Ideas About Christian Education in India by A. Verstraeten, S. J. (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 995 one cause: colonialism, neocolonialism, capitalistic or communistic exploitation , or whatever. No, the causes are very complex, beginning with a fatalistic view of life in many of the peoples of the Third World, a lack of any inner drive to progress, a static rather than a dynamic culture. All this is aggravated by the exploitation of the developed countries, but the solution is not now to banish the industrial sophisticated countries from the underdeveloped ones. Gheddo hates easy slogans and quick put downs. He cites facts and figures; he points to world conferences and studies on poverty and development, shows how experts differ in their analyses and programs. He is very practical. Still, the book does not leave the reader with a feeling of hopeless frustration. On the contrary, it is an excellent primer for anyone truly interested (and what Christian cannot be?) in understanding the serious problems of the Third World, in doing something about them. As everyone knows Dom Helder Camara, archbishop of Recife in northwest Brazil, is the most notable Christian spokesman for the poor in Latin America. This book is a collection of short meditations and poems written for those individual men and women who feel themselves born to serve their neighbor, who are ready for any sacrifice to help the vast human family seek unity through love and justice. Dom Helder has in recent years become disenchanted with institutions. " I dreamt for six years of a large, liberating moral pressure movement. I started Action for Justice and Peace. I travelled half the world. I appealed to institutions, universities , churches, religious groups, trade unions, technicians' organizations , youth movements, etc. After six years I concluded that institutions as such are unable to engage in bold and decisive action for two reasons: they can only interpret the average opinions of their members, and b capitalistic society they have to be directly or indirectly bound up with the system in order to survive." (p. 2) His appeal in the book, then, is not to systems but to people, Christians, Jews, Muslims, humanists, believing or not, who share his anxiety for the poor and are driven by their conscience to help. Dominican HCYUSe of Studiu Washington, D. C. THOMAS HEATH, O.P. IdeM About Christian Education in India. By A. VERSTRAETEN, S. J. Bangalore, India: Theological Publications in India, 1973. Pp. 218. $1.20. In a country of approximately 550 million people Christians constitute a minority of twelve million. In such a situation what should be the extent of the Church's involvement in education? More precisely, since the num- 996 BOOK REVIEWS her of Catholics in schools remains obviously quite limited, what should be the Church's educational stance vis-a-vis non-Christians? Such is the kind of question explored by the writer of this book published in India. No indication is given as to the author's own background, but the reader can readily conclude that he is a Jesuit missionary. Some of the material had been published previosuly in various journals and this may account for some repetitiveness that surfaces throughout the book. The author argues a case for Christian education as an effective mear.s of evangelization. For Christians, education becomes a means to freedom in Christ; for non-believers, a means to encourage dialogue and cooperation in furthering basic human values. This thesis mirrors a twofold thrust of mission activity today, evangelization proper (Kerygma and Koinonia) and service to mankind (Diakonia). Whether an extensive involvement of the Church in education is the best form of rendering service to the people of India is still not conclusive from this presentation. The term church here, incidentally, is taken almost exclusively to mean Catholic Church and thus limits somewhat the scope of the inquiry. Two major documents repeatedly referred to are the Kothari Report, 1966-an appraisal by a Government of India commission of the country's educational program-and the UNESCO Report on Education, 197~. Both provide a framework for an analysis of several complex problems identified by the author. Thus, more than three quarters of the country's vast population reside in rural areas but they have only one quarter of the openings...