Lower Saxony introduces joint religious education - a historical step!

Lower Saxony introduces joint religious education - a historical step!

In a historical decision, Lower Saxony is the first federal state in Germany the introduction of a common Christian religious education. This step was announced on December 14, 2024, with Evangelical Landeskirchen and Catholic dioceses want to sign an agreement, as the Catholic News Agency (KNA) reported. The conference of the Lower Saxony Catholic bishops and the synods of the Evangelical Churches in Lower Saxony have already given approval.

the groundbreaking religious education

The initiative stipulates that in everyday school life, religious education under the title "Christian Religion" will replace the previous Protestant and Catholic lessons in the coming years. This is an important step because it goes beyond the previous cooperation between the two churches and includes a uniform curriculum. The lessons should start in the school year 2025/26 after it has to be approved by the red-green state government, which is open to the project, so katholisch.de .

In May 2021, the proposal for this joint religious education was presented, and since then various experts have worked on its design. The ceremony for the signing of the agreement is also accompanied by the Lower Saxony Minister of Culture Julia Willie Hamburg (Greens). For the first time in Germany, the Evangelical and Catholic Church will now take on responsibility for religious education in schools, which is seen as a formative moment for future Christian education in Lower Saxony, as kathpress.at reported.