Benedict XVI is highlighting the importance of young people in the quest for justice and peace, but he says the fundamental question that must be asked to educate them is “who is man?”
The Pope thus encouraged all types of educators — from families to politicians to media professionals — to understand the beings they are educating. He made this call in his message for the World Day of Justice and Peace, marked Jan. 1. The message was released by the Vatican.
“The first step in education is learning to recognize the Creator’s image in man, and consequently learning to have a profound respect for every human being and helping others to live a life consonant with this supreme dignity,” the Holy Father proposed.
He went on to explain the importance of taking into account “every single dimension” of the person, including the transcendent one.
The Pontiff’s statement speaks of educating in freedom, and educating in justice, and finally of educating in peace.
“Freedom is a precious value, but a fragile one; it can be misunderstood and misused,” he warned. He explained that authentic freedom is “not the absence of constraint or the supremacy of free will, it is not the absolutism of the self. When man believes himself to be absolute, to depend on nothing and no one, to be able to do anything he wants, he ends up contradicting the truth of his own being and forfeiting his freedom.”
Benedict XVI’s message pointed out again the errors of relativism, one of the main messages of his pontificate.
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 16, 2011 (Zenit.org)