The right of parents to bring up their children in accordance with their own belief system remains one of the arguments most frequently made by representatives of the Roman Catholic Church as part of the assertion that the Church should play a larger role within the public education system. However, research reveals that only a minority of self-proclaimed Catholics in Slovenia actually share the values of the Roman Catholic Church. The parental values of Slovenian Catholics are clearly more traditional than those of non-religious parents; yet they remain far from the ideas of the Church. This research study reveals, for example, that Slovenian Catholics consistently rank religiosity among the least important values. The transition has not brought about a clearer Catholic proliferation of parental values amongst Catholics, but rather their adjustment to a broader modernisation of values. In view of this, respecting the rights of parents to bring up their children according to their beliefs would, above all, require changes in the values of the Roman Catholic Church.
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