Education,

Human Dignity and Human Rights

A Report on Pope Francis Education and Human Dignity

Human Dignity
Legal Definition
An individual or group's sense of self-respect and self-worth,
physical and psychological integrity and empowerment.1
Catholic Church Definition 2
Human dignity originates from God and is of God because
we are made in Gods own image and likeness (Gn 1:26-27).
Human life is sacred because the human person is the most
central and clearest reflection of God among us. Human beings
have transcendent worth and value that comes from God; this
dignity is not based on any human quality, legal mandate, or
individual merit or accomplishment. Human dignity is inalienable
that means it is an essential part of every human being and is an
intrinsic quality that can never be separated from other essential
aspects of the human person.
Where does this teaching on Human Dignity come from?
Biblical source: Scripture rooted in scripture
Moral source: Tradition the use of reason and reflection
based in the Catholic tradition.
Ecclesial source: Church teaching expressed in the
Popes Encyclical letters, Apostolic letters, Synod
documents, Apostolic exhortations, and the bishops Pastoral
letters, which respond to the issues of the day
Foundational Concepts for the Vision of Human Dignity
The chart below highlights the source of the vision related to
human dignity. The biblical vision is the essential source and
based on revelation as noted. The theological vision draws on the
biblical tradition and includes the reflection and human wisdom
which has developed over time, through history. The secular vision

1
2

http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/H/HumanDignity.aspx
https://educationforjustice.org/free-files/HumanDignity09.pdf
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is listed here in order to be able to see where the overlap or

distinctiveness is most evident.

From this chart, we can infer that the concept of human dignity is
both presented and valued by both the State and the Church.
Inclusion of the concept of Human Dignity in Philippine laws
Article II, Section 11 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution
The State values the dignity of every human person and
guarantees full respect for human rights.
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Why is it important for us to know about the principle of

Human Dignity?
Human Rights Principles: HUMAN RIGHTS are related to
ones human dignity; they are UNIVERSAL, INALIENABLE,
INDIVISIBLE, INTERCONNECTED AND INTER-INDEPENDENT;
governments are obligated to enforce such rights in a manner that
promotes EQUALITY and NON-DISCRIMINATION.
WHO IS POPE FRANCIS?
Pope Francis is the 266th and current Pope of the Catholic
Church, elected on 13 March 2013. In his over 40 years as a
Catholic priest, he has drawn "high marks as an accomplished
intellectual, having studied theology in Germany." He is seen as
someone who personally straddles the divide between the liberals
and conservatives in the Catholic Church. Francis has supported
the social justice ethos of Latin American Catholicism, including a
robust defense of the poor. At the same time, he has generally
tended to accent growth in personal holiness over efforts for
structural reform. He is seen as "unwaveringly orthodox" on
matters of sexual morality, staunchly opposing abortion, same-sex
marriage, and contraception.
QUICK LOOK ON HIS LIFE3
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio worked briefly as
a chemical technician and nightclub bouncer before beginning
seminary studies.[2] He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and
from 1973 to 1979 was Argentina'sProvincial superior of the
Society of Jesus. He became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in
1998 and was created acardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on 28
February 2013, a papal conclave elected Bergoglio as his
successor on 13 March. He chose Francis as his papal name in
3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Francis
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honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis is the first Jesuitpope, the

first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere
and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III in
741, 1,272 years earlier.
Throughout his public life, both as an individual and as a
religious leader, Pope Francis has been noted for his humility, his
concern for the poor and his commitment to dialogue as a way to
build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs and
faiths.
He is known for having a simpler and less formal approach to
the papacy, most notably by choosing to reside in the Domus
Sanctae Marthae guesthouse rather than the papal apartments of
the Apostolic Palace used by his predecessors. In addition, due to
both his Jesuit and Ignatian aesthetic,he is known for favoring
simpler vestments void of ornamentation. As pope, his manner is
less formal than that of his predecessors: a style that news
coverage has referred to as "no frills," noting that it is "his common
touch and accessibility that is proving the greatest inspiration."
THE THEOLOGY OF POPE FRANCIS4
Francis told La Civilt Cattolica that the church does not
need to speak constantly of the issues of abortion,
artificial contraception and homosexuality. He thought that other
issues, notably the duty to help those who are poor and
marginalized, have been neglected. He added that the church had
focused in trivial issues, and as such should not be so prone to
condemn, and that priests should be more welcoming. He said the
confessional should be used to motivate people to better
themselves.
WHAT MADE HIM AN ADVOCATE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS???
HUMAN RIGHTS AS DEFINED BY POPE FRANCIS
I believe, therefore, that it is vital to develop a culture of human
rights which wisely links the individual, or better, the personal
4

