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MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS,
SIGNED BY CARDINAL SECRETARY OF STATE PIETRO PAROLIN,
FOR INTERNATIONAL LITERACY DAY 2024
[Yaoundé (Cameroon), 9 - 10 September 2024]
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Mrs Audrey Azoulay
Director-General of UNESCO
Paris
On the occasion of International Literacy Day 2024, to be celebrated
in Yaoundé on 9 and 10 September, His Holiness Pope Francis sends cordial
greetings to the organizers and all taking part in this global event sponsored
by UNESCO in cooperation with the Government of Cameroon. Celebrated yearly
since 1967, International Literacy Day offers us a welcome opportunity to take
stock of the results achieved in the fight against illiteracy and to encourage
the individuals and institutions engaged in the invaluable service of continuing
education.
The theme chosen for this year’s event, Promoting Multilingual
Education: Literacy for Mutual Understanding and Peace, is an invitation to
reflect more deeply on the role of literacy in bringing peoples together and
advancing mutual understanding. In this regard, the Holy See gladly renews its
appreciation of the contribution made by UNESCO in promoting linguistic and
cultural diversity, and indeed multilingualism.
Multilingualism is increasingly being recognized as a factor favouring
personal growth and development, particularly by expanding knowledge and
fostering openness to other peoples and different cultures, but also by
encouraging dialogue, listening and mediation. Polyglots are often in demand
precisely because, in addition to their ability to understand and speak several
languages, they tend to have finer analytical abilities, better communication
and social skills, and a greater aptitude for discernment. In this sense, they
are better equipped to appreciate the richness of other cultures, including
those far removed from their own.
Nelson Mandela once said, “If you speak to a man in a language he
understands, you speak to his mind. If you speak to him in his own language,
you speak to his heart”. Language is essential for communication between
individuals and peoples. Helping people, and their future leaders, to become
familiar with several languages translates into providing our human family with
bridge-builders, capable of overcoming prejudices, differences, antagonisms and
forms of polarization in order to give priority to dialogue and encounter. It
means training people who know how to speak not only to the minds but also to
the hearts of their interlocutors, whether allies or adversaries.
Once again this year, the Holy Father calls upon political
decision-makers, educators and the general public to appreciate more deeply the
vital role played by literacy in the building of a more educated, fraternal,
supportive and peaceful society. Echoing the words of Saint John Paul II, he
trusts that “people, freed from fear and the threat of potentially apocalyptic
armed conflicts, will learn not to oppose one another but to intensify the bonds
of fraternity uniting them, thanks to the means of communication offered by
modern civilization”.[1]
With these sentiments, His Holiness sends his prayerful good wishes
for this year’s celebration. Upon you and your co-workers, and upon all the
members of the networks involved in promoting literacy, intercultural dialogue
and mutual understanding between peoples, he invokes God’s abundant blessings.
In conveying this Message to you, Madam Director-General, I have the
honour to remain,
Yours sincerely,
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State of His Holiness
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