In early June 2006, the Bolivian Education Minister
Félix Patzi told reporters that under the Morales administration, education would no longer have a sole focus on Catholicism and would become secular, with religious studies becoming optional rather than mandatory. The curriculum would instead focus on the history of religion, including indigenous religions. The idea was to create a "secular education that respects the beliefs, the spirituality of indigenous and native nations and of the Bolivian nations as the basis of individual and communitarian rights." Auxiliary Bishop
Luis Saenz of Cochabamba called on Catholics to protest: "Bolivia is a country of one people devoted to the one true God and his Blessed Mother. Mary, under her different titles, wants all Bolivians to be united.... [Let us pray that] God will illumine the darkness in order to extinguish lies and deceit ... because they want to silence us. God's message is free. God gives us the strength to guide our people. The Catholic Church shall not be enslaved. She is not a slave to the government because she is not a political party. Fear not, Bolivia, because the Church is born of God." Immediately after Patzi's statements, Archbishop Tito Solari of
Cochabamba said the Morales government must be consistent when it talks about respecting beliefs, which means respecting that a majority of Bolivians believe in Catholicism. She took issue with Patzi labeling the current system as "colonialist," saying he "is ignoring the Church's contribution to culture, education, health care, and development in Bolivia."
National Educational Congress walkout During the July 2006 meeting of the National Educational Congress, delegates from the
Bishops' Conference of Bolivia walked out, claiming the meeting "had become political and exclusive... the government is seeking to impose its new education law, which reflects an attitude that prevents dialogue about certain aspects of the future of education in Bolivia." In a late-night meeting, Education Minister Félix Patzi spoke with several bishops and pledged to uphold religious instruction in schools and respect the Church-State agreement, saying: "We recognize the contribution of the Church in the area of education, technical formation, and other areas. Religious subject matter will respect the diversity of religions and that is something we share with the Church, everyone has the right to practice the diversity of other religions, there was never any disagreement on that." Patzi said that he wanted to end "the religious monopoly" of the Catholic faith in schools and allow all faiths to be taught, "from oriental religions to those practiced by our native peoples." He said he would end the policy that made Catholic religious classes obligatory for students, and called the existing system "colonial". The Morales government announced its policy as a call for "secular education that respects the beliefs, the spirituality of indigenous and native nations and of the Bolivian nations as the basis of individual and communitarian rights."
Morales' reversal The calls by the Catholic hierarchy to resist Morales' policy against sectarian religious classes in state schools caused a dip in his popularity. In mid-July 2006 the newspaper
La Razon did a survey of 1,009 Bolivians living in the country's four major cities. The survey showed Morales with an approval rating of 68 percent, down from 75 percent in June. It also found that 83 percent of Bolivians surveyed had a favorable opinion of the Catholic Church. On July 30, 2006, after a two-and-a-half-hour conference in
Cochabamba with Cardinal
Julio Terrazas, Morales ended the dispute by reversing his stance and backing away from the proposal. The
Associated Press reported that in a joint statement that had discussed diversity of religion but did not provide a way to deviate from predominant Catholic curriculum that is already taught in Bolivian state schools. Both men came to the consensus that both the Morales administration and the Church would retain the religious classes while also taking into consideration the diversity of religion within the country. == 2019 Political Crisis ==