16th National Conference for Religious Educators (NCRE) this October focuses on Jubilee Year

For the last 15 years, the Department of Theology of Ateneo de Manila University has been offering timely and relevant topics for religious educators all over the country.  On its sweet 16th, the NCRE celebrates with “Jubileo:  Nurturing Hope in Religious Education.” It will be held at the Ateneo de Manila University campus from 26-27 October 2024 (Saturday-Sunday).  Ushering in the Jubilee Year 2025: “Pilgrims of Hope,” the conference reflects on the meaning of jubilee and hope for religious educators and catechists. 

The opening plenary is by Fr. Daniel Pilario, C.M., president of Adamson University.  Fr. Danny is a member of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) and a contextual theologian and writer.  He was a former professor and dean of St. Vincent School of Theology.  Fr. Danny will present the current landscape of the Philippine Church in need of hope.   

Two breakout sessions will follow offering different topics.  For Breakout Session 1, there are 7 topics on hope to choose from:

A – Rejoice in Hope:  Christ’s Hope in the Family (Maria Elisa A. Borja, Ph.D.)

B – A Look at Mary as Model and Beacon of Hope for the Filipinos (Maria Lowella I. Calderon, M.A.)

C – Pastorality: The Unrealized Hope of Gaudium et Spes (Kenjie I. Cortez, M.A.)

D – Discerning and Creating a Hope-filled Future for and With the Youth (Tinnah M. dela Rosa, M.A.)

E – The Ignatian Heroes' Journey Towards a Hope-Filled Future (Edilberto Isidore C. Jimenez, M.A.)

F – Imagining the Good and Possible (Edwin B. Odulio, Ph.D.)

G – Journeying in Hope: Insights from Gabriel Marcel and Jürgen Moltmann (Teofilo Giovan S. Pugeda III, M.A.)

For Breakout Session 2, there are 6 topics on hope to choose from:

A – Unbinding Religious Education: A Critical Realist Approach (Justin Joseph G. Badion, Ph.D.)

B – Biblical Sabbath and Jubilee: Hope for Ecological Conversion through Religious Education (John Paul A. Bolano, Ph.D.)

C – Responding to the Acedia of our Students with Hope (Stephanie Ann Y. Puen, Ph.D.)

D – “Sustainable Community Hermeneutics”: Seeing Hope in the Homemaking Journey of Biblical and Present Women-in-Displacement (Marnie D. Racaza, Ph.D. cand.)

E – The Incarnation as Pagdamay: Christology and the Non-human (Aaron C. Reyes, M.A.)

F – Contemplating Hope: Integrating the Kerygma and the Via Pulchritudinis in Religious Education (Lesley Anne A. Rosal, M.A.)

The conference will close with a plenary session by Fr. Arnel C. Aquino, S.J. on sending off the participants with jubilant hope as religious educators and catechists.   Fr. Arnel is a full-time professor of systematic theology at Loyola School of Theology.  He has written many beautiful liturgical songs including “Pagsibol” and “Ito Ang Araw” even while at Sacred Heart Novitiate, and created the tradition of Jesuit Music for Meditation through the LAUDS series recorded by JesCom.

The Early-Bird Rate is PhP3,500.00 if paid and registered before 6 October 2024.  NCRE also offers discounted rates for members of the  League of Catechists and Religious Educators of the Philippines (LCREP).

For more information, see our FB page, https://www.facebook.com/AteneoNCRE.