NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II today held a private audience with the participants in a plenary session of the Congregation for Catholic Education. That session has drawn 60 people to Rome to discuss the educational role of the Church.

      The Pope stressed that the Church's efforts in education must be a high priority, regardless of the "difficulties" caused by "cultural changes" and "new technological forms." He observed that improvements in the field of communications should be helpful to Catholic educators, although he also noted that the new technology has brought some problems, "such as superficiality, the lack of creativity, and fragmentation."

      The role of Catholic education is to provide "a model for man which is unified and complete," the Pope continued. Toward that end, the individual's faculties should be developed in harmony, leading him "toward contemplation and truth."

      The Pope thanked the members of the Congregation for their own contributions to the educational process, giving special attention to the needs of seminaries and Catholic universities. He urged religious institutions to devote themselves to the educational work which is "so urgent and essential for the future of the world and the Church."