The Educare Commission met in Rome in early November. Among the priorities: support for educators and more engagement in the social network. The year 2023 will be dedicated to the theme of reparation.
Bridget Martin, Franz-Joseph Hanneken, Fr. François Njiman, Fr. Donatus Kusmartono and Fr. Silvano Da Costa together with myself and Father Stephen, met here in Rome November 3rd and 4th. Together we make up the EDUCARE commission. The commission promotes contact between all the Dehonian educational institutions spread around the world. And there are many of them! We hope to eventually present all of them on the official website of the Congregation.
Besides meeting face-to-face, this meeting also had the objective of guaranteeing the continuity of the cultivation of Dehonian spirit and Dehonian identity in our educational institutions. Our desire is that the teachers, too, be well accompanied and provided with material so that the students will feel how important (dehonian) Christian formation is in our schools.
For this to happen in an articulated and fruitful way, we want to promote contact and collaboration between educational institutions. We believe that this means both students and teachers will benefit not only from the religious interchange, but also from cultural and sociological dimensions as well.
We will continue to choose themes from which the schools can develop activities throughout the school year, always with a view to the possible exchange between people as they share activities. An inspiring theme for the year 2023 will be our often used “Open heart and mind”, combined with our Congregational spirit of Reparation. Based on this, each school will put together a program of activities. I remind you that many actions are already taking place. We are not starting from ground zero. Follow our homepage in the coming months, and you will find out more.
The Global Education Pact launched by Pope Francis in 2020 focuses on the urgency of giving quality education. We are convinced that such a Pact will help society to humanize education by placing the person at the center of the educational process. We want to create in our centers the awareness of the importance of this Covenant and promote the culture of the “pedagogy of care”, to sensitize students, teachers, and collaborators to take care of our common home as well as its inhabitants.
Although we are in different countries with unique cultures and languages, this should not be a barrier to interaction and communication among the entities. International video conferencing provides an excellent opportunity to improve foreign language abilities. We also applaud increased efforts in our educational spaces to continue developing English as a helpful language for communication within the Congregation.
