Meeting of the Administrative Staff of the Archdiocesan Schools
Faith – Dignity – Dialogue
The administrative staff of the archdiocesan schools held their regular meeting under the chairmanship of His Excellency Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda and Mr. Fahmy Babka, General Supervisor of the Archdiocesan Schools. Representatives from Mar Qardagh International School, Mother of Perpetual Help Preparatory School, Maryamana School, and Al-Beshara School were in attendance.
The meeting began with the Lord’s Prayer after which Archbishop Warda welcomed the attendees and offered insight into the main axes of education in archdiocesan schools: Faith, dignity, and dialogue. The archbishop reminded administrators that Faith grants dignity to man stressing that he is created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26- 27). With attempts to distance religion from public life and deny God in the twentieth century, came wars that shed the innocent blood of millions of people. Each educator, the archbishop contended, has a responsibility to introduce the student to his faith roots so that he adheres to them religiously, becomes a believer, and is openly respectful to the faith of others. Key to education is communicating that faith is every student, professor, and administrator striving to see the image of God in everyone.
The archbishop went on to discuss the significant effects of education—interreligious dialogue and peace. Humanity, most recently in Iraq, witnessed a religious conflict that distorted the issue of belief in God, offended the importance of coexistence and mutual respect, and was the cause of wars and conflicts in the name of religion. It caused an illusion that the problem of violence in the world lies in religions. As an antidote, the archbishop stressed the importance of presenting an educational process that opens the way for coexistence between those of different religions. In an atmosphere of mutual respect, Muslims, Christians etc. can draw inspiration from the lessons of their common history, which extends back 1400 years, to present a distinguished model for this dialogue. Ultimately, the archbishop encouraged school leaders in attendance to benefit from the efforts of the Catholic Church in this field and build schools as common homes where all participate in the labor of loving.
Practically, Archbishop Warda said the criteria for success is when every student, teacher, and administrator feels respected and honored. Achievement means someone listens to their story with full attention. The archbishop went on to state that the student is the focus of the educational process not simply preparations to obtain a high evaluation in public testing. Rather, the archbishop noted that teachers and administrators try hard to prepare students to face life with high responsibility, bringing with them good memories of the educational environment in which they were raised.
After that, each administrative staff presented its goals and plans for their school’s general program, the annual plan, educational events and activities, and the difficulties they face at work. Mr. Fahmy Babka gave his input on the importance of coordination between schools in order to fully achieve the archdiocesan goals.
The meeting closed with a discussion about the mechanisms of work among the representative schools and the preparation of an agenda for the next meeting to be held on January 14, 2022. It will come as part of a series of meetings to develop the general curriculum at all schools to meet the educational goals of the archdiocese and will prepare for the entry of Umm Al-Mauna School for Arabic Studies into service for the next academic year.
