The Eastern Catholic Conference of Diocesan Directors

The Eastern Catholic Conference of Diocesan Directors (ECDD) is the Religious Education commission of Eastern Catholic Associates, the organization of Eastern Catholic Bishops in the United States. Its aims are:

• Sharing of programs, resources and personnel among the member dioceses.
• Collaborating in the production of educational materials and programs.
• Providing a common voice for consultation and exchange with other religious education organizations.

ECDD had its beginnings in 1971 when the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton and the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Eparchies of Pittsburgh, Passaic and Parma began working on a Byzantine Catholic catechetical series for grades one through eight, eventually to be called the God With Us Catechetical Series. Over the years the ECDD has grown to include the diocesan religious education staffs of eleven Maronite, Melkite, Romanian, Ruthenian and Ukrainian Catholic eparchies in the United States.

In its charge of producing educational materials and programs, ECDD oversees God With Us Publications for the Eastern Catholic bishops. With the “Total Eastern Christian Formation and Development” of the person as its goal, the vision of God With Us Publications remains faithful to the Eastern Christian heritage of its participating Churches.

ECDD also serves the Church by expressing the vision of catechetics in the Eastern Catholic Churches as a national voice and promoting recognition of the identity and contributions of the Eastern Catholic Churches today.