St Mary's Sponsors World Congress on Catholic Education

Senior figures from St Mary’s University, Twickenham will join educational leaders from around the world for an audience with Pope Francis at the World Congress of Catholic Education in Rome. As well as being major sponsors of the event, Chair of Governors Bishop Moth and Vice-Chancellor Francis Campbell will host events during the Congress. The World Congress of Catholic Education brings together Catholic education leaders to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing Catholic education in the 21st century. Speaking on this topic in a speech to Italian school teachers, parents and students on June 11th 2015, Pope Francis said, “Education cannot be neutral. It is either positive or negative; either it enriches or it impoverishes; either it enables a person to grow or it lessens, even corrupts him. The mission of schools is to develop a sense of truth, of what is good and beautiful. And this occurs through a rich path made up of many ingredients. This is why there are so many subjects — because development is the results of different elements that act together and stimulate intelligence, knowledge, the emotions, the body, and so on.” St Mary’s has a distinguished history of training Catholic primary and secondary school teachers for service throughout the UK and is now the UK’s largest Catholic University. Dr John Lydon, Programme Director for Catholic School Leadership at St Mary’s, will be the only UK representative to speak at the World Congress. St Mary's Vice-Chancellor Francis Campbell said, “It is a privilege to participate in this World Congress.  St Mary’s has an important role in advancing the mission of Catholic education. We understand the need for Catholic education to be renewed in order to remain vibrant in the modern world. This can be achieved through inclusivity, being outward facing and encouraging inter-faith dialogue. These are the principles running through St Mary’s which I look forward to discussing with participants during the Congress.”