Quebec bishops slam court decision forcing private school to teach ‘neutral’ religion/morality class
MONTREAL, Quebec , January 10, 2013, ( LifeSiteNews.com ) – Quebec’s Catholic bishops have taken issue with a court decision that would force a Montreal private Catholic high school to cease teaching its Catholic course on religion and morality and switch to the “secular” and “neutral” Ethics and Religious Culture course (ERC) provided by the province’s government. “For our part, we believe that the minister could have used [ministerial] discretion to recognize the value of the approach adopted by Loyola High School in its program,” stated Archbishop Pierre-André Fournier, president of the Quebec Catholic Bishops ’ Assembly (AECQ) in a December 21 press release . Loyola Principal Paul Donovan. The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a lower court which had ruled that any attempt to force Loyola High School to teach the strictly secular religion and morality course would be a violation of their freedom of religion under the Quebec Charter of Rights . The December 4 ru