Ministry Secretariat
In May 2022, the General Congregation established the General Secretariat for Ministry with the aim of promoting the Keys of Life approved by the General Chapter and, in particular, to pursue specific areas such as formation in the Key of Identity and the promotion of pedagogical innovation.
Miembros
General and his Congregation appointed a General Secretariat for Ministry with the following members:
Javier Alonso. General Delegate of the Piarist Ministry Area. Rector of the Piarist presence of Carora (Venezuela) and provincial assistant of participation of the province of Central America and the Caribbean.
Carles Gil. Assistant General for Europe and Assistant for Ministry of the Province of West Africa until the Chapter.
Iba Claude. Headmaster of the school in Sokone (Senegal) and coordinator of the STEM department of the Province of West Africa.
Gloria Ruiz. Provincial secretary for schools in the Emmaus Province.
Antoni Burgaya. Secretary General of the Pious Schools of Catalonia.
Gladys Cuéllar Ibáñez. Director ICCE Province of Nazareth (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru)
Efren Mundoc. Principal of the school in Davao (Philippines) and Assistant Minister of the Asia-Pacific Province.
P: Sergio Conci. Rector of St. Thomas School in Cordoba (Argentina) and Provincial Assistant for Piarist Ministry.
Áreas de trabajo
According to Father General, the Secretariat will have the task of promoting the four great dynamics and the coordination of the area teams that are located within this central CORE. So these are the tasks of this Secretariat:
a) Transversality: examining, discerning and promoting four major dynamics in all our mission platforms and in the life of the Provinces:
Calasanctian identity and formation
Focus on children and youth, Focus on the poor: Quality of processes and innovation
Global Education Pact
Evangelisation
b) Coordination of the area teams belonging to this core area.
Coordinating Team of the Network of Piarist Parishes.
Coordination team of the Calasanz Movement.
Coordination team of the Non-Formal Education and Social Action Network
Continuous Prayer.
In the last part of the 48th General Chapter of the Pious Schools, held in Mexico, there was a discussion on Nucleus 4, entitled “An irreplaceable ministry”, written by the Secretariat of the Ministry during the previous six-year period. In this document there are two keys to life: No. 10, the synodal journey with young people and the Calasanz Movement and No. 11, the identity of the Calasanctian ministry in the different platforms.
After a commission made the necessary corrections, the Chapter Assembly approved the document, whose lines of action are to be promoted and applied throughout the Order.
The text recognises the importance of popular education as the genuine charismatic contribution of the Pious Schools, but also acknowledges that since the beginning of the Order, the Piarist mission has also been carried out in boarding schools such as the “Nazarene School” in Rome and in churches open to the community. Over time, the mission was also opened to parishes and evangelisation centres, with a preferential option for the education of children, especially the poor. We also recognise as true Piarist mission platforms parishes and churches, non-formal education centres, universities, homes, residences and boarding schools.
It is recalled that in all platforms there is a need to build an educational project that takes into account the 10 elements of Calasanctian identity and provides a creative response to the challenges of today’s world.
Finally, five lines of action and their corresponding statements are proposed:
Advance the Calasanctian identity processes of all our mission platforms.
Strengthen the evangelising dimension of our educational project.
Integrate into the dynamics of the Global Education Pact.
Put children at the centre of the whole educational process.
To clarify the relationship and work between the teams of the Order and the demarcations.
On 12 July, we held the first virtual meeting of the Secretariat to create a programme to give more dynamism to our educational proposal.
We are very motivated by this mission entrusted to us by the General Congregation and we hope that our work will help the Pious Schools as a whole to improve the educational offer through their different mission platforms. We count on the support and prayers of all.
