Addresses Meeting of Continent's Education Ministers
ISTANBUL, Turkey, MAY 17, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Europe needs educational initiatives that are aimed at the integral development of the person, says the Vatican's Catholic education congregation.
Archbishop Miller, the secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, said this in a speech he gave at the 22nd Session of the Permanent Conference of European Education Ministers.
The event, entitled "Building a More Humane and Inclusive Europe; the Role of Education Policies," took place May 4-5 in Istanbul, Turkey.
It was organized in connection with the Council of Europe Campaign "Building a Europe for and With Children," and gathered ministers from the 49 signatory states of the European Cultural Convention of the Council of Europe.
The meeting focused on children's educational rights the increasing educational challenges of a multicultural Europe.
Archbishop Miller, the head of the Holy See's delegation at the event, said: "For a society to be more human and more inclusive it must take care of its weakest members. The attention paid by educational policies to the rights of the child is a significant aspect of this tutelage."
He continued: "By means of education, a child should be helped to satisfy his or her affective and cognitive needs.
"An authentic education should teach future generations respect for other cultures and promote appreciation for the richness of their history and values."
Vison
Archbishop Miller said, "Education is, therefore, called to provide indispensable elements for developing an intercultural vision among young people."
The secretary of the education congregation added that achieving these educational objectives "entails a society that respects the dignity of every human person, a society in which providing a quality education for all is an indispensable goal."
Furthermore, he said, it "requires the preservation of one's own identity and avoids proposing generic models, which could easily lead to cultural fragmentation and political instability."
"It is necessary, therefore, that we set out clear pedagogical objectives that foster the overcoming of radical individualism by forming young people in the values of solidarity rather than competition, of participation and welcoming others rather than isolation and indifference," said the archbishop.
He added that "such policies should never forget that the primary goal of education is the integral development of the human person in every dimension, including the religious, in both the areas of knowledge and of values."
Code: ZE07051708
Date: 2007-05-17