SOLIDARITY “MUST become a dominant characteristic of the men and women of our times; it must be developed in each profession and calling,” the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has said.
“In the past one might have been tempted to think that solidarity was expressed by those who embraced religious life or who took on what we called the caring professions. Today solidarity must be made a fundamental characteristic of the globalised.
“The task of each of us in our professional lives is to nourish and develop the evident interdependence we encounter in our world through solidarity. Solidarity is the soul of interdependence.”
He was speaking in Dundrum, Dublin, on Saturday at a Mass celebrating the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame des Missions.
“We allow our talents to flourish so that we can use them and use them not just for our own fulfilment but through placing them at the service of others.
“This is an area in which I believe Catholic education should wish to be in the forefront.”
Solidarity was “a fundamental attitude which must infuse educational policy but also the vision of life and the world in which we live”.
The future of Catholic education would be determined by the ability of leadership in Catholic education “to show the value, even in a secularised society, of truly Catholic schools”.
Such schools should “really open children to the liberating message of Jesus, a message which can challenge future generations to bear fruit in solidarity and love”, he said.
Solidarity was “a fundamental attitude which must infuse educational policy but also the vision of life and the world in which we live”.