Poland’s Catholic Church has appealed to parents not to allow their children to take part in a new school subject, ‘health education,’ which is due to be introduced at the start of the school year on September 1st.
The bishops of the Church argue that the lessons—which include elements of sex education—are “anti-family,” “gender destabilising,” and will “morally corrupt children.”
The subject, which will replace ‘education for family life’ classes, had initially been planned as mandatory. Following criticism from conservative groups and right-wing opposition parties, it was made optional. Parents have until September 25th to withdraw their children.
In an appeal issued by the Polish Episcopal Conference (KEP), the Church warned that the government’s reforms represent a threat to family values.
“You must not consent to the systematic moral corruption of your children, which is to be carried out under the pretext of so-called health education,” the bishops wrote, insisting that its “actual aim is to completely change the perception of family and love.”
The Church says that the curriculum encourages sexual activity outside marriage, undermines motherhood, and promotes the rejection of biological sex in favour of gender ideology.
It accuses the government of paving the way for young people to identify as the opposite sex and even undergo gender transition, in defiance of Polish law, which recognises only male and female genders.
Conservative think tank Ordo Iuris also denounced the reforms, accusing Education Minister Barbara Nowacka of “smuggling in vulgar sex education under the guise of health.”
They argue that the new subject will expose children to discussions of abortion, contraception, psychosexual orientation, gender identity, and LGBT rights “without reference to moral or spiritual values.”
In a statement, the group warned that the changes threaten to destroy children’s innocence and undermine the value of lasting family relationships.
As Artur Ciechanowicz, Polish correspondent for europeanconservative.com, wrote earlier this year:
The attack on Catholic education … is part of a broader ideological agenda aimed at weakening Christianity’s role in Polish society.
The government has pushed back against the criticism. Barbara Nowacka herself has defended health education as “much needed, especially for young people” to equip them with essential knowledge.
The opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has protested against the reforms, and current Polish President Karol Nawrocki previously warned that the lessons would “sexualise” children and they represent “a clear violation of the constitution.”
The row over sex education for children is the latest in a series of ideological clashes not only between the leftist-liberal government and the conservative opposition but also within Poland’s ruling coalition.
Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the leader of the coalition’s most conservative party, the Polish People’s Party (PSL), has insisted that health education classes should be optional.
Efforts to introduce same-sex civil partnerships have likewise stalled due to resistance from the PSL.
