" OMAEC"

WHAT IS OMAEC?
THE MOVEMENT OF FORMER PUPILS OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION

There are two hundred and fifty thousand Catholic schools throughout the world. Not only do they teach their pupils, but they also give them a Christian education and enable them to discern the meaning of their lives in the light of the Gospel. At least, in countries where other faiths are dominant, they aim to develop them into informed and tolerant men and women.

Their Former Pupils number one hundred and fifty million! Some of them are grouped, even for more than a century, in Associations which claim to have three aims:

1.Supporting the influence of Catholic schools.
Upholding, when necessary, their operative freedom.
Taking part in their educational communities,
Supporting them on moral, financial and material standpoints.
2. Setting up a network of friendship, mutual assistance and solidarity within each Association and between the members of the various Associations.
3. Putting Christian values and the great humanist principles into practice in the life of each member, in society, in the nation, and also on the international scene, working in the service of the human community, for the dignity of men and women and for the development of the individual.

So, Former Pupils of Catholic schools enlist in various fields, everywhere in the world, and their activities are manifold.
In order to reach their goals, the Former Pupils'Associations have felt the need to meet and to federate. Either they are established around a teaching congregation or within the boundaries of a country or a region. Thus, numerous groups of Associations appeared, each one having its own spirituality and its own lines of action.

The combination of these world union and of these national confederacies constitutes OMAEC, the World Organisation of Former Pupils of Catholic Education.

OMAEC is managed by an International Board, elected for three years. This Board is appointed from an Executive Council which is composed of representatives of all the member bodies. The Council holds a meeting once a year. The World Congress takes place every three years. It deals with a current topic.

Continental branches have been set up or are foreseen. A Youth branch have its own life.

OMAEC is charged with the official representation of the Former Pupils to the Holy See. Its teams take part, as a Non Governmental Organisation, in the works and debates of the main international bodies established by the United Nations. They bring a Christian point of view to the big problems of the present time.

OMAEC
South America

Dear friends,
If you kindly agree to be the OMAEC Correspondent in your country, the enclose letter to Correspondent will perhaps be useful to you. Perhaps, you have heard little of OMAEC, and you do not know clearly what OMAEC is expecting from you. This letter should answer your questions.

The enclosed text, on the "Former Pupils' Movement", explains the aims of our Associations and describes the OMAEC structures. You can distribute it widely. The "green" leaflet is more accurate than the text. You can ask us for more copies.

It would be very useful for us that you undertake the following processes:

1. Informing us of events about Church and Catholic Schools in your country and about the activities of Former Pupils'Associations: congresses, commemorations, various aims and works... To let OMAEC reflect the life of your Associations, it is necessary that we receive this information.
2. Informing Former Pupils' Associations and the Catholic authorities in your country of OMAEC, its objectives and its activities. The attached documents can help you to do this.
3. Establishing links between Former Pupils' Associations within your country. The best way to do it would consist in building up a Confederation gathering Associations of various regions and various congregations. First, it would be good to set up a liaison committee composed of people that would have time to help you.
You could list the Associations, register their addresses and the names of their presidents. If you do not know them, you could ask the Episcopal Conference or the Catholic Education Office for a list of schools. Then, you could ask the schools for information.
I suggest that you get in touch with these Associations and organise meetings. Then, you will be able to compare their involvements, to study current questions, to undertake joint actions...
4. Answering surveys conducted by OMAEC and standing for OMAEC in Congresses organised by international institutions. You could be helped, or substituted, by friends more conversant with educational and social questions (teachers, executives, nuns...), thus taking part in the OMAEC consultants' world network.

Certainly this is very hard work and I would not like you to be discouraged. All this cannot be completed in a single day! but it is the process you have to go through.

I would be glad to know your reactions to my proposals. As a beginning, I ask you to kindly answer the enclosed questionnaire.

Best regards,
Signed: M Victoria Beruete
Delegate for Asia and Oceania
Address:
Caleruega N† 3, piso 13† A-B-
28033 MADRID - SPAIN
Phone & Fax: 34 91 766 66 36