Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.

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Cardinal Parolin calls for overhaul in education to focus on the

person
Laura Ieraci Catholic News Service | Jun. 3, 2015
The current "culture of conflict" is an indication that schools and universities need to create conditions that will
develop "a new humanism" and "rebuild a spirit of fraternity among people and nations," Cardinal Pietro
Parolin said.
"The current context of hatred and contempt among people is constituted by a radical rejection of humanity in
the other," said Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, on Wednesday. "The acceptance of diversity is therefore
fundamental for mutual respect and for the freedom to express one's own ideas and religious convictions."
The cardinal was speaking at an event in Paris marking the 70th anniversary of UNESCO, the 50th anniversary
of the Second Vatican Council's declaration on Catholic education and the 25th anniversary of Ex Corde
Ecclesiae, a document issued by Pope John Paul II for Catholic universities.
The church has never considered culture and education to be "mere instruments" for evangelization, the cardinal
said, but rather as a means for full human development with "great intrinsic value." Citing Blessed Paul VI, he
said education is necessary for the development of peoples, for an end to their hunger, poverty and sickness.
Education has been and continues to be at the center of the church's mission, he said. But education is in a time
of "global emergency," brought about by major societal change and a "reductionist approach" that tends to limit
the value of education to "purely economic aspects," he said.
The fragmentation of knowledge, the emphasis on technical know-how and skills, and the lack of community
involvement are all symptoms of the crisis, Parolin said.
At at time when education can view people as "machines" and emphasize "efficiency, competition, incentive
and competence" in the absence of "values and moral judgment," he said, education must recover the "centrality
of the human person."
"Emotional and affective intelligence, the capacity for empathy ... and team work" are "essential and
fundamental" in education, he said.
"Standardized, codified and quantitative technical knowledge," he said, tends to promote relationships based on
"approval and partiality" at the cost of "personality differences and individual creativity" among both teachers
and students.
An educational model based on the economic principles of production and consumption leads to a society in
which people are "cast aside and forgotten without any regard to their dignity," he said.
The humanities, which help to develop the capacity for logic, judgment and complex thought, "cannot be
eliminated or considered superfluous," he said. Education in art, music and poetry are "irreplaceable," because

an education that is sensitive to beauty leads to concern and care for others and for the environment, and a
commitment to ideals.
There is also a need to recover the sense of "community responsibility" for education, he said. Schools and
universities must create conditions for teachers to collaborate with each other and with parents.
Parolin also urged educational institutions to offer continuing education classes online as a way to promote
lifelong learning. The objective "is not the 'degree' but knowledge, learning and a deepening, especially in a
society that is always more complex and stratified," he said.
The event in Paris was organized by the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to UNESCO.

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