Fr. José Juan Sánchez Jácome / ACN.- With the start of the school year, the main cities of the State are enriched by the presence of so many young people who come from different towns and communities to continue their professional studies.
In most cases, these are young people who come from Christian families, with significant experience in the Church. These young people have grown up in a Catholic culture, so they take the various Gospel values as their point of reference. In fact, one of their first concerns when they move away from home—to continue their studies—is to become involved in parish life or to get to know the different Church groups in order to continue their Christian formation.
In addition to the challenge these young people face in adapting to the lifestyle imposed by large cities, one of the main difficulties they encounter is related to questions about their faith and their religious foundations.
Regarding traditions and their life of faith, their values and habits are often questioned in the academic environment—not necessarily through scientific methodology, but through personal prejudices, ideological views, and Jacobin outbursts that in various ways discredit religious reality.
Of course, religion must also undergo scientific analysis and methodological discussion, but the rational method applied in universities and educational centers must not be diminished when dealing with religious topics or when criticizing the life of the Church, because often the discourse falls far below the scientific standard that the academic world, above all, must guarantee.
Now that we want young people to hold on to their values and convictions, it is necessary to safeguard the values instilled by religion and the humanist-oriented formation that families have given their children. On many occasions, and as a result of prejudices and ideologies, these young people are stripped of their values, yet they are not given solid foundations with which to face current challenges.
In universities and recognized educational centers, discussion of religious topics cannot be conducted below the scientific level expected. When grounded in a scientific framework, the discussion of religious topics becomes even fascinating, but when criticism and rejection of religion stem from personal prejudices and ideologies, we run the risk of blurring the scientific method, which is one of the main foundations of the academic and university world.
A secular state, in addition to the strength of its institutions and the orientation of its laws, also requires loyal, responsible, and honest citizens who share the principles that inspire this great nation. Religion strengthens the formation of individuals, as well as their stability and the projection of their values. That is why we hope educational institutions will regard the religious convictions of young people as a strength.
Chesterton once said: “Science must not impose any philosophy, just as a telephone must not tell us what we should talk about.” In this case, neither the university nor the State should impose an anti-religious vision, much less in these times of social emergencies, crises, and social breakdown.