_The Civic and Religious Education Center is located at the Bishop's House in Pinar del Río.
-The diocesan sponsor team organizes and evaluates the activities of the center, and gives information about its work to the Rector and the Diocesan Pastoral Council . The implementation of the programs of this center will be carried out in the parishes coordinated by the vicarian team. The responsible and adviser will belong to the diocesan team.
-The director of the center will devise different courses of education according to the time available for the participants, and according to their characteristics. The topics, exercises and evaluations will correspond to the general purposes of this center.
The action style of the center is education on the basis of acting, criticize and promote personalist inspiration, with participative and liberating pedagogy, with ciclical meetings, participative dynamics , looking for the complementation of self learning through the proper bibliogaraphy available , and finally with long periods of learning activities. The Diocesan Team should cooperate in this education.
n We choose preferably the method: SEE-JUDGE-ACT-EVALUATE, which comes from the analysis on reality and enlightens through the Church Social Doctrine , the diverse disciplines related to civic, ethic and religious education and the personal experience or communitarian experience until we arrive to group and personal actions, making it necessary the evaluation.
n Each group of laical education will choose a coordinator which serves as sponsor of the group and a link to the vicar group. The diocesan team will try to create tutors or sponsor teams. Before each course starts, the local participants should be told what the course is about: purposes, topics, exercises and evaluation. When it finishes, the participants will receive a certificate and will pass a practical evaluation and some theoretical ones.
n The educators will undertake their own personal training and will use methods of participation and creation for the perfectioning of their classes and exercises. All of them, educators and participants, should be an example of healthy pluralism, and will respect the diversity of ideas and choices without imposing any philosophical, political or aesthetic criteria.
- For the financing of the center, the laical education center will try to obtain support from eclesial institutions devoted to this kind of service or from other institutions appointed by Mr. Bishop..

ADDRESSEES.
The laical Education Center will give service to the catholic laics that wish it and ask for it. To the parish priest or someone coming from a laical organization or to the very sponsors.
Also will receive this service all good-willed persons who wish to register and accept the general purposes and functioning of the center. They should ask the priest to be registered or ask to any laical organization or any sponsor.
- Those who ask for registration should bear in mind the topics , the purposes and the style of this center. Thus, the ones who receive the services can get previous information about the aims and should choose the kind of education they want according to the vocation and charisma, bearing in mind that this is not the only way of laic education in the Diocese. This center is speciffically for their civic, ethical, political and religious training , for the participation and responsibility in the church and in society.

SERVICES, GROUPS AND PROGRAMS.
7.1. Services.

The Civic and Religious Education Center gave priority to the following services in the first stage:

1. Courses on monotopical meetings.
2. Seminars and workshops very elementary and practical, according to the needs and problems that communities and persons might face, in order to favor the personal development and responsible participation.
3. Exercises of group dynamics, training for sponsors and community organizations of participation and life in the social and eclesial scope.
4. Analysis and study for practical catholics to make their laical vocation more concious.
However, according to the development and possibilities, the center can open itself to other services such as:
5. Civic and ethical consultation for persons and groups that ask for this kind of service.
6. Establish cooperation with the MCAS, the catholic Commision for Culture , CARITAS, and other services from social pastoral, for common activities, implementation of methodologies and studies on the basis of the experiences of those catholic organizations.
7. Publish a Center bulletin with the purpose of sharing experiences, spread analysis, studies, etc. This publication is the social and cultural issue "VITRAL" which is a bi-monthly magazine. It has a place in INTERNET at present. The E-Mail is obipinar@cocc.co.cu
There are also complementary services such as "VITRAL PUBLICATIONS" and "VITRAL MULTIMEDIA".
9- Give attention to the professional world in order to cooperate with the Catholic Commission for Culture.
10. Establish or facilitate the link between persons and groups with interests related to the objectives of the center. These are at present the Group of Educators, the Group of Economists and the Computing Group. (see part 6.2)
11. To invite cuban and foreign professors to transfer experience, give training, conferences, advice, make projects , etc. according to the purpose of the center.

7.2-GROUPS OF THE CIVIC AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CENTER.

Group of Economists
This group was founded in 1995, with the general purpose of creating a space for professionals on Economics and other persons interested in this field. They can do debates, say opinions, ideas and criteria of judgement so that they be qualified to contribute to the rebuilding of civil society in Cuba. It intends, besides, to train everybody on economic knowledge, so that every citizen can become the protagonist of the economy of his own family, and the economy of the society and the nation as well.
This group of christian inspiration, which is open and non-conffesional, gives priority to independent workers.
This group has a publication called ECONOTAS.

Group of Educators.
This group was created on october 26th 1996 in order to sponsor the educational atmosphere, contributing to the training of educators on the light of the Church Social Doctrine. It works through meetings, conferences,workshops, seminars and other educational activities.
After two years functioning, an educative community was created responding to a proposal by John Paul II during his visit to Cuba. Its main services are workshops for 8th and 9th grade students and they receive ethical, civic and academic education. It has to be with the pedagogic seccion in VITRAL Magazine.

Computing Group.
This group exists since 1998. It was created in order to contribute to the training of persons on Computing Techniques. First, the less qualified persons, the poorest and the least powerful.
The group, together with VITRAL PUBLICATIONS has published a Computing Manual for untrained people.
The group publishes a monthly bulletin called INFONOTAS.

Civic Consultation Group
It exists since 1996. It gives juridical, psycological, and ethical orientation to people. This service is neither an attorney office nor a school. Its essence is to support persons to achieve higher degrees of humanity,
sugesting them to accept their commitments in a free and responsible way. That´s why the personal relationships are relevant. These services are offered in conferences, workshops, or some consultation more specialized on an specific topic.

7.3.PROGRAMS.
The Civic and Religious Education Center gives the following courses to all addressees that wish to follow them. They can be developed every 6 months . The courses can be part of this program or new ones. Each course has its SPONSOR MANUAL and it can be supplied by the Secretariat of the CFCR.

COURSES

1) We Are Persons
2) Living In Society
3) Group Dynamics
4) The Church Social Doctrine
5) Man and the Socio Economic Context in Cuba on the Light of the Church Social Doctrine (Memoir from the 1st Catholic Social Meeting)
6) We Are a Family
7) My Neighborhod Is a Community
8) We Are University Graduates
9) Learning Economics
10) Analysis On the Santo Domingo Document
11) Analysis On the Message: "Love Expects Everything"
12) National Eclesial Meeting : A Glimpse to the Church in Cuba
13) We Are Workers
14) Ethics
15) Education For Freedom
16) Course For Small Managers
17) Live and Dynamic Communities
18) Fortunate the Messenger (Teachings From the Pope In Cuba)
19) Human Rights
20) The Mass
21) Learning Computing
22)Jesus Christ Good News For Cuba
23) Justice and Peace