School Pastoral Care in the Learning Process „Describing the Current Condition“

Abstract

From the end of the 1976 Synod of Würzburg, there is developed in Germany the concept of the Church's presence in the school environment. Recent cases of bloody attacks and the results of the latest PISA tests of students have led the author of the article to reflect on the state of the pastoral ministry in German schools. He seeks to answer the question: how to renew and develop a pastoral care at school in order to be able to respond to the challenges of the present time, and in particular to respond to appearing violence in schools. One of the proposals is to implement in the school socialization process − “incarnation in solidarity”. This goal requires the development of new projects at the interface between the Church and the school. However, these projects require the involvement not only of priests and catechists, but also of teachers and parents aware of their obligations arising from the common priesthood of the faithful. It is not enough here, old pastoral patterns, but it is necessary to be open to new ideas and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It's about ecumenical guidance and counseling, extra-curricular educational and recreational activities, religious-spiritual break in the daily routine of school and creation of various links between the school and the environment. In a pluralistic society there is a need to show to students how to extract the good from their own religious or non-religious sources. In order to put into practice the biblical option for the poor and the excluded it is a need to create within school environment target groups which respecting multiculturalism of modern society, would develop various forms of community action of students.