La Salle looks to the future: universal fraternity and care for creation
“The new Lasallian reflection for 2025-2026 suggests building bridges in a fragmented world, inspired by the Gospel and the encyclicals Laudato si’ and Fratelli tutti. The text calls for education with prophetic audacity to respond to the cries of the Earth and the poor.”
“In the age of artificial intelligence, social media clips (TikTok, reels, etc.) and the fast pace of everyday interactions, we hope this will allow you to pause along the way and, through your own thoughts and questions, develop your own observations as part of the dialogue.” With this hope, the Brothers of the Christian Schools (known as De La Salle Brothers) present their reflection for the period 2025-2026, entitled “All is connected: the community of creation and universal fraternity.” The text was published on 8 September 2025, on the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“Because dialogue,” they write, “as Pope Leo XIV emphasised in the early days of his pontificate, is a way to build bridges; to recognise that ‘Christ goes before us, and the world needs his light. Humanity needs it as a bridge to reach God and his love… to [help us] build bridges through dialogue and encounter, so that we can all be one people, always at peace, always connected.”
Regarding the choice of theme, the authors of the document, Brothers Chris Patiño and Joël Palud, General Councillors, underline that the experience of writing together was particularly enriching. “I think the theme of ‘all is connected’ invites us to work together in drafting the message. And yes, I think that feeling called to set an example as Brothers, to connect with each other and to develop a common project, was very interesting,” says Patiño.
This contribution is fundamental for the Lasallian Family, as it forms the basis for the animation of its journeys of faith, fraternity and service, in continuity with previous reflections: “Our heart is in the peripheries” (2024-2025) and “Where is your focus?” (2023-2024).
The religious also recalls the words of Pope Francis to the members of the 46th General Chapter on 21 May 2022, when he highlighted that “the two great challenges of our time: the challenge of fraternity and the challenge of caring for our Common Home, cannot be met except through education”. In line with this, both Brothers affirm that “the recent calls of the Church, through the encyclicals Laudato si’ and Fratelli tutti, urge not only a response from the Catholic faithful, but also discernment of their underlying messages: the integral care of our ‘common home’ and the challenge of universal fraternity, as unifying calls for all humanity. Not as owners of creation, but as part of a living community of creation.”
For the Brothers of the Christian Schools, “no one can justify themselves in the face of the cry of the poor, which cannot be separated from the cry of the Earth. All is connected. And to rediscover that all is connected is to recognise that the perspective of the Gospel remains our first and principal rule.”
“It is a matter of returning often to the words of Jesus, making them not only our prayer but also our constant witness: ‘I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10).”
With the support of short interactive dialogues, the text invites us to delve deeper into various aspects related to the guiding themes. The Brothers recall that their mission “has always been to accompany the human person in an integral way. Education is our field of encounter, our laboratory of life. But to what extent have we made our own the call to educate for justice, peace and the integrity of creation? Are we transforming our curricula to reflect the realities of climate change, displacement and inequality?”
“At a time when nationalism, rampant capitalism, isolationism, the continued treatment of immigrants and refugees ‘as pawns on the chessboard of humanity’, a persistent educational crisis in which there is poor education for the poor, and the abuse of natural resources seem increasingly accepted as socio-political strategies, we must ask ourselves: how is our educational mission called to disrupt these patterns? Living La Salle means bringing to life the conviction that “all is connected.” The commitments of the 46th General Chapter call us to a prophetic boldness that destabilises systemic injustices, to listen to the cry of the Earth and the poor, and to respond with justice, compassion and humility.“Interconnection, they claim, is not only part of the crisis, but also a source of solidarity and strength. This is the hope at the heart of both Laudato si’ and Fratelli tutti: despite the magnitude of the challenges before us, we are never alone. We are part of a community of creation, united by love, responsibility and the dream of a more just and sustainable world. The Institute and the Lasallian Family are currently carrying out the mandate of the 46th General Chapter with La Salle’s conviction. Is not La Salle the Lasallian way of saying that all is connected? Have we reflected deeply, individually and collectively, on what all this demands of me, of my educational work, of my local Lasallian community, of my District?”