Gravissimum educationis is the Second Vatican Council's Declaration on Christian Education. It was promulgated on 28 October 1965 by Pope Paul VI, following approval by the assembled bishops by a vote of 2,290 to 35.
To revitalize this teaching, updating it to today’s challenges, the Holy Father Francis created the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation – Culture for Education.
The document is generally referred to, not by its English-language title, "Declaration on Christian Education", but by the opening words of its original Latin text, which mean "extremely important education". [1]
The document quotes at length from Divini illius Magistri (That divine teacher, 1929) by Pope Pius XI. [2]
"Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obligation to educate their offspring and therefore must be recognized as the primary and principal educators. This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking. Parents are the ones who must create a family atmosphere animated by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-rounded personal and social education of children is fostered. Hence the family is the first school of the social virtues that every society needs." [3]
On October 28, 2015, Pope Francis founded the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation. [4]
The Foundation is a not-for-profit, and pursues scientific and cultural aims to promote education and culture in the world. In particular, the Foundation aims to promote projects aimed at establishing and consolidating collaborative relationships between entities and institutions active in the educational sector; promote cultural projects and events aimed at fostering, also in the educational sphere, reflection on key topics of contemporary debate and dialogue between arts, cultures and faith; implement projects and initiatives related to the Global Compact on Education. [5]
The Foundation is an instrumental entity and participates in the mission of the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See, that preserves and promotes the cultural and educational heritage of the Catholic Church.
The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça. The Secretary General is Monsignor Davide Milani, and the Treasurer is Dr. Paolo Buzzonetti. [6]
The Roman Curia comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use of in the exercise of his supreme pastoral office and universal mission in the world: thus curialism refers traditionally to an emphasis on the supreme authority of the Holy See within the Catholic Church. It is at the service of the Pope and bishops, fulfilling their function with an evangelical spirit, working for the good and at the service of communion, unity and edification of the Universal Church and attending to the demands of the world in which the Church is called to fulfill its duty and mission.
Saint Mary's Academy and College is a religious school of the Society of St. Pius X located in St. Marys, Kansas.
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. The church consists of 24 sui iuris churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The Diocese of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, which is a small, independent city-state and enclave within the city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state.
Ecclesiastical Latin, also called Church Latin or Liturgical Latin, is a form of Latin developed to discuss Christian thought in Late antiquity and used in Christian liturgy, theology, and church administration to the present day, especially in the Catholic Church. It includes words from Vulgar Latin and Classical Latin re-purposed with Christian meaning. It is less stylized and rigid in form than Classical Latin, sharing vocabulary, forms, and syntax, while at the same time incorporating informal elements which had always been with the language but which were excluded by the literary authors of Classical Latin.
The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, previously named Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia, erected by Pope Paul VI on 19 May 1964 as the Secretariat for Non-Christians, and renamed by Pope John Paul II on 28 June 1988.
The Congregation for Catholic Education (Institutes of Study) (Latin: Congregatio de Institutione Catholica (Studiorum Institutis)) was the pontifical congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for: universities, faculties, institutes and higher schools of study, either ecclesial or non-ecclesiastical dependent on ecclesial persons; and schools and educational institutes depending on ecclesiastical authorities.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is a scientific academy of the Vatican City, established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI. Its aim is to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical, and natural sciences and the study of related epistemological problems. The Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei was founded in 1847 as a more closely supervised successor to the Accademia dei Lincei established in Rome in 1603 by the learned Roman Prince, Federico Cesi (1585–1630), who was a young botanist and naturalist, and which claimed Galileo Galilei as its president. The Accademia dei Lincei survives as a wholly separate institution.
Catechesis is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the religion became institutionalized, catechesis was used for education of members who had been baptized as infants. As defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 5 :
Catechesis is an education in the faith of children, young people and adults which includes especially the teaching of Christian doctrine imparted, generally speaking, in an organic and systematic way, with a view to initiating the hearers into the fullness of Christian life.
