Minister of Education Barbara Nowacka declared that she would not care about the position of the Polish Episcopal Conference on spiritual lessons. "The decisions of the episcopal will not affect the form of the state's educational policy," she said in a conversation with PAP. This is simply a consequence to the referral of the Regulation to the Constitutional Court for the organisation of spiritual lessons.
The president of the ultimate Court, Małgorzata Manowska, appealed to the Constitutional Court the July MEN Regulation on the conditions for organizing spiritual lessons. Among another things, it alleged a violation of the rule of "conssensual way of regulating relations between the state and the churches" and the prevention of "teaching religion in a way determined by the curriculum of this subject" in connection with the creation of the basis for organizing spiritual learning in inter-branch or inter-class groups. The application for suspension of the application of the contested provisions is accompanied by a request to join the Constitutional Tribunal.
"The Ministry stands firm that there is simply a Constitutional Court ruling that clearly shows what the powers of the government are," said PAP Minister of Education Barbara Nowack erstwhile asked about the matter.
She besides stressed that it was crucial to remember "who should do what", and recalled that the organisation of spiritual lessons belongs to the Minister's direct competence. "Our concordat obliges the Polish state to organize spiritual lessons. However, how these lessons are organized depends on the decision – in this case – of the Minister of National Education," she said.
Inquired, therefore, how she reads the decision to appeal the MEN Regulation to the TK, she replied: “I read it as a scandal they want to cause”. "They understood that any eldorado had ended, which functioned in the relations of the state-Church, and that it is now a government, not an episcopate dealing with governance," she replied.
At the same time, she assured that she was aware that for many people, especially those who believed, churches were highly important. "It is not the decisions of the episcopal that will influence the form of the state's educational policy. It will be the government that will decide on matters relating to the functioning of the state," she said.
She pointed out that for the last 8 years she had watched the laws being written straight on behalf of the Church. "And I'm not just talking about financing, I'm talking about the functioning of the state. However, it ended on 15 October last year,” she noted.
The head of the MEN explained that the regulation, which will enter into force on 1 September, gives local government units and all authorities moving schools the chance to decide whether they want to organise separate groups of spiritual lessons for 7 students, or whether they want to merge them into respective groups. Pupils in primary school may be combined into interclass groups if they are of the same educational stage, e.g. students from grades I–III, IV–VI and VII–VIII.
She besides explained that the regulation did not affect jobs as teachers were contracted in schools until 31 May. "Then decisions were made whether the catechet would be employed or not at school," the minister pointed out.
"Another thing: it is the episcopate that directs priests and catechists to teach. So if they want to defend the positions of the catechets, I encourage them to look at this place of work for them. Priests besides have another origin of livelihood," she noted.
At the same time, the head of the MEN announced that the ministry intends to guarantee that the catechesis have the chance to find another job. “These are lay people. spiritual persons are otherwise protected by the Churches," she added.
by Daria Kania/PAP 
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