It is my great joy to present to you this document All India Catholic Education Policy 2007, approved by the CBCI Standing Committee on April 26, 2007. This policy document was prepared by the CBCI Commission for Education and Culture, in collaboration with the Commission for Justice, Peace and Development and the Commission for SC/ST and Backward Classes. It is the final outcome of the CBCI General Body Meeting of 2006 which deliberated on the theme “Catholic Education and the Church’s Concern for the Marginalised”.

Many have contributed to give shape to this final document. The CRI was involved in the formulation of this policy from the very beginning. The Catholic Council of India, too, after its plenary at Vellankanni, offered many suggestions and recommendations. Regional bodies, associations of competent persons in the field of education, and individuals with expertise have added wisdom and given attention to details. So we are grateful to God that the document has come out in a form that is bound to help every one in the service of the educational apostolate.

This policy document was enthusiastically welcomed and unanimously approved by the CBCI Standing Committee in its meeting of 26th April 2007 in view of its promulgation by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

It gives me great pleasure to promulgate this “All India Catholic Education Policy 2007”. The integral concept of education presented in the policy with a preferential option for the poor and marginalised is in accord with the Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus Christ. The Church’s intense and extensive apostolate of education continues Jesus’ mission of liberation and of imparting fullness of life. It is in this spirit, I hope that our apostolate of education will respond to the needs and aspirations of all our people, especially of the poor.

I earnestly urge all the dioceses, Religious Congregations, educational institutions, and all persons engaged in the service of education, to welcome this policy document with joy, accept it wholeheartedly, study it with great care and explore ways for its effective implementation. The Regional Councils of Bishops, the CRI and the CCI Regional Units together will do well to evolve a mechanism of implementation of the policy at the regional and diocesan levels.

This Catholic Education Policy is of the whole Church in India and meant for the entire Catholic Community in India. Education is the key to development and progress. With so much investment in personnel and money by the Church in the field of education, let the implementation of this policy usher in a new era in the life and mission of the Catholic Church in India. May the Risen Lord bless abundantly all of us involved in the education of our people especially of the poor and marginalised.

+ Telesphore Placidus Cardinal Toppo,
Archbishop of Ranchi
President
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
May 25, 2007