On October 9th, in the midst of World Mental Health Day, the diocesan school Pablo VI – Fátima, located in A Rúa de Valdeorras (Ourense) and dependent on the Diocese of Astorga, opened its doors to a talk by the ARELAS association, a trans activist collective, as part of the program “Schools without closets”.
What was supposed to be a day focused on the health and well-being of Secondary school students turned into a platform for gender ideology: messages of “diversity” and “inclusion” presented as requirements for mental health, but which in reality introduce into a Catholic center a discourse contrary to the Church’s doctrine on the person, sexuality, and family, with an ideology that opens the door to chemical hormone blockers and genital mutilation, generating irreversible damage through a voluntary way of understanding sexuality and identity.
ARELAS and the trans agenda in school
ARELAS is an activist association that focuses its work on the visibility of trans minors and the normalization of gender ideology from childhood. Palacios, social worker and leader of the collective, was invited to speak about “inclusion, diversity, and respect” as keys to mental health. In the video shared by the school on social media, it is stated that “feeling accepted, listened to, and free to be oneself is also mental health”.
“Schools without closets”: an indoctrination project
The program Schools without closets was born in Madrid in 1994, promoted by the COGAM collective, and has spread to dozens of schools in Spain. Its stated objective is to introduce “affective-sexual diversity education” in the classrooms and combat what they call “sexist and LGBTphobic prejudices”. According to their own data, in recent courses they have reached more than 7,000 Primary and Secondary students, incorporating talks and workshops on gender identity and sexual orientation from early ages.
What appears to be presented as bullying prevention and promotion of respect, in reality opens the door for children and adolescents to receive ideological messages that contradict the Christian view of the person, marriage, and sexuality.
Outraged parents: “Total woke ideology”
The activity has generated rejection among parents, who denounce the ideological bias. “It seems they are giving them total woke ideology. Teaching that there are 30 types of sex and men with vaginas who can give birth”, lamented a father. The general feeling is that, under the label of “mental health”, a discourse is being imposed that confuses young people and breaks the formation expected in a Catholic center.
Contradiction with Catholic identity
That a diocesan school, dependent on the Diocese of Astorga, gives space to trans activism associations in the framework of mental health represents an evident contradiction. Parents who enroll their children in a Catholic institution expect training in accordance with the Gospel and the Church’s magisterium, not the dissemination of theories contrary to Christian anthropology.
The case of the Pablo VI – Fátima school is not an isolated episode, but a symptom of the permeability of Catholic institutions to the cultural pressure of the gender agenda. Under the pretext of mental health, programs are introduced that undermine the truth about man and woman. The Diocese of Astorga should provide explanations and ensure that its educational centers firmly maintain their Catholic identity, instead of becoming platforms for ideological indoctrination.