Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, recently wrote a public letter to candidates for the priesthood, employees of church communities and all Christians, in which he made an extensive plea for reading books. According to the Pope, books open up new inner spaces, enrich us and help us to cope with life and understand others. With this „letter on the role of literature in education“, the Pope wants to „reawaken the love of reading“. Because compared to „the omnipresence of the media, social networks, cell phones and other devices“, the reader is much more active when reading a book. A literary work is „a living and always fruitful text. While reading, the reader is enriched by what he receives from the author, and this enables him to develop the richness of his own person“.
In the letter, Pope reveals that he „loves tragic artists because we could all feel their works as our own, as expressions of our own dramas“. Francis sees the positive consequences of reading books as acquiring a broader vocabulary, further developing one’s intelligence, stimulating imagination and creativity, learning to express one’s own narrative more richly, improving the ability to concentrate, relieving stress and anxiety. „When we read, we immerse ourselves in the characters, the worries, the dramas, the dangers, the fears of people who have ultimately overcome the challenges of life“, said Francis. Moreover, the Pope emphasizes, „when we read a literary text“ we see through the eyes of others, we could „develop the empathic capacity of imagination, we discover that what we feel is not only ours, but universal, and so even the most abandoned person does not feel alone“.
To read the full letter: Pope’s letter: On the importance of literature in education
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Der apostolische Palast, Residenz des Papstes in der Vatikanstadt in Rom. Foto: tuenews INTERNATIONAL / Michael Seifert.
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