About 70 people have participated during the month of July in summer programs carried out by the Teresian Association in the Diocese of Holguín, Cuba, since 2010. These are the Victoria Diez Theological and Biblical Course and the San Pedro Poveda Summer School for Educators.
Theology for the laity
For the fourth time, at the beginning of July, the Biblical Theological Course began, with a duration of three years, to offer formation to the diocesan laity and to strengthen their lay identity, their mission in the family and in Society.
The course is under the direction of the theologian Carmen Aparicio Valls with the collaboration of Araceli Cantero and includes two face-to-face meetings a year, of five days, of all the participants in Holguín and two shorter follow-up meetings, by Vicariates in the pastoral areas of the diocese.
This year, 25 students have registered who will have to carry out the required study and personal work, with the support of the material provided, tutorials and a thesis at the end of the three years, as a graduation requirement.
During the meetings, the students work on topics for better knowledge of the Bible and of Theology, Documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Synodal Process, as well as documents of the Cuban and Latin American Church. They receive supporting bibliography and also meet topics of spiritual and human integration.
So far, about 70 people have graduated from the three courses already carried out in the diocese since the beginning, with an interruption due to Covid-19.
Support for educators
The Summer School for Educators was held from July 29 to August 2 and brought together 40 practicing educators in the state system who actively participated in one of the three workshops offered and in the activities of the entire group.
For five days, teachers have had the opportunity to exchange, to receive new learning and to experience mutual support in their task. In addition to the workshops, a conference on Generative Artificial Intelligence for educational purposes was given by Professor Beatriz Serrano Leyva.
Over 10 years, the topics of the workshops have varied as the participants themselves have requested, explained María de Lourdes Anglés Peña, who has coordinated the effort.
This year's themes were: Environment and Education, on the way to sustainability, presented by Mygdelis Barbarita Ochoa Ávila; Update on the Formation of Values guided by Rosemarie Kamke and Alternative Pedagogies: Tradition and Modernity taught by Emma Medina Carballosa.
The challenge of the present moment
During the final Eucharist, in his homily, Msgr. Emilio Aranguren Echeverría reminded them that their service to society is not based on the material conditions of the reality they live, but on their response to a vocation, to a call that God has made to them.
At the send off ceremony when participants received a certificate of attendance the bishop gave them the challenge of being creative and share experiences.
He asked the teachers that "this school of Educators of 2024 be for the Diocese, through you, an impulse not to remain in lament, in complaint, in needs. And that, just as in the past, in difficult times, there was a 'faithful remnant' that was creative, today in 2024, when we are living a social reality, described by the national and international media as difficult and complex, the Church also has to experience that she has with her the power of the Spirit and that she communicates to our brothers and sisters that the Gospel produces joy and hope in our hearts."
Listen to the full homily in Spanish by clicking here 
Listen to "the challenge to be creative" by clicking here
In a festive evening, with vignettes presented by each workshop, the educators sang "happy birthday" to the Summer School that was celebrating its 10th anniversary and everyone celebrated the experience with songs, snacks and a large birthday cake.
A. Cantero.
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