"The culture of Europe arose from the encounter between Jerusalem, Athens and Rome-from the encounter between Israel’s monotheism, the philosophical reason of the Greeks and Roman law. This three-way encounter has shaped the inner identity of Europe. In the awareness of man’s responsibility before God and in the acknowledgment of the inviolable dignity of every single human person, it has established criteria of law: it is these criteria that we are called to defend at this moment in our history."
This important speech is not ‘a call to arms’ but a call to study of and reflection on the roots of education. The contemporary educator can – and indeed must – draw on this cultural heritage in order to re- anchor educational thought in the very body of knowledge which gave rise to the institutions which we treasure today. To ignore the historical record – a key tactic of those who wish to remove religion from the public square and especially from education - is to ignore what is essential and integral to the human person.
