Can Canada force Catholic schools to teach contrary to its beliefs? Can this happen in the United States? Or is it already?

OTTAWA, Ontario — An Alliance Defending Freedom allied attorney filed a brief last week with the Supreme Court of Canada in defense of a private Catholic high school being forced to teach a government-mandated ethics and religion course that includes teaching contrary to Catholic belief.

In July 2008, the Quebec government introduced a new program, “Ethics and Religious Culture,” which it requires to be taught in all public and private schools. The program presents all religions, including Wicca and pagan rites, as equally valid. The government is also prohibiting teachers from expressing a preference for any particular faith, even at private, religious schools.

“This school does not object to educating students about the diversity of faiths and what makes each faith distinctive, but the government should not require a Catholic school to tell its students that the Catholic faith is no more valid than a myriad of conflicting faith traditions,” added Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Brett Harvey, next week’s guest on Faith on Trial. “All faith-based institutions must be free to speak and act consistently with their faith,” he said.