The oId dichotomy existing between Determinism and Indeterminism finds
tOOay its extreme manifestation in BioIogism and Existentialism. As far as tbe
fonner is concerned, bioIogical instincts are, to put it some way, man's fate. According
to Existentialism, above all in tbe fonn advocated by Sartre, man is free in tbe
face of all tbings except one: freedom itself.
In order to fully comprehend tbe meaning of freedom it is very helpfuI to
consider the distinction between subjective freedom (freedom of tbe will) and
intersubjective or social freedom. The !atter presupposes tbe former. Freedom, of
necessity, leads to . a tbeo1ogica1 dimensiono As has been written, eGod has entered
into man's history and for this reason, from tbe birtb of Ottist on, tbere no Ionger
exists such a tbing as intramundanity: tbere ean no longer be such a tbing as human
history which leaves God out».
Two concepts tbat correspond to tbe notions of eteaching» and «education» are
«schooI» and «formation». Vatiean Council II has stated tbat «true education sets
out to form tbe human person witb a view towards bis. ultimate end, and towards
tbe good of all societies».
One can commit abuses in education, especially since Pedagogy exists in function
of a corresponding AntbropoIogy. To tbis respect, ethe thesis that affirms the
existence of an education tbat is situated above and beyond any belief, whose
pattems were to be validly elaborated and with the force of obligation for all by
Liberal Pedagogy, constitutes an ideoIogy of doctrinary Positivism». There are no
such things as spiritual vacuums. What we fail to do others will do, only in a
different manner. The Council underlines tbe urgency of teaching tbat «parents, to
whom the mission and inalienable rlght to educate their children corresponds with
preference, must be truly free to opt for the school of their choice». The mission
of the State must consist of reconciling the different aims and interests of its
citizens, of protecting freedom of consclence, and of insuring the same opportunities
for education and formation for all in a regime which sanctions tbe free promotion
of educational centers.
It is important to distinguish between an obligatory schooI system and tbe
obligation of being schooIed. .
There exists a profound interdependence between the rights ~f parents, freedom
of religion, and the selection of a particular school. Decisively, all socienes exist in
and for its members. The right of parents cannot be used as a weapon against tbe
Church because believing parents also constitute the Church. One becomes part of
tbe State by force, by being bom in it, but tbe same does not hoId in tbe case
of tbe Church, whose autbority is free1y accepted and fundamented upon Faitb. The
testimony given by parents to tbe Catholic schooI is tbus very beneficia1. The Council
states: eThe denial if God or of religion does not constitute, as it did in tbe past,
an uncommon and individual fact... This explains the perturbation of many». The
main dangers are those tbat lurk in tbe patb of youtb. For this reason, it is necessary
tbat parents exercise tbeir rlghts in an energerlc fashion. We need to reflect upon
tbe precise teaching of religion and upon the deliberate training in tbe Faitb
which serve to create the necessary spiritual climate or atmosphere.
We must reject any type of education tbat bears the title of egenerally Christian»
because onIy tbe true Ottistian Faitb ean take hold in any particular Creed and
in the application which one makes of it in life itself. The Catbolic schooI is
-and a1ways will be- what its teachers happen to be.It has been stated that «only when parents who are attentive to their responsabilities
concerning educational matters know and exercise those constitutional rigbts
that assist them the influence of the State can be held within the limits of the
supervisory function which the Constitution provides». The danger that the
educative rigbts of parents be constrained comes primarily from reforms in the
Law regulating families, in those cases where there may exist discrepancies between
parents and offspring, in such a way that authorities foreign to the family have to
intervene. It also comes from the very field of education. It is convenient to
lmderline the fact that the rights of parents concerning education is, as far as
ir deals with a constitutional right, an individual and in sorne way a col1ective
right as wel1.
Citizens must carry out more initiatives in support of free educational and
formative activities. The German Fundamental Law guarantees -in its Article 7,
IV- the foundation of private schools and the subsequent right for their support.
The so-called «subsidiary» schools must be valued on an equal fOOrlng with
State-run schools, but in no way be identified with the latter. Furthermore, this
comparison must in no way mean that private schools have to back up automatically
any modifications that are introduced in the official schools. On the other hand,
it is both just and very important that those schools having a free charter be able
to offer, with their tides, the same professional opportunities as those offered by
State schools.
It has been stated that «given that the school canoot accomplish its spedfic
mission without the contiriued assistance of parents, and that furthermore the
educative responsability of the latter does not cease with the entrance of their
children in school, we must recognize their right to intervene in those matters
that affect the school, as wel1 as their sense of responsability regarding such
matters».
In this , light, it is necessary that parents be able to freely associate themselves
with regard to school matters. This parental cooperation must focus primarily upon
textbooks, and it would also be hoped that they would be more attentive to any
changes in the schools system.
The State monopoly on schooling not only has not prevented the penetration
of the ideals of the New Left into the school system, but has in fact facilitated
this penetration in part. Parents and educators should rise up against present-day
Neomarxist manipulations, because «freedom operating in a vacuum, and which stems
from itself and tends towards its own fulfillment, is a false freedom at the
merey of all foreign forces, the majority of which are harrnful». Only by casting a
backward glance at their philosophical and theological roots teaching and education
can continue to be truly human and Christian.