ROME – ITALY - INTERNATIONAL LASALLIAN UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP PROGRAM: The second International Lasallian University Leadership Program was held at the Casa La Salle Generalate in Rome June 1-14, 2008.

The theme of the conference was “Partners in Catholic Lasallian Higher Education: Enhancing Understanding. Eliciting Commitment.”

The International Lasallian University Leadership Program is targeted for university faculty and is specifically designed to assist universities in their ongoing programs of faculty formation and enrichment. Participants in this program will return to those communities to be resource persons, mentors, and animators of the Lasallian mission. The rich international nature of this formation program strengthen the quality of exchange and enjoyment among participants.

SAN JOSÉ - COSTA RICA - MEETING OF DISTRICT LASALLIAN EDUCATIONAL MISSION HEADS (REDMEL): Over the course of four days of intensive discussions and work sessions, District Lasallian Educational Mission heads met in San Jerónimo de Moravia at the former novitiate for the District of Central America/Panama. Also in attendance were Brothers from CAR (Regional Leadership Community). This event provided a pleasant opportunity for sharing ideas and proposing activities aimed at energizing and strengthening Lasallian educational presence in our Region.

Group work, discussion in plenary sessions, open sharing and the creation of agreements and responsibilities were some of the strategies used for including important topics such as the educational reality of our Districts, PERLA, the Pedagogical-Pastoral Ministry horizon, Association, and the Observatory for the Rights of Children and young people. Without a doubt the interest in and commitment to reflection on each of these topics allowed us to create a favorable environment for discussion and mutual enrichment which confirmed the enthusiasm for the Lasallian Educational Mission in Latin America and the Caribbean.

All of this would not have been possible without the firm support of the District of Central America and Panama, headed by Brother Otto Armas, Visitor, and of Brother Oscar Azmitia, Rector of De La Salle University in Costa Rica, and especially that of Ms. Rosa Espinoza, Academic Vice-Rector of that university. All of them spared no effort and time and they gave the best of themselves as they saw to the good running of the sessions and the achievement of our proposals.

With great expectations and the desire to work with determination, we departed for our places of origin, not forgetting that the Lasallian educational project requires our effort and commitment.
^{(Brother Cristian J. Diaz M.)}

PALESTINE - BETHLEHEM - BETHLEHEM UNIVERSITY CELEBRATES ITS 32 ND GRADUATION WITH 534 STUDENTS: More than 4,000 parents, relatives, University faculty and staff, political leaders, Church officials, representatives of local and international organizations, friends and benefactors gathered at Bethlehem University to rejoice with this latest cohort of students who have succeed in achieving their academic goals despite the most challenging obstacles imposed on them by the travel restrictions and other violations of human rights resulting from the Israeli military occupation and construction of the Separation Wall.

Archbishop Fouad Twal, President of Bethlehem University, and Brother Robert Smith, FSC, PhD, interim Vice Chancellor and Academic Vice President, conferred the diplomas on the graduates as they walked across the stage to the cheers, applause and admiration of their parents and faculty members. While each of the graduates is responsible for his or her own achievements, the 11,181 graduates of Bethlehem University who are prepared to assume leading positions in the Palestinian society and who are dedicated to serving the common good, guided by shared values and moral principles, are a great testament to the commitment and dedication of the faculty, staff, friends and benefactors of Bethlehem University.

“Together we are changing lives, inspiring innovation and creating the future,” said Dr. Kholoud Daibes, the Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Women's Affairs, in her keynote address to the graduates. Also in attendance at the graduation were Mr. Kamal Hassouneh, Palestinian Minister of the National Economy and member of the Bethlehem University Board of Trustees as well as Mr. Fuad Kattan, Chairperson, and Dr. Daoud Salameh, Secretary of the Board of Trustees.

Due to the increased travel restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation, most Bethlehem University students come from the Bethlehem region and more than 27% are like Rawan (not her real name*) who live a relatively short distance away in Jerusalem (10 kilometers or 6 miles) in Jerusalem.
^{(www.bethlehem.edu)}

BOGOTÁ – COLOMBIA - MEETING OF DISTRICT HEADS OF FORMATION AND ACCOMPANIMENT (REDFA): The 16 Brothers in charge of District Formation and Accompaniment as well as Brothers from CAR and the Brother Secretary for Formation on the Institute level, met in Bogota to share the realities of our Districts as regards formation in the perspective of BEING BROTHERS TODAY, and fundamental themes such as the centrality of the Vow of Association, accompaniment, spiritual life, and community life were included.

