Religious Education in School Between Parent’s Expectations, Social Goals, Young People’s Needs and Church Serving to Man

Prvi dio članka polazi od roditelja i njihovih očekivanja što bi nastava katoličkoga vjeronauka trebala pružiti djeci i mladima. Polazi se od roditelja, jer je opće načelo da su roditelji ili skrbnici prvi odgovorni za odgoj djece i mladih. To opće načelo nalazimo u međunarodnim, crkvenim i hrvatskim dokumentima. U tom dijelu članka dan je kratak osvrt na odredbe Ustava Republike Hrvatske, Zakonika kanonskoga prava i Ugovora između Svete Stolice i Republike Hrvatske koje govore o roditeljskim odgojiteljskim pravima i dužnostima, s posebnim naglaskom na vjerski odgoj i obrazovanje. Također se spominju i tri vrijedna istraživanja provedena na razini cijele Republike Hrvatske: Vjera i moral u Hrvatskoj, European Values Study, Europsko istraživanje vrednota i Aufbruch, koja pomažu osvijetliti koje kategorije vjernika, a s tim i roditelja učenica i učenika koji pohađaju nastavu katoličkoga vjeronauka u školama, postoje u Crkvi u Republici Hrvatskoj. Drugi dio članka pretresa suodnos vjeronauka u školi i ciljeva/ zahtjeva društva današnjice. Suvremeni svijet kojeg je dionik i hrvatsko društvo kao i sama Crkva u Republici Hrvatskoj, jest svijet koji obilježavaju relativizam, liberalizam, sekularizam, scijentizam, individualizam, materijalizam i hedonizam. Sve to utječe na planiranje i programiranje djelovanja Crkve. Treći dio članka odnosi se na adresate vjeronauka u školi. Složenost adresata vjeronauka u školi ima svoje temelje u načinu života suvremene obitelji i njezina vjerskog (ne)identiteta te postmodernoga društva kao životnog okruženja u kojem žive djeca i mladi. Situacija djece i mladih je takva da su neki više, a neki manje povezani s vjerom i Crkvom, dok jedni, pak, s njom uopće nisu povezani. Sukladno tome, status katoličkoga vjeronauka u životu učenica i učenika može nerijetko proizlaziti iz njihove percepcije društva, kulture, gospodarstva, umjetnosti te odgoja i obrazovanja u kojoj se vjera ne smatra značajnim čimbenikom, nego isključivo privatnom i osobnom stvari. Četvrti dio članka razmišlja o vjeronauku u školi kao crkvenom služenju čovjeku. Naglašava se dijakonijsko i evangelizacijsko usmjerenje nastave katoličkoga vjeronauka u školi.The first part of the article proceeds from parents and their expectations what the teaching of religious education should offer to children and the young. Parents are taken as a starting point because the general principle is that parents or tutors are responsible for the education of children and the young. That general principle can be found in the international, Church and Croatian documents. This part of the article briefly refers to the regulations of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, the Canon Law Code and the Contract between the Holy See and Republic of Croatia, which speak about the parents’ educational rights and duties, with special emphasis on religious upbringing and education. Also, three worthy researches carried out on the level of the entire Republic of Croatia are mentioned: Faith and Morality in Croatia, European Values Study and Aufbruch, which help to highlight which categories of believers, and by that of the parents of pupils who attend the lessons of Catholic religious education in schools, exist in the Church of the Republic of Croatia. The second part deals with the correlation between religious education in school and goals/demands of contemporary society. Contemporary world, which Croatian society and the Church itself is a part of, is characterized by relativism, liberalism, secularism, scientism, individualism, materialism and hedonism. All that influences on the Church’s activities and its planning and programming. The third part refers to the addressees of religious education in school. The complexity of the addressees of religious education in school has its foundations in the way of life of modern family and its religious (non)-identity and in post-modern society as a living environment in which children and the young live. The situation with children and young people is such that some are more, some less and some not at all connected with faith and Church. In accordance with that, the status of the Catholic religious education in the pupils’ lives is often the result of their perception of society, culture, economy, arts and education in which faith is not considered to be an important factor, but only private and personal matter. The fourth part considers religious education in school as Church serving to man. Diaconal and evangelization orientation of Catholic religious education in school is emphasized