Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) -
“Teaching is a beautiful job, as it allows you to see the growth
day by day of the people entrusted to your care. It is a little like
being parents, at least spiritually. It is a great responsibility”,
said the Pope this morning to the members of the Catholic Union of
Teachers (UCIIM), whom he received in audience in the Paul VI Hall.
He added, “Teaching is a serious commitment, that only a mature and
balanced person can undertake. A commitment of this type may
inculcate apprehension, but remember that no teacher is ever alone;
his or her work is shared with other colleagues and with all the
educational community to which they belong”.
“As Jesus taught us, all the Law and
the Prophets can be summarised in two commandments: love the Lord God
and love your neighbour. We can ask ourselves: who is a teacher's
neighbour? The neighbours are your students! It is with them that a
teacher passes the day. They seek guidance, orientation, an answer –
and first of all, good questions!”, he continued. “Among the
tasks of the UCIIM is that of enlightening and promoting the correct
idea of school, often obscured by discussions and reductive
positions. The school is certainly make up of valid and qualified
instruction, but also of human relations, that from our side are
relationships of welcome and benevolence, due to all
indiscriminately. Indeed, the duty of a good teacher, and far more so
for a good Christian, is to love with greater intensity the most
difficult, weakest, most disadvantaged students”.
Francis mentioned that if a
professional association of Christian teachers wishes to bear witness
to its inspiration, it is required to engage with the peripheries of
school, “that cannot be abandoned to marginalisation, ignorance,
and the underworld”, and he encouraged them to follow the example
of many great teachers who exist in the Christian community to
encourage from within the school that, independently of whether or
not it is administered by the state, is in need of credible teachers
and witnesses of mature and complete humanity. “Teaching is not
just a job”, he concluded. “It is a relationship in which each
teacher must feel that he is fully involved as as person, to give
meaning to the task of educating his pupils. … I encourage you to
renew your passion for mankind in the process of formation, and to be
witnesses of life and hope”.
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