Pope: Church-run schools need Christian perspective amid diversity

Published: 2008-01-21

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI said modern education is threatened by exaggerated rationalism on one hand and religious fundamentalism on the other. In order to fight against this "educational crisis," church-run schools and universities should propose a distinctly Christian perspective, even as they welcome cultural and religious diversity, the pope said. He made the comments Jan. 21 to members of the Congregation for Catholic Education meeting at the Vatican. The pope said the world today faces a double challenge: a rationalism "falsely liberated and unchained from every religious reference," and "fundamentalisms that falsify the true essence of religion with their incitement to violence and fanaticism."

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