Religious education in the German school curriculum has been a concern of the churches as well as of the governments of Germany since the Middle Ages. This is a carefully detailed account of religious instruction as it developed historically in the curriculum of German elementary and secondary schools. It emphasizes the relations of church, state, and school; the problem of a confessional or interdenominational basis for public schools; and the training of teachers, the content of the curriculum, and the method of instruction. Although it begins with the early origins of the school, major emphasis is given to the period after 1871. The book concludes with an up-to-date description of the present-day situation in East and West Germany, and in East and West Berlin. German experience with the vexing political and religious problems of religious education in public schools affords interesting comparisons and contrasts to conditions in other countries.

This book is a contribution to scholarship in the field of religious education. Its aim is simple: to offer a critical perspective on the nature of religious education in the light of contemporary developments in Catholic thinking in catechesis and wider thinking in education. The issues raised in the book will provide ample material for fruitful dialogue and constructive debate in the world of Catholic education. Part One revolves around four historical contexts selected specifically to illuminate contemporary developments in the field. While these historical periods have porous boundaries, they offer a working structure in support of the core claims of the book. Part Two explores the complex genealogy of the relationship between catechesis and Religious Education. Key thematic frames of reference within which the relevant Magisterial documents and associated academic literature are set out and explored chronologically thus allowing for some cross-referencing across the themes: unsurprisingly the range of the issues for debate resists a neat packaging within specific time-frames but does provide a helpful working structure. Part Three proposes that a Spirituality of Communion should underpin the Church’s work in catechesis, education and Religious Education. Shared Mission seems to be a satisfactory articulation of the necessary dialogic relationship between both fields and offers a suitable space for both distinction and reciprocity. The revised edition contains an appendix on the Global Compact on Education.