Washington D.C., Aug 31, 2019 / 07:00 am
Friendship is a central part of how character and thought are formed, students at the Catholic University of America were told at the opening of the academic year.
Addressing students and faculty at the annual Mass of the Holy Spirit, held Thursday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Catholic University president John Garvey invoked Cardinal John Henry Newman, saying that relationships are an essential part of the educational process.
"A good education is more than books, lectures, papers, and tests. This Newman knew well. A good education gets us outside ourselves. It counteracts the tendency to stick with settled ways of thinking," Garvey said.
"Our relations with other people do something like this. Like education, friendship broadens our perspective. Friends help us see things through other eyes. In this way they enhance our self-awareness and expand our understanding of the world."