Religious freedom said limited in Chile’s schools

SAN PEDRO DE LA PAZ, Chile — The issue of religious discrimination is in the public spotlight in Chile, due to the case of San Pedro de la Paz, a town some 300 miles south of Santiago.

There a Baptist lawyer has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Education and Gospel Task Force for Chile because of evident acts of religious discrimination against evangelical students in the community schools. New legislation granted Protestants and other religious bodies equality with Roman Catholics.

But Protestants say that religious education in public schools, as presently practiced, is discriminatory. The class action suit was initiated because there are great numbers of evangelical students, and Protestant religious education is not offered in the schools.