"The educational task is an integral part of the mission of the Church, and the US church community has always been deeply committed to it, while also rendering a great social and cultural service to the whole country. It’s important for it to go on". With these words, the Pope recalled his meeting with the heads of the Catholic universities and colleges in Washington; and education has actually been one of the "challenges" pointed out to the USA during Mass at the Nationals Park Stadium. "It is equally important said the Pope in today’s audience to take care of the quality of the Catholic institutes, by combining faith and reason, freedom and truth". In a country "that has a multicultural bent" such as the United States, "special significance" has been taken on by "the meetings with the leaders of other religions" in Washington and New York: "Very friendly moments", Benedict XVI called them, which "confirmed a shared commitment to dialogue and to the promotion of peace and spiritual and moral values". In the "country of religious freedom", the Pope recalled that this "must always be defended through a joint effort to prevent any form of discrimination and prejudice", highlighting "the great responsibility of the religious leaders for teaching respect and non-violence as well as for keeping the deepest questions of the human conscience alive".” ” ” “
