Education must respond to changes in ways of learning, Pope tells new ambassadors
December 13, 2012
During a December 13 meeting with 6 new ambassadors to the Holy See, Pope Benedict XVI spoke on the importance of education, saying that recent changes in the way young people learn have caused “human, cultural, social and spiritual ruptures hitherto unknown in the history of humanity.”
Young people today are learning in entirely new ways, the Pope told the new ambassadors. For many, social networks are “the only point of reference for information and knowledge.” More generally, he said, “The family and schools no longer appear to be the primary or most natural fertile ground where younger generations receive the lifeblood of their existence.”
The Pope said that proper training for your people must be based on “a healthy anthropology, the essential basis for all true education, and consonant with our common natural heritage.” He encouraged government leaders to “have the courage to strengthen and consolidate the moral authority --the call to a coherent way of life--necessary for a genuine and healthy education for the younger generations.”
Young people, the Pontiff continued, should have access to “the truth about mankind, about creation, about institutions, and so on.” They should also receive basic moral training, so that they “recognize that all human action must be responsible and coherent with the desire for the infinite, and that this action should form a part of their growth, with a view to developing a humanity that is increasingly fraternal and free from the temptations of individualism and materialism.”
The Pope’s remarks came as he accepted the diplomatic credentials of Ambassadors Bizwayo Newton Nkunika of Zambia, Chalermpol Thanchitt of Thailand, Ravinatha Pandukabhaya Aryasinha of Sri Lanka, Wafic Rida Said of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Aminatou Batoure Gaoh of Niger, and Ibrahima Sory Sow of Guinea.
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Further information:
- The Pope Emphasises the Importance of Education in the New Context of Our Age (VIS)
- Pope to governments:educate youth to correct values (Vatican Radio)
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