As part of the work of the Press Office, we're forwarding some personal opinions about topics related to the Chapter.

The first question was answered by Brother Juan Fuentes Padilla, a young Brother from the District of Andalusia in the ARLEP (Spain and Portugal) Region who was appointed to the Chapter by Brother Superior John Johnston. The question was: Up to this point in the Chapter, what do you think are the expectations of the older and younger participants?

The most important expectations of the older Brothers as well as those in "mid-life" are centered around the revitalization of the Institute. I think that this revitalization of the Institute can be seen as:
A resurgence of or a conversion to values of the spiritual and communal life. A "reworking" of our identity as consecrated religious while at the same time making it stronger.
I also think that these Brothers hope that this Chapter will be a stimulus so that we will revitalize our work in pastoral ministry, our mission and, above all, our work in pastoral vocation ministry.
Another one of their concerns is to clarify the topic of the identity of our lay partners and the meaning of the word association in the Institute.

With respect to the younger Brothers, including myself, I think that the three most important expectations are:

To clearly define the option for the poor as a priority, something that is bold and real.
To define religious community living using language which is up-to-date and bold, a community that is a point of reference and that responds to current needs, a community where spirituality and fraternity are shared in a visible way for the purpose of a mission.
To renew the Institute so that its language, its mission, its styles respond to needs, to the new forms of poverty and to the challenges that young people, the Church and society today give us. Another hope would be to opt clearly for the evangelizing mission of the Institute.

We asked Brother Alvaro Rodríguez Echeverría, Vicar General: For you, what are the essential elements of the charism of De La Salle that the Brother should imitate today?

The Brother is a consecrated person who lives in community, associated for the educational service of the poor. As a consecrated person, the Brother is called to be a visible sign of the loving face of God, the mercy of the Father and his plan of salvation. He lives out an incarnational spirituality that makes him see, in the light of faith, the Presence of God in reality and he makes his own the spirit of the Lord Jesus contained in the Word. He is a spiritual guide.
In community, he makes evangelical fraternity visible and he shows that it is possible to live as Brothers, getting beyond all the manifested differences that exist in today's divided world.
He is associated for the educational service of the poor. This is why the Institute was born and it should be what gives it dynamism and strength today as we face the challenges of exclusion and injustice. The problem is so great that we cannot be Brothers without opening ourselves to a new type of association with all those who, in their own vocations, want to live out the charism of De La Salle and based on that charism, respond to the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Concerning the functioning of the General Council, Brother Pascual Muñoz Cantos, from the District of Valencia (Spain) in the ARLEP Region, said:

One role would be that of animating the principal areas of vitality within the Institute: charism, Lasallian spirituality, mission, vocation ministry, among others. The General Chapter could add other items.
There would be a role as a government that is collegial. This role would need a continual process of discernment, accompaniment, collegial decision-making. This collegial sense would not be lost in the distribution of functions.
Specific areas and regions would be prioritized which need vitality within the Institute such as with formation or areas in the Third World.