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Pope to Africa: Family is the key to Christian future BY CAROL GLATZ
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HE family is the Church’s best ally for raising a new generation resistant to materialism and committed to living out the Gospel, Pope Benedict told bishops from Africa and Europe. “Europe and Africa need generous young people who know how to take responsibility for their future,” he said. All institutions, like the family, school and Church, “must be well aware that these young people hold the future and that it is important to do everything possible so that their journey is not marked by uncertainty and darkness”, he said. The pope made his remarks during an audience with 80 bishops, priests and other participants attending a joint conference organised by the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. The conference was dedicated to finding ways in which European and African Catholics can cooperate in evangelisation. During the conference, Cardinal Josip Bozanic of Zagreb, Croatia, said that even though economic and social conditions in the two continents are vastly different, the Gospel is universal. Wherever it finds itself, the Church has a message of faith that “understands humankind, whether in Europe or Africa, as created in the image and likeness of God and who deep down has basic needs that only God can fully satisfy”, he said. “Social and spiritual concerns are both present; one is not separated from the other, but rather, they are dimensions of the one same integral development of the human person and society,” the cardinal said. Archbishop Buti Tlhagale of Johannesburg told the Catholic News Agency that the conference “has already helped because it is starting to clarify why Africae Munus [the pope’s 2011 exhortation to the Church in Africa] was issued, what is important about that document, and why Africa should treat it very, very seriously”.
He said one of the key challenges laid down by the pope is that “theology shouldn’t just be some speculative science”, but that bishops should “try and translate some of our theology into some pastoral teaching, some pastoral care, and so on”. In his speech, Pope Benedict spoke of current challenges faced by the bishops which he described as demanding. He mentioned religious indifference “which leads many people to live as if God does not exist, or to settle for a vague religiosity, unable to confront the question of truth and coherence”. Today, “especially in Europe, but also in parts of Africa, secularism is often hostile to the Christian faith”. The pope said a huge obstacle in proclaiming the Gospel is hedonism, “which has contributed to making the crisis of values in people’s daily life spread to the family and how people make sense of one’s life”. The increasing problems of pornography and prostitution are symptoms of this “serious social malaise”. The Church must also pay close attention to the current culture and work diligently in helping “the light of the Gospel insert itself in the cultural milieu” so as to enlighten it and prevent “false cultures” that dehumanise people from taking hold. The current mentality of materialism can have a negative effect on vocations, but the family is also a pivotal player in the formation of the young, the pope said. The family, “which houses customs, traditions and rituals imbued in faith, is the most suitable soil for the flowering of vocations”, he said. “Today’s consumer mentality can have negative repercussions on the rise and on the care of vocations; hence the need to pay particular attention to the promotion of vocations” to the consecrated life. As the Church, family and other institutions work together in raising the next generations, the pope asked the bishops to pay special attention to young people’s “human and spiritual growth, encouraging them also to do volunteer work, which can have educational value. —CNS
Pope Benedict waves as he leaves at the end of a special audience for 22 new cardinals and their families in Paul VI hall at the Vatican. The College of Cardinals now has 213 members, 125 of whom are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. (Photo: Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters/CNS)
Because parents give life to their children they are also obliged to see that they are educated,” she said. “Parents therefore enter into meaningful partnerships with others to provide this education, and they deserve to be consulted about, and to contribute to, their children’s education.” Catholics are called to serve the common good and improve the lives of society. “These two matters, Catholic parents’ responsibility to see that their children are educated, and their obligation as citizens to take part in civic life, means that Catholic parents in South Africa whose children attend state schools have a right and duty to call for change in how their children are educated.”
Ms Baker said one of the ways parents can begin to make a difference is to vote in the upcoming school governing body elections. “They can also stand for election on governing bodies and use their passion for what is good for the children, and their skills, to hold school personnel and the government to account,” she said. Every parent or guardian of a child at school is entitled to stand for election and to vote, Ms Baker said. Even if parents do not serve on the governing body, they can become involved in the schools in a variety of ways, by “helping to raise funds through events, assisting when asked, working in the school vegetable garden if
Parents told to get involved in their children’s education BY CLAIRE MATHIESON
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ARENTS have been a silent partner in education for too long in South Africa, according to a local Catholic education expert. South Africa’s education is currently in crisis, but by working together with the other stakeholders in education, “parents can bring about meaningful change by demanding accountability at all levels of the school system,” said Anne Baker, deputy director of the Catholic Institute of Education (CIE). “The Catholic Church has always believed that parents are the first and most important educators of their children.
one exists, but most importantly by being a positive support to the school,” Ms Baker said. If education is to improve in the country, it is vital that parents get involved, she emphasised. “The most important activity for parents is to demand what is right for their children: teachers in school and teaching, resources to support the teaching and learning, sound maintenance, safe facilities and scholar transport.” Ms Baker said the CIE, which is the education arm of the bishops of Southern Africa, is involved in advocating and challenging, “but the ordinary voice of parents, making their needs known in a peaceful challenging manner, has immense power”.