Rome, Italy. After six days of meeting and work, it was doubtful that the number of participants would be maintained on Saturday. But a very high percentage, which at some point exceeded two hundred and thirty connections, remained faithful to the appointment. In many cases the classroom or school facilities gave way to dining rooms and kitchens, and there was no shortage of lay congress participants who had to combine the session with their children or family obligations. It was a joy to see how the Claretian educators, both men and women, also make a family at home.
The day of the congress on Saturday 6th was intense and was characterized by gratitude, emotion, and impulse. Conducted again by the Spanish Lay Claretian Luis Rodríguez Huertas, who had already animated the first day, the congress participants reviewed and evaluated what they had lived and shared their experiences in small groups for more than forty minutes. The screen was once again witness to the diversity of origins and the communion and harmony of hearts. Educators from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, or Indonesia exchanged views and experiences with those from Congo, Zimbabwe, Colombia, Spain or any of the thirty nations present. In the atmosphere one could easily perceive the richness that many congress participants found in the words of Fernando Soriano, a Spanish layman, Dulce M. Carvajal, a Latin American Claretian Sister, and Kevin Balla, a Gabonese Claretian, who had spoken during the last days.
Also, the different workshops that the educators shared on days 4 and 5 had left a good taste in the mouths of the congress participants. Miguel Ángel Velasco, Lord Winner, Vicent Anes, Henry Ramírez or Rohan Dominic and others linked to responsibilities more associated to concrete places, such as César Espinosa (from Central America) or Robert Omoni (from Kenya). In coherence with the feeling of the Church and the best Claretian tradition, the insistence on the commitment to justice, peace and universal fraternity coexisted without problem with the invitation to deepen the experience of God and faith and the desire to announce and offer the Gospel of Christ without any dissimulation in the Claretian educational centers.
Luis R. Huertas managed to touch the hearts of many of the participants by expressing his gratitude to the educators for their great contribution to society and to the Church. The presence of his mother in the session symbolized that of so many men and women who have wanted to count on the Claretian Family in the education of their children. As on day 2, many interventions put name and surname to persons (living and deceased) who have left their skin and life in the precious service of educating.
The Congress has helped to weave more intensely the relationship and communion between the Claretian schools spread throughout the world, entrusted to various institutions, and the thousands of educators who put their hearts day after day in the education and contribution to the growth of the weakest. The call to be always close to the last ones resounded constantly during the six days.
The Claretian Family has found in the call of Pope Francis to the Global Education Pact one more reason to resume with enthusiasm its commitment to education as one of the best ways to do good and collaborate with the Kingdom of God.
The participants are sending their evaluation of the congress to the organizers. Their indications will help to plan the next world encounters. The one for educators of the Claretian Family of America, postponed due to the pandemic, has already been announced for September 2022. The countdown for the fifth world congress has already begun.
