PALERMO (ITALPRESS) – A life alongside young people, with study as a tool for growth and education as a preventive mechanism to save them from degradation and the dangers of existence. A mission that Fr Angel Fernandez Artime, presbyter of Spanish nationality and tenth successor of Don Giovanni Bosco at the head of the Salesian community, has carried out in 108 countries around the world and which has earned him an honorary degree in Pedagogical Sciences, a course of master’s degree (LM-85) at the University of Palermo. The ceremony took place in the great hall of Palazzo Steri, in the presence of the magnificent rector Massimo Midiri and a special commission.
A recognition arrived for the capacity for openness shown by Don Artime and carried out following the teaching of Don Bosco, whose community has been active in 134 countries in the world and has been operating for 160 years (120 in Palermo). The assistance to the growth path of many young people has made him a reference in the pedagogical landscape, in particular for having updated the preventive education system in a context where the digital appears as prevalent over the real, pushing children towards an isolation from real life .
“This title is a recognition of the precious role of a religious institution which, referring to the charism of the founder, shares the values of our university – says Midiri, – The peculiarity of Salesians is to deal day by day with intercepting the needs, desires and expectations of our boys and at the same time give them prompt answers ”. The similarities with the university panorama reside, according to the rector, in the fact that “the University aims to be a reference not only for those who study there, but for the entire citizenship. The younger generations rely on us for scientific, cultural and moral growth: my hope is that the Salesian educational paradigm will become a model of comparison for our academic community ”.
In reading the reasons for the conferral of the honorary degree, Francesca Pedone, coordinator of the course in Pedagogical Sciences, highlighted “the ability to transform Don Bosco’s teaching into didactic and educational choices, the intertwining between constancy in openness and the interest in the tools made available by culture, the transformation of a pedagogical method into a lifestyle. Don Artime put every boy and girl at the center, speaking to them as a loving parent and applying preventive teachings against ignorance and deviance ”. Gioacchino Lavanco, director of the Department of Psychological and Pedagogical Sciences, also focuses on the perseverance of Don Bosco’s successor, according to whom “the greatest debt of Salesian pedagogy is to be among the people every day without ever stopping and having gone through terrible historical moments”.
The reading of the reasons was followed by the laudatio towards Don Artime, read by the teacher of Special Pedagogy Alessandra La Marca, who focused on the “paths of personal growth that have been offered to children in moments of serious crisis, I think above all to the pandemic in recent times. Don Artime is an exemplary figure for those who have graduated and for those who will achieve a degree in this course ”.
The Spanish priest concluded the ceremony with a lectio magistralis entitled ‘Salesian pedagogy between actuality and future: a narrative that brought together personal experiences alongside the children (in Africa and South America) and didactic-religious tools to guide them in their future. “Reason, religion and kindness are the guide of my action, as they were for Don Bosco – explains Don Artime – Implementing the preventive system in their education means accompanying them step by step in the profound meaning of life. An educator must always have a vocation, love and spirituality, assuming the appearance of a father, mother, brother or sister if necessary ”.
His reflection also focuses on the university system, highlighting how “investing in education is fundamental. Education must know how to connect to the most difficult realities and involve as many young people as possible, offering them projects for the future ”. A task that for Don Artime is not easy in contemporary reality, above all due to a mentality that is too digital: “The traps of the virtual world, as well as the real world, are many and our task is to prevent children from ending up in them. inside. The virtual has enormous potential, but it risks leading children to apathy and a decrease in discernment ”.
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(ITALPRESS)