KENYA: “Knowledge Must Have Virtue,” Archbishop to HESA Partners at a Conference
Archbishop Philip Anyolo during opening Mass
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
At a conference that brought together partners for the Higher Education for Sisters in Africa (HESA), participants have been reminded that the knowledge they impart on students must have virtue lest it become fruitless.
HESA is a program of the African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC) established over a decade ago to provide opportunities for tertiary education to Catholic women Religious working in ten countries on the African continent.
In his homily during the opening Mass on Wednesday, June, 14, the Archbishop of Kenya’s Nairobi Archdiocese where participants from 25 universities represented by 11 countries were hosted, Most Rev. Philip Subira Anyolo acknowledged that the world is searching for knowledge and everybody want to know about so many things in the society.
In this case he said that Jesus teaches knowledge that has character hence “knowledge must have virtue.”
“My brothers and sisters, our Catholic knowledge about God and about his creation should be knowledge with character, knowledge that is virtuous and knowledge which brings us closer to God,” the archbishop said adding, “Knowledge without character knowledge without virtue is a bladder.”
He called on the the participants for the three-day conference to embrace whatever they are to discuss for the success of Catholic universities and the students who are to be formed.
The conference themed Mission of a Catholic University in the 21st Century, focused on Catholic higher education in Africa with the aim to provide participants with greater knowledge about ASEC and HESA.
It was also meant to assist HESA partners in developing a network of Catholic higher education institutions (HEIs) in Africa and also to develop participants’ understanding of Catholic university/college mission, culture, and policy in order to foster a more vibrant Catholic identity amongst all ASEC partners.
The ASEC partners comprised of Vice Chancellors and Directors from ASEC’s 25 partner universities and colleges across the ten African countries, deans of selected faculties, and the United States of America as well as representative ASEC Staff from the ten African Countries and USA.
Addressing participants just after the end of the opening Mass on Wednesday, ASEC Executive Director Sr. Draru Mary Cecilia stressed that collaboration and networking of universities help in understanding better ways to form students who are the citizens of the continent.
“We are stronger together and in collaboration we can shape well formed local and global citizen, who are prepared for the daunting needs of the world,” the member of the congregation of Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Gulu (LSMIG) said.
The nun who has been at the helm of ASEC since November 2017 told the HESA partners that she hopes the conference will lead to formation of new networks among Catholic Institutions so as to be in better position in the higher education industry as colleges and universities “that are vibrant in research, community outreach, teaching and learning.”
The three-day conference has been held in Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi ended on Friday, June 16.