St. Gregory's Academy was an all-male Roman Catholic boarding school in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania. Affiliated with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, it was founded in 1993. It promised a threefold education: spiritual, intellectual, and physical. Students participated in traditional Roman Catholic liturgy, were provided with intellectual formation based on the Integrated Humanities Program, and competed in high-school level soccer and rugby. Students participating on those teams won a Pennsylvania Rugby State Championship, and Patrick Audino was named a USA Eagle Rugby Player. The academy was closed at the end of the 2011–2012 academic year.
The Catholic Church has engaged in the modern ecumenical movement especially since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and the issuing of the decree Unitatis redintegratio and the declaration Dignitatis humanae. It was at the Council that the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity was created. Those outside of the Catholic Church were categorised as heretics or schismatics, but in many contexts today, to avoid offence, the euphemism "separated brethren" is used.
Ex corde Ecclesiae is an apostolic constitution issued by Pope John Paul II regarding Catholic colleges and universities. Promulgated on 15 August 1990 and intended to become effective in the academic year starting in 1991, its aim was to define and refine the Catholicism of Catholic institutions of higher education.
The Pontifical Council for Culture was a dicastery of the Roman Curia charged with fostering the relationship of the Catholic Church with different cultures. It was erected by Pope John Paul II on 20 May 1982 and in 1993 he merged the Pontifical Council for Dialogue with Non-Believers, which had operated independently since 1965 into it. When the Apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium promulgated by Pope Francis took effect on 5 June 2022, the Pontifical Council for Culture was merged with the Congregation for Catholic Education to create the new Dicastery for Culture and Education.
The Atonement Academy is a parochial, Catholic school in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter in San Antonio, Texas. It is a part of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic parish, the first parish for the Anglican Use liturgy with the Catholic Church, and was opened on August 15, 1994. The college preparatory school curriculum was inaugurated in 2004, the first seniors graduating in 2008. The K-8 section of The Atonement Academy is designated as a "Blue Ribbon School of Excellence" by the Department of Education. The high school has neither applied for nor has it qualified for that designation. The school seal is the pelican. The student population for the 2011–2012 school year totaled approximately 550 students. The academy is accredited by the Texas Catholic Conference Accreditation Commission (TCCAC), the accrediting authority for all Catholic schools in the State of Texas, and has been awarded the Catholic High School National Honor Roll Award.
The Compulsory Education Act or Oregon School Law was a 1922 law in the U.S. state of Oregon that required school age children to attend only public schools. The United States Supreme Court later struck down the law as unconstitutional.
The term Roman Catholic is sometimes used to differentiate the Catholic Church and its members in full communion with the pope in Rome from other Christians who identify as "Catholic". It is also sometimes used to differentiate adherents to the Latin Church and its use of the Roman Rite from Catholics of the Eastern Catholic Churches. It is not the official name preferred by the Holy See or bishops in full communion with the pope as a designation for their faith or institution.
The role of a Catholic catechist is to catechize the faith of the Catholic Church by both word and example. The Directory for Catechesis states that faith must be "known, celebrated, lived, and turned into prayer" in a personal and total encounter of the heart, mind and senses with Christ. St. John Paul II describes the aim of catechesis as putting "people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy, with Jesus Christ."
Saint Albert the Great Science Academy is a private Catholic pre-school, primary and secondary school, located in San Carlos City, Pangasinan, in the Philippines. The school as founded in 2004, under the patronage of St. Albert the Great and inspiration of Our Blessed Mother Mary.
Fratelli tutti is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship"; it was released in 2020. In the document, Francis states that the way the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by world countries has shown a failure in global cooperation. The encyclical calls for more human fraternity and solidarity, and is a plea to reject wars.
Events in the year 1929 in Vatican City.
The Dicastery for Culture and Education is an administrative unit of the Roman Curia. It began operations on 5 June 2022 as established by the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium promulgated on 19 March 2022. It was formed through the merger of two earlier bodies, the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Congregation for Catholic Education.