Dec 16 Tue
Is the Christian identity merely something added to generic education?
Some assume that there is a generic kind of education that is “secular” (rationalist or atheist) without any Christian notions or tendencies. To it, they continue, Christians may “add” their beliefs.
These do not take into account that choosing an atheist education is already taking an existential and moral choice, a radical position on fundamental human issues.
Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of Christian identity in education: "It is not a decorative label or an adornment, but the very heart that gives meaning, method, and purpose to the entire educational process."
For Christian education, Christ is the compass. Without his light, the educational mission itself becomes meaningless and turns into an automatic process lacking the transformative power offered by the Gospel.
The educational project of Catholic education must be embodied "in practices, in the curriculum, and in the educational community itself."
The confessional identity of Christian education is not "an accessory or a facade that becomes visible through isolated rituals or even repetitive mechanisms devoid of vitality," but rather the foundation "that articulates the educational mission, defines its horizon of meaning, and guides its daily practices, both in the way it teaches and in the way it evaluates and acts."
“When Christian identity does not inform pedagogical decisions, it runs the risk of becoming a superficial adornment that fails to sustain educational work in the face of the many cultural, ethical, and social tensions that characterize our times of polarization and violence.”
Authentic Christian education "promotes the integration of faith and reason" as "complementary paths to understanding reality, forming character, and cultivating intelligence." To this end, he added, the educational community formed by the family, the parish, and the school must be integrated "like a home."
On the other hand, he highlighted how the Catholic Church, "in its educational mission, rediscovers its maternal role," as reflected in numerous conciliar documents.
"The icon of our Mother the Church presents itself to us not only as an expression of tenderness and charity, but also as the one who safeguards that capacity, part of her mission, to be a guide and teacher, having been entrusted by her Most Holy Founder with a double task: to bring forth children and educate them, and then, to sustain them, guiding with maternal providence the lives of individuals and peoples, whose great dignity she always respected and protected with solicitude," said the Pontiff.
Before concluding by inviting Catholic educators to commit themselves "courageously" to their task, Leo XIV emphasized that "the educational activity of the Church, carried out through schools and formative activities, is not simply a commendable philanthropic work to satisfy or sustain a social need, but is an essential part of its identity and mission."