Congress of Educators of the Claretian Family - ONLINE
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Dear Leaders of the various branches of the Claretian Family (Superiors and General Directors), Major Superiors and Prefects of Apostolate, Speakers, Workshop Coordinators and other Educators:
Peace-filled greetings on this day of 31 May, dedicated to the Visitation of Mary. United to the humble and fraternal Handmaid, always on the way towards others, attending to all those who need her, praising God for his wonders and filling our hearts and those of our neighbours with hope.
Almost a year after the notification to postpone the IV Congress of Educators of the Claretian Family to November 2021, in the same place (Mongomo - Equatorial Guinea), we have reconsidered this decision in the light of the current global context, in dialogue with the Local Organizing Commission. The pandemic, its consequences and restrictions continue to affect the whole world and do not provide us with the necessary normal conditions to hold a Congress in person at this time. That is why we have decided to hold it ON-LINE using the new technologies and platforms of interaction and communication available.
This format does not fully favour personal interaction, the free-flowing dialogue between participants and speakers and fraternal sharing at all stages of the programme. Moreover, it will be a great challenge in some regions where internet connections are slower, more expensive or more complicated.
On the other hand, the on-line modality offers us the opportunity to meet as educators of the Claretian family, to continue focusing on the proposed objectives and to build a renewed contribution to the urgent call that Pope Francis makes to us to build a "global educational village".
Moreover, the on-line modality favours a much wider participation, opening the Congress to all corners of the world, bridging the local-regional-continental and the global. And all of this without having to travel or go through the legal formalities to obtain a visa, thus saving a lot of expense.
We hope, therefore, that our proposal will be well received, improved and implemented thanks to the collaboration of all of you.
We thank the members of the previous Local Organising Committee of the Congress in Malabo for their dedication up to now and for having followed the pandemic situation in their country and in the world with attention and responsibility. We hope that, as far as possible, you will be able to participate and motivate your educators to do so in this new form of the Congress.
Here is a general outline of the new programme. We ask you to discuss it with your teams and educators and to send us suggestions (for the programme, possible speakers, examples of good practices or significant experiences, your preferred choice of date, etc.) or your "approval" by 14 June 2021. The following day, we will open registration for participants.
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An embrace in the CF from Rome and Vic, M.ª Gracia G.ª Baquero MIC, Priscilla (Lia) Latela RMI y Artur Teixeira CMF.