As you already know, there is no separation of Church and State in Costa Rica. The Catholic Church has a lot of say in what happens in this country. This is from the level of school children having to pray in school and being surrounded by religious icons and statues to the hand the Church plays in approving what is taught in schools.

Back in 1993 the Church rejected the sex education textbook that was to be used in the schools here, forcing the removal of photos, diagrams, and info about birth control. God forbid we actually talk about something to help these sexually active kids prevent some of the 19,000 annual teenage pregnancies!

I’ve hear that current president, Oscar Arias criticized the Church’s position on birth control during a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI back in June. Not that it’ll do any good, but I’m glad he was willing to speak his mind anyhow.

To me it’s sad to see any church have such a strong influence over politics and general education. I wonder what Jewish and Muslim parents think about having to follow such guidelines for their children in schools here?