.- The Secretary General of the Venezuelan Bishops Conference, Archbishop Luis Azuaje, said this week the educational plans the government is developing should “defend the dignity of the human person and personal growth.”
During a break at the bishops’ Assembly, the archbishop said the Conference has “many expectations about the decisions” the government is making on educational issues and he clarified that for the Church education is a pastoral issue, not a political one. He added, “Every opportunity the Venezuelan people can have to obtain knowledge is good, but they should be linked to the creation of a free and responsible conscience in response to the country’s situation.”
In this sense he emphasized that the Church, together with the Venezuelan Association of Catholic Education, would study the changes made by the government, to see if “they favor comprehension or if they are a band-aid for maintaining populism or some other form of political loyalty.”
Archbishop Azuaje said the Conference would draft a report on the work of the Church in education. He pointed out that the Church assists half a million children and young people in the country.
