Holy Father Pope Francis spoke to participants in the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation’s conference entitled, “To Educate is to Transform”. His Holiness Pope Francis encouraged the group in their efforts to coordinate between Catholic educational institutions, and offered them three suggestions. The Pontiff first urged the Foundation to network among institutions, so as to make them more effective by drawing on each one’s intellectual and cultural strong points.
As reported by Vatican news, His Holiness Pope Francis remarked that “Networking means uniting fields of study, creating spaces for cultural encounter and dialogue, and making schools educating communities. This means uniting students and teachers in mutual sharing through a curriculum of life and experience.” Further, His Holiness added, “Given the global challenges facing the human family, Catholic education recognizes that humankind’s moral responsibility today does not just extend through space, but also through time, and that present choices have repercussions for future generations. We need to give a soul to the global world through an intellectual and moral formation that can support the good things that globalization brings and correct the harmful ones.” The Pontiff said Catholic educators must not lose hope but offer it to today’s world.
Finally, His Holiness Pope Francis offered the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation three criteria in order to be effective. Identity, quality, and care for the common good, he said, are essential to the Catholic educator’s task. Pope Francis established the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation at the request of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education in October 2015. The Foundation’s purpose is to renew the Church’s commitment to Catholic education in step with the historical transformations of our time.
