The Pope told participants in the first general assembly of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education that he is morally obliged to help the 250 million children who cannot go to school.
Vatican News
Vatican City, Thursday, November 21, 2024 (REI): The Dicastery for Culture and Education, one of the Vatican’s newest departments, met with Pope Francis on the occasion of his first general audience. The department was created in June 2022 through the merger of the offices of culture and education, which the Pope said aimed to “harness the potential of dialogue, negotiation and innovation, thus improving the effectiveness of both.”
He reiterated the importance of the department’s mission and warned against creating educational models that only produce results. He explained: “Our world does not need automatons, it needs new choreographers, new interpreters of our rich human resources, new social poets.”
What are we really “waiting for”?
Instead of making success or promotion the ultimate goal, Pope Francis challenged department members to “do something different.”
there is no reason to be afraid
Pope Francis encouraged the group not to be afraid, saying that with Christ as guide and companion, they are “custodians of a cultural and educational heritage” ranging from St. Augustine and Mozart to Mark, with philosophical, theological, poetic and scientific knowledge. background Rothko and Blaise Pascal.
The Pope entrusted the members of the dicastery with the task of making this call reach everyone: “Never forget hope!” However, more than words, he encouraged them to roll up their sleeves and get to work.
Cultural genocide and education
“Today, the world has the largest number of students in history,” he said. However, approximately 250 million children and adolescents cannot attend school. Pope Francis strongly condemned this injustice, saying it is a cultural genocide when “children are deprived of their future because we do not provide them with the conditions they need to become what they can become.”
He concluded his speech by challenging members of the department to study recent scientific developments and technological innovations to understand their “benefits and dangers.”