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology_of_Pope_Francis
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aspect, to that of the common good, of the all of us made up of

individuals, families and intermediate groups who together
constitute society. In fact, unless the rights of each individual are
harmoniously ordered to the greater good, those rights will end up
being considered limitless and consequently will become a source
of conflicts and violence.
To speak of transcendent human dignity thus means appealing to
human nature, to our innate capacity to distinguish good from evil,
to that compass deep within our hearts, which God has
impressed upon all creation. Above all, it means regarding human
beings not as absolutes, but as beings in relation. (25 Nov. 2014
Speech to European Parliament)
With regard to human rights, he said in his speech to the European
Parliament:
Promoting the dignity of the person means recognizing that
he or she possesses inalienable rights which no one may take
away arbitrarily, much less for the sake of economic interests.
At the same time, however, care must be taken not to fall into
certain errors which can arise from a misunderstanding of the
concept of human rights and from its misuse. Today there is a
tendency to claim ever broader individual rights; underlying
this is a conception of the human person as detached from all
social and anthropological contexts, as if the person were a
monad (), increasingly unconcerned with other
surrounding
monads.
The
equally
essential
and
complementary concept of duty no longer seems to be linked
to such a concept of rights. As a result, the rights of the
individual are upheld, without regard for the fact that each
human being is part of a social context wherein his or her
rights and duties are bound up with those of others and with
the common good of society itself,
and at the Council of Europe,
It also needs to be kept in mind that apart from the pursuit of
truth, each individual becomes the criterion for measuring
himself and his own actions. The way is thus opened to a
subjectivistic assertion of rights, so that the concept of
human rights, which has an intrinsically universal import, is
replaced by an individualistic conception of rights. This leads
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to an effective lack of concern for others and favours that

globalization of indifference born of selfishness, the result of
a conception of man incapable of embracing the truth and
living an authentic social dimension. []
I think particularly of the role of the European Court of
Human Rights, which in some way represents the
conscience of Europe with regard to those rights. I express
my hope that this conscience will continue to mature, not
through a simple consensus between parties, but as the
result of efforts to build on those deep roots which are the
bases on which the founders of contemporary Europe
determined to build.
LIFE AND DIGNITY QUOTES5
What we are called to respect in each person is first of all his life,
his physical integrity, his dignity and the rights deriving from that
dignity, his reputation, his property, his ethnic and cultural identity,
his ideas and his political choices. We are therefore called to think,
speak and write respectfully of the other, not only in his presence,
but always and everywhere, avoiding unfair criticism or
defamation. Families, schools, religious teaching and all forms of
media have a role to play in achieving this goal. (7/10/13)
Even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the
unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of Gods creation, made in
his own image, destined to live for ever, and deserving of the
utmost reverence and respect. (7/17/13)
While it is true that migrations often reveal failures and
shortcomings on the part of States and the international
community, they also point to the aspiration of humanity to enjoy a
unity marked by respect for differences, by attitudes of acceptance
and hospitality which enable an equitable sharing of the worlds
goods, and by the protection and the advancement of the dignity
5

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/upload/popefrancis-quotes1.pdf

Education, Human Dignity and Human Rights

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and centrality of each human being. (8/5/13, Migrants and

