About us
In synergy with the other components of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, the Schools Office carries out its mission so that the educational and school world is permeated by the evangelical spirit and, through knowledge enlightened by faith and the development of human values, promotes, within the horizon of Christian anthropology, that complete education that unites truth and charity.
Closeness to local Churches is realized through a constant exchange of information, the care of relationships, and network collaboration with various entities operating at the international level in the field of education and schooling, particularly with regard to the reality of Catholic Schools.
The missionary style of the Schools Office is an expression of the universal solicitude of the Roman Pontiff and responds to one of the most urgent educational needs today: to nurture in the younger generations the consciousness of a common and reciprocal belonging, together with the sense of a future shared by all.
History of the Schools Office
In 1824, with the Apostolic Constitution Quod divina sapientia, Pope Leo XII created, for the Schools of the Papal State, the "Congregatio Studiorum", which, after the unification of Italy, focused more on Universities. Pope Pius X's reform confirmed it in this task. In 1915, with the Motu Proprio Seminaria clericorum, Pope Benedict XV added to it the section for Seminaries, giving it the name "Congregatio de Seminariis et Studiorum Universitatibus".
In the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), with the Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of 1967, Pope Paul VI conferred on it the title of "Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (of Seminaries and Institutes of Studies)" and expressly added within it, alongside the first two Offices - for Seminaries and for Universities - a third Office, called the Schools Office, as a consequence of the indications of the Council.
The conciliar Declaration Gravissimum educationis, in fact, had established some fundamental principles on Christian education in Schools and had entrusted a special post-conciliar Commission with the task of developing them. From this Commission, given the breadth of its task, the Schools Office originated as a permanent body with the task of following more closely educational phenomena and Catholic Schools.
The current Office was therefore established in 1967 pursuant to the Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae of Pope Paul VI, within the "Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education (of Seminaries and Institutes of Studies)", which had competence over the formation of the clergy, or over Seminaries, and over Catholic scientific teaching in Universities and Schools.
The Apostolic Constitution Regimini Ecclesiae Universae entrusted the Schools Office with the following tasks: to erect parish and diocesan Schools; to supervise all Catholic Schools in the world, except for places dependent on the Congregation for Eastern Churches or the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; to examine general questions concerning education and studies; to promote international cooperation in the educational field; to coordinate the forces and means to protect the rights and freedom of the School.
Following the entry into force of the new Code of Canon Law in 1983, with the general reorganization of the Roman Curia established by Pope John Paul II in the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus of 1988, the Schools Office remained within the same Dicastery of the Roman Curia, now renamed "Congregation for Catholic Education (of Seminaries and Institutes of Studies)".
The Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus attributed to the Schools Office the following tasks: to contribute to the deepening and dissemination of the fundamental principles of Catholic education; to promote the active commitment of the faithful in this matter; to establish the norms according to which the Catholic School must be governed; to assist diocesan Bishops in establishing, where possible, and supporting Catholic Schools; to promote catechetical education and pastoral care for Christian students in all Schools, including state schools.
With the Motu Proprio Ministrorum Institutio of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, the competence over Seminaries was transferred to the Congregation for the Clergy (including the Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations, erected by Pope Pius XII in 1941). At the same time, the competence on catechesis was transferred from the Congregation for the Clergy to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization. The Schools Office continued to carry out its tasks within the reduced "Congregation for Catholic Education (of Institutes of Studies)", for the purposes of the latter: to express and translate into action the solicitude of the Apostolic See regarding the promotion and organization of Catholic education. This solicitude is expressed both in an administrative sense (issuance of decrees, formulation of instructions, approval of statutes), and in a broader sense, with initiatives of stimulus and support.
Since the entry into force of the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium of Pope Francis (June 5, 2022), the Schools Office has been operating within the "Dicastery for Culture and Education", a new body of the Roman Curia born from the merger of the "Congregation for Catholic Education" and the "Pontifical Council for Culture". In the new Dicastery, in the spirit of a renewed pastoral and missionary conversion, the Schools Office contributes, for its part, to the achievement of the Dicastery's own goals: to evangelize the people of our time through the development of human and Christian values.