An update about Hurricane Katrina from the District of New Orleans-Santa Fe: St. Paul's in Covington, Louisiana, re-opened with 800 students. Brother Ray, the Principal, says the spirits of students and teachers are high.

On Friday, September 23rd, the Principals of all the private Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of New Orleans met at the De La Salle Brothers’ Provincialate in Magnolia, Louisiana, to determine what can be done to get the Congregation Schools in that city operating once people are allowed to return.

It is interesting to note the fact that in the city of New Orleans all of the Catholic High Schools are owned by Religious Congregations. So the Provincials of these Congregations are trying to be pro-active in getting Congregation owned schools re-opened.
^{(Br. Louis Welker)}

Hurricane Relief: Click here to see where to send money.

La Salle Academy PEGASUS Program to Receive Special Olympics Distinguished Services Award: La Salle Academy PEGASUS 10/12 program has been selected to receive the 2005 Special Olympics Rhode Island Outstanding Civic Group Award. Mrs. Elise Maggiacomo, co-ordinateor of PEGASUS 10/12, was recently informed by Michael J. McGovern and Gerri Walter of Special Olympics RI that the La Salle Academy PEGASUS students, “through their support and participation, the public has been given a better understanding and appreciation of the capabilities of children and adults with intellectual disabilities.”

Mrs. Maggiacomo said, “All of these students certainly reflect the essence of La Salle Academy’s mission and purpose. Collectively, they exhibit endless enthusiasm, dedication, and commitment to their school and this organization. I am confident their relationship with Special Olympics Rhode Island will become a life-long partnership.”
^{(Connie Ciampanelli,
La Salle Academy Admissions/Public Relations Office)}

Assembly of the District of the Middle-East - July 12th – 22nd 2005: Since the foundation of the District ten years ago, the Brothers have never had an opportunity to have a complete assembly. To mark this anniversary, Br.Visitor, Georges Absi called upon all the Brothers of the District to come together. They came, 55 in number, from the different countries which make up the District: Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon and Turkey. Only 5 were unable to join this assembly for various reasons: health, difficulty in obtaining a visa, family commitments.

So, from July 13th to 22nd , they found themselves at Notre Dame du Puits, a retreat house run by the Sisters of the Cross in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. First of all there were three days of fraternity, renewing acquaintance and relaxation, but also of reflection, animated by Br.Claude Reinhardt, Councilor of the Superior General. The themes dealt with were Vocation Pastoral Ministry and Association and Br.Claude profited from his experience to share with us the life of the Institute across the world.

This assembly also allowed us to become acquainted with the young Brothers of the District, especially Brothers Sameh and Hossam from Egypt and Jack, who is Lebanese.
Sameh and Hossam have just completed a period of 4 years outside the District (novitiate in Burkina Faso and scholasticate in Abidjan) and Jack has completed his first year of novitiate in Griñon , Spain. They warmly thanked the Brothers of the District for the links which were kept up during this period outside the District and they emphasized that this is not always routine practice.

The retreat, which followed these days, was presided over by Fr. Hans Putman, a Jesuit who lives in the Sudan near our Brothers in Khartoum. This was a time of recollection and prayer, much appreciated by all those present.

The final meal of this meeting was shared with the lay Directors of our establishments in Lebanon and some young people very much connected with the Brothers. This marked the end of the assembly and all requested that there should be another assembly in the future.
^{(Br. Jean-Claude Hérault)}

The Lasallian Missions in Venezuela: Carora, Venezuela, in the state of Lara, has been the site for the past 7 years of one of the most eagerly anticipated events for many Lasallians. Once again, the Lasallian Missions have been a special experience, a challenge, a time of grace, an opportunity for reflection and for sharing, but above all, they have been a time for EVANGELIZATION.

This year, fifty missionaries from Caracas, Mérida, Barinas, and Barquismetro responded to the invitation; they gave of their time – from August 19 to August 19 – to associate themselves in service of the needy and then they returned to their local areas happy for having done this work.

Using the slogan "Together We Learn. Together We Build. Together We Celebrate Jesus in the Eucharist," the central theme of evangelization was inspired by the Year of the Eucharist, which was proclaimed by John Paul II. Recalling that this area was once visited by Brother Esteban Díez-Abad (Brother Basilio) for scientific research and for evangelizing persons in this area, Lasallians once again concluded another year of preparing for Lasallian Apostolic Service in 2005.
^{(Jorge Souki, Pre-novice)}

Lasallian Youth Meet at BJT College, Keesara, India: On August 20th and 21st, BJT College was the venue for a Lasallian Youth Meet for the young people of the different parishes in the Nandigama Vicariate. The event was organized by the Brothers and their lay partners from the College and St. La Salle High School. About seven hundred and fifty boys and girls followed the two day programme.

The theme of the gathering was set by Br. Ferdinand, Director, in his welcoming speech. He said that young people today are the hope of the Church and Indian society. Their faith, life, vigour and ideals are essential ingredients for the future success and happiness of any institution. He mentioned that the meet was an integral part of events taking place in the Church as he spoke – namely, the Eucharistic Year; The World Youth Day in Cologne, and the Lasallian Year of Pastoral Ministry of Youth. He encouraged the boys and girls to follow the proceedings carefully.

