ABSTRACT:
This article analyzes changes in Brazilian educational legislation, from the 1987-1988’s Constituent Assembly, with a focus on religious education in public schools. It was pointed out a change in the main conflict (secular versus religious education) in favor of the secondary conflict (confessional versus interfaith religious education), played by sectors of the Catholic Church. Recent political and juridical decisions make it possible to foresee the increase of this conflict: the confirmation of the concordata between Brazil and Vatican, by the Federal Supreme Court, and the approval of the National Curricular Common Base by the National Council of Education, in which each state instance supports the demands coming from different and rival catholic sectors.
Keywords:
Brazilian education; Educational politics; Secularism