Montessori and Pope John XXIII

From the forward in, The Child in the Church, by Maria Montessori, edited by E.M. Standing:

" The Late Pope John XXIII, when he was Patriarch of Venice, was pleased to celebrate Holy Mass for the participants of the Fourth National Montessori Conference. At the end of the ceremony, he addressed a particularly cordial greeting to those attending.
In a brief discourse he stressed the value of Montessori education, in spired by respect and love for the child, and mentioned the fundamental principles of the method. He also recalled his meeting with Doctor Montessori when he was Apostolic Nuncio at Paris.
Pope John XXIII said: "It is possible to see a clear analogy between the mission of the Shepherd in the Church and that of the prudent and generous educator in the Montessori method, who with tenderness, with love and with a wise evaluation of gifts, knows how to discover and bring to light the most hidden virtues and capacities of the child."