On the occasion, Br. Manuir Mentges participated in the celebration of the posthumous award of the Honorary Doctor Degree to Br. Marino Latorre Ariño, an important marist leader
Brother Manuir Mentges visited Marcelino Champagnat University for a meeting with the university’s leadership. / Photo: Disclosure
PUCRS’ senior vice president, Br. Manuir Mentges, visited, in the past week, two important institutions: the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, in Santiago, and the Marcellin Champagnat University, in Lima, Peru, with which PUCRS keeps a mutual collaboration relationship for many years. On this visit, he participated in the cerimony of the posthumous award of the Honorary Doctor Degree to Br. Marino Latorre Ariño, a marist leader who was a fundamental intellectual and pedagogical contribution in fields such as Education and Psychology, especially in the last 20 years.
The celebration featured the participation of the President of the Marcellin Champagnat University, Marcial Colonia Valenzuela, the senior vice president, Pablo González Franco, the dean César Serna, and the Undergraduate School director, Mónica Del Águilla Chávez, as well as Br. Manuir José Mentges, who participated as a special guest — due to his position here in the University and his friendship with Br. Marino.
“Br. Marino was a great marist educator, who contributed greatly with countless pieces, books and articles, being present many times at PUCRS as lecturer in the graduate program in Education,” explains PUCRS’s senior vice president. “He passed away in January this year, leaving as his legacy his extensive academic work and, particularly, the testimony of an educator enthralled by science,” he says.
PUCRS’s senior vice president reminisced about Br. Marino’s academic rigor, integrity, and commitment to his work on behalf of better education and a better world. “He lived holistically. He believed in the education process, when he’d state that ‘our university educational proposition is to bet on teaching in the connection between heart and reason,’ because like Champagnat said, to teach well, one needs to love, and teaching is always and fundamentally a task of the heart,” says Br. Manuir.
In Lima, Peru, the senior vice president also visited education units of primary education and social units. In the Marcellin Champagnat University, a meeting was held with the University’s leaders, aiming to map possible common lines for contributions.
During his visit to the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, the aim was to learn about the institution’s good practices regarding the themes of inclusion and diversity — these being some of PUCRS’s strategic guidelines.
“We also further discussed other themes with which we will renew our agreement in fields of education and research, focusing on health and technologies. As catholic institutions, we have a commitment with academic excellence and the comprehensive education of our students, the visit being fitting for the sharing of good experience and for strengthening our relationships and joint actions,” he concludes.
