The ongoing formation of professors in teaching methods and especially in "their spiritual growth and their truly living out their faith … is not a waste of time or effort which takes way from their actual teaching," Cardinal Versaldi said.
Such formation can make both the faculty and the administration able to "credibly engage with and also to be a partner in dialogue with civil society and the state schools in order to create a Chilean society founded on the shared values of respect for cultural and religious diversity."
Working together with the Church
Cardinal Versaldi said the school's pastoral ministry must work side by side with the local Church and parishes so that they "mutually help each other out in their different roles" without "imposing on the school the responsibilities that mostly belong to the parish or vice versa."
In addition "it is important to foster a consistent witness, including that of their lives outside the classroom, such that the Church community would think the school a living example of her realities."
Providence as a guide
"Schools need to deepen their knowledge of what's going on in society in both its positive and negative aspects, discerning the signs of the times, animated not by a paralyzing pessimism but rather with Christian hope founded on the faith that human history is always guided by Divine Providence despite people's free will," the cardinal stated.
"It is important to maintain this faith and translate it into the work of education as an overriding way of acting in order to become protagonists in a true renewal of the social scene without letting oneself be manipulated by the various political factions."
"Thus the Catholic school will always be on the forefront of dealing with the new challenges that the world must face such as care for the environment and immigration that politics in general tends to discount, marginalizing more people and creating dangers for future generations," Cardinal Versaldi concluded.