Research on the Federal District’s Religious Education Curriculum

Abstract

In April 21, 1960, the city of Brasília was inaugurated as Brazil’s Capital and the Capital of the Federal District (DF). It’s public and private Primary Schools were regulated by the Federal Constitution of 1946, which reestablished a democratic regime after the “Estado Novo” of Getúlio Vargas. Only in 1961, due to the tensions between Catholic concepts of education and the republican ideology, the first Law of Directives and Fundaments of National Education (LDB) was launched deciding that Religious Education continues to be a part of the public schools’ schedule as an optional subject independent of political intervention and orientated toward the religious confession of the student, his or her parents or other persons responsible. These norms have a decisive impact on the present situation of DF’s Religious Education by authorizing ecclesiastic entities to train teachers and to define the contents of Religious Education both at public and private schools.