Dear Brothers,
Gathering of International Catholic Educators
Last week,
Pat Wheadon and I had the honor of participating in an international congress in New York City sponsored by the Catholic International Education Office (OIEC). Eighty countries attended this event to participate in the Church’s mission of promoting a worldwide Catholic-inspired educational project that includes 210,000 Catholic schools, 44 million students and 7 million teachers.
Special thanks to
Bro. Tim Driscoll, provincial of the Province of Meribah, for welcoming the Marianist participants to the community. The entire local Marianist community was most gracious to us.
Bro. Maximin Magnan, assistant for education from Rome, led our Marianist participants, both lay and religious, from Spain, France, Argentina, Chile and the United States.
One of the highlights of the event was visiting the United Nations and listening to Pope Francis address the congress via video. He spoke of the “dictatorship of results” in education and encouraged us in our efforts to see beyond standardized test scores and exams and to educate for the spiritual and emotional growth of each child we encounter. A truly blessed time that reminded me of how we our globally interconnected in our faith.
