Pro-life, pro-family champion takes helm of Colombia’s Education Ministry

Ilva Myriam Hoyos Castañeda is a former adviser to the Pontifical Council for the Family.

Ilva Myriam Hoyos Castañeda has been tapped to lead Colombiaʼs Ministry of Education following the resignation of Vivian Morales for personal reasons.

The announcement was made by President Abelardo de la Espriella, who thanked the outgoing minister and stated that Hoyos is distinguished by “her talent, strength, integrity, and steadfast defense of values.”

In her new role, Hoyos will have to make decisions regarding the measures left by her predecessor, including the review of school textbooks to remove “woke” ideology from schools and a draft decree that would allow private entities — including religious organizations — to support the provision or administration of educational services in areas with limited state presence.

The proposal sparked a debate regarding the role of churches in public education and the secular nature of the state.

“We are interested because religious education, moral education, and ethical aspects have not received due attention in recent years,” Father Edilberto Estupiñán, director of the Bishops’ Conference Department of Education, told EWTN News.

However, the appointment of Hoyos has drawn criticism from feminist and leftist circles, including former President Gustavo Petro, due to her past work with former Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez, Colombiaʼs current ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) and a staunch opponent of abortion.

The new minister also faces the challenge of improving educational quality, particularly following recent national test results that showed Colombian youth regressing in reading and mathematics, with only slight improvement in science.

Additionally, she will face the challenge of restoring infrastructure damaged by the Aug. 10 earthquake, which affected more than 3,500 educational centers and left nearly 400,000 students without classrooms.

Who is Ilva Hoyos Castañeda?

Hoyos was born in Bogotá on Oct. 19, 1959. A lawyer who also holds a doctorate in law, she previously served as dean of the law school and director of the Institute of Humanities at the University of La Sabana. She has also taught at various higher education institutions in Colombia and abroad.

Between 2009 and 2016, Hoyos served as the delegate inspector general for the defense of the rights of children, adolescents, and the family. She also served as an adviser to the Pontifical Council for the Family, participating as a lay expert in the fifth general conference of the bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean held in 2007 in Aparecida, Brazil. In addition, she served as an auditor at the first Synod on the Family convened by Pope Francis in 2014.

In Colombia, Hoyos chaired the Episcopal Conference’s National Council for the Culture of Care for seven years, participating in the design and implementation of strategies for the prevention of and response to abuse and violence, as well as in the training of diocesan teams and religious communities.

Hoyos is the author of books such as “Religious Freedom in the 1991 Constitution,” “Freedom and Fidelity in University Education,” “On Dignity and Human Rights,” and “The Legal Dimension of the Human Person,” among others.

Stance on family and abortion

More than a decade ago, during the legal debate regarding same-sex unions, Hoyos stated before the Constitutional Court that “marriage and the family, as institutions and fundamental units of society, are central pillars of the legal system.”

On the subject, she noted that “the characteristics of heterosexuality and procreation — which have been heavily criticized here and which define marriage in Colombia both constitutionally and legally — should not be viewed as grounds for suspecting unjust discrimination against the fundamental rights of individuals or couples with a homosexual orientation.”

Hoyos has consistently expressed opposition to the decriminalization of abortion and defended the right to freedom of conscience, noting that it is “expressly recognized in Article 18 of the Constitution.”

Throughout her career, both academically and professionally, she has been closely linked to the defense of the rights of children and the family as a central part of society.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.

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