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 Rome, December 16, 2003
Brother Álvaro Rodríguez Echeverría
Superior General |
News from the Formation Secretariat:
Young
Brothers participate in PARC Commitment Renewal Session:
A four-week  renewal session took place at the Balay Kalinungan Retreat Centre on the
campus of St. La Salle University, Bacolod, Philippines from May 3rd to
May 31st 2003. The aim of the session was to offer a Regional Lasallian
Session to those who recently made or were preparing for Final
Profession in accordance with Rule 97a. There were 11 participants from
8 PARC Sectors - 3 from Myanmar, I from Thailand, 2 from Pakistan, 1
from India, 1 from Australia/PNG, 1 from Sri Lanka, 1 from Singapore and
1 from Japan. The Session was coordinated by Brs. Aidan Kilty, Mark
Murphy and Bong Servando (Philippines). The session was divided into
four segments. Week 1, presented by Brs. Armin Luistro (Philippines) and
Henry Dissanayake (Sri Lanka), concentrated on Lasallian spirituality
with particular emphasis on Lasallian interior prayer and Lasallian
apostolic spirituality from the perspective of the "Meditations for the
Time of Retreat." Week 2, led by Brs. Mark Murphy (India) and David
Hawke (Australia) had a twin focus on "the vow of association for the
service of the poor through education" and "Shared Mission." Week 3 was
devoted to "Affectivity, Intimacy, Sexuality and Friendship" and was
presented by an Indian psychologist, Dr. Emma Gonsalves. Dr. Emma has
facilitated a number of different programmes for our Indian Brothers and
has wide experience of working with Asian Religious. Week 4 was devoted
to a Directed Retreat and an integration day; Br. Peter Foo joined Brs.
Mark and Aidan as directors during the Retreat.
  PARC Vocation Workshop: From June 4th to June 8th 2003, 26
Brothers met at the Balay Kalinungan Retreat Centre, in Bacolod,
Philippines, for the PARC Vocations Ministry Workshop in response to
Proposition 26 of the 43rd General Chapter. With the exception of Hong
Kong, there were representatives from every PARC Sector. There were also
two representatives from the District of San Francisco, one of whom, Br.
James Joost, was the keynote presenter. Each day he presented a very
thought-provoking, interactive opening reflection on the theme of the
day that usually generated much discussion. The Workshop was superbly
organised and co-ordinated by Br. Tony Cummins (Australia) who chose the
title "Hearts on Fire" as the theme for the Workshop - complete with a
theme song of the same title. The Visitors of Penang, the Philippines
and Australia also participated in the Workshop. For more detailed
information about the workshop: contact
anthonycummins@hotmail.com or
akilty@lasalle.org
(Br. Aidan Kilty)
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News from Rwanda:
 50th
anniversary: On Saturday, May 17, 2003, the Rwandan Brothers and
their former students, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the arrival of
the Brothers in their country. In 1953, the Belgian Brothers , coming
from Congo, founded the first community in Byumba, 60 kms. north of the
capital city Kigali.
I n
spite of the war and the 1994 genocide, the Brothers went back to their
activities. At present they have three communities : Byumba, where they
are in charge of a training college; Kisaro, where they run a center for
the rural development; and Butare, where they work for the street
children in a center called "Intiganda" and where they run the
Postulancy of the Delegation.
Final Professions: The 17th of May was the occasion for a big
religious celebration when three Brothers made their final profession.
In the afternoon there was the official ceremony with the very touching
participation of all the generations of former students since the
foundation years.
(Br. Noël Bois) |
 Second
comprehensive formation forum organized by ILMES (Lasallian Mexican
Institutions of higher education): Concerned with not only preserving
our special identity as Lasallian Institutions of higher education, but
also with developing it further and seeing that there are concrete
results in the formation of our young students, the rectors of ILMES
have sponsored a series of activities for the purpose of drawing up a
common model for human and Christian formation in our universities.
Headed by De La Salle University, Bajío, in the city of León and by La
Salle University in Mexico City, about 40 representatives from the 13
Lasallian Universities in Mexico gathered together for the Second
comprehensive formation forum, which took place on June 13 - 14, 2003,
at ULSA's retreat center in Cuernavaca. Those who attended were heads of
different departments dealing with formation: Humanities, Pastoral
Ministry, Solidarity, to name a few.
In a wonderful climate of fraternity marked by a total commitment to the
character proper to our Lasallian Institutions of higher education, they
studied and discussed three topics: the profile of the Lasallian Mexican
university student, the components of a comprehensive formation in
Lasallian heritage, and elements for a comprehensive formation model.
So that this discussion might reach a broader audience and be applied
effectively, in lectures and in classrooms, the same subject matter will
be dealt with at the Tenth Forum of Lasallian University Professors
which will be held next November at La Salle University in Morelia.
There it is expected that there will be a gathering of some 300
university teachers.
(Br. Adalberto Aranda) |
 District of Vietnam: Congratulations to 6 Brothers who pronounced
their perpetual vows to the De la Salle Institute, in Saigon, Vietnam,
on June 29, 2003.
For further pictures, visit
www.lasan.org.
(Br. F. An) |
 New
Visitors: Congratulations to Brother Stanislaus Campbell,
newly appointed Visitor of the District of San Francisco, and to Brother Thomas
Jones, Auxiliary Visitory, on the ceremony marking the Transition of
District Leadership, on June 29, 2003, at Mont La Salle, Napa.
Other recent appointments include:
Br. Stephen Deignan, May 10, Ireland
Br. Marcos Pacheco, June 20, Bolivia
Br. Donato Petti, June 15, Italy
Br. Sylvain Consimbo, July 1, West Africa
Br. Michael Messan, July 1, Regional of RELAF |
If you have news notes that you would like us to consider
publishing, please email us: lasallew@lasalle.org |
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