americancatholic.org/News/PopeUS/April17/PapalTrip04170 -
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Published on: 4/17/2008
Last Visited: 4/18/2008
Similarly, Cynthia Zane, president of Hilbert College in Hamburg, N.Y., called the pope's address "very affirming of the work we're doing ... and of how we can make a difference." The educators not only appreciated the acknowledgment of their work but they were heartened to hear the pope's challenge to religious sisters, priests and brothers, "not to abandon the school apostolate" and to "renew their commitment to schools, especially those in poorer areas," which drew strong applause. "I know from my own days as a professor, and I have heard from your bishops and officials of the Congregation for Catholic Education, that the reputation of Catholic institutes of learning in this country is largely due to yourselves and your predecessors," he said. That is not to say the pope didn't challenge the group representing kindergarten through college graduate students.Several times during the half-hour address he urged them to live up to their responsibility of imparting truth to their students to enable them to live out their faith in the modern world. "Not just our own ecclesial communities but society in general has high expectations for Catholic educators," he said, adding that this gives them "a responsibility and offers an opportunity." He noted that the role of educators is particularly crucial in the modern world where many often question the church's role in the public forum.A primary role of the church, he said, is "upholding the essential moral categories of right and wrong" because without that direction, he said "hope could only wither, giving way to cold pragmatic calculations of utility which render the person little more than a pawn on some ideological chess board."