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Feeling very keenly the weighty responsibility of diligently caring for
the moral and religious education of all her children, the Church must
be present with her own special affection and help for the great number
who are being trained in schools that are not Catholic. This is
possible by the witness of the lives of those who teach and direct
them, by the apostolic action of their fellow-students,[23] but
especially by the ministry of priests and laymen who give them the
doctrine of salvation in a way suited to their age and circumstances and
provide spiritual aid in every way the times and conditions allow.
The Church reminds parents of the duty that is theirs to arrange and
even demand that their children be able to enjoy these aids and advance
in their Christian formation to a degree that is abreast of their
development in secular subjects. Therefore the Church esteems highly
those civil authorities and societies which, bearing in mind the
pluralism of contemporary society and respecting religious freedom,
assist families so that the education of their children can be imparted
in all schools according to the individual moral and religious
principles of the families.[24]
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