On November 3-4 the steering committee for the international Assumptionist education congress met at the provincial house in Paris to fine-tune the details of this first-of-its-kind Assumptionist/Oblate of the Assumption meeting of personnel from its secondary and post-secondary institutions. The congress will be held at Assumption College, an Assumptionist-sponsored university in Worcester, Massachusetts (USA), a short distance from Boston, from July 17-27, 2016.

Some 70 representatives from over 20 institutions on four continents will gather to compare notes, discuss common issues, and attempt to articulate a "charter of principles" to guide any academic institution inspired by the educational vision of their founder, Venerable Emmanuel d'Alzon. 

Following the schema of "Observe, Judge, Act," participants will first listen to the ways their institutions try to integrate and reflect Fr. d'Alzon's vision, then will study his vision in depth with the help of basic foundational texts and presentations, and finally will try to articulate a "charter of principles" to be adopted and implemented at all academic institutions that they sponsor.

The presence of the superiors general is meant to convey the importance that education holds in these two congregations of the Assumption and the hope that the congress' results will have a worldwide impact on their institutions.

By Fr. John Franck, A.A.