Refugees)
A widespread mentality of the useful, the culture of waste that
today enslaves the hearts and minds of so many, comes at a very
high cost: it asks for the elimination of human beings, especially if
they are physically or socially weaker. Our response to this
mentality is a decisive and unreserved yes to life. The first right
of the human person is his life. He has other goods and some are
more precious, but this one is fundamental the condition of all
the others (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration
on procured abortion, 18 November 1974, n. 11).
Things have a price and can be sold, but people have a dignity;
they are worth more than things and are above price. So often we
find ourselves in situations where we see that what is valued the
least is life. That is why concern for human life in its totality has
become in recent years a real priority for the Church's
Magisterium, especially for the most defenseless; i.e., the
disabled, the sick, the newborn, children, the elderly, those whose
lives are most defenseless. (9/20/13)
In a frail human being, each one of us is invited to recognize the
face of the Lord, who in his human flesh experienced the
indifference and solitude to which we so often condemn the
poorest of the poor, whether in developing countries or in wealthy
societies. Every child who, rather than being born, is condemned
unjustly to being aborted, bears the face of Jesus Christ, bears the
face of the Lord, who even before he was born, and then just after
birth, experienced the world's rejection. And every elderly person
I spoke of children: let us move to the elderly, another point! And
every elderly person, even if he is ill or at the end of his days,
bears the face of Christ. They cannot be discarded, as the culture
of waste suggests! They cannot be thrown away! (9/20/13)
You are called to care for life in its initial stage; remind everyone,
by word and deed, that this is sacred at each phase and at
every age that it is always valuable. . . . There is no human life
more sacred than another, just as there is no human life
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qualitatively more significant than another. The credibility of a

healthcare system is not measured solely by efficiency, but above
all by the attention and love given to the person, whose life is
always sacred and inviolable. (9/20/13)
Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can
strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and
unfailing love. (11/24/13, no. 3)
Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with
particular love and concern are unborn children, the most
defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made
to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever
one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone
from (c) 2013, 2014 Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Used
with permission. All rights reserved. standing in the way of this.
Frequently, as a way of ridiculing the Churchs effort to defend
their lives, attempts are made to present her position as
ideological, obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defense of
unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other
human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is
always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of
development. Human beings are ends in themselves and never a
means of resolving other problems. (11/24/13, no. 213)
Unfortunately, in our own time, one so rich in achievements and
hopes, there are many powers and forces that end up producing a
culture of waste; and this tends to become the common mentality.
The victims of this culture are precisely the weakest and most
fragile human beings the unborn, the poorest, the sick and
elderly, the seriously handicapped, et. al. who are in danger of
being thrown away, expelled from a system that must be efficient
at all costs. (12/7/13)
Peace is also threatened by every denial of human dignity, firstly
the lack of access to adequate nutrition. We cannot be indifferent
to those suffering from hunger, especially children, when we think
of how much food is wasted every day in many parts of the world
immersed in what I have often termed the throwaway culture.
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Unfortunately, what is thrown away is not only food and

dispensable objects, but often human beings themselves, who are
discarded as unnecessary. For example, it is frightful even to
think there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the
light of day; children being used as soldiers, abused and killed in
armed conflicts; and children being bought and sold in that terrible
form of modern slavery which is human trafficking, which is a crime
against humanity. (1/13/14)
At the basis of discrimination and exclusion there lies an
anthropological question: what is mans worth and what is the
basis of his worth? Health is certainly an important value, but it
does not determine the value of a person. Furthermore, health in
and of itself is no guarantee of happiness: for this may occur even
in the presence of poor health. The fullness towards which every
human life tends is not in contradiction with a condition of illness
and suffering. Therefore, poor health and disability are never a
good reason for excluding or, worse, for eliminating a person.
(2/19/14)
A society truly welcomes life when it recognizes that it is also
precious in old age, in disability, in serious illness and even when it
is fading; when it teaches that the call to human fulfillment does
not exclude suffering; indeed, when it teaches its members to see
in the sick and suffering a gift for the entire community, a presence
that summons them to solidarity and responsibility. (2/19/14)
Human dignity is the same for all human beings: when I trample on
the dignity of another, I am trampling on my own. (2/25/14)
Every civil right rests on the recognition of the first and
fundamental right, that of life, which is not subordinate to any
condition, be it quantitative, economic or, least of all, ideological.
(4/11/14)
Today, in concrete terms, an awareness of the dignity of each of
our brothers and sisters whose life is sacred and inviolable from
conception to natural death must lead us to share with complete

