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 “The role of education has
never been easy and today it is becoming even more difficult: therefore,
many parents and teachers are tempted to give up their task and are
truly unable to understand what the mission entrusted to them actually
is. In fact, too many uncertainties and doubts circulate in our society
and culture; too many distorted images are channelled by the means of
social communication. Thus, it becomes difficult to propose something
valid and certain to the new generations, to give them rules of
behaviours and perspectives for which it is worthwhile to spend one’s
life”. However it is still possible to educate well even today, despite
the uncertainties and the media impositions of distorted models.” This
is what Pope Benedict XVI recently said in his address to thousands of
faithful from the diocese of Rome, gathered in St. Peter’s square to
listen to the reflections of the Pope on “the emergency of education.
The same reflections were expressed by the Pontiff in his letter signed
on January 21 and distributed to the whole Diocese with millions of
copies. Benedict XVI asked particularly the youths to welcome the
patrimony of Christianity for their healthy moral, cultural and
spiritual growth. We addressed some questions about this theme to Sr.
Angela Elicio, the responsible person of projects for the Ciofs-fp in
Italy.
"There is no lasting and deep evangelisation, no growth to maturity, no
change of mentality and culture without education”, the Pope said in his
message to the General Chapter of the Salesian religious, which is being
held in Rome these days. The text reminds us that today we need “to
extend the areas of our educative commitment, paying attention to new
poverties of the youths, to higher education, to immigration; it invites
us also to pay attention to the family and its involvement”, according
to the letter on the urgency of education. What do you think about all
this?
“We
assume a difficult and binding task when we propose to be near the
adolescents as educators and this, ad the Pope himself says, is not a
novelty of our times; it is the methodology that must be adapted to the
times, the way of being educators in a time that cannot overlook the
richness and complexity of our society. The frenetic management of time
and of resources with the sensation of not possessing enough wealth is
leading our society to lose the value of relations, of being near others
with reciprocal appreciation. The root of the term “education” helps us
to think afresh that the better part is in the other who stands in front
of me, rather than in my passing to him what I know or what I am. We
suffer of this want at all levels: in the families, in our field of
work, in the schools and education centres. Our founders, Don Bosco and
Mother Mazzarello, invite us to re-discover the value of being
together”.
Which kind of “inedited ways of making the figure of Jesus known,
especially to the youths, can be used in multi-religious and secularised
situations”, as Pope Benedict XVII suggests?
“The
reference to the truer values of the human being, such as respect and
attention to the other, cannot but lead us to discover that a religion
is true in proportion to the capacity of synthesising and expressing the
deepest values of human history and Jesus”.
In his letter on “the emergency of education” in our times, published in
January, the Pope reminds us that, “It has never been easy to educate
and that today it seems even more difficult”; parents, teachers and all
those who are directly responsible of education” are aware of this and
their efforts are “too often” marked by failure. Are we truly in the
presence of an “emergency of education”? How to face it?
We
need to give a name to the present emergency: the “fear”, the hurry of
adults committed to solve their own conflicts and to answer the
exigencies of the youths in terms of consumerism. I think that every
epoch and every territory have their own emergency. Our first step
should be that of identifying it without hiding ourselves behind
pessimistic and ideological interpretations.”
“An authentic education” –we read in the document- “needs first of all
the nearness and trust that are born from love. Benedict XVI mentions
the qualities of a true educator: capacity of self-offering and of not
limiting oneself to impart just news and information to the students. Do
you share these convictions of the Pontiff? Is there any more
characteristic that you would expect from an educator?
“I
surely share what the Pope states. I would add that today an educator
must be endowed with competence, but also with the capacity of always
starting anew, placing under discussion those who think that they have
reached the winning post”.
The Pope lingers on “what perhaps is the most delicate point of
education: to seek a right balance between freedom and discipline.
Without any rule of behaviour and of life, valid day after day even in
little things, the character cannot be formed and we cannot be prepared
to face the trials that will never be missing in future. Is it possible
today to give rules of behaviour to very young persons not used to them?
“It
is possible, though also quite hard because the indications require also
a certain agreement between educators and the family, for instance.
Sport, the theatre and preparation to work require respect of the rules
and this creates an opportunity for education. I have examples in which
adolescents read attentively the intimation of observing the rule and
the action of educators that demand to be respected, but also examples
of hard contestations.
Would you, please, tell us something about the experience of the
Ciofs-fp in this regard? On which premises is the educational style to
be based, namely a style that aims at realising a project of life?
“The
CIOFS-FP updates the choice of our founders, Don Bosco and Mother
Mazzarello, of preparing the youths for life and for their integration
in society through work. This method goes on functioning today in the
most difficult situations, with the immigrated youths of every religion.
Study and the articulation of one’s own professional project become a
stepping-stone for a project to be realised, a stimulus to learn and to
collaborate”.
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