Educating today and tomorrow: a renewing passion, fifty years after Vatican Council II on Christian education

Vatican City, 13 November 2015 (VIS) - “Educating today and tomorrow: a renewing passion” is the title of the World Congress organised by the Congregation for Catholic Education to commemorate the 50th anniversary of “Gravissimum educationis”, the Vatican Council II Declaration on Christian education, and the 25th of “Ex corde Ecclesiae (Apostolic Constitution on Catholic Universities). The event will take place in Rome from 18 to 21 November.

The Congress was presented this morning in the Holy See Press Office by Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, prefect of the Congregation for Education, Bishop Angelo Vincenzo Zani, secretary of the same congregation, and Professor Italo Fiorin, director of the “Educating in encounter and solidarity” School of Higher Education at the Libera Università Maria Ss. Assunta (LUMSA), Rome.

Cardinal Versaldi commented that these commemorative events highlight the participation of the Congregation for Catholic Education in the educational passion of the Church, which “is still aware today – as is stated in the incipit of the conciliar document whose fiftieth year we are celebrating – 'how extremely important education is in the life of man and how its influence ever grows in the social progress of this age'. Aware of this, the most recent consequence is the World Congress”.

Bishop Zani went on to explain that the idea of the Congress emerged during the plenary session of the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for Catholic Education in 2011, in in which they discussed the Department's future lines of action and Pope Benedict XVI, in his discourse, referred to the two anniversaries in 2015. This led to the choice of date for the Congress. In 2012, around fifty experts from around the globe met in Rome to identify pending problems regarding education promoted by the Church all over the world, and to make some first suggestions to relaunch important educational activities carried out by many Catholic institutions. The results of the seminar were gathered into a document bearing the same title as the Congress, and were sent to interested parties along with a questionnaire to be returned to the dicastery. “The reaction was surprising”, said Bishop Zani, “We received thousands of answers to the online questionnaire and hundreds of postal responses”.

The November Congress was preceded in June by a UNESCO international forum on education, attended by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. “Educating today and tomorrow: a renewing passion” will open on 18 November in the Paul VI Hall with a session describing new scenarios in education and the aims of the meeting, and will continue on 19 and 20 November in other places, considering four themes: the identity and mission of Catholic schools and universities, the subjects of education and their various responsibilities (bishops, parents, directors, teachers and students), the formation of formators and the challenges of today and tomorrow. On 21 November the participants, more than 2,200 in number, will be received in audience by the Holy Father.

The prelate emphasised, however, that the Congress will not be an end in itself, but may instead represent a new beginning in collaboration with the Congregation for Catholic Education and various other institutions. For example, there have been some requests for a General Directory of Catholic education, summarising the essential principles and norms issued in documents from the Council to today, relating to Catholic educational institutions, and the constitution of a working group for this purpose. Another aspect that emerged from the answers to the questionnaire is the need for a permanent centre of Christian inspiration to study pedagogical problems. This proposal has been accepted by LUMSA and a few months ago the “Educating in encounter and solidarity” School of Higher Education was established.

On 28 October this year Pope Francis constituted by chirograph the new Foundation “Gravissimum Educationis”, to study particular situations and to implement original and innovatory problems, especially in the most difficult situations. Finally, a small working group will be formed to study the legal problems that inevitably emerge in various parts of the world, especially following changes to constitutions or laws that may endanger the survival of Catholic schools and universities.

Audiences

Vatican City, 13 November 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Claude-Joel Giordan, ambassador of the Principality of Monaco, presenting his credential letters;

- Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples;

- Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, apostolic nuncio in Russia and in Uzbekistan

- Luis Leonardo Almagro, secretary general of the Organisation of American States.

Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 13 November 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:

- Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, apostolic nuncio in Belorus, as apostolic nuncio in Ukraine.

- Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri, apostolic nuncio in Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles, as apostolic delegate in the Comoros Islands, with the function of apostolic delegate in La Reunion, France.

To Slovak bishops: the Church is called to proclaim and bear witness to the welcome of migrants

Vatican City, 12 November 2015 (VIS) – This morning the Pope received the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Slovakia at the end of their five-yearly “ad Limina” visit. In the discourse he handed to them at the end of the audience he encouraged them to consider the phenomenon of migration as an opportunity for encounter, also recalling that the Church is called upon to proclaim and bear witness to the welcome of migrants in the context of observance of the law.

Francis begins his discourse by referring to the pastoral work of bishops and a situation characterised by rapid changes in many sectors of human life, affected also by the phenomenon of globalisation. A situation, he writes, in which “at times we perceive threats to less populous nations, but at the same time elements that can offer new opportunities. One opportunity, which has become a sign of the times, is the phenomenon of migration, which demands to be understood and confronted with sensitivity and a sense of justice. The Church is required to proclaim and bear witness to the welcome of the migrant in a spirit of charity and respect for the dignity of the human person, in the context of the necessary observance of the law”.

