“Now more than ever”, Education Must Instil Readiness to Care for “everything that God created”: Kenyan Catholic Bishop

Ngong, 26 March, 2024 / 4:25 PM

There is an urgent need to incorporate the care for all God’s creation in formal education, going beyond the planting of trees, Bishop John Oballa Owaa of Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Ngong has said.

In a Tuesday, March 26 report about the annual Diocesan Mass of the Young Catholic Students (YCS) in Ngong Diocese, Bishop Oballa is quoted as saying, “Education now more than ever must also emphasize care for creation which goes beyond just planting one tree or two but that readiness to take care of each and everything that God created, caring for the environment, caring for that which will enhance and give praise to God.”

He highlighted some of the values that formal education needs to prioritize. He said, “It's very easy to point fingers, it's quite another to examine ourselves and see where we are in terms of integrity. Education must teach integrity, honesty, sincerity, and the love for truth.”

Education has also to instil a “third level of critical thinking and critical reflection” in learners, the Kenyan Catholic Bishop said during the YCS annual Diocesan Mass that was held at St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral of his Episcopal See.

“Education that does not emphasize integrity falls short; to have people who will want to have their clean hands and not be caught up in any matters of corruption, education must help that at all stages, right from pre-school to higher levels,” he emphasized.

The Kenyan Catholic Church leader, who has been at the helm of Ngong Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in April 2012 went on to reflect on the YCS motto – see, judge, and act – and emphasized the need for members to be critical about their respective choices and actions.

“When you see, when you look, when you observe, how do you see? Do you see things or events or issues, as truly they are?” Bishop Oballa posed.

He told the YCS members during the March 23 event, “Don't just see, don't just observe, don't just experience; examine how you experience, examine yourself, and then you will be able to make a very sound judgment; you will be able to carry out a very appropriate action.”

The event brought together Catholic learners from 59 secondary schools in Kenya's Counties of Kajiado and Narok that are covered by the Catholic Diocese of Ngong, the March 26 report indicates.

Accompanied by their Patrons and Matrons, Deanery Chaplains, Vocations Director, and the Diocesan Education Secretary, the YCS members reportedly shared about their Catholic identity as well as Christian values that “many times run contrary to the values of the world.”

In his remarks regarding the ongoing Lenten Season, Bishop Oballa urged the YCS members in his Episcopal See “to be sensitive to the needs of others saying that the church schools us in prayer, fasting, self-denial and arms-giving which is not meant just for the forty days of Lent but to help us in our Christian life.”