A decree prohibits discussing sexual diversity in Catholic schools in La Plata.
The Archbishop of La Plata, Monsignor Agüer, through decree 096/2017, yesterday "expressly" prohibited Catholic schools in that city from referring to "gender theory and the texts that support it" because it is his "responsibility to look after children."
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[READ ALSO: Brutal beating of a gay couple by a gang in La Plata] The decree highlighted that "this archdiocese periodically receives complaints regarding the teaching of essential topics in various subjects," and therefore, through the document, established "guidelines" for both schools directly under the Archdiocese of La Plata and those belonging to religious congregations. Since last night, sexual diversity organizations, as well as feminist and LGBTI activists, have expressed their outrage at what they consider another affront to their rights.
[READ ALSO: Nurse accused of sexually abusing a trans woman in a hospital]
“Dear Monsignor Aguer: what we intend to erase is only the part where these differences are transformed into hierarchies; ours involves discrimination, violence, and death. What you are mandating, in addition to fostering hatred, violates several National Laws, constitutionally built on social consensus, not on the beliefs of a few,” said 100% Diversity and Rights.[READ ALSO: Discrimination in a bowling alley: “This place is not for you”]
We all pay Aguer's criminal salary. He earns the same as a federal judge, and Vidal supports him and obeys him. https://t.co/dOtqVSicRn
— Franco Torchia (@francotorchia_) September 21, 2017
Every time I work, part of my money goes to him, the one who shits on the law and teaches new generations to hate me. https://t.co/umG0uYm2Le
— Tomás Balmaceda (@capitanintriga) September 22, 2017
Franco Torchia interviewed Aguer in December 2016. It was a lengthy interview, which aired in January on the program "No se puede vivir del amor" (You Can't Live on Love). In a conversation with Presentes , Torchia said:
"It's further confirmation of his positions. Aguer is very theatrical and very prone to media frenzy; he seeks that commotion through his editorials in the newspaper El Día de La Plata and on Radio Provincia, the public radio station where he's been for years. The decree says what the catechesis continues to say, what he read to me in that interview. It's the same worldwide catechesis that the Church distributes in its schools. There are some priests and schools that omit those passages."
What this decree stipulates is that they cannot refuse. It is a decree from the highest authority in the province of Buenos Aires. It confirms something that has been happening in most Catholic schools in the province of Buenos Aires, which are heavily subsidized by various administrations—administrations that divert funds from public education. This doctrine is the currency of exchange.
Aguer has been in office since 1998, taking over under Duhalde. No governor of the province—not Ruckauf, Solá, Scioli, or Vidal—has done anything to even soften his stance. On the contrary, they have obeyed him.
I disagree when people say he's an out-of-touch figure, shut away in the bishopric and without influence. That's a lie. He has direct impact. The article I wrote about him, in my opinion, has something that the mainstream press didn't care about: he acknowledges his influence over Vidal and Scioli in blocking the protocol for non-punishable abortion. His methods are neither Franciscan nor populist. Everything Bergoglio says is the same as what Aguer says, but it sounds different. Aguer's abhorrence of gender theory and his opposition to same-sex marriage is a direct reflection of the Vatican and the Church's beliefs.
¿What specific forms of violence does this fuel in a territory like La Plata or the province of Buenos Aires? Given how battered and fragmented the LGBTI population is, this gesture only exacerbates and intensifies that violence. It's pushing people toward crime. Aguer is a criminal insofar as he violates laws in force within a state governed by the rule of law. He is a high-ranking figure in a state that stands above other states, supported by public funds.
In recent months, hate attacks against gay couples and trans people in public, as well as acts of discrimination, have multiplied in the city of La Plata.
The full decree
SEEN
That in Catholic schools students should receive a comprehensive education based on the doctrine of the Church, so that they are formed in the Christian vision of the world and adhere to it in thought and affection; andCONSIDERING
It is my responsibility to ensure that the proper purpose of Catholic education is not thwarted in children, adolescents, and young people; and given that complaints regarding the transmission of essential matters in various subjects periodically reach this archdiocese, I hereby establish that the guidelines I outline in the following sections be observed with complete fidelity and diligence in both schools directly under the Archdiocese of La Plata and those belonging to religious congregations: 1. Religious Education and Catechesis must take as their indispensable doctrinal reference the Catechism of the Catholic Church and its Compendium. The texts used and the explanations of teachers and catechists must always conform to these instruments in order to present Catholic truth to students without ambiguity, using methods and activities appropriate to their age. They must also be helped, with equal care, to recognize the errors and disordered behaviors prevalent in the current culture, so as to avoid falling into them. The Catechism also contains the Church's teaching on human sexuality and social justice, topics addressed in the following points. 2. Regarding education for love, chastity, marriage, and the family, follow precisely what I have established in "The Order of the Spirit in Sexuality: Preliminary Contributions to the Organization of Sex Education in Schools." I expressly forbid the use of "gender theory" and the texts that support it as a source of inspiration in this delicate and beautiful area. At the appropriate time, a critique of this widely disseminated theory, which seeks to deny the biological differences between men and women, must be presented with sound arguments so that students can discern correctly and not be led astray by this error. 3. Subjects related to the social, political, and economic order, whatever name the official curriculum may give them, must be based on the Catechism and the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published under the authority of Saint John Paul II in 2004. I expect the Legal Representatives, Directors, catechists, chaplains, and teachers to comply with these provisions with sincerity, supernatural prudence, and charity. I entrust the Regional Board of Catholic Education with the ongoing doctrinal and pedagogical oversight of these guidelines, so as to ensure the full Catholic identity of both the institutions under its direct authority and the schools belonging to religious congregations, whose students, as such, are faithful to this Particular Church.Two final observations:
What I prescribe in this decree applies, and with even greater reason, to all existing Higher Institutes of Formation in the Archdiocese, without exception. In accordance with what was established by Saint John Paul II in the Apostolic Constitution Fidei Depositum of October 11, 1992, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is a valid and authoritative instrument at the service of the ecclesial community and as a sure norm for the teaching of the faith. No teacher is permitted to transmit anything contrary to what it contains, and the validity and licitness of texts or notes offered or recommended for use by students must be judged by its content. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary. Given at our Archbishop's See of La Plata, on the fourteenth day of September in the year of our Lord 2017, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Decree No. 096/2017We are Present
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Monsignor Aguer clearly demonstrates the doctrine of the Holy Catholic Church.
It is worth noting that if parents decide to send their children to Catholic schools, it is because they adhere to their teachings. If, for some absurd reason, they change their minds and wish to have their poor children indoctrinated with the sick and biological "gender ideology," it is up to them to transfer them to a public school.