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Congress in Peru on the University of Piura's first Chancellor

From November 7 to 9 Piura was the site of a university congress entitled “Teaching values in the family and the university,” celebrating the centennial of the birth of Saint Josemaría Escrivá, the first Chancellor of the University of Piura. The purpose of the congress was to study the contribution of the new saint’s message to the formation of values, and to help provide possible solutions to the current crisis of values in society.

Values and their relationship to human life was the focus of both the lectures and the panels. The family was discussed as the cradle of values and virtues, particularly freedom and friendship as the foundations of an integral personality.

There were three addresses on Thursday, the 7th. The first, by Dr. Rafael Alvira, director of the Institute of Business and the Humanities at the University of Navarre, focused on “Unity of life and Christian consistency.” The second, by Dr. Genara Castillo, a member of the faculty of the School of Sciences and Humanities at the University of Piura, dealt with “Values and virtues in human life.” The third, by Dr. Liliana Mayo, director and foundress of the Ann Sullivan Center in Peru, was on “Solidarity and human development.” Panel discussions were also offered on “Values in the family,” “Women and values,” and “Youth and values.”

On Friday the 8th, there were an address on “Freedom and responsibility” by Dr. Antono Fontan, president and editor of the Spanish magazine Nueva Revista de Politica, Cultura y Arte. Dr. Ana Maria Araujo, titular professor at the University of La Sabana, Colombia, spoke on “The family: a school of virtues.” While Dr. Pablo Ferreiro, pro-Rector of the University of Piura, spoke on “The primordial value of friendship.” The panels dealt with “Values in university life,” “Values and the media” and “The values of the citizen.”

At the end of the afternoon there was a Mass of thanksgiving for the recent canonization of Saint Josemaría, presided over by Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, Archbishop of Lima and Primate of Peru. Concelebrating were Archbishop Oscar Cantuarias of Piura, the Regional Vicar of Opus Dei in Peru, Msgr. Jose Luis Lopez-Jurado, and ten other priests. More than a thousand people attended the Mass.

On the last day, Dr. Pablo Perez, dean of the School of Educational Science at the University of Piura gave an address on “Love for the truth.” Dr. José Agustin de la Puente, president of the Peruvian National Academy of History, spoke on “Virtues and civic values,” and Dr. Jose Maria Sesé, dean of the School of Sciences and Humanities at the University of Piura, spoke on “A more human world.”

Romana, n. 35, July-December 2002, p. 349-350.

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