The government of Peru has backed down over a controversial new curriculum after a reported 1.5 million Peruvians marched in protest under the banner “Con mis hijos no te metas” (“Don’t mess with my kids”).
Last year, a revised version of the curriculum was issued which referred to “gender identity” and said that such notions were built “day by day”.
Critics claimed the language of “gender” was a step towards introducing ideas about gender transition. The government defended the curriculum, saying that it only referred to the equal rights of men and women.
But last week, according to the news agency ACI Prensa, the Peruvian government withdrew the curriculum and reinstated a previous document from 2009.
The 2016 curriculum referred to the importance of defending “reproductive rights”, often used as a synonym for abortion. It also made frequent reference to gender-based discrimination, saying: “All people, regardless of their gender identity, have the same potential to learn and develop fully.
“Gender equality refers to the equal valuation of different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women and men … While what we consider ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ is based on a biological-sexual difference, these are notions that we are building day by day, in our interactions.”
The bishops’ conference of Peru said the curriculum promoted “concepts which do not proceed from the constitution, but rather are taken from so-called gender ideology”. Peruvians took to the streets in co-ordinated marches all over the country.
Croatian archbishop decries trial after general’s suicide
The President of Croatia’s bishops’ conference has condemned “unjust verdicts” at a United Nations war crimes trial, after a jailed general publicly committed suicide when his appeal was rejected.
“We have to live well with each other and cooperate, but we can’t build a future when lies are told about our history,” said Archbishop Želimir Puljić of Zadar, Croatia.
“Unfortunately, this tribunal has acted from political motives and followed political goals in attempting to show everyone is equally guilty and responsible,” he said following the suicide of Bosnian Croat military chief Slobodan Praljak, who died of heart failure after drinking potassium cyanide during a hearing in The Hague.
In a Croatian radio interview, Archbishop Puljić said he believed the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had not “taken account of historical facts” in accusing the officers of a “joint criminal enterprise,” and would not “contribute to reconciliation” with its “unjust verdicts”.
He said he regretted Praljak’s action, but believed his claim to be “giving his life for the truth” had “positive connotations”.
Marian devotion ‘lowers stress’
People with a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe have fewer health issues related to stress, a study by the University of Alabama has found.
Rebecca Read-Wahidi, the study’s author, told Catholic News Service: “In the study results, I found that people who are exposed to stress – their well-being goes down over time. Those who were Guadalupan devotees broke that pattern.”
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