2/1/12 – Bethlehem, Palestine – Adapted from an article written by Judith Sudilovsky for the Catholic News Service
Bethlehem University is helping create a “culture of peace and life, and a civilization of love” by bringing together students of different backgrounds, New York Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan said during a visit to Bethlehem University.
“This is classical Catholic thought — that one of the greatest natural things you can do for human beings is education, and when you expose people to the truth, progress happens, justice happens, friendship happens,” he said Jan. 31, during a Holy Land pilgrimage with a group of 50 archdiocesan priests.
“To educate for us is not only a natural endeavor, it is a supernatural endeavor … because Jesus said, ‘I am the truth,’ so we bring people closer to God, we bring people closer to Jesus, we bring people closer to each other.”
While those ideals may seem “cerebral” and “lofty,” they can be seen being played out at Bethlehem University, he said.
The university “is particularly valuable … because it is working and it is bringing people together. We saw non-Catholic Christians, Catholics, Muslims and maybe even people with no religion, and they not only are classmates, they are becoming friends. And for the rest of their lives they are going to work together, they are going to know one another’s children, and that is creating a culture of peace; that’s creating a culture of life, that’s creating civilization of love,” he said.