European Catholic Educators Met in Prague

The autumn plenary session of European Committee for Catholic Education (CEEC) took place on October 6-9, 2011 in the Prague Pyramide Hotel. The members of the commitee elected a new president and visited the Archbishop of Prague as well as important sites in the city.

Prague: “Many Educational Ministries regard schools just as preparation for future work. These considerations reflect a functionalist idea, while Christian education is the education of the entire man. The Christian dimension is very important for us,” said the Secretary General of CEEC, Etienne Verhack to the news agency SIR Europe. The event was held on October 6 - 8 with delegates from 27 European countries.

The programme reflected on such issues as historical and current prospects of Catholic schooling in the host country of the Czech Republic, religious education of teachers at Catholic schools, preparations for the 50th anniversary of the declaration of the Second Vatican Council “Gravissimum educationis” and the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Congregation for Catholic Education in 2015.

One of the most important items on the agenda was the appointment of the new president of the European Committee for Catholic Education. Its leadership for the next 4 years has been entrusted to Christine Mann (Austria) who will replace the current president, Jean-Pierre Gardy (France). The next plenary meeting of the European Committee for Catholic Education will take place in Esztergom, Hungary, on March 23-24, 2012.

The delegates were also received by the Archbishop of Prague, Dominik Duka OP who appreciated the support Catholic schools in Europe can find in CCEE. He pointed out that the founder of Church education in the USA, St. John Nepomucene Neumann, is a native of Czech Republic and expressed his joy that the Czech Republic has its representatives in this Catholic European body. Secretary General of CCEE, Etienne Verhack, then thanked for the audience and appreciated the success of Czech Catholic schools in local conditions.

European Committee for Catholic Education (CEEC) is a non-profit organization. Founded in 1974, it represents 25 countries of western, middle and eastern Europe where there are Catholic schools. It's headquarters are in Brusseles and it stands for 30,500 schools, educating up to 7,500,000 youth.