At this congress which I attended as a representative of AMASC, I had the pleasure of once again meeting Trish Burns, as well as twelve other Sacre-Coeur alumnae fulfilling various roles, among them Maria-Victoria Beruete de Lescure (Spain) Vice President of OMAEC and Feddi Rossi Germani (Italy), President of the Chapter for Youth (OMAEC-Jeunesse).

The Congress was organised by Antonio Pires, former pupil of Dom Bosco (Salesians), former Vice-President of OMAEC and now its President.

Everything was arranged so as to make the conference comfortable, friendly and interesting and that we might leave Estoril enriched, informed and with new challenges.

A summary of the survey on "Commitments and Projects of Former Catholic Pupils" which was circulated by OMAEC amongst its membership in 1997 was presented to us, and emphasised six general and common objectives shared by the entire membership:

• Friendship

• Service

• Witnessing

• Presence

• Responsibility

• Defence of human rights

'Among these six main objectives found in the answers to this survey, only one, friendship, is "for internal use", whereas the five others are oriented towards the exterior; this observation is particularly encouraging, as it indicates the undeniable success of the missionary vocation of Catholic education, which strives to show its pupils that what they have received is not for their personal use only but is to be used in service to others'. (from the survey summary)

Several reports were presented to us, for instance from OMAEC Jeunesse (Youth) who participated in a world conference of Ministers responsible for youth, another by the very active Latin American branch of the organisation, but it is impossible to give details of their activities here.

In order that you might gain a better grasp of the message contained within the Keynote Address to the Conference by Mr Gabriel Marc ( EDITOR'S NOTE: also reproduced in these pages), I would like to share with you some reflections on the address made by a former Jesuit pupil, Laurent Grégoire.

'This statement,' he said, 'arises from my particular and personal involvement in politics, in the service of European unification, the unification of peoples, of institutions, of nation-states - therefore of political union. I have pursued this involvement for 20 years within various movements dedicated to Europe, one of which is OCIPE (Office Catholique d'Information et d'Initiative Pour l'Europe) of which I have been President for 10 years.'

OCIPE was created in 1957 at the instigation of the bishop of Strasbourg and its management entrusted to the Jesuits. It has offices in Strasbourg, Brussels, Budapest and Warsaw.

Before explaining his political involvement, Laurent Grégoire gave us some reflections on the nature of politics, reminding us of the provocative assertion made by Pius XI: 'Politics is the largest form of charity'.

'Liberty, democracy and human rights are inseparable...' he continued, ' but the particular characteristic of Europe, which distinguishes us from our North American cousins, is that we consider human rights part of a devotion to solidarity. A concrete expression of this is the redistribution of funds, as social support or regional aid (to the poorer regions) within the Community itself as well as to the rest of the world (through the Lomé agreements) and the significant European humanitarian aid program.

'Christians obviously have no choice but to share in this systematic quest for Peace. Robert Shuman went even further when he said from a Gestapo prison in Germany, "the fundamental meaning of the message of love brought by Christ applies not only to individuals but also to relations between human communities'.

'The basic values which underpin the creation of Europe are also shared by all Christians, even if some of these are not integral to other traditions...the principle of supporting the less able is a very explicit tenet of Christian teaching.

'In seeing Europe as an exercise in building a community in exactly the way the Bible documents, one gains a real sense that this cannot be taken lightly. To participate in the development of the European community thus becomes part of a vocation, a real way to answer the call of God to creativity and responsibility."

Laurent Grégoire also spoke of his happiness at having participated directly in various stages in the construction of Europe, notably the establishment of the European Parliament for Youth, the creation of the Youth Volunteer Service, the recent resumption of dialogues between French and German Christian intellectuals etc.

Christians rarely influence politics and it is for this reason that I wanted to make a point of Laurent Grégoire's experience to you.

The Conference continued with news from members from Africa and Asia and reports from Latin America, although Maria Casabone de Macchiavello (AMASC Advisor to OMAEC for the Americas) was unfortunately absent due to illness. Elections followed; the outgoing President Mr Michel Lesueur having completed two terms, he passed on the mandate to Mr Antonio Guilhermino Pires.

The organising committee of this conference kindly arranged a morning visit to Fatima, and also gave us the opportunity to see the beautiful city of Lisbon, while enjoying culinary delights and the celebrated music of Portugal!