In what is generally regarded as a change of position, the Catholic Episcopal Conference of bishops have decided to leave it up to parents whether to allow their children to attend sex education classes.

The pronouncement comes four months before the Education Ministry mandated classes are to start in the nation’s public schools. The Constitutional Court (Sala IV) has already ruled that parents may excuse their children from the classes.

The national newspaper La Nacion reported that surveys indicate that nearly all parents will allow their children to take the classes — something the paper said was not lost on the bishops.

“If a parent comes to me to ask, shall I send my child to the classes or not,” said Episcopal Conference president Mnsr. Oscar Fernandez, “I won’t give them an opinion — I’m not a parent.”

Two religious leaders Wednesday gave a press conference to promote a new book of Catholic doctrine, The Church in Dialogue. The book only contains two “non-negotiable” items of prohibition that are current issues here: fertilization in vitro and gay marriage.

At first, it appeared that Education Minister Leonardo Garnier would face complete refusal by Catholic bishops to counsel parents to allow high school students to attend the sex education classes. The bishop of Cartago was clear on the matter.

Garnier recognized that “the Episcopal Conference is more open than it was eight years ago. Likewise, society has changed, the Church has too, little by little.”

But Fernandez himself has criticized the classes as failing “to put love as the center of everything.” Fernandez was accompanied at the press conference by the group’s treasurer Jose Rafael Quiros who praised President Chinchilla for promoting “more religious liberty.”

Commentary: More and more, the Church has proven itself to be less liberal than the average Costa Rican. But conservative as it is, it does not come close to being as rigid as the growing Evangelical population.

This gap may have played a part in the bishops’ attitude. Another factor, says La Nacion, is that a younger group of bishops will soon occupy seats.

The paper points out that the cutoff age, 75, is fast approaching for two of its eight members. In the case of Mnsr. Hugo Barrantes, it already passed a year and a half ago while he waits for the Holy See to retire him. Another bishop is ill.

In the case of the Evangelicals, it is unlikely that their attitude about the classes will change. They were responsible for the Sala IV decision to allow parents to opt out of the sex ed classes for their children.

They did it by inundating the court with petitions — a sort of photocopy protest dictated by preachers in the pulpits.