The participants learned and socialized about the different perceptions and experiences that will help us to continue creating formative processes that respond to the demands and challenges of today's world for Brothers. The possibility of getting to know one another and to share our perspectives in light of the realities and essential aspects of Brother formation were important factors in the search for collaboration between the Districts of our Region.

We decided to continue the reflection in our places of origin, recalling the responsibility that we agreed to energize, actively and constructively, the concept of BEING BROTHERS TODAY in the Latin American/Caribbean context.
^{(Brother Cristian J. Diaz M.)}

ROME – ITALY - THE SERVICE OF THE VOLUNTEERS IN THE MOTHER HOUSE: Before ending his year of service (September 07 – July 08), the young Mexican Carlos Luna studied the operating system of the VPN (Virtual Private Network) in order to permit the Brothers of the Mother House to have access to their locals PC from any part of the world by means of the Internet.

Br.Superior and his Council asked Carlos to explain the program to them and to show them how to use it. They were very satisfied with the lesson received .

Other services which the Volunteers (Carlos Luna and Giovanni Ortegón, who is from Colombia) provide in the Mother House are maintaining and renewing the equipment, bringing computer programs up to date, providing consultancy help to the staff of the Mother House in matters relating to computers and the general care and updating of the internal network and the Internet service. The young Mexican Larisa González, who is also a Volunteer, helps in the Secretariat of the Lasallian Research and Resource Service.

These are the different ways in which, at present, these young people who live in the Central Community collaborate in the Lasallian Mission, supporting from the Center of the Institute the Lasallian Family spread over the entire world.
^{(Brother Lorenzo González Kipper)}

SAINT-SYLVAIN D’ANJOU – FRANCE - AWARENESS SESSIONS AT ‘LA BARONNERIE’: In the course of the school year, various activities have allowed the students at La Baronnerie to meet together to be made aware of possibilities for commitment or to be confronted by situations which are sometimes difficult…Here is a little reflection of this.

Two days for living fraternity: On November 8th and 9th 2007, some 80 students from both the senior classes of the General Secondary School and the Technology section of the school headed for Pornic to reflect on fraternity and to live it. These two days had been prepared by some students from the final year of Electro-Technical Engineering, with the help of Emmanuel Carré, the establishment’s assistant in Pastoral Ministry. On the program were some educational orienteering games involving those who were living these days of fraternity, followed by an evening of relaxation.

The Forum of Associations: within the framework of a reflection on the commitment of the students of La Baronnerie to voluntary service the1st Forum of Associations was held on March 7th last. This forum opened with a session in front of all the First-year classes of the BTS (a senior two-year technical course leading to a certificate):

- There was a presentation about voluntary work within the Lasallian network. Sylvain Couëdel, who is in charge at national level and David Melendez, a “Lasallian Young Volunteer’, were able to show the young people the richness of this experience of a year spent in a different cultural environment which allowed you to take a step back from your usual daily life.
- Then the Association France Bénévolat (‘Voluntary Help France’) redefined the meaning and diversity of voluntary help.
- Finally, each student had an opportunity to meet 4 associations during the workshops. These associations presented the offers of voluntary commitment which they would propose to young people between 18 and 25 years of age.

In March 2008, about 30 secondary school pupils from La Baronnerie were made aware of questions linked to the welcoming of foreigners by ‘Secours Catholique’(Catholic Assistance). This body provided the impetus for motivating these young people to participate in a collective sports competition on April 10th 2008.

Football as a means of breaking isolation….10 adults from the educational community and 20 asylum seekers became involved in this. They were able to raise 200 euro by means of this competition and it was used to finance operations against isolation developed by Secours Catholique.

Beyond the symbolic gesture of the gift, this operation had the merit of taking out of their solitude, young men - mainly from Africa- and proposing to them some time for cultural exchanges with young persons from France. As for the students, they were able to discover situations involving lack of job security and by means of sport were able to accomplish a gesture of humanity.  
^{(Emmanuel Carré)}

LIVERPOOL – UNITED KINGDOM - ARCHBISHOP WELCOMES BETHLEHEM TO LIVERPOOL:  The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, hosted students and staff from Bethlehem University for breakfast at Archbishop’s House, Liverpool.

The young people were in Liverpool to take part in ‘The Big Hope’, the global youth congress hosted by Liverpool Hope University.

The Archbishop extended the invitation in order to offer hospitality to those he has met on his frequent visits to the Holy Land.  Each year he attends the International Holy Land Co-ordination which is a meeting of Catholic Bishops representing countries which have been involved in the history of that region; they meet with and express solidarity for the Churches in the Holy Land as they seek never to be silent in the face of injustice and violence.

The students from Bethlehem will be staying in Liverpool until Wednesday 11 June.

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