“Faced with the prospect of an increasingly extensive multicultural environment, it is necessary to assume attitudes of mutual respect to promote encounter. It is to be hoped that the Slovak people will maintain their cultural identity and heritage of ethical and spiritual values, strongly linked to the Catholic tradition. In this way they will be able to open up without fear to exchange on the broadest continental and global horizon, contributing to a sincere and fruitful dialogue, also on themes of vital importance such as the dignity of human life and the essential function of the family. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to enlighten the path of peoples with Christian principles, seizing the opportunities that the current situation offers to develop an evangelisation that, using a new language, makes Christ's message easier to understand. For this reason it important for the Church to give hope, so that all the present changes may be transformed into a renewed encounter with Christ, that guides the people towards authentic progress”.

The Pope expresses his appreciation for the prelates' work with families, which face many difficulties, and reiterates the importance of integral family pastoral ministry at diocesan and national levels, including “adequate accompaniment for all families, including those where members are not present, especially if there are children”. In this regard it is essential to pay special attention to the young, “the hope of the Church and of society”.

The paternal care of bishops for the priests, their main collaborators in pastoral ministry, is another of the themes considered by Francis, who insists on the need for “well-structured programmes of continuing formation in the fields of theology, spirituality, pastoral ministry and social doctrine of the Church, enabling them to become competent evangelisers”. He adds, “Indeed, for the majority of the People of God, they are the principal channel through which the Gospel passes, and also offer the most immediate image through which the mystery of the Church is encountered”.

The Church, “sign and tool of the unity of men with God and with each other, is called upon to be the house and school of communion, in which one learns to appreciate and welcome positive qualities in others”, remarks the Holy Father at the end of his discourse, emphasising that this attitude is also very useful with reference to the good contact it is necessary to re-establish in Slovakia between pastors and consecrated persons, better appreciating the valid contribution of all men and women religious to pastoral ministry. “At the same time”, he noted, “the Church in your country must carry forth the pastoral care of the Rom, through extensive evangelisation that seeks to reach all these people who, unfortunately, continue to live in some ways separated from the rest of society”.

Francis greets the members of the Don Guanella family: the worst famine is the lack of charity

Vatican City, 12 November 2015 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall the Pope greeted five hundred members of the Family of St. Luigi Guanella, known simply as Don Guanella (1842-1915), the Italian priest who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence and the Order of the Servants of Charity. He was beatified in 1964 and canonised in 2011.

The Don Guanella Family's pilgrimage to Rome coincides with the first centenary of the saint's death and, in his address to the pilgrims, the Holy Father imagined what Don Guanella might have said to his followers to confirm them in faith, hope and charity, using three verbs: to trust, to look, and to make haste.

The first verb is to trust. “The life of Don Guanella had as its centre the certainty that God is the merciful and provident Father. This was for him the heart of faith: knowing himself to be an always beloved son, for whom the Father cared, and therefore a brother to all, called upon to inspire trust. … I think that it displeases the heavenly Father greatly to see that His children do not fully trust in Him; they perhaps believe in a distant God, rather than in a merciful Father. In many people there arises the doubt that God, while being Father, may also be a master. … But this is a great deception; the ancient deception of the enemy of God and man, which conceals reality and disguises good as evil. It is the first temptation: to distance oneself from God, intimidated by the suspicion that His paternity is not truly provident and good. God is instead love alone, pure provident love. He loves us more than we love ourselves, and knows what is truly good for us. He therefore hopes that in the course of life we become what we are at the moment of our Baptism: beloved children, able to vanquish fear and not ceding to lamentation, because the Father takes care of us”.

The second verb is to look. “The Father, the Creator, also inspires creativity in those who live like His children. They then learn to look at the world through new eyes, made more luminous by love and hope. They are eyes that enable us to look within with truth, and to see far in charity. … In the world there is never any lack of problems, and in our time there are unfortunately new forms of poverty and many injustices. But the greatest famine of all is that of charity: we need, most of all, people with eyes renewed by love and a gaze that inspires hope”.

“At times, our spiritual point of view is short-sighted, as we are not able to see beyond our own ego. At other times we are long-sighted: we like to help those who are far away but are not able to stoop to those who live next to us. Sometimes, indeed, we prefer to close our eyes, as we are tired and overcome by pessimism. Don Guanella, who recommended that we look at Jesus starting from His heart, invites us to have the same gaze as the Lord: a gaze that inspires hope and joy, able at the same time to feel a 'profound sentiment of compassion' towards those who suffer”.

Finally, to make haste: “The poor are the favoured sons” of the Father, St. Luigi said, and he liked to repeat that 'those who give to the poor, lend to God'. Just as the Father is delicate and concrete with regard to his smallest and weakest children, so we too cannot expect our brothers and sisters in difficulty to wait as, again in the words of Don Guanella, 'misery cannot wait. And we cannot stop as long as there are poor people to tend to'”.