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

[Yetta Goodman]

Thanks TOM!

tsticht at znet.com wrote:

>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
>
>
>
>
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>

-- 
Yetta M. Goodman
Regents Professor Emerita
University of Arizona, College of Education
Language Reading and Culture - Room 532
Tucson, AZ 85721
Home Address
7914 S. Galileo Lane
Tucson, AZ 85747-9609