Sex education resources provided by the Government are too explicit and do not accord with the Church’s teaching on relationships, the Diocese of Portsmouth has warned.
In guidelines for Catholic schools on sex and relationship education published today the Diocese, under Bishop Philip Egan, warned teachers to take care in choosing resources for sex and relationship education (SRE).
It also advises schools to only refer students to outside agencies that have been vetted to ensure their policies are in line with Church teaching.
“Some resources are too sexually explicit; others seem to portray casual sexual relationships as ‘normal.’ It is important to take care when selecting resources that they accord with the Church’s teaching and the Christian way of life,” it says.
Christian sex education ought to promote purity, chastity and abstinence instead of contraception, it adds.
What the document refers to as “alternate views” around contraception, gay relationships and IVF should be taught with reference to the Church’s teaching on marriage, and not “neutral or value-free”.
But it acknowledges: “Given that many of our young come from homes with a variety of family models, care needs to be taken to ensure that SRE is taught in the context of God’s unconditional love, with mercy and compassion, so that parents and students feel supported and not judged or excluded because their family for some reason does not meet the ideal type.”
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