instrumentalising children as agents of change
analysis
GLOBAL EDUCATION PACT by MARIA MADISE
O
n 14 May 2020, representatives of various world religions, international organisations and humanitarian institutions, as well as prominent academic, economic, political and cultural figures will gather in the Vatican to sign the manifesto of the “Global Compact on Education”. Each representative will then undertake to implement and promote the Compact in their own sphere of influence. In launching this initiative Pope Francis calls everyone “to create a global change of mentality through education” and to forge a “new humanism”.1 “Every change,” the Pope said, “calls for an educational process that involves everyone”. Referring to the African proverb “it takes a whole village to educate a child”, the Pope explained that “there is thus a need to create an ‘educational village’, in which all people, according to their respective roles, share the task of forming a network of open, human relationships.”2 Although the details remain obscure, with each statement the Vatican makes about the Global Com-
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pact, it’s becoming increasingly clear that it will represent a radical break with the Church’s understanding of education as exemplified by Pius XI's 1929 encyclical Divini illius magistri. There is no indication that the Compact will be concerned with teaching children to know, love and serve God in this world and to be with Him forever in the next. Instead, it seeks to utilise children as agents of global change. While instrumentalising children in this way is objectionable in itself, the partners the Vatican is considering for this initiative make it even more disturbing. Here is what we know so far about Pope Francis’ Global Compact on Education. WHO IS INVOLVED? The Pope has tasked the Congregation for Catholic Education, a Ministry of the Holy See, which oversees 216,000 Catholic schools with 60 million pupils and 1,750 Catholic universities, with over 11 million students, to co-ordinate and organise the initiative.
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