Formation plan in the key of Piarist identity in Emmaus
Raul Gonzalez. Piarist Province Emmaus
In “Emmaus Pious Schools,” we consider it strategic and a priority to offer channels to deepen the Piarist identity and offer all people the knowledge and personal experience of our charism. For this, we promote itineraries and formative actions for everyone who makes up the Piarist Christian Community of each presence and those who energize the Piarist mission in all our areas and platforms. This is included in the Formation Plan in the key of Piarist identity in Emmaus, elaborated in July 2022 and updated in February 2025. You can consult and download the documents in Spanish at this link: https://www.escolapiosemaus.org/documentos-oficiales/
In this Document, and from a common framework regarding the basic keys, the concept of identity, the criteria to develop it, and the methodological principles, we gather itineraries for all the people involved in the Piarist project and their whole lives.
These are the areas in which it is implemented:
- Accompanying students throughout their academic stage, developing educational and pastoral offers in our schools full-time, and implementing the Alumni project when they have completed their academic stage in our schools.
- Accompanying people with professional dedication: for newly hired personnel and with offers of continuing education.
- Accompanying families: We are deploying the Framework Project with families in Emmaus called “Participation of families in the Piarist life and mission.” In it, inspired by the Piarist convictions, we propose channels of participation in schools and parishes, in Itaka-Escolapios, and in the Piarist Christian Community, as well as formative, missionary, identity, and pastoral itineraries.
- Accompaniment to people linked to Itaka-Escolapios: for Itaka-Escolapios volunteers, participants in our projects, and partners and collaborators.
- Spirituality and vocational processes: managing the teams that promote them, developing itineraries and vocational weeks, calling retreats and meetings, and promoting personal accompaniment.
- Piarist Christian Community: In this section, the different offers and processes for the Piarist religious life, the Fraternity, the Piarist ministries, the Piarist lay men and women, the parishes, and the liturgical and celebratory areas are deployed.
Among all the itineraries that appear in the Piarist Identity Formation Plan, which are available at https://www.escolapiosemaus.org/formacion-en-clave-de-identidad-escolapia/, We highlight some of them:
- Itineraries towards the Shared Mission: We offer them to people with work ties, Itaka-Escolapios volunteers, and families. They involve a process of mutual knowledge between the person and the Piarist institution, where the identification and assumption of the Piarist Mission as an integral part of the Christian vocation itself grows.
- Accompaniment to people with managerial responsibilities: we highlight the itinerary “New managerial leaderships”, for people who begin their responsibility in the administration or the academic or titular direction of a school, in the coordination of an Itaka-Escolapios headquarters, or the coordination of a presence and the “Itinerary towards a sustainable leadership”, for people who already have some managerial responsibility or people who are going to be proposed some managerial responsibility in the short term.
- Your Voice Program: for people who have worked between 20 and 25 years and want to rediscover their first vocation.
- My Place Program: to accompany people in our organization at the end of their Piarist work stage. We share their experience, wisdom, and talent and offer spaces for them to continue their Piarist involvement.
- Good News Itinerary: This itinerary is for teachers of religion in our schools. It consists of sessions to deepen theological formation, cultivate spirituality, and improve pedagogical innovation in the pastoral key.
- Course for Piarist Educators: This course is aimed at people in our organization with some work experience who want to deepen their Piarist identity and knowledge of the Pious Schools.
- Itineraries more: to deepen in the Piarist vocation, with materials, meetings, and accompaniment offered in various stages: 15-16 years, 16-18 years, young people of the catechumenate of the Calasanz Movement (18-24 years), and young people of the Fraternity (up to 30 years).
In short, it is about sharing the gift of the Piarist charism with all the people linked to the Piarist life and mission from the different modalities of participation.
