7/24/2019 View From the Inside Day II

1/2

VIEW FROM INSIDE ROME

World Congress on Education

Castel Gondolfo/Vatican CityThursday, November 19, !1"

#uring the first full day of the congress, $ %as very much occu&ied ' %ith my list( )s $ met

&eo&le, and &assed them or had lunch ne*t to them, $ added them to a list of countries from

%hich they hailed( $ counted + nations ' + nations of Catholic educators ' and those are onlythe ones $ &ersonally encountered( $ do not no% the total number of nations re&resented, but

%hat a grand e*hibition of the universality of our Church- .o% beautiful the commitment and

love for the Church and children this sho%ing re&resented( econd on my list of memorable

moments today %as meeting a most gracious son of the Church, one of the archbisho&s fromNigeria and do0ens of other holders of the torch of the Gos&el mission from the )frican

continent Cameroon, 2imbab%e, the $vory Coast, Congo, Gabon, etc( $t %as ins&iring to be

among them(

3ther than that, it %as a very long day, mared by almost t%o do0en tals( $t %as 4uite a lot to

tae in, given the %orld%ide re&resentation and the global &ers&ective( 5y global &ers&ectives, $do not refer to one idea that fits the %hole globe, but many ideas emanating from a myriad

circumstances of &olitics, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, %ar, and &ersecution( $t %as

over%helming at &oints( 6et, in the face of all of that, the message of the necessity of the Gos&el

and love of neighbor reigned universal( $t %as the one thing all s&eaers had in common(

That %as the u&side(

3ne do%nside %as a seeming lac of res&onse to the many &roblems and challenges that face

Catholic education( With all the 7leaders7 in Catholic education from so many varied areas of the%orld s&eaing, none sei0ed u&on one of the most obvious aids to im&roving education globally,and that is a better gras& of Christian anthro&ology as it relates to the manner and material of

education( There seemed to be a collective misconce&tion that our %orld has advanced

tremendously from &rimitive cultures to a most advanced civili0ation( We seem to not see thebeauty around us here in 8ome, %here every Church seems to have a 5ernini, ichelangelo,

Caravaggio, or a 8a&hael( .o% has this come about: 5y education( 5y &hiloso&hy( 5y defining

terms and honoring the dignity of man, %hich is a direct result of a gro%ing Catholic intellectual

custom( Why have %e forgotten this: Why can %e not consider our dilemma and as the sim&le4uestions of ho% %e got to %here %e are today ;; ho% have %e come this far: )nd %hy are %e

no% seeing so many troubles: )nd and to as all such 4uestions and, yet, not des&air-

.o%ever, 4uestions from the floor, comments from some &resenters, and many conversations

bet%een sessions revealed that there still isa common, collective, and reflective sense( Generally,

the s&eaers seemed very committed and focused on the need for relationshi& and true, sound,Catholic education( The im&ort of many of the &artici&ants %as that a sound, liberal arts

education, rooted in Catholic intellectual traditions, is the human &iece of the &u00le that gets us

there( $t %as clear that %e need to rene% the liberal arts a&&roach, and %e need to &rovide sound

materials to students %hich su&&ort Catholic thought, &hiloso&hy, and moral structure(

7/24/2019 View From the Inside Day II

2/2

6es, there is ho&e( While there still remains confusion, as there al%ays %ill, a big concern %e see

in s&eeches and the document is that %e are increasing our reliance and de&endence on

governmental educational structures %hich are becoming more antithetical to our mission and thesoul of Catholic education( We must reca&ture the &assion and &ur&ose of a true Catholic

education( We must not succumb to social, economic and &olitical &ressures ' %e must do

everything it taes to &rovide sound Catholic education for our children( We must do this for thefuture of our Church and the future of civili0ation( )s one s&eaer, re&resenting &arents from

$taly challenged the Church 7#o Not Close The chools-7

Arrivederci