Religion and Religious Education in the European Union

In this essay the author focuses on the ageless values of Europe, such as Roman Law, the Judaeo-Christian roots of religion and Greek philosophy. It points out the importance of religious education in the educational process, which for many reasons including multiculturalism in modern Europe is constantly changing. Religious education has a different place in schools in different states, being variously compulsory, one of a list of subjects from which a choice must be made, or entirely optional. The article looks at the role and character of religious education in several EU states. In each state the way in which religion is taught (Luptáková, 2004) is historically conditioned and depends on many factors from the confessional profile of the population to the place and role of religion and the church in society to the edu-cational system, the relationship of the state to religious communities and so on.
Religion and religious education remain a attractive educational subjects even in the 21 st century. In the EU religious education is covered by the law on freedom of religion, on the avowal of faith and right to express one‘s own worldview.