Inclusive secularism in Catalonia: comparing state and church schools

ABSTRACT

A number of recent studies highlight the attention the Catalan government has paid to religious matters since the year 2000. The efforts of Catalan institutions seem directed at fostering inclusive management of religious diversity. However, most of these studies focus on the steps followed at the ‘top’ level (legislative, governmental). In this article, in contrast, we adopt a ‘bottom-up’ perspective, enquiring to what extent efforts from the ‘top’ are present in the attitudes expressed by professionals in the city of Girona’s school sector. Rather paradoxically, we conclude that an attitude of inclusive secularism is less noticeable in state schools than in publicly subsidised Christian schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Secularism
• model of management
• Catalonia
• Spain
• teaching religion
• religious diversity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. ‘Postsecularism’ is a tricky term. We could agree though that it mainly refers to the thesis according to which secular claims need to be deeply revised, both empirically and normatively. It is not true that modernity will cause the death of religion in our societies (empirical secularisation thesis), nor it is morally or politically correct to isolate religious reasons in the private sphere (normative secularism thesis). See (Casanova 1994; Habermas 2008; Rawls 1999; Taylor 1998).

2. To summarise, the two main features of the so-called Catalan model are, firstly, a positive attitude towards religious diversity – religious diversity makes a good contribution to the democratic culture of a society – and, secondly, the idea that all religious confessions are due equal treatment.

3. Ruling STC 46/2001 of 15 February.

4. The evangelical churches and the Jewish communities obtained the status of confessions with ‘manifest rootedness’ in 1984, and the Islamic communities in 1989.

5. For example, while 98.5% of marriages in Catalonia took place in Catholic churches in 1978, by 2015 that figure had fallen to 14.8%. This change is further evidenced by the fact that in 2017 only 19.8% of Catalans agreed to finance the Catholic Church through their income tax.

6. See the Decree 94/2010 of 20 July. Specifically, municipal councils recovered the capacity to decide on when it was necessary to assign land for religious confessions and the architectural requirements for building centres of worship were raised, which meant that for the most modest religious minorities it was more difficult to build their places of worship. In addition, for example, the Director-General of the DGAR in 2011, Mr Xavier Puigdollers, publicly argued that there had to be an ‘asymmetric treatment’ favourable to the Catholic Church for reasons of tradition.

7. This situation led the ‘Muslims against Islamophobia’ association to sue the Catalan Minister of Education for malfeasance, an accusation recently dismissed by the judge. See https://www.ara.cat/societat/Arxiven-investigacio-Bargallo-declaracions-religio-islamica-Fiscalia-Musulmans-contra-islamofobia-delicte-odi-prevaricacio_0_2405759555.html

8. There are 72 Catholic centres and 33 non-Catholic religious centres in the city of Girona: 21 Evangelical Christian, three Muslim (one of which is a mosque), two Buddhist, two Orthodox Christian, one New Apostolic Church, one Adventist, one Mormon, one Jehovah’s Witnesses, one Bahà’í (Direcció General d’Afers Religiosos, 2017).

9. In Girona there are 39 schools: 28 state schools, nine church schools subsidised by the government, two totally private (non-subsidised). All church schools are Catholic. Each school can either have one class per course (with a maximum capacity of 25 students per classroom) or more than one. Concerning primary education (six to 12 years), there is a total number of 52 classes, 33 in public schools and 19 in church schools. The study focused on five public schools with a total of nine classes and five church schools with ten classes. Therefore, it took into account primary schools corresponding to 32% of the classes in the city. Concerning secondary education (12 to 16 years), there is a total number of 44 classes, 27 in public secondary schools and 17 in church secondary schools. The study focused on five public secondary schools with a total of eight classes and three church schools with eight classes. Therefore, it took into account secondary schools corresponding to 38% of classes in the city.

10. The coding is as follows: PPr = Publicly run Primary; PS = Publicly run Secondary; PsPr = Publicly subsidised private Primary; PsPrS = Publicly subsidised private Primary/Secondary.

11. In this respect, the study’s findings correspond with the 2016 Barometer on religiosity and the management of its diversity (Direcció General d’Afers Religiosos, 2016). According to the Barometer (question 33), only 5.5% have felt discriminated against for religious reasons at some time in the last two years (from 2014 to 2016). It must be borne in mind, however, that we do not yet have the Barometer conducted after the terrorist attacks of 17 August 2017 in Barcelona and Cambrils.

12. In order to minimally contrast the information given by members of the educational community with the opinions of members of the most important religious communities in the city, as well as the 20 people working in state schools and church schools in Girona, the study also interviewed an Orthodox Christian priest, an Evangelical Christian minister, a Catholic priest and a Muslim imam.

13. Apart from teachers’ perceptions that hardly any pupils voluntarily enrol in it, there are no published figures concerning how many pupils in public-run schools in Girona study the subject of Religion.

14. http://justicia.gencat.cat/ca/detalls/Article/Guia-per-al-respecte-a-la-diversitat-de-creences-als-centres-educatius-00001

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joan Vergés-Gifra

Joan Vergés-Gifra is a full professor of Philosophy, director of the Ferrater Mora Chair of Contemporary Thought, and director of the Master’s Degree in Religious Diversity at the University of Girona. Born in 1972 in Banyoles (Catalonia), he gained a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Girona. He has been Visiting Fellow at Harvard University (1997–98), Visiting Scholar at Oxford University (1999), Gastdozent at Osnabrück University, Germany. He has also worked as an adjunct professor in Humanities at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, a visiting professor in Political Science at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, and a consultant in Humanities at the Open University of Catalonia.

Oriol Ponsatí-Murlà

Oriol Ponsatí-Murlà is an associate professor of Philosophy at the University of Girona. Born in 1978 in Figueres (Catalonia), he gained a PhD in Philosophy at the University of Girona. He is also adjunct professor in Ateneu Universitari Sant Pacià of Barcelona.

Macià Serra

Macià Serra is a research professor of Political Science at the University of Girona. Born in 1981 in Girona (Catalonia), he holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Salamanca. From 2006 to 2010 he was chief of staff of the Social Affairs Ministry of the Catalan Government.

Mostafa Shaimi

Mostafa Shaimi is an adjunct professor in the Public Law Department and coordinator of the Master’s Degree in Religious Diversity at the University of Girona. Born in 1974 in Oujda (Morocco), he is also a social activist.