Lokossa, 28 May, 2023 / 8:56 pm (ACI Africa).
Young people who nurture “creativity and entrepreneurship” are unlikely to get involved in crime, Catholic Bishops in Benin have said, and urged the leadership of the West African nation to strategize for “job creators rather than job seekers”.
In a collective statement, members of the Episcopal Conference of Benin (CEB) who concluded their third Ordinary Session for the pastoral year 2022-2023 on Friday, May 26 urge young people to foster honest living, and to follow “the path of ethics and virtue”.
CEB members urge young people and those who are “increasingly drawn into the perilous path of greed, through scams, cybercrimes and many other such practices, in the name of the Lord, to choose life by following the path of ethics and virtue, the fundamental foundation of human dignity.”
“We encourage them, in the face of the challenges of our time, to cultivate above all the spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship, for only constant and persevering work sets man free,” CEB members say.
In the statement issued at the end of their three-day meeting in the Diocese of Lokossa, the Catholic Church leaders advocate for a change in Benin’s education system, “to train more and more job creators rather than job seekers, in order to better meet the demands of our times.”