ROME – ITALY - NEW GENERAL COUNCIL GATHERED IN ROME: In the days following their election at the 44th General Chapter in late May 2007 the members of the new General Council held two meetings with the re-elected Superior General Bro. Álvaro Rodríguez Echeverría.

They then needed to return to their Districts to bring conclusion to what they had been doing there pre-Chapter but they arranged to gather again in Rome in early September for a month of planning and of forming their new community. Like Bro. Superior, Bro. Claude Reinhardt was re-elected from the previous General Council.

By decision of the General Chapter there is an important modification in the style of Institute central leadership. Five of the Councillors are to be based in the five Regions while three will be resident in Rome with the Superior General and the new Vicar General Bro. Thomas Johnson. All will gather in Rome for the months of September, February and June.

In the first week of September the challenge of addressing the important matter of being a real community under these conditions has been a central item on the agenda. The second week will see them on retreat outside Rome and this will offer great assistance in community-building.

The seven-year mandate of Brother Superior and his Council receives guidelines for action from the General Chapter. Preparation for the publication of the work of the 44th General Chapter is being attended to in the first week so as to diffuse it as soon as possible. The administrative structures to be erected to implement the Chapter guidelines are being prepared.

In the third and fourth weeks of the month details of what lies ahead will be attended to before the Regional General Councillors depart again. However in a city such as Rome one is aware that construction is not a matter of one day. This is but the beginning. May God bless the work!
^{(Br. Peter Gilfedder, General Council Secretary)}

MELBOURNE - AUSTRALIA - AUSTRALIAN LASALLIAN YOUTH GATHERING – “LIVE THE MESSAGE”: Eighty five young people aged between 16 and 26 from Lasallian schools and youth ministry in Sydney, Armidale, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth attended the 2007 Lasallian Youth Gathering, held at De La Salle College Malvern in Melbourne, Australia on 6 – 9th July.

The assembly is part of the De La Salle Brothers Youth Ministry program to give opportunities for young people to develop and share their faith through service and community in the tradition of the founder, St John Baptist De La Salle. The program of speakers, prayer and community activities focused on the theme “Live the Message”.

Tom McIlroy, 21 a Lasallian Youth Minister at De La Salle Malvern who helped organize and lead the event said “We wanted a program that challenged the participants to consider how they live the Gospel message of ‘love God and love your neighbour’. Keynote speakers included several De La Salle Brothers who spoke about the challenge to be a witness of the message of the Gospel in our daily lives.

Brother Paul Smith from the Lasallian Foundation spoke about the work of the Brothers and Lay Partners in India, who through education and welfare programs help combat the labour and sexual exploitation of children and their use as soldiers.

Simone McGill, 18 said “The way in which the Brothers spoke to us about their lives and their work and how they see the presence of God in that really inspired me to think about how God ‘fits’ in my life and influences the choices I make”.

Bec Barrett, Lasallian Youth Minister, facilitated a workshop on the International Lasallian Youth Council and youth ministry activities around the world.

David Collins, 20 said “Learning about the work of the De La Salle Brothers and the Lasallian activities in Australia and overseas gives us a greater understanding of the Lasallian spirit”.

That spirit was evident by the efforts of the young people to raise $4600 for the Lasallian Foundation by competing in an activity based on the T.V. series “The Amazing Race”. Participants had to locate fourteen places of Lasallian significance in the city of Melbourne. The challenge was made all the more difficult by adverse weather conditions!

Brother Mark McKeon, Director of Vocations and Lasallian Youth Ministry said “The youth gathering was a sure sign of the enormous capacity of young people to communicate and model Gospel values. The spirit of the event was inspiring. At the closing ceremony each participant received a candle as a reminder to ‘let their light shine”.
^{(Angela Finn, District of Australia-NZ-PNG)}

NITEROI – BRASIL - 4th INTERNATIONAL LASALLIAN EDUCATION CONGRESS: The 4th Lasallian Education Congress took place in Niteroi (Rio de Janeiro) Brazil from October 11th to October 14th 2007. La Salle is celebrating 100 years of presence and service in Brazil.

Br.Israel Nery, President of the Central Commission for the Celebration of the 100 years of De La Salle in Brazil and of the 4th International Lasallian Education Congress writes:
The 4th International Lasallian Education Congress gives continuity to themes of social interest dealing with the formation of values for life and living together as well as justice and peace: the principle propositions of the work and testimony of Saint John Baptist de La Salle.

‘Ethics or Chaos’ is a theme which has special significance in the Lasallian perspective of education. This significance stands out in times of violence and lack of respect for human beings and nations, causing tensions in the family and in society.

Therefore, ethics, the nucleus of the human condition and of politics is a current and urgent theme and for this reason is inserted into the educational process of the development of the human person which is achieved fundamentally by the formation of citizen consciences and therefore of ethical consciences. In this way, in educational practice, especially that inspired by La Salle, there is an emphasis on the union between knowledge and values and links with the ethics which are close to them.

Deepening the relation between knowledge and values taught and taken on for the ethical life and that of citizenship, is doubtless a response from education in general - and from the Lasallian perspective in particular - to the calls of present-day society, which faces up to and suffers urban violence, rural violence and ideological violence, whether condemned or simply accepted as natural, hidden in the stagnant waters of apparent tranquility, thus converting themselves into a kind of recurring ‘disease’.

All forms of violence become worse in the midst of poverty and social inequality: problems which, to be overcome, depend on politics as the latter does on ethics.
It is in the interest of broadening the debate on what Education, in keeping with its nature and specificity, can do for a better world, that we propose “Ethics or Chaos” hoping that this theme can inspire significant social reflections and contributions, resulting from the 4th Lasallian Congress of Education.

For further information: www.cile.com.br

MEMPHIS – USA - CBU CONTINUES TRADITION OF ENHANCING ENGLISH SKILLS FOR MEXICAN STUDENTS: For the sixth consecutive year, Christian Brothers University (CBU) is hosting the Lasallian Language Camp for students ages 10-14 from Northern Mexico. The camp immerses the students not only in the English language but also in the native culture and its norms. During their month here in Memphis, the students attend class for three hours in the morning where they are exposed to intense instruction of the English language, followed by an afternoon homework session in which volunteers from Christian Brothers High School assist them in their assignments.

After this daily rigorous academic training, they participate in activities that provide a natural environment for them to practice their enhanced English skills. Scott Crossley, Director of the program, states, “The students have the opportunity to interact with native speakers and experience the English culture through extracurricular activities such as American sports, field trips, board games, puppet shows and making posters.”

This daily routine is quite different from their attendance of Lasallian schools in Northern Mexico where they take a one hour daily English class along with other subjects before returning to their family homes. In addition, the Memphis terrain of lots of trees and green landscapes is a stark contrast to desert of their homeland. The students note the CBU campus as a beautiful setting with a sense of quietness surrounding it.

Brother Francisco Martin, CBU Literature & Languages lecturer, touts that the benefits of this camp are realized once the students return home. Their English skills are significantly improved as seen by higher grades; but of more importance, is the appreciation and knowledge that they take with them of the Memphis community, its citizens and this country.
^{(Elisa C. Marus – Christian Brothers University)}

BEATIFICATION OF THE MARTYRS OF XX CENTURY IN SPAIN:

GIVING HIS OWN LIFE
58 Brothers of the Christian Schools witness of Jesus Christ

Rome, October 28, 2007

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