SCHOOLS CAN BE EVANGELIZATION LABS, SAYS OFFICIAL

23-09-2008

Cardinal Bertone Affirms Universities Key for Culture

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 22, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Catholic universities are strongly rooted in the very mission of the Church, and can become "laboratories of the evangelization of culture," says Benedict XVI's secretary of state.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone spoke about the role of Catholic higher education when he visited the new Catholic university in Zagreb, Croatia, during his Sept. 18-21 trip there.

His four-day visit marked the 10th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's journey to the Eastern European nation.

Friday afternoon, after having met with Prime Minister Ivo Sanader, Cardinal Bertone blessed the new Catholic university of Zagreb and met with the academic community. He defined the institution as a "privileged laboratory of the evangelization of culture" and a "center of scientific research enlightened by the word of God and faithful to the magisterium of the Church, where the culture of the Croatian people will engage in dialogue," reported L'Osservatore Romano.

The Pope's secretary of state, accompanied by Cardinal Josip Bozanic, archbishop of Zagreb, and the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Mario Cassari, said that "every cultural institution, and still more the Catholic university, cannot in its scientific elaboration prescind from the search for God."

Recalling "the importance of the presence and action of Christians in the world of culture in our time," the cardinal explained that the Catholic university is "strongly rooted in the mission itself of the Church to instruct and form responsible and mature persons, conscious of their identity and evangelical mission, ready to assume leadership roles in the various spheres of society."

In a world of constant change, he added, the Catholic university must propose a reflection upon and research into the meaning of human life on earth "so that new discoveries and technologies are not used for ends other than the authentic good of the person and human society as a whole."

Holy priests

On Saturday morning, celebrating Mass in the major seminary, Cardinal Bertone expressed to the seminarians the Pope's desire that they become "holy priests ready to face the multiple religious and social challenges of the contemporary epoch," caring for their vocation with prayer, the word of God and community life.

Meeting with the Croatian bishops afterward, the cardinal blessed the first stone of the new site of the bishops' conference. He then exhorted them in their efforts to foster vocations to the priestly life and to provide permanent formation for presbyters. Cardinal Bertone recalled that "there are many resources and possibilities of the Church in Croatia and just as urgent challenges that confront believers in Christ today."

"Your country," the prelate said, "is called to contribute its human and Christian tradition to the Europe of the third millennium, emphasizing the importance, for the common future, of the spiritual roots that have marked the history of the all the peoples of our continent."

This mission, he added, "demands courage and capacity for dialogue, clarity of perspectives and spiritual depth. We are all aware that the globalized situation of the modern world is becoming more and more impregnated by a vision of existence that is inspired by a dangerous cultural and ethical relativism, which undermines the Christian conception at its very foundations." Because of this, he observed, there is a necessity for "a permanent reflection by all of the components of the Church and clear, intrepid and timely apologetic and missionary action."

"The humanity of our time, which is progressively losing its sensitivity for spiritual realities because it is almost paralyzed by the myths and idols of material progress, power and success, needs a proclamation of hope," Cardinal Bertone affirmed. "[Humanity] is in search of a solid foundation for its present and future prospects."

http://www.zenit.org/article-23681?l=english