Pope says education can help lift ‘darkness of hatred’ February 13, 2023By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Filed Under: Feature, News, Vatican, World News VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Knowledge and “enlightenment” are needed especially where there is the “darkness of hatred,” which often stems from forgetting and indifference, Pope Francis said. Pope Francis greets Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto, apostolic administrator of the Caucasus region, who founded Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University in 2001. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) “Yes, it is often forgetfulness and indifference that make everything appear dark and obscure, while culture and education restore the memory of the past and shed light on the present,” he told a delegation from Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University in Tblisi, Georgia, during an audience at the Vatican Feb. 13. The Catholic university was founded in 2001 by Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto, who was at the audience and is based in Tbilisi as apostolic administrator of the Caucasus region. Pope Francis told the delegation that “Georgia’s history tells of so many transitions from darkness to light, because your country has always managed to get back up and shine, even when, several times throughout the centuries, it has suffered foreign invasions and domination.” “I think of those lands that are still taken from you,” he said, referring to Russia’s invasion of the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia in 2008. Still today, one-fifth of Georgian territory remains under Russian occupation. “Your people, convivial and courageous, welcoming and in love with life, have been able to cultivate, even in the darkest times, a positive attitude precisely because of their faith and culture,” the pope said. “In this, the role of the Catholic Church is valuable,” opening up fruitful cultural avenues that have benefited the country and its history, he said. “There is a need for this beneficial enlightenment of knowing, while the darkness of hatred, which often comes from forgetfulness and indifference, intensifies in the world,” he said. Read More Vatican News Peruvian city to unveil world’s tallest statue of Pope Leo for trip to South America Pope Leo XIV asks Our Lady of Good Counsel for aid to make ‘courageous and wise decisions’ Pope Leo expresses hope Ukraine, Russia negotiations bear fruit Pope Leo XIV says Christians in the Middle East offer a ‘precious testimony for the entire Church’ Catholics cannot be ‘unengaged spectators’ amid current events, pope says A long-awaited reckoning: A timeline of the Father Marko Rupnik case Copyright © 2023 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Print
