Spanish archbishop denounces attempts to “monopolize knowledge”

Madrid, Spain, Sep 21, 2007 / 09:09 am

Archbishop Agustin-Garcia Gasco of Valencia this week denounced attempts to “monopolize knowledge” by certain social groups.

 

In his discourse inaugurating the new academic year at the St. Vincent Martyr Catholic University of Valencia, the archbishop pointed out that “the human person is the center of social life and only ways of organizing that respect his true dignity and freedom will contribute decisively to the common good of our society and to the deepening of true democracy.”

 

During the Eucharist prior to the ceremony, Archbishop Garcia-Gasco said, “The Church lends her specific and enriching contribution with the Catholic University,” which “should aim to form strong and responsible persons capable of making free and just choices.”

 

The Catholic nature of a university does not come from the mere name, he went on, but rather depends on the professors and the “human and spiritual climate that is created in the university community.”

 

Catholic professors, the archbishop stressed, must receive professional training and seek to make their own the virtue of “intellectual charity.”

 

If we do not educate our students in the knowledge of the truth, in the end, they will not be able to distinguish between good and evil,” he stated.