Why read 'literature'. The Pope's answer

 Leaving aside the problem of defining 'literature' as against 'books'.

I've heard and read many claims for the power of literature over the years. As an English teacher one can't escape them. But one of the most rational is the Pope's, in his 

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
ON THE ROLE OF LITERATURE IN FORMATION

which you can read in full by clicking on the link.

It's a year old. And his Holiness is addressing the role of literature in the training of priests, but what he says seems valid  even if you aren't a believer. 

At a time when banning books, or at least objecting virulently to those that show behaviours or beliefs people don't like, or censoring or rewriting books where characters speak or act in ways that are 'unacceptable' for one reason or another to somebody today, the Pope's letter offers a [?surprisingly?] different approach.  These three paragraphs stand out for me:

38. Literature is not relativistic; it does not strip us of values. The symbolic representation of good and evil, of truth and falsehood, as realities that in literature take the form of individuals and collective historical events, does not dispense from moral judgement but prevents us from blind or superficial condemnation. As Jesus tells us, “Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” (Mt 7:3).

39. In reading about violence, narrowness or frailty on the part of others, we have an opportunity to reflect on our own experiences of these realities. By opening up to the reader a broader view of the grandeur and misery of human experience, literature teaches us patience in trying to understanding others, humility in approaching complex situations, meekness in our judgement of individuals and sensitivity to our human condition. Judgement is certainly needed, but we must never forget its limited scope. Judgement must never issue in a death sentence, eliminating persons or suppressing our humanity for the sake of a soulless absolutizing of the law.

40. The wisdom born of literature instils in the reader greater perspective, a sense of limits, the ability to value experience over cognitive and critical thinking, and to embrace a poverty that brings extraordinary riches. By acknowledging the futility and perhaps even the impossibility of reducing the mystery of the world and humanity to a dualistic polarity of true vs false or right vs wrong, the reader accepts the responsibility of passing judgement, not as a means of domination, but rather as an impetus towards greater listening. And at the same time, a readiness to partake in the extraordinary richness of a history which is due to the presence of the Spirit, but is also given as a grace, an unpredictable and incomprehensible event that does not depend on human activity, but redefines our humanity in terms of hope for salvation.