Religious education offered by the State is dealt with from the point of view of the adequate psychological conditions to its efficient offering: interpersonal relations in the small group, distinctiveness of stimuli, and insertion into a broader reference group. As a philosophical basis, necessary to the psychological point of view, is presented Habermas'and Ratzinger's conception of a democratic State, whose function is not only to tolerate but to promote the cultural diversity of its component groups, following the presupposition of communicative action or dialog.
psychology of religion; religious education; democratic State