Religious upbringing

Abstract

Religious upbringing is the most important element of the Christian formation. It is the relation with the Creator that makes a young person discover that his life is meaningful because he is loved and called to love others. Lack of religious upbringing leaves man alone in ablind search for the truth about him and makes him act via a trial-and-error method. Religious formation should be differentiated from its caricatures: demanding blind faith, showing a false image of God or moralizing, which reduces religious upbringing to a system of do’s and don’ts. The basis of religious upbringing is the capacity for a deep reflection as well as the experience of unconditional and irrevocable love of God to human being, a kind of experience that is gained with the help of parents and teachers. The greatest responsibility for the religious upbringing of a young generation lies on parents, who, by contracting a sacramental marriage, vow that they will accept children lovingly from Godand bring them up as Catholic. Children who are loved unconditionally by their parents, priests, religion education teachers and other adults are most likely to believein God's love for man