Religion is not taught in schools. Churches provide religious education classes to their members. Catholic Church officials report that during the first 6 months of 2000 there was a drop in the number of children attending catechism classes, mostly because of other scheduled activities, usually by local school authorities. There have been no reports of parents being restricted from teaching religion to their children. Church officials have encountered cases of religious persons experiencing discrimination because of ignorance or personal prejudice by a local official.
Religious persons do encounter employment problems in certain professions, like education.
In December 1998, the Government announced in a politburo declaration that henceforth citizens would be allowed to celebrate Christmas as an official holiday. However, despite the Government's decision to allow citizens to celebrate Christmas as a national holiday, it maintained a December 1995 decree prohibiting nativity scenes in public buildings except those related to the tourist or foreign commercial sector. Religious groups are required to submit a request to the local ruling official of the Communist Party before being allowed to hold processions or events outside of religious buildings. The Government has relaxed restrictions on most officially recognized religious denominations. In October 1999, the secretary general of the World Council of Churches officially visited the CCC and met with government officials.