The Department of Theology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) has called on the Greek Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports to reconsider its decision to introduce “Ethics” as an alternative subject for students who are exempted from Religious Education. In an official statement, the Department Assembly said that, after a thorough review of the recent ministerial decisions, it unanimously expressed “serious concern and opposition.”
According to the statement, replacing Religious Education with an “Ethics” course leads to a lack of religious literacy. The proposed Ethics curriculum, the Department argues, focuses mainly on normative rules of behavior and places the discussion almost exclusively on a philosophical level. By contrast, religious literacy is not catechism but a necessary tool for understanding art, history, culture, and social structures. Removing it, the statement notes, deprives students of key interpretive tools for understanding contemporary reality.
The Department also warned of a downgrading of cultural identity. Religious education, it said, offers deeper insight into the values that shaped Greek, European, and global civilization. An alternative subject that ignores religion as a source of meaning and moral commitment risks promoting a one-dimensional form of religious alienation.
Concerns were also raised about pedagogical ambiguity and unequal treatment. The Theology Department argued that presenting Ethics as an alternative implies, incorrectly, that Religious Education lacks moral content, and creates educational inequality by cutting some students off entirely from knowledge of the country’s religious heritage.
Special emphasis was placed on the constitutional framework. Citing Article 16(2) of the Greek Constitution, the Department stressed that the state is obliged to provide all students with knowledge of the religious phenomenon, not to deprive them of religious education by replacing it with a course in moral philosophy. It also referred to international standards, arguing that exclusive instruction in Ethics may infringe upon children’s right to religious education.
In conclusion, the Department of Theology stated that the proposed alternative course is in no way equivalent or related to Religious Education and may conflict with constitutional provisions. It called on the Ministry to revise its decision and to develop a curriculum that ensures religious literacy for all students, respects freedom of conscience, and preserves academic completeness.
Source: theol.uoa.gr / Translated by: Konstantinos Menyktas
