{"id":125458,"date":"2026-05-20T10:17:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T08:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/?p=125458"},"modified":"2026-05-20T10:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T08:19:09","slug":"synodality-and-education-the-challenges-facing-the-church-in-latin-america-from-a-lasallian-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/synodality-and-education-the-challenges-facing-the-church-in-latin-america-from-a-lasallian-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Synodality and education: The challenges facing the Church in Latin America from a Lasallian perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In an exclusive interview with\u00a0<\/span>Vatican Radio<\/span><\/i><\/a>,\u00a0Brother Edgar Nicodem, Director of the \u201cSant\u00edsima Trinidad\u201d Inter-District Novitiate, in Porto Alegre (Brazil) and a member of the team of theologians of the Latin American Confederation of Religious (CLAR), spoke about the future of religious life on the continent, the impact of artificial intelligence on education, and the recovery of Rio Grande do Sul following the floods.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a member of ETAP \u2014 the Team of Theological Advisers to the CLAR Presidency \u2014 Brother Edgar highlighted that the main focus of current theological reflection is synodality, a concept that calls for \u201cwalking together\u201d in the Church, which was taken up by Pope Francis.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this regard, one of ETAP\u2019s objectives is to \u201cadvise the CLAR Presidency on projects that connect the Church with popular movements, universities and civil organisations\u201d, with a view to the synodal perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n

To this end, in November 2026, Lima, the Peruvian capital, will host the Congress on Religious Life, which will discuss how synodality should transform the structures, relationships and spirituality of the Church.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brother Edgar noted that, although the theme of synodality has been well received in many places, there is still a certain \u201cpassivity\u201d in some communities, which must be overcome through concrete projects.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Education and Artificial Intelligence<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

Furthermore, in the context of the feast of Saint John Baptist de La Salle (celebrated on 15 May), the Lasallian religious reflected on modern educational challenges, particularly in Brazil.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Lasallian principle holds that quality education must always be linked to evangelisation and a values-based approach. Thus, for Brother Edgar, Artificial Intelligence is a tool from which there is no turning back, but one that demands critical thinking and ethical consideration. \u201cWe need to educate ourselves to embrace it, whilst remaining aware of the risks of manipulation and the loss of privacy that it also brings,\u201d he stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The educator warned of the growing \u201cdehumanisation\u201d in families and schools, arguing that institutions must be spaces for dialogue, welcome and genuine coexistence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Porto Alegre: Reconstruction and solidarity<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

A resident of Porto Alegre, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, Brother Edgar also shared with listeners of\u00a0<\/span>Vatican Radio<\/span><\/i>\u00a0a moving account of the aftermath of the recent floods in the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

Referring to the power of unity, he emphasised that solidarity \u201cmobilised the country\u201d and ensured there was no shortage of food or water when supply centres collapsed.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, although the city is cleaner and better organised, the Lasallian religious noted that work on basic infrastructure is still progressing slowly and there is real concern about the forecast of further heavy rain at the start of spring.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

* Article published in Vatican News in Portuguese.<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":125456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3386,3367,3486],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-125458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-see","category-news","category-relal-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125459,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125458\/revisions\/125459"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}