“In our fast-paced, diverse, constantly changing knowledge and information society, you have to stay up to date in order to be able to get an idea”, Schick emphasizes in his welcoming address. It is about one’s own environment, the global human community and all of creation. “It is necessary for your whole life. Education is part of life until the end of life, ”says Schick.
“Adult education must provide insight and understanding of the Christian faith and our world so that everyone can get an idea,” added the Archbishop. The insight into all processes of our time and the understanding of everything that is happening and changing should grow so that everyone can judge what is important. “All of this should help that we get richer in love. From which “to get an idea” should be acted in the spirit of Jesus for the good of fellow human beings and of all creation.
Adult education in the Archdiocese of Bamberg has to adapt to the changed conditions in church and society. Necessary restructuring should aim to make adult education sustainable, said Schick.
Both the first chairman of the KEB as well as the episcopal representative for adult education of the archdiocese, Christian Kainzbauer-Wütig, emphasize that the interplay between volunteers and full-time employees is the specialty of Catholic adult education. “Especially in the area, Catholic adult education lives from volunteer work,” says Lehner. That is why, according to Kainzbauer-Wütig, no structures are celebrated that are only intended to support and are adaptable, “but people made of flesh and blood.”
The President of the Bavarian Adult Education Association, the former President of the Landtag, Barbara Stamm, calls Catholic adult education “a role model for all of us” and an important contribution to democracy. Adult education can contribute to “that society does not fall further apart, but that we move closer together”. Especially in times of crisis, education and clarification play a central role, also with a view to conspiracy theories and people who ignore the facts. “The social policy of the 21st century is education policy,” said the former Bavarian Minister of Health in her welcoming address.
The head of the Bavarian Ministry of Culture, Stefan Graf, describes Catholic adult education as an indispensable part of the Bavarian education system, which gives people confidence, support and orientation in a changing world. The formation of values is the very own field of denominational adult education, says Graf and emphasizes the holistic approach to education: “The focus must always be on people.”
–
