IV news:
“The heart speaks to the heart” – “Cor ad cor loquitur”
The European Federation of Christian Teachers, SIESC, – under the leadership of Alin Tat from Romania – asked Slovenia to organise its annual teachers’ conference this year. The Federation was founded in 1954 by Catholic secondary school teachers. Over time, all teachers, regardless of denomination and school type, have been accepted and are welcome.
At the 68th annual meeting, Marija Žabjek, President of the Slovenian Teachers’ Association, welcomed the participants.
Dr Anton Jamnik, Bishop of Ljubljana, opened the conference with a mass. He asked the Holy Spirit for courage and hope for the participants facing new and difficult challenges as teachers in today’s society. He emphasised that charity has the power to shape the world and ourselves and thus change the lives of ourselves and those around us.
Urh Grošelj, a senior professor at the Ljubljana Paediatric Clinic, discussed the medical and moral implications of biological sex change.
Benjamin Tomažič, founder and professor of the Slovenian Integrum Institute and secondary school computer science teacher, lectured on sex education for young people. He analysed the influences on children: family, peers, school, role models, idols, culture and environment.
Silvo Šinkovec, Catholic counsellor and professor of psychology and pedagogy, cited the WHO that the overt or covert international lobby and early sex education worldwide often lead to a loss of identity among young people and associated gender reassignment. He summarised the areas of children’s personality development using UNESCO and Slovenian documents.
After the presentations, we took part in exciting group discussions. The representatives of the countries split into groups according to their knowledge of foreign languages.
At the end of the conference, our Slovenian brothers and sisters organised an unforgettable excursion to the Soča River valley. At the sites of the battles of the First World War, our companions reminded us of the tragedy. Every nation was affected, as most European countries suffered enormous losses. Moved, we stood at the soldiers’ graves and prayed: Never war again!
Judit Hallgatóné Hajnal
Member of the Board
You can also read the report by Catherine Le Coz on our website www.siesc.eu . There you find all the lectures of the meeting and important questions for discussions.