E/CN.4/2000/65 page 44 166. The following information is given in the 1997 edition of the Statistical Yearbook of the Catholic Church of the Central Statistical Office, for 30 June 1997: (a) Training centres are subdivided into two main categories: seminaries, i.e. centres where student priests reside permanently and attend all classes; and homes, i.e. all other training centres. A further distinction needs to be drawn between centres offering classical or pre-philosophical courses and those providing philosophical and theological training, excluding higher university establishments and universities in general (while noting that the same centre may offer two different levels of training). The figures are as follows: (b) (i) 3,006 training centres (2,293 seminaries and 713 homes) for the diocesan clergy and 3,397 training centres (1,670 seminaries and 1,727 homes) for the religious clergy; (ii) Out of the 3,006 training centres for the diocesan clergy, 1,665 give classical or pre-philosophical training courses and 1,341 courses in philosophy and theology; the 3,397 training centres for the religious clergy are divided into 1,383 giving classical courses and 2,014 giving philosophy and theology; Figures for schools are as follows: • 58,244 nurseries with 5,112,570 children; • 86,505 primary schools with 25,400,000 pupils ; • 34,849 secondary or classical schools (first and second cycle) with approximately 13,900,000 students. 167. It appears from the interview with the Congregation for Catholic Education that there are 945 Catholic universities and 159 ecclesiastical faculties. 168. In the field of education, the Catholic Church, whose mission is to proclaim the word of God and to teach the Gospel, has always considered that it was its duty to offer education, regardless of the policy of the public authorities. It has also always claimed the right to teach, this right being the corollary of its mission, as proclaimed by the 1917 Codex Iuris Canonici. In this respect, the school is the Church’s favourite means of fulfilling its pastoral mission. Vatican II’s Declaration on Christian Education (Gravissimum Educationis Momentum) defined education as consisting not only in transmitting knowledge and values, but also in giving children sufficient maturity and sense of judgement, so that they are free, when adults, to form their own beliefs. The Catholic Church thus appeals to all believers and non-believers, to all schools and to all teachers. It endorses recognization of the universal nature of the right to education. 169. The Congregation for Catholic Education noted that, in some regions, the percentage of Catholic students within the Catholic school system (excluding faculties of theology and