AGREEMENT OF
(BOE N1 300, 15 December)
INSTRUMENT OF RATIFICATION, DATED
The Spanish Government and the Holy See, continuing with
revision of the concordat texts in the spirit of the Agreement of
On one hand, the State recognizes the fundamental right to
religious education and has ratified international agreements that guarantee
the exercise of this right.
On the other hand, the Church must coordinate its
educational mission with the principles of civil liberty in religious affairs
and with the rights of families and all students and teachers, to avoid any
discrimination or privilege.
The so-called social media have become an efficient school
of knowledge, criteria and customs. Therefore, the same principles of religious
freedom and equality without special privilege that the Church and State
profess in educational affairs shall be applied in the legal regulation of the
media.
Finally, the Church´s Historical,
Artistic and Documental Patrimony continue to be an extremely important part of
the cultural estate of the Nation. Therefore, placing this Patrimony in the
service and for the enjoyment of society, its conservation and its increase
justify collaboration of the Church and State. For this reason, both Parties
conclude the following:
AGREEMENT
I. In view of the principle of religious freedom, educational
activity shall respect the fundamental right of parents concerning the moral
and religious education of their children in schools.
In any case, the education provided in public school will be
respectful towards Christian values.
II. Educational plans at the levels of preschool, Elementary
School (EGB) and High School (BUP) and technical colleges for students of the
corresponding ages, shall include the teaching of the Catholic Religion in all
Educational Centers, in conditions equal to those of the basic subjects.
Out of respect for freedom of conscience, this religious
education shall not be obligatory for all students. However, the right to
receive it is guaranteed.
Academic authorities shall adopt the necessary means so that
receiving or not receiving religious instruction shall not suppose any
discrimination at the school.
At the teaching levels previously named, the corresponding
academic authorities shall allow the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy to establish,
under the specific conditions agreed upon, other complementary activities of
training and religious attendance.
III. At the educational levels referred to in the previous
article, religious instruction shall be imparted by those persons who, each
school year, shall be appointed by the academic authority from among those
proposed by the diocesan Ordinary. With sufficient advance notice, the diocesan
Ordinary shall make known the names of those teachers and persons considered
competent for said education.
In public preschools, elementary schools and technical
colleges, the designation, as previously described, shall preferably fall to
those elementary school teachers who have requested it.
No one shall be compelled to teach religion.
Teachers of religion shall be part, for all purposes, of the
faculty of their respective schools.
IV. The teaching of Catholic doctrine and its teaching at the
University Schools for Teacher Training, under the same conditions as the other
basic disciplines, shall be voluntary for all students.
Teachers of Catholic doctrine shall be named by the academic
authorities in the same manner as that established in Article III and they too
shall be considered part of the their respective faculties.
V. The State guarantees that the Catholic church
may organize voluntary teaching courses and other religious activities in
public Universities, using the premises and resources of these centers. The
Church Hierarchy shall come to an agreement with the Centers´ Authorities for
the suitable exercise of these activities in all aspects.
VI. It shall be the responsibility of the Church Hierarchy to
decide the contents of Catholic teaching and training courses, as well as to
propose textbooks and educational material relative to said teaching and
training.
The Church Hierarchy and the State´s
agencies, within the scope of their respective competence, shall ensure that
the teaching and training are suitably imparted, with the religious teaching
subject to the general control of the Centers.
VII. The economic situation of teachers of the Catholic
religion at the different educational levels, who are not part of the State´s teaching staff, shall be arranged by the central
government and the Spanish Episcopal Conference, in order that it be applied when this Agreement takes effect.
VIII. The Catholic church may establish
diocesan and religious Minor Seminaries, the specific nature of which shall be
respected by the State.
In order to be considered elementary schools, high schools
or universities, the general legislation shall be applied, although neither a
minimum number of registered students nor the acceptance of students in
accordance with their geographical origin or family residence shall be required.
IX. Teaching centers that are not universities, independent of
their grade or specialty, established by the church now or in the future, shall
conform to the legislation in force, concerning the exercise of their
activities.
X. 1. Universities, University Colleges,
In order for studies carried out in these Centers to be
recognized under civil law, they shall be governed according to current
legislation concerning those subjects at all times.
2. The State recognizes the legal existence of those
Universities established by the church in
3. Students at these Universities shall have the same
benefits in matters of health care, student security, student aid and research
and other forms of student protection as those established for students at
State universities.
XI. The Catholic church, in accordance
with its own law, maintains its autonomy in the establishment of Universities,
Departments, Institutes of higher learning and other Centers of Ecclesiastic
Science for training priests, religious and laymen.
Confirmation of studies and recognition by the State of the
civil effects of degrees conferred by these centers of higher learning, shall be the subject of specific regulation
between the competent authorities of the Church and the State. As long as this
regulation is not in effect, possible confirmations of those studies and the
granting of civil value to the degrees conferred shall be made in accordance
with the general norms on this subject.
The confirmation and recognition of studies carried out and
degrees obtained by clergymen or laymen in Departments approved by the Holy See
abroad shall also be regulated by common consent.
XII. State Universities, prior agreement with the competent
Church authority, may establish Centers of higher learning for the study of
Catholic theology.
XIII. The Church´s teaching centers,
regardless of their grade and specialization, and their students, shall have
the right to receive those subsidies, scholarships, fiscal benefits and other
aid that the State grants to private centers and to the students at these
centers, in accordance with the system of equal opportunity.
XIV. Safeguarding the principles of religious freedom and freedom
of expression, the State shall ensure that its social media shall respect the
feelings of Catholics and shall establish the corresponding agreements
concerning these matters with the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
XV. The Church reiterates its disposition to continue to place
its historic, artistic and documental patrimony at the service of society in
general and shall come to an agreement with the State concerning the basis for
effecting the common interests and collaboration of both parties, for the
purpose of preserving, making known and cataloging the Church´s
cultural patrimony, facilitating its viewing and study, assuring its best
possible conservation and preventing all losses, within the framework of
Article 46 of the Constitution.
For these purposes and any others related with said
patrimony, a Mixed Commission shall be formed within a year´s
time at the latest, from the date on which this Agreement becomes effective in
XVI. The Holy See and the Spanish Government shall proceed by
common consent in the resolution of any doubts or difficulties that may arise
in the interpretation or application of any clause of this Agreement, guided by
the principles informing it.
XVII. 1. The following articles of the Concordat currently in effect
are repealed: XXVI, XXVII, XXVIII, XXIX, XXX and XXXI.
2. However, the rights acquired by those Universities that
the Church has established in
TEMPORARY
PROVISIONS
First. The recognition for civil purposes of those studies
followed in Church Universities currently in existence shall continue to be
decided, temporarily, according to the norms now in force, until such time as
the opportune regulations for recognition shall be prescribed for each Center
or course of study, in accordance with the general legislation, which shall not
expect requirements superior to those imposed by State Universities or public
organisms.
Second. Those persons whom, at the moment in which this Agreement
comes into force, hold superior degrees in Church Science and whom, by virtue
of Paragraph 3 of Article 30 of the Concordat, are teachers of arts and
literature in teaching centers dependent upon Church Authority, shall continue
to be considered as holding a degree adequate for teaching at such Centers,
despite the repeal of said article.
FINAL
PROTOCOL
Under
the provisions of this Agreement, the denomination of centers, educational
levels, teaching staff and students, educational material, etc., shall continue
to be valid for any equivalent educational changes that may arise as a result
of reforms or changes in terminology or of the official school system.
The
present Agreement, the texts of which in Spanish and Italian are equally valid,
shall take effect from the moment of the exchange of the instruments of
ratification.