The 28th Inter-American Congress of Catholic Education recently held in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), was the context in which two Brothers of the Christian Schools received the ‘Jesús Maestro’ award on 13 January, during the closing ceremony of the event which brought together more than 1,200 Catholic educators from the continent.
They are Brother Francisco Velásquez, from the District of Central America-Panama, and Brother José Antonio Diez de Medina, from the District of Bolivia-Peru, who are part of the award-winning group -15 educators and representatives of Catholic institutions- to whom the Inter-American Confederation of Catholic Education (CIEC) has conferred the highest recognition “for their educational and evangelising work of special significance at the level of their country or the region”.
“As CIEC, we are proud to acknowledge the work of people and institutions committed to the task of education,” said the Secretary General, Óscar Pérez Sayago, as he presented them with the award together with the CIEC Council. “Teaching is a beautiful profession,” added the executive, paraphrasing Pope Francis, because “you can see the people entrusted to our care grow day after day. It is a great responsibility!”
For his part, Brother José Antonio commented that “this recognition represents the effort, the work of so many Brothers and Lasallian teachers who for many years have educated thousands of students and parents”. Referring to the centenary of the Colegio La Salle de La Paz (Bolivia) – an institution which he has been managing for several years – he also highlighted the important legacy of “the work of Christian education of youth which has been carried out for 100 years”.
“We have the challenge of educating like Jesus the Teacher, following his style, and to do this we have to become immersed every day in the reading of the Gospel, because the great teachings of Jesus are there and there his commitment to the people is expressed, reaching their hearts”, concludes the Lasallian religious.
Congratulations to Brothers Francisco and José Antonio, and through them to so many Lasallians in the Region and in the Districts of Central America-Panama and Bolivia-Peru for their determination to lead educational processes in an evangelizing approach.