WWW.CATHOLICTEXTBOOKPROJECT.COM
DATE: November 10, 2015
HAPPENS NEXT WEEK:
VATICAN INVITES FOUNDER OF NEW CATHOLIC TEXTBOOK PUBLISHING COMPANY TO NEXT WEEK’S
WORLD CONGRESS ON CATHOLIC EDUCATION
Michael Van Hecke, M.Ed., founder of the only history textbook publishing company for Catholic schools—the Catholic Textbook Project—and seasoned headmaster of a consistently Top 50 ranked Catholic school, will be attending (by invitation from the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education) the Vatican World Congress on Catholic Education. Held in Rome, November 18-21, this Vatican-sponsored congress aims to formulate and refresh core education principles and guidelines for Catholic schools and universities.
Given today’s increasingly secular culture, and every Christian’s baptismal call to evangelize the culture into which he or she has been born, Van Hecke says the Vatican World Congress on Catholic Education is much needed and timely.
“The aim of the Vatican Congress echoes everything I’ve striven for in my work—from teaching and leading as a principal,” says Van Hecke, “to the launch of a new Catholic textbook publishing company. The issues of this Congress are the same issues I’ve been discussing with colleagues, superintendents and bishops for years.”
“People are desperate to know how to revitalize Catholic schools,” notes Van Hecke. “Our Catholic schools need something truly defining, and not just our prayers and crucifixes. They need the Faith and sound reason to genuinely inform the manner of teaching and material studied in our schools—elements that derive from our glorious educational patrimony as Catholics. To abdicate pedagogy and curriculum to a secularist mindset, and to presume the secular mindset has no bias, is either naive or disingenuous. We need to again educate from a standpoint of Christian anthropology or else we spin our wheels.”
“People are desperate to know how to revitalize Catholic schools at a fundamental level,” Van Hecke continues, “but there are few resources available to do so. We are one of those sources, and a critical one at that.
Van Hecke’s publishing company has accelerated during the past few years, illustrated by the rapid expansion of Catholic Textbook Project textbooks into Catholic schools in more than 60 dioceses in North America and overseas. In addition, these fresh, new, and accurate history textbooks have received highest praise from teachers, bishops, university professors, and even students.
In just a few short years the Catholic Textbook Project has become the go-to publishing company for fresh, full history textbooks for Catholic schools.
“We bring an important voice to the discussion of the future of Catholic education. I am grateful for the Vatican invitation and look forward to participating in the November Congress. Hopefully others may benefit from the experience we have gained from our work with Catholic schools here in North America,” says Van Hecke.
Clearly the Vatican agrees.
Cardinals, bishops andCatholic educators also agree, as indicated by the names of those who serve on Catholic Textbook Project’s Board of Episcopal Advisors: Raymond Cardinal Burke, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, Bishop Daniel Jenky, Archbishop William Lori, Archbishop Michael Miller, and Edwin Cardinal O’Brien. The late Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, retired Bishop René Gracida, and others are included in the list of the publishing company’s episcopal supporters. Several award-winning university professors have endorsed the accuracy of the textbooks, praising the inclusion of necessary “secular” historical facts as well as the significant contributions of Catholics throughout 2,000 years of history.
For more information on the Catholic Textbook Project and the history textbooks they publish, visit www.CatholicTextbookProject.com.
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About Catholic Textbook Project: Founded by a headmaster who was unable to find good history/social studies textbooks for his students, Michael Van Hecke, M.Ed., brought together a select group of scholars, professors, educators, editors, and book designers and launched Catholic Textbook Project (a 501c3 nonprofit). These history/social studies textbooks are the first to be published for Catholic schools in more than 50 years. For more information or to explore the textbooks, go to www.CatholicTextbookProject.com.