Education, Human Dignity and Human Rights

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freedom the goods which Gods providence has placed in our

hands, material goods but also intellectual and spiritual ones, and
to give back generously and lavishly whatever we may have earlier
unjustly refused to others. (5/9/14)
The reality is that elderly people are being abandoned: the elderly
are so often discarded with an attitude of abandonment, which is
actually real and hidden euthanasia! It is the result of a throw away
culture which is so harmful to our world. Children are thrown away,
young people are thrown away, because they have no work, and
the elderly are thrown away with the pretense of maintaining a
balanced economy, which has at its center not the human person
but money. We are all called to oppose this poisonous, throw away
culture! We Christians, together with all people of good will, are
called to patiently build a more diverse, more welcoming, more
humane, more inclusive society that does not need to discard
those who are weak in body and mind. On the contrary we need a
society which measures its success on how the weak are cared
for. (9/28/14)
Today children are disposed of because there is no food or
because they are killed before being born children are discarded.
The elderly are disposed of, well, because they are useless, they
do not produce, neither children nor the elderly produce; then, with
more or less sophisticated systems they are slowly abandoned
and now, as in this crisis it is necessary to recover some
equilibrium, we are witnessing a third very painful discarding the
discarding of young people. Millions of young people, I do not want
to give a figure because I do not know it exactly and the one I read
about I think is somewhat exaggerated, but millions of young
people are discarded from work, are unemployed. (10/28/14)
ON THE ROLE OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING HUMAN
RIGHTS CULTURE
Pope Francis addressed approximately 9,000 community
members of schools run by the Jesuits in Italy and in Albania,
where he said:

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Dear young people, if I were to ask you now: why do you go

to school, what would you answer me? There would
probably be a whole range of replies, according to the
sensibility of each person. Yet I think that they could all be
summed up together by saying that school is one of the
educational environments in which we develop through
learning how to live, how to become grown-up, mature men
and women who can travel, who can follow the road of life.
How does school help you to grow? It helps you not only by
developing your intelligence, but also by an integral
formation of all the aspects of your personality.
In following what St Ignatius teaches us, the main element at
school is to learn to be magnanimous. Magnanimity: this
virtue of the great and the small (Non coerceri maximo
contineri minimo, divinum est), which always makes us look
at the horizon. What does being magnanimous mean? It
means having a great heart, having greatness of mind; it
means having great ideals, the wish to do great things to
respond to what God asks of us. Hence also, for this very
reason, to do well the routine things of every day and all the
daily actions, tasks, meetings with people; doing the little
everyday things with a great heart open to God and to
others. It is therefore important to cultivate human formation
with a view to magnanimity. School does not only broaden
your intellectual dimension but also your human one. (7 June
2013)

To give Europe hope means more than simply acknowledging the

centrality of the human person; it also implies nurturing the gifts of
each man and woman. It means investing in individuals and in
those settings in which their talents are shaped and flourish. The
first area surely is that of education, beginning with the family, the
fundamental cell and most precious element of any society. The
family, united, fruitful and indissoluble, possesses the elements
fundamental for fostering hope in the future. Without this solid
basis, the future ends up being built on sand, with dire social
consequences. Then too, stressing the importance of the family
not only helps to give direction and hope to new generations, but
also to many of our elderly, who are often forced to live alone and

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are effectively abandoned because there is no longer the warmth

of a family hearth able to accompany and support them.
Alongside the family, there are the various educational institutes:
schools and universities. Education cannot be limited to providing
technical expertise alone. Rather, it should encourage the more
complex process of assisting the human person to grow in his or
her totality. Young people today are asking for a suitable and
complete education which can enable them to look to the future
with hope instead of disenchantment. (25 November 2014
Speech to European Parliament)
Thus collaboration in a spirit of unity and community among the
various educators is essential and must be fostered and
encouraged. School can and must be a catalyst, it must be a place
of encounter and convergence of the entire educating community,
with the sole objective of training and helping to develop mature
people who are simple, competent and honest, who know how to
love with fidelity, who can live life as a response to Gods call, and
their future profession as a service to society.
Education, work and access to health care for all (cf. ibid., 205) are
key elements for development and the just distribution of goods,
for the attainment of social justice, for membership in society (cf.
ibid., 53), and for free and responsible participation in political life.
(10/2/14)
The globalized world in which we live demands of us a common
witness to the God-given dignity of every human being and the
effective promotion of the cultural, social and legal conditions
which enable individuals and communities to grow in freedom, and
which support the mission of the family as the fundamental
building block of society, ensure a sound and integral education for
the young, and guarantee for all the untrammeled exercise of
religious liberty. In fidelity to the Gospel, and in response to the
urgent needs of the present time, we are called to reach out to
those who find themselves in the existential peripheries of our
societies and to show particular solidarity with the most vulnerable
of our brothers and sisters: the poor, the disabled, the unborn and
the sick, migrants and refugees, the elderly and the young who
lack employment. (10/4/13, WCC)

