The video recording of the conference “Religious Education: Fit for Present and Future? The Role of Religion in the Formation of Young Generations at the European Schools”, held on Wednesday, 4 June 2025 at the Chapel for Europe, is now publicly available for viewing on the COMECE YouTube channel. Watch the full video recording
Organised by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of the European Union (COMECE), the religious authorities responsible for Religion at the European Schools, and the Chapel for Europe, the event gathered teachers, students, parents, EU officials and academics. Together, they explored how the teaching of religion contributes to many dimensions of the development of pupils.
Dr Katharina von Schnurbein, European Commission’s Coordinator on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, addressed the pivotal role of Religion classes in developing compassionate and cohesive societies, through moral development, cultural awareness and openness.
Prof. Geoffrey Legrand, Doctor in Theology and Lecturer at UCLouvain, highlighted the growing pluralisation of our contemporary societies and spoke of the right of young people to religious education, in order to accompany the search of meaning of future adults.
The panel was greatly enriched by the presence of a student of the European Schools, who explained the reasons behind her choice of Religion at school, mentioning how the course helps students in the most critical periods of their life and how it fosters, especially in the last two years, an aptitude to create dialogue, fraternity and respect in the school environment.
Prof. Konstantinos Kenanides, Teacher of Orthodox religion, presented the structure and contents of the Religion curriculum, underlining the crucial role of the subject to give criteria for students’ everyday life choices and inspire them to contribute to the Common Good.
Finally, Dr Christian Behrmann, Chair of the Association of Protestant Parents of the European Schools of Brussels, described the contribution of confessional Religion classes for the holistic development of children and the expectations of parents in having a space for pupils to address deep fundamental life questions.
The debate at the end of the panel, where participants online and in presence showed great engagement, was also centred on the current reform of S6 and S7, which seeks to change the status of Religion classes in the European Schools. The video recording is now publicly available for viewing on the COMECE YouTube channel.
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Full video recording