Columban Fr Robert McCulloch - Photo: Missionary Society of St Columban
On October 14, the Catholic Centre for Professional Development (CCPD) in Hyderabad Pakistan prepared for the launching of the Global Compact for Education by Pope Francis. It was done through a presentation and discussion by the CCPD students and lecturers of the preliminary letter sent by the Congregation for Catholic Education on 10 September to Catholic schools, universities and educational institutions on the topic.
The Catholic Centre for Professional Development (CCPD) began in August 2020. It is a specialized centre in Hyderabad to prepare Catholic university graduates to sit for the Pakistan government's highly-competitive Senior Federal Service entrance examinations. Fourteen Catholic young men with an average age of 25, selected alumni of the Catholic Centre for Academic Excellence in Hyderabad and holders of high-level university degrees, are enrolled in CCPD. The examination will be in March 2021.
To date, very few Catholics and Christians hold senior positions in the higher levels of government administration at both the provincial and federal levels. CCPD aims pro-actively to resolve this.
For the ninety-minute session to mark the Global Compact for Education, Fr. Robert McCulloch, procurator-general of the Missionary Society of St Columban in Rome and founder of the Catholic Centre for Professional Development, sent an introductory video message highlighting the purpose of the Global Compact for Education and the role and ministry within the Church of the Congregation for Catholic Education. The other main resources for the presentation and discussion by the CCPD students and lecturers were the English text of the 4-page letter from the Congregation for Catholic Education and a high-quality Urdu translation of the letter commissioned by the Education Committee of CCPD's Board of Governors and done by Mr. Emmanuel Neno, a member of the Translation Committee of the Pakistan Episcopal Conference.
Source: 15 October 2020. PA.
Fr Robert McCulloch is the Procurator General for St Columbans Mission Society in Rome.