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Dear friends, it is certainly necessary to give bread to the hungry

this is an act of justice. But there is also a deeper hunger, the
hunger for a happiness that only God can satisfy, the hunger for
dignity. There is neither real promotion of the common good nor
real human development when there is ignorance of the
fundamental pillars that govern a nation, its non-material goods:
life, which is a gift of God, a value always to be protected and
promoted; the family, the foundation of coexistence and a remedy
against social fragmentation; integral education, which cannot be
reduced to the mere transmission of information for purposes of
generating profit; health, which must seek the integral well-being of
the person, including the spiritual dimension, essential for human
balance and healthy coexistence; security, in the conviction that
violence can be overcome only by changing human hearts.
(7/25/13, Varginha)
PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF POPE FRANCIS TEACHINGS
ON EDUCATION AND HUMAN DIGNITY
Scholas 6promoted by His Holiness Pope Francisis
developed within the Pontifical Academy of Science of the Vatican,
whose Chancellor Bishop is Monsignor Marcelo Snchez Sorondo.
It is managed by Professor Jos Mara del Corral and Professor
Enrique Palmeyro, whom jointly with the Chancellor Bishop
constitute the Pontifical Council of Scholas.
What is Scholas?
It is an educational entity, launched by Pope Francis, where
technology, arts and sports are used to encourage social
integration and the culture of encounter.
Mission
Improve education and integrate different communities, with a
special focus on those with fewer resources. This is through the
commitment of all takeholders and the linking of schools and
6

http://www.scholasoccurrentes.org/about-us/en
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educational networks from all over the world, and by means of

educational, artistic and sport initiatives.
What does it do?
Promotes Awareness Campaigns on human values.
Develops its own programs for children and youth integration
to their communities and to the world.
Supports educational projects in vulnerable situation.
Encourages and facilitates connecting schools and
educational networks from different cultures, beliefs and forms
around the world.
Why does Scholas work?
Because it is necessary to motivate the culture of encounter.
Thereby, a different education has to be recreated. This education
should recover the focus on the human being and in essential
human values, and should encompass different circumstances that
children face. This is an education with a holistic vision and with a
social integration component. We all have our place in this
educational initiative: doctors, policemen, artists, homeless... the
Pope calls everybody. As Pope Francis says, popular and beloved
celebrities educate millions of children with their example, where
sports and arts are great ways to shape human values.
Global education, namely the focus on formal and non-formal
learning opportunities in countries around the world, has been
missing champions at the most senior level. This has been
especially visible in the last 15 years as the global education
community coalesced around trying to put all children in the world
into primary school, the core of the education component of the
United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As
colleagues in the global health sector, an equally important area of
work, mobilized Bill Gates, a host of celebrities, multiple U.N.
special envoys, and billions of dollars in additional financing to
meet the health-related MDGs, progress in global education was
made mainly on the backs of the poorest countries in the world
many of whom extended considerable effort to do whatever they

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could in the face of difficult constraints to improve education for

their children. Not surprisingly, today corporations give 16 times
more to global health than to global education, and the healthfocused global fund in its last replenishment campaign raised $12
billion while the education-focused global fund raised less than $2
billion.
Only within the last two years has there been a growing global
profile to the world's education issues with, among others, the
appointment of former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown as the
first U.N. Special Envoy for Global Education, the First Lady of
Qatar Sheika Moza's global initiative to put 10 million children into
school, and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's new
role as the chair of the board of the Global Partnership for
Education.
Additional voices are certainly neededto call on governments
both rich and poor alike to do more, to encourage civil society and
the private sector to include education as a priority for their service
and giving, and to remind people that it is not just any education
that will do but one that promotes the values of global citizenship.
This last point, in particular, needs more attention. In what could
serve as an excellent starting point for Pope Francis's global
education messages, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon
recently issued a framework for education action that has three
global priorities: 1) put every child into school, 2) improve quality
learning, and 3) foster global citizenship. In all of this Pope
Francis could have an important role to play, as a leader who can
pick up the phone to talk with any other heads of state, as an
ethical voice in the debate, and as someone who can inspire
people to act.

