Pope encourages literacy efforts

(May 18, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI has sent his blessing to an Italian Catholic charity that promotes literacy in poor countries around the globe. The Pope’s felicitation was conveyed in a message sent by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, to Msgr. Aldo Martini, president of the Institution for the Promotion of Literacy in the World, known by its Italian acronym OPAM. The NGO is marking its 40th anniversary with a two-day international conference that began on Friday in Rome, on the theme: “Humanism of Fragility: Lessons from the South of the World.” Cardinal Bertone wrote that the Holy Father while assuring the group of his spiritual closeness was encouraging it to continue with renewed thrust its commitment to literacy and education in the most disadvantaged countries in reciprocal enrichment among the various cultures and building brotherhood among ecclesial communities. OPAM was founded in 1972 by Italian missionary priest Fr. Carlo Muratore, after he returned to Italy after 5 years in Venezuela, thoroughly convinced that education was the key to any kind of development.