[Reading-hall-of-fame] Pope John Paul II and Adult Literacy

[tsticht at znet.com]

April 2, 2005

Pope John Paul II and His Vision for Adult Literacy

Tom Sticht
International Consultant in Adult Education


With the death of His Holiness Pope John Paul II the world of adult 
literacy education lost a great supporter. I learned this after I was 
appointed to UNESCO’s International Jury for Literacy Prizes in 1979. When 
I attended International Literacy Day ceremonies that September 8th at 
UNESCO House in Paris, I listened while messages from member states were 
read in support of adult literacy education. One of the messages was from 
the Holy See, which is also a member of UNESCO. 

The next year, on June 2, 1980, Pope John Paul II visited UNESCO and gave a 
speech in which he commented:

"I should like here to pay tribute, ladies and gentlemen, to your 
Organization's outstanding work, and at the same time to the work of the 
States and institutions you represent and their commitment to the task of 
promoting the general provision of education for the people at large, at 
all grades and levels, and of eradicating illiteracy which reflects the 
non-existence of even the rudiments of instruction, a grievous deficiency 
not only from the point of view of the basic culture of individuals and 
their environment, but also in terms of socio-economic progress. There are 
alarming signs of disparities in this field, linked with an often acutely 
unequal and unjust distribution of wealth: we need only think of situations 
where a small plutocratic oligarchy coexists with starving multitudes 
living in extreme poverty. The disparity can be remedied, not through 
bloody struggles for power, but above all, by systematically promoting 
literacy through the widespread provision of education for the masses. This 
is the direction in which we must work if we wish afterwards to bring about 
the changes needed in the socio-economic domain. "

Elsewhere he said, "
the primary and indispensable duty of culture in 
general – and of every culture – is education. 
Education is of fundamental 
importance in developing human and social interrelationships."

The commitment of the Holy See, and Pope John Paul II in particular, was 
reinforced in messages to UNESCO on the occasion of International Literacy 
Day each year on September 8th. My records show that in 1982, UNESCO 
reported a message from the Holy See and stated that, "His Holiness Pope 
John-Paul II sent his customary message of support to the Director-General 
of Unesco on the occasion of International Literacy Day. In his message, 
which was published in the "Osservatore Romano" on 10 September, the Holy 
Father stressed the handicaps suffered by illiterates, who should no longer 
be considered second-class citizens in our modern world but most 
emphatically full citizens." 

Unfortunately, today in the United States and many other nations, both 
industrialized and developing,  millions of adults whose literacy skills 
are low by contemporary standards are too often marginalized and denied 
access to the education that could bring them from the margins into the 
mainstream of full citizenship.  

Regretfully, the vision that Pope John Paul II had almost a quarter century 
ago for elevating the poorly literate to full inclusive citizenship has not 
been realized. But while the Enlightened Visionary has passed on, his 
vision remains as a challenge for the nations of the world. 

"The primary and indispensable duty of culture is education."
His Holiness Pope John Paul II, UNESCO House, June 2, 1980

Thomas G. Sticht
International Consultant in Education
2062 Valley View Blvd.
El Cajon, CA 92019-2059
Tel/fax: (619) 444-9133
Email: tsticht at aznet.net