APPLICATION OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING HUMAN

RIGHTS CULTURE (PHILIPPINE SETTING)

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Philippine Education Towards Globalization7

The term globalization represents the international system that
is shaping most societies today. It is a process that is super
charging the interaction and integration of cultures, politics,
business and intellectual elements around the world.
According to Knight (1999) Globalization of higher education is the
flow of dominant technology and knowledge across borders, while
internationalization of higher education is one of the ways a
country responds to the impact of globalization , yet at the same
time respect the individuality of the nation.
The growing demand for higher education, the advent of
information and communication technologies (ICTs), the shortage
of public funding and the trend towards the treatment of education
as a commodity or as services to be regulated internationally by
trade agreements, are seen as important factors contributing to
major reforms of the higher education (HE) systems all over the
world.
Implementation of K-12 Curriculum in Response to
Globalization8
[REPUBLIC ACT NO. 10533]9
AN ACT ENHANCING THE PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATION
SYSTEM BY STRENGTHENING ITS CURRICULUM AND
INCREASING THE NUMBER OF YEARS FOR BASIC
EDUCATION, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES
Section 2 provides :

http://pacu.org.ph/wp2/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Globalizationand-Internationalization-Dr-Ricardo-Pama.pdf
7

http://www.gov.ph/k-12/

http://www.gov.ph/2013/05/15/republic-act-no-10533/

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For this purpose, the State shall create a functional basic

education system that will develop productive and responsible
citizens equipped with the essential competencies, skills and
values for both life-long learning and employment. In order to
achieve this, the State shall:
(a) Give every student an opportunity to receive quality education
that is globally competitive based on a pedagogically sound
curriculum that is at par with international standards;
(b) Broaden the goals of high school education for college
preparation, vocational and technical career opportunities as well
as creative arts, sports and entrepreneurial employment in a
rapidly changing and increasingly globalized environment; and
(c) Make education learner-oriented and responsive to the needs,
cognitive and cultural capacity, the circumstances and diversity of
learners, schools and communities through the appropriate
languages of teaching and learning, including mother tongue as a
learning resource.
CONCLUSION (The Pope Francis Effect on the Philippines
during his Papal Visit January 15-19, 2015)
Pope Francis delivered six addresses and homilies during his fiveday visit in the Philippines, touching on the topics of social justice,
poverty and the family.
Below are some key points and quotations from the pontiff 10:
"The Philippines, together with many other countries in Asia, faces
the challenge of building on solid foundations a modern society a
society respectful of authentic human values, protective of our
God-given human dignity and rights, and ready to confront new
and complex political and ethical questions."

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/01/19/1414578/99things-pope-francis-said-philippines#ixzz3UZduD9uw
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Education, Human Dignity and Human Rights

A Report on Pope Francis Education and Human Dignity

"Now, at the end of my visit to the Philippines, I commend you to

him, to Jesus who came among us as a child. May he enable all
the beloved people of this country to work together, protecting one
another, beginning with your families and communities, in building
a world of justice, integrity and peace."
Reality is superior to ideas
(Pope Francis message to the youth in the University of Sto.
Tomas, Jan. 18, 2015)
Those familiar with the works of Ludwig Feuerbach (or even Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels) will be quick to recognize that this
quote from the Latin American Pope captures the essence of
materialism, which asserts the primacy of the physical world over
ideas.
END STATEMENT/CHALLENGE
To think, to feel, to do
(Pope Francis message to the youth in the University of Sto.
Tomas, Jan. 18, 2015)
When Pope Francis mentioned this, he made the young audience
in UST repeat the phrase three times. Why? Because it sums up
his challenge to the youth and the Filipino nation that to be
catalysts of change, we must practice what we preach. Its the
Popes own version of James 2:14-26 which says faith without
work is dead.

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