Pope Francis met with members of the Blancherna Foundation in Barcelona and urged Catholic universities to provide an education that helps shape people's hearts and minds, rather than trying to create “fantasy replicas of impossible ideals.” requested to provide.
Devin Watkins
“How much pain and frustration is created by unattainable stereotypes that markets and pressure groups try to impose on us.”
Pope Francis offered such an analysis of modern life on Friday when he met with members of the Blancherna Foundation at Ramon Llull University in the Spanish city of Barcelona.
In his speech, the Pope said that the foundation's name, Blanquerna, was derived from a literary figure created by Blessed Ramon Llull, a philosopher and theologian of the 13th and 14th centuries.
Blessed Ramon Llull used this person to “accurately describe his time,” the pope said, adding that his pedagogy continues to follow the example of Christian life.
The pope said Blessed Llull moved away from “fantasy heroes who try to escape from reality” and instead proposed “a simple and natural model of life in which one can serve the Lord and be happy.”
The Christian path is a vocation, not a vocation.
Pope Francis pointed out that today's young people, just like in the 13th century, must overcome many obstacles to discover God's plan.
“By adopting this name, your foundation, and the entire Ramon Llull University, are taking on this exciting initiative,” he said.
The Blancherna Foundation supports families to rediscover their true calling in society, offers young people different life paths and helps them overcome challenges, and believes that the path of the Christian hero is not “through careerism.” “We are working to teach society that it is a response, not a characteristic,” he added. On the phone. ”
The Pope invited university professors to help students understand that even if they achieve their goals, they must still “seek an encounter with the Lord and devote themselves fully to his service.” .
Educate based on analysis of reality, not escapism
The Pope called on the Blancherna Foundation to teach using a “modern, contemporary and agile pedagogical language, based on an accurate analysis of reality.”
But he added that education “must always bear in mind that we are forming complete men and women, not fanciful copies of impossible ideals.”
The goal of education, the Pope said, is “to educate holistic people who seek to give their best in the service to which God has called them, knowing that they are pilgrims, that in reality everything is a path towards a goal that transcends.” ”. This reality, the encounters with friends and loved ones, that love pours into our hearts and gives us the strength to move forward. ”
The glorious presence of Jesus in education
Finally, Pope Francis expressed his hope that Catholic universities can “illuminate the lives of their students with the presence of Jesus.”
“May this conviction make them aware of their dignity as friends of God and others, and of their ability to dispel the darkness that hangs over this world that has strayed from its true nature,” he prayed.
