Catholic School Forced to Grant Exemption from Liturgies, Retreats

After a series of exchanges between a Catholic-school parent and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District in Ontario, the Ontario Superior Court ruled in April that Notre Dame School in Brampton must exempt an eleventh-grade student from taking part in compulsory liturgies and retreats, according to The Toronto Star.

The student’s father, Oliver Erazo, had reportedly requested and was eventually granted exemption from religion classes for his son. He called on Ontario’s Education Act, which stipulates that students must be exempt from “any program or course of study in religious education” if their parents request it in writing. Erazo then pressed for his son’s exemption from liturgies and retreats as well, arguing that these activities fall under the category of “programs,” but the school refused.  (more...)

Catholic School Forced to Grant Exemption from Liturgies, Retreats