On 7 July 2023, the Colégio Internato dos Carvalhos (CIC) closed its 115th anniversary celebrations in the Claret Auditorium, next to the Sanctuary of the Heart of Mary. An event that will be remembered for being an evening full of tributes, (re)knowledge and gratitude.
The session was opened by the Mayor of Vila Nova de Gaia, Prof. Dr. Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues, who took the floor and referred to the CIC as a national reference.
By way of recognition, a video was projected with the mention of all the directors of the CIC throughout its 115 years of history (1907-2022). After this first moment, another video was shown in honour of the Claretian director who spent the longest time in this position (from 1974 to 2001), Fr. João de Freitas Ferreira (1933-2016), who would have been 90 years old on July 7.
This was followed by a brilliant speech by Dr Paulo Rangel in honour of Fr Freitas Ferreira, “The man, the missionary, the director and the pedagogue: a man who marked generations”. Dr. Paulo Rangel, a CIC alumnus, lawyer, vice-president of the PSD National Political Commission and MEP, gave a speech with a unique content and form, which culminated in the applause of the entire audience and the presentation, as a gesture of recognition and gratitude, of a plaque alluding to the 115th anniversary of CIC by the CIC’s pedagogical director, Evaristo Moreira.
Precisely, the A.A.A.CIC (CIC Alumni Association), which also joined the celebrations of the 115th Anniversary of CIC, took the opportunity to present the João de Freitas Ferreira Award, an award that aims to recognize a former student “For Merit, Suitability, Trajectory and Relevant Intervention in Public and University Life, as an Alumnus of the Colégio Internato dos Carvalhos” and that in this first edition had as winner Dr. Paulo Rangel himself.
The evening continued with the presentation of the Book of the 115th Anniversary of the CIC, whose donations collected will go to PROCURA – Missões Claretianas, and continued with Dr. Ana Sofia Viana taking the stage to make a brief biographical review of the current president of the Board of Directors of the CIC and representative of the Entity, Mr. José Martins Maia. José Martins Maia, who took the floor to address all present with a speech that began with words of thanks to the ICC 115th Anniversary Executive Committee and was full of emotion, but eloquent for the “passionate” way in which he referred to the past, present and future of the ICC, emphasising the concept of COMMUNITY.
A grand fireworks display concluded the event. Congratulations to the entire CIC Family on the celebration of its 115th Anniversary. Congratulations to all who are part of the history and congratulations to all who helped make history in the CIC 115th Anniversary Celebrations initiatives. The evening was another “golden page” in the history of Colégio Internato dos Carvalhos and in the strengthening of its Identity.
