On Educating Youth and Forming the Heart (Part 2)
Interview With Cardinal Paul Poupard
BUDAPEST, Hungary, JAN. 17, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The restlessness of the human heart causes disorder unless it is directed toward God, says the president of the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Interreligious Dialogue.
Cardinal Paul Poupard affirmed this in an interview with ZENIT, while attending an international congress in Budapest from Dec. 14-16, on the theme "Europe in a World of Transformation."
Part 1 of this interview appeared Tuesday.
Q: In your opinion, how could a solid ethical vision penetrate both political as well as institutional public life?
Cardinal Poupard: The answer can be referred to the question of the inscrutable mystery of the human heart. It is restless, as St. Augustine already affirmed, until it finds God. And this state of restlessness, if not guided toward the discovery of the God-Love, creates also disorder, discrepancies between peoples, cultures and religions, marked by injustices and war. In this connection, public life often reflects the state of men's hearts: of simple citizens and of rulers.
Because of this, Pope John Paul II often called the attention of politicians, pastors, university professors and young people to the need to be men of conscience.
The Pope's words uttered in 1998 summarize well the idea I am talking about: "The true renewal of man and society is always realized through the renewal of consciences. Only the change of social, economic and political structures -- though important -- can however show itself a wasted occasion, if behind it there are no men of conscience. They are the ones who make the whole of social life be formed, in short, according to the rules of that law, which man has not given himself, which he discovers 'in the depth of his conscience, whose voice he must obey.'"
From this call stems the imperative of evangelization which must not exclude men of politics, of entertainment, of the media, and of the different educational institutions, but must be able to encounter them. The congress we have organized here in Budapest, is not intended to be limited to an academic debate, but to indicate the importance of this ethical dimension, without which our continent runs the risk of being submerged in new conflicts and injustices.
Europe is subjected to different processes of transformation but these cannot substitute our mission to proclaim the message of Christ which makes man an ethical being. This evangelical proclamation today calls for new courage and enthusiasm, but it is the path that leads to encounter, also in the public and political life of the whole continent, as well as of each country.
This also leads to the discovery of the man of conscience, who is a man of ethics. Without persons prepared to open their hearts to an interior renewal, ethics runs the risk of being a marginal element of life considered an annoying burden instead of an important factor.
Q: Several countries of Europe are going through a transitional phase that implies also the direction of the educational systems. What is the message the Church should transmit at this time and, above all, how should it act to facilitate the diffusion of its thesis in the political debate of each country?
Cardinal Poupard: I would say that normally the transitional phases, not only in the educational field in general, are especially difficult, because often they are marked by the tensions of the institutional and also mental structures of the past, which clash with needs oriented toward the future.
In such a context, the educational systems experience greater unease, not only because of the fact that they must address the enormous effort of revising the teaching of subjects, methods and often also the essential contents of history and hermeneutics, but above all because children and young people to whom such teaching is addressed easily become victims of institutional uncertainties.
The educational process is not simply the transmission of useful data but a formation of the human person, first in the interior and moral dimension and then in the intellectual and physical dimension. Today, unfortunately, these three elements of integral formation are not perceived, whereas they constitute the foundation of a healthy society.
Education cannot be limited only to the athletic or intellectual dimension. A man who is not morally formed is deformed and easily becomes immoral or even amoral. It is important, therefore, to return to the idea of the formation of the personality of children and young people in their character.
Because of this, the Second Vatican Council insists on the role of spiritual and moral formation. Speaking of young people, the constitution "Gaudium et Spes" says: "In order for individual men to discharge with greater exactness the obligations of their conscience toward themselves and the various group to which they belong, they must be carefully educated to a higher degree of culture through the use of the immense resources available today to the human race. Above all the education of youth from every social background has to be undertaken, so that there can be produced not only men and women of refined talents, but those great-souled persons who are so desperately required by our times" -- number 31.
Obviously, it is not a question of making more burdensome the already difficult task of institutions such as schools and universities, but of being able to join the efforts of the different governmental, social, ecclesiastical and media institutions to propose a constant and coherent formation of youth even before they start to go to school.
This means that thought must be given to the formation of children, including the nuclear family, because, though this might turn out to be difficult, it is a real challenge of the present and future.
Whoever has been able to visit the Science Museum in London more than once, has been able to discover that there are whole sections planned for children and young people. There are even environments in which children four year of age and older can attend exceptional lessons in physics and learn the principles of acoustics, electricity, dynamics, simply playing.
Entire families visit this place which offers for free a great help to parents, but above all an exceptional opportunity for children and young people to encounter science. It is only a small example that might serve as a point of reference for the promotion of similar initiatives.
In this connection, the Church also has an important role in the formation and structuring of educational systems, but not as part of the political debate, but as promoter of educational systems based on the evangelical message. I am thinking of the activities of Catholic schools and universities, as well as of the realities of parish youth centers, sports groups, the formation of scouts, etc. -- everything that might offer youth "reasons for life and hope" -- "Gaudium et Spes," 31.
