Education holds key to societal harmony, says Vatican official

Published: 2003-11-12

ATHENS, Greece (CNS) -- The key to harmony in a multicultural society is not ignoring cultural differences, but learning about them well enough to know the values they share, a Vatican official said. Archbishop Giuseppe Pittau, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, spoke at the Nov. 10-12 conference of European education ministers in Athens. Education, he said, is essential to the process of constructing a united Europe marked by solidarity, democracy and respect for the diverse cultures of its member nations and of the peoples who move to the continent in search of a better life. "Each culture is an attempt to reflect on the mystery of the world and, in particular, on the mystery of man," he told the conference. "It is a way of expressing the transcendent dimension of life."

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