More than 300 Lasallians from around the world gathered on 22 September via their digital devices for “Let’s Talk… Lasallian,” the launch event for the International Lasallian Days of Peace (ILDP), which will take place between 21 September and 21 October 2025 under the theme: “We are bridges for peace: from conflict to connection“.
The meeting, led by the Institute’s Commission on Youth, was marked by moments of spirituality, reflection and the sharing of testimonies about the Lasallians’ commitment to peace, such as that of Brother Daoud Kassabry, from the Proche Orient District, who referred to his own experience: “Living and working in Jerusalem, I know how fragile peace can be, but also how necessary it is. And I believe peace does not begin in parliaments or great conferences – it begins in classrooms, in the way we relate to one another in daily life…”.
School, our first bridge
How can we build “bridges for peace” in the midst of conflict? For Brother Daoud, “the school is our first bridge”, since “it is like a small society” where “every smile, every act of kindness, every effort to listen to another person is already a bridge for peace“.
“But these bridges stand only if their foundations are strong. And for us, as Lasallians, that foundation is: justesse-fairness, honesty and truth“.
On the other hand, building bridges for peace also requires integrity and consistency, as Brother Daoud pointed out: “students look to their teachers not only for knowledge, but also for example”, so that “when teachers act with fairness, treating every student with dignity, correcting with justice and kindness, encouraging without favouritism, then students learn that peace is built on truth“.
“If, instead, students sense favouritism, injustice or indifference, then mistrust grows”, because “peace cannot grow where truth is absent”.
Being consistent in our words and actions
“As Lasallians, we are called to embody justesse”, continued the religious, “to stand for what is right, to speak the truth even when it is difficult, and to be consistent in our words and our actions”.
“When students see integrity in us, when they see that we mean what we say, and that we act with justice, they learn that peace is not only possible, but it is trustworthy“.
From school to society
Based on these premises, Brother Daoud stressed that “this experience inside the classroom prepares our students to become adults who will act justly in their families, workplaces, and societies”. “They will become bridges for peace because they will have learned that peace is rooted in truth!”.
Thus, “if we want peace among nations, if we want reconciliation between divided peoples, then we must begin with justesse. Peace treaties without justice are fragile. Dialogue without truth is only empty words. But when we stand for fairness, respect and honesty, we give peace a solid ground to grow,” he concluded, urging participants during the ILDP to “be bridges of peace in our schools, in our families and in our world by choosing to act with integrity and justice”.
Find HERE the poster and materials prepared by the Commission on Youth for the ILDP.