitutional Court). Although the case of the Constitutional Court in question was neither the content nor the alleged value orientation (Ruling by the Constitutional Court, III. 8), nonetheless, citing the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (Article 63, Paragraphs 1 and 2), the obligation of the state in the formation of curricula to take into account the various convictions of parents and their constitutional right and freedom to decide independently upon the upbringing of their children are emphasized. This constitutional obligation of the state can only be implemented if parents are included in the process of shaping the contents of the curricula (Ruling 12. 2.) The Constitutional Court particularly urges the state to enable parents to participate in the process of shaping the contents of the curricula and for the school system “to be neutral and in a balanced curriculum in cooperation with parents, enable children to obtain the basic information that must be transmitted in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner” (Ruling, 12. 2). Although the impression among the public may be that there will be sufficient legal revision of the entire Curriculum, it is clear that regarding the disputed fourth module, precisely due to noncompliance with the democratic and constitutionally guaranteed freedom of parents in the upbringing of their children, the revision of the contents of the disputed module must be approached in collaboration with parents and other relevant institutions.
2. Warning to Parents
The Croatian Conference of Bishops considers it especially important to warn parents of the fact that the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, together with the Agency for Education, openly argued that their approach to sex education follows the manual Standards of Sexuality Education in Europe. Unfortunately, we must conclude that the proposals for approaching the education and development of the sexuality of the child offered in this manual are ideologically colored with the intention of presenting sexuality as a person’s physical pleasure and satisfaction, without any relation to the general ethical or moral principles. The incompleteness of the scientific content that presents human sexuality even in earliest childhood with an overemphasis on an erotic approach to the body, with the basic goal of seeking and achieving personal sexual pleasure, discriminates against the person, his growth and development as well as his free choice of understanding and experiencing sexuality. We note that in this manual, the World Health Organization merely suggests certain benchmarks and standards for dialogue about sex education with interest groups and individuals who make political decisions. These benchmarks and standards are in no way obligations for the sex education curriculum in any country.
3. Invitation to Participate in Public Debate on the Health Education Curriculum
Based on the aforementioned, we invite, first of all, you, dear parents, to follow the continued development of events and, when offered the opportunity, to join the public debate on the draft ruling and the proposed contents of the Health Education Curriculum, i.e., sex education. Exercise your rights and support a complete picture of the person, based upon values that protect him and offer him far more than any momentary pleasure. The fourth module of the Health Education Curriculum, based on the Standards of Sexuality Education in Europe, does not introduce the child to free growth and development, in the discovery of the beauty of the body in accordance with his age and Christian values. The approach to sexuality as promoted in the disputed module, disguised as the ideology of individuality, is an obvious step toward the challenging and abolishing of everything holy: first of all, the marital union between a man and women as vital cells and natural cradles of every nation. We particularly urge the members and representatives of parents’ councils in the schools to exercise their rights and, in accordance with their religious and Christian commitment, to evaluate critically those parts of the contents that threaten the integrity of the child and his Christian identity.
We address our invitation to all academic citizens and institutions, especially those who can help with the expert and quality deliberations on this topic. It is indeed a fact that the fourth module and the Standards of Sexuality Education in Europe have wrenched human development from the broader scientific context of human development and, therefore, are focused on the defense and serving of those ideological and value directions that are not only opposed to the Christian vision of the person but also strongly emphasize a holistic approach to sexuality.
We expect that the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports, together with the Agency for Education, if they want to follow such a European manual, should also follow the instructions that it gives when it speaks of the need for cooperation with parents and communities, including consideration of the Church and its work with young people (p. 32).
The Bishops of the Croatian Conference of Bishops
In Zagreb, June 5, 2013