On the first day there were a number of guest speakers leading the boys and girls through a variety of topics, ranging from self-knowledge to the Beatitudes, and eding with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Everybody was spellbound by the songs and the sermon. It was a first ever great prayer experience for many.

The second day began with a short reflection on the Gospel of the day. The young people were asked to consider the question “Who is Jesus for us today?” Is He our brother, friend and hope in times of trouble? Is he our shepherd, the very meaning of our lives? As they thought about these questions, perhaps they would discover many more names for Jesus. The young people were then encouraged to see Jesus present in all the events of their lives.

The meet concluded with a concelebrated, sung mass. In his closing speech, Br. John Fernando, President of the Delegation, asked the boys and girls to reflect on what they had learned during the two days. He re-iterated the theme of the gathering, namely, that young people are the hope of the Church and society. Since we were all one body he said that there should be a fraternal relationship among ourselves. We should promote justice in society and express our solidarity with the poor. We can imitate Jesus by opening our hearts to all people, no matter where they come from, no matter what the difficulties are. This, he said, is especially relevant in our dialogue with peoples of other religions. For it is only through this openness of spirit that we can communicate and share with everyone the essence of God’s love. He maintained that something good happens in our life as a community when we notice the people around us. He concluded his talk by saying that we should express these ideas in our prayer life as well.
^{(Br. Arockia Doss, Principal)}

AMEL – 2005: From September 7 to 10, 2005, AMEL (Assembly for the Lasallian Educational Mission) was held in Varanópolis, RS. All Lasallian educational communities were represented from the District of Porto Alegre. There were two representatives present from the District of Argentina-Paraguay and one from Sao Paolo. This assembly was coordinated by the Education and Pastoral Ministry Commission of the District of Porto Alegre.

The general objective of the Assembly was "to evaluate and plan the Lasallian Educational Mission" (Proposition 14 from the Tenth District Chapter) and specific objectives included reflecting on the topic of pastoral ministry in the schools, proposing alternatives for pastoral ministry in schools, in addition to reflecting on and presenting propositions on the Educational Mission to be discussed at the Eleventh District Chapter.

The participants, working in small and large groups, defined priorities and the expected results from educational activity for the coming year. For the purpose of continuing studies and deepening priorities and its results, four study groups were established and each one took charge of one of the topics mentioned above.

The evaluations from the participants revealed great satisfaction for the work that was done and for the definitions that were made by AMEL 2005.

We thank the participation and the involvement of all AMEL participants and for their commitment to be bearers of the decisions made at the assembly.
^{(Br. João Angelo Landol)}

News from Khartoum: It is now three weeks since our community moved into CLIK, the Catholic Institute of Languages, Khartoum, where we took over from the community of the White Fathers, who had organized and run this centre up to the time of their departure during the summer. CLIK is installed in a very large building in a fairly central quarter of the immense agglomeration of Khartoum. Getting it fitted out took up a large part of my time since my return from France. We have use of the 1st floor where we have installed new rooms, the ground floor being reserved for classes.

The decision to come here was taken after several months of reflection, dialogue and preparation, following the request made to us by the White Fathers, supported by several religious communities, who hoped that the centre would not close down but would continue to play its role in formation and in inter-religious and cultural meetings, especially in the new context of the coming of peace to Sudan.

After having studied the conditions of our insertion, Br.Visitor gave the green light, knowing that our first mission , which is to be at the service of young displaced persons, remained and that we would find even here new possibilities for welcoming and formation, as well as an interesting community space.

We are now 4 Brothers of 4 different nationalities. Br.Jerome, an American coming from Nairobi after long experience in East Africa and Br.Hossam, an Egyptian who has just finished 4 years of formation in West Africa, arrived at the end of August. Already Jerome has joined Joseph in St.Augustine’s Secondary School. He will also, along with me, be responsible for monitoring CLIK, where we can count on a good team of teachers.

Hossam has quickly become involved, with us, in monitoring the schools of the parish of Masalma and the centres of religious teaching for Christian pupils in government schools.
He has also begun surveying the possibilities for pursuing his studies.

Already more than a month has gone by since the tragic events of the death of John Garang and the explosion of fury which followed, which you will have heard about. The violence, which happily didn’t last too long, caused a lot of human and material damage. The confidence which had been growing again between Southerners and Northerners, was seriously weakened by this; new and deep scars came to light weakening the chances for the establishment of peace, in spite of the efforts made on various sides, the setting up of a new parliament and of a government incorporating all the national components.

We were not in danger since we were well away from the danger spots. Work began again and here and there we are trying to participate in the implementing of programs adapted to educating towards a culture of peace and to trauma healing – the pupils of the schools which we visit have seen some of their friends disappear: dead or prisoners. Fear persists.

We have begun receiving “Lasallian Volunteer Visitors”. First there was Milad, a pastoral animator from our works in Egypt and now we have three students from Cairo and Alexandria with us for three weeks. They are familiar with the ‘mission-camps’ of Upper Egypt and youth movements. With great enthusiasm they have come to discover and share in our commitments. They are helping us to evaluate and broaden our activity.

Their presence and their participation is a plus for our presence here and gives our Lasallian presence in Khartoum the real appearance of a work of Brothers and lay associates. Others are preparing to join us.
^{(Br. Yves Lecocq)}

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