Education for Interreligious Dialogue in the Family

The magnitude of religious intolerance aimed at professing the Catholic faith in public in the world today is a major cause for concern. This article focuses on the most hidden forms of religious intolerance, namely those that occur between spouses and within a family circle. Religiously intolerant spouses often learn religious intolerance in their youth, since they have grown up in environments opposed or even hostile to faith. All the negative feelings, experiences, abuse and trauma in relation to religion from their youth are brought into their marriage and family. Research of marriage annulment cases at the Diocesan Ecclesiastical Court in Maribor confirms that religious intolerance is often transferred from one marriage to another, from one family to another. Victims of religious intolerance are always deeply religious spouses and minors. Therefore, fostering religious tolerance in families should be one of the most important priorities of the Catholic Church, which is nowadays particularly keen on new evangelization in the world and religious pluralism in families.