Oceania/Australia – Education as Key to Proclaiming the Gospel in Ethiopia

Oceania/Australia – Education as Key to Proclaiming the Gospel in Ethiopia

Sydney (Agenzia Fides) – “We believe, as a Catholic Church, that education is the key to transforming society, in the process of proposing the proclamation of the Gospel.” To speak, Ethiopian Cardinal Berhanisos Demirio Serafil was invited to the Australian Catholic University, in the North Sydney campus, to share the path taken with the help of the Catholic Mission, the Directorate of Pontifical Mission Societies in Australia.
Educational projects were the focus of this meeting as the Ethiopian government recently urged the Church of Ethiopia to build more Catholic schools across the country. “This is a gift we can give to society – says Cardinal Soriaville – our Catholic schools are open to all and focus not only on imparting scholastic information and concepts, but also on teaching values ​​that focus on peaceful coexistence and mutual respect.”
In collaboration with the local communities and the Church of Ethiopia, the Catholic Mission is currently involved in four important projects, three of which are directly related to the educational commitment. In the city of Makki, for example, a vocational center has been developed to promote the education of women in a country of which 83% are illiterate. Since the beginning of the project, the Kedest Mariam Pastoral Center has supported more than 8000 women in a socio-economic context in which they are often forced to seek work abroad, putting them at risk of exploitation.
The Catholic Mission is also collaborating with Lideta Catholic Catholic School to provide scholarships to children of families who would otherwise not have access to schooling. “This school offers many advantages to students in both educational growth and spiritual development – continues Cardinal Sorraviel – students who come from this school are able to enter university brilliantly. Most of them are now working in Ethiopia and occupying key positions for the development of their country.”
(EG) (Agenzia Fides, May 27, 2022)

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