Globalization, Technology and Humanity

The Role of Catholic Higher Education in Promoting the Civilization of Love and Solidarity as Response to the Economic and Cultural Globalization

Ernesto B. Neri

I sit in front of a computer screen for about an hour and a half everyday with the intention of knowing what is new about the world. Yes, the internet has been an integral part of my daily life. I began this daily routine since my parents agreed to have an internet line linked at home way back when I was in 5^th grade. Then, I didn’t know any better about the great implications of the internet. Now that I have reached an age of reason, I have just begun to ponder on the great implications and possibilities of the internet. I am mesmerized what has been done and what it could do in the future. I cite the internet as a clear manifestation of a borderless, connected, smaller, and accelerating world society. The internet somehow equates with the term globalization and everything that goes with it such as economic and cultural.

This idea brings me to my other reflective point. The pace of human development has reached an exponential growth rate, so fast so hot that it made me stop and reflect upon delicate relationship of humanity and its technology. I have come to the realization that some pockets of this global society have the illusion of being on track yet its rails have become rusty and dangerous – unchecked. It fears me to think that technological growth has surpassed the growth of it very inventors – humanity. This may be fact or fiction but today’s news suggests that this is the present picture of our world. The accelerating technologies that we have resulting to a smaller world have oftentimes detracted us from the fundamentals of our humanity. In a sense, the fundamental values of our humanity are being slowly eroded and replaced by superficial values derived from materialism and the “need to be ahead of the game” in the global perspective. This is an alarming state. If this will go on unchecked, if humanity continues to produce new things, continuous to draw itself together without any sense of contemplation about its congruence to our morals and truths, it may lead us to our own demise as a civilization.

This grim picture can be lightened up. I have high hopes because people throughout the world have returned to the very values of humanity before venturing out into the world of globalization and technology. And one particular set of values is that of our Catholic faith. The Church has always been a steadfast protector of the true essence of humanity and it is needed than ever before to guide us, to protect us, to lead us, to remind us of the values that could never be compromised by technology and the demands of globalization. The most strategic way to do these noble tasks is through forming young men and women with good moral values anchored in a deep and profound faith and love in Jesus Christ. Therefore it is the crucial tasks for Catholic educational institutions, higher education in particular to reinforce what the Church has been doing.

Catholic higher education ought to focus on the holistic formation of the person to prepare him/herself for the greater challenges ahead. Sharp competence, deep and profound conscience and compassionate commitment are the key elements Catholic higher education can contribute to the modern globalizing world. We having been taught the importance of the interplay of experience, reflection and action in our daily lives could anchor ourselves on eternal truths that would secure us with ourselves and our faith in a very fluid fast paced world. The Ignatian pedagogical paradigm in particular has greatly influenced the formation of minds equipped and ready to face the greater community. Having the raw experience of learning and being with the community especially with the poor and the oppressed induces us to feel and extract meaning to what we have experienced. These insights drawn from our personal experiences derived from our faith in Jesus Christ and being with the community produces an insurmountable moral energy that leads us to act accordingly. It is in this manner that our Catholic higher education can produce young men and women ready to rebuild a civilization anchored in a profound love of Christ and bridge communities, cultures and economies with a strong unbreakable sense of solidarity.

Indeed, the Catholic higher education is crucial in reforming the world. Globalization in itself is not bad. It will be so when our humanity is being compromised because of it. Injecting young Catholic catalysts into the global arena can slowly but surely start to mold a global world with Love as its foundation, not money and competition and start to connect a world with the fibers of solidarity instead of the fibers of the internet.

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!