Santiago (Chile) The 26th Inter-American Congress of Catholic Education was held from 8 to 10 January 2020 at the Alonso de Ercilla Institute in Santiago de Chile.
About 1300 registered participants, including School Directors, Teachers, and Educators, 36 Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, and 34 educators from the FMA Provinces of 14 Countries of the American Continent, as well as numerous Salesians of Don Bosco and members of the Salesian Family, who shared the wealth of educational experiences and good practices
Taking inspiration from the phrase of Pope Francis: “Only by changing education can we change the world,” among the premises of the organizers of the Congress there is the conviction that:
“It is necessary to prepare children and young people for more than just to live, but also to live in the world, to interpret it, to think, dream, act in a global way, to live happily, to know themselves and share with others, to appreciate the little things of life and nature, to create, innovate, change, transform, intuit, recreate … Starting from this perspective, it is necessary to think of new leadership, communication, and marketing alternatives that fall within the Educational Project of the Catholic School of America, always keeping in mind that school is a precious mediation for evangelization and an opportunity for the transformation of society.”
On the 75th anniversary of the birth of the Inter-American Confederation of Catholic Education (CIEC) the objectives of the Congress were:
– to reflect on the actions to be implemented and on the many challenges that the education system must face in order to transform the Catholic school of the 21st century;
– to promote in the Catholic school a culture of communication that reaches every member of the Educating Community and allows it to communicate hope and trust in our time;
– to obtain greater visibility and social presence of the Catholic School, through a marketing proposal that allows it to promote and improve its services.
Sr. Ivone Goulart Lopes, Referent for the Youth Pastoral Sector of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, who was present, expressed herself thus: “Participating in this Congress gives the possibility of seeing the physiognomy of an Institute present in all of America and to walk together with the Church and the other Congregations with the charism that is precisely ours, education.”
During the Congress, Sr. Ana Julia Suriel of St. Joseph Province (ANT) intervened as a presenter at the Round Table, while Sr. Fanny Dobronic of St. Gabriel Archangel Province (CIL) gave the concluding intervention, “Leadership, communication, and marketing”. The FMA also collaborated in the Liturgical animation of the event.
