‘The way of beauty’ in Catholic schools: keys of understanding and pedagogical orientations

Abstract

This article offers keys of understanding and pedagogical orientations to promote the encounter with beauty in Catholic schools. First, the article presents ‘Via Pulchritudinis [The way of beauty]: paths of evangelisation and dialogue,’ published by the Pontifical Council for Culture (2006) [http://www.cultura.va/content/cultura/en/pub/documenti/ViaPulchritudinis.html]. Through three lines of argument concerning nature, art, and Christ as the model and prototype of Christian beauty, Via Pulchritudinis proposes that beauty is a crucial dimension of evangelisation. Building on contemporary educational research, the article introduces different meanings of beauty that converge with Via Pulchritudinis and explore their pedagogical implications. Second, the article describes a school example that includes six figures, showing how Catholic schools can incorporate beauty within everyday tasks. Finally, the article offers pedagogical guidelines to motivate Catholic schools to follow the way of beauty: to develop dialogues around the understanding and experience of beauty, consider the school environment as an expression of holistic beauty, integrate the aesthetic dimension into the whole curriculum, and cultivate a beautiful liturgy.

Keywords:

• Catholic schools
• Via Pulchritudinis
• beauty
• aesthetic education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The relationship between beauty and education within the Catholic tradition is beyond the scope of this paper. However, it is fair to recognise that centuries before the institutionalisation of a ‘Catholic school’, images were used as an instrument for catechesis, music was taught in parishes and seminaries, artistic patronage was promoted, and so on.

2 This sentence is taken, verbatim, from John Paul II’s address to the 23rd World Day for Peace (1990) whose motto was ‘Peace with God the Creator, Peace with all creation’.

3 In general terms, academic research highlights the value of aesthetic experience in education as contributing to a more holistic and integrated life (Doddington 2021; D’Olimpio 2022).

4 Along these lines, we would like to acknowledge that in England and Wales, ‘forms of artistic expression’ have decisively become part of the Religious Education General Certificate of Secondary Education specifications.

5 The Via Pulchritudinis takes up the tradition of the so-called ‘transcendentals’ (good, truth, beauty, unity, etc.), supreme categories that can be predicated of all reality. This was a theme coined by Greek philosophy and developed in depth during the Middle Ages.

6 All in text references in this format refer to the paragraph in Via Pulchritudinis where the quotation comes from.

7 The Latin etymology of beauty, pulcher, evokes something resplendent in its form, appearance, or moral quality (Lewis and Short 1879).

8 It is important to stress that non-religious art is not necessarily anti-religious, since it can move the viewer to see the world in a way that eventually inspires worship of the Creator (Rahner 1992).

9 In this sense, it is worth minding how the Catechism of the Catholic Church addresses the objections to prayer: ‘Still others exalt sensuality and comfort as the criteria of the true, the good, and the beautiful; whereas prayer, the ‘love of beauty’ (philokalia), is caught up in the glory of the living and true God’ (Catholic Church, 1993, 2727).

10 The example is conditioned by the authors’ education in philosophy and by their work as school and university professors. Furthermore, it is limited to impressions gathered from institutions in Chile, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, the United States and Spain. It intends, in no way, to become a single model to follow.

11 A discussion concerning transformative education and Christian discipleship under the light of the Via Pulchritudinis exceeds the limits of this paper. However, these dimensions do require more attention, both from the academic and school community.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by Programa Pedagogia en Religion Catolica, UC|Chile.

Notes on contributors

Guillermo Marini

Guillermo Marini is Associate Professor at the School of Education, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He holds a PhD in Philosophy and Education from Columbia University, and an EdM in Arts in Education from Harvard University. His research deals with philosophies in teacher education and everyday aesthetics in education. He has published in International Studies in Catholic Education, Journal of Aesthetic Education, Studies in Philosophy and Education, Journal of Philosophy of Education, ARQ, Visual Ethnography, Visual Communication, International Journal of Education through Art, Educação e Sociedade, and Trans/Form/Ação. ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9957-5151.

Carmelo Galioto

Carmelo Galioto holds a Ph.D. in Education from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Education Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins (Rancagua, Chile). His interests focus on how philosophy of education can think the school as a place for the integral education of human beings, as well as the implications of the school as a public space. ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6951-8172.