{"id":121953,"date":"2025-12-12T12:30:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T11:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/?p=121953"},"modified":"2025-12-19T13:57:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T12:57:00","slug":"new-publication-by-brother-pedro-gil-from-one-community-to-another-lasallian-studies-no-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/new-publication-by-brother-pedro-gil-from-one-community-to-another-lasallian-studies-no-19\/","title":{"rendered":"New publication by Brother Pedro Gil: “From One Community to Another” (Lasallian Studies No. 19)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cHistory has revealed to us that religious life will last as long as the Church. It has shown a remarkable power of survival, a marvellous capacity to develop and adapt, in spite of periods of crisis, in spite of the ups and downs that religious life has known. If we have the courage, the openness and the willingness to be led by the Spirit, the work begun by Saint La Salle and developed by generations of his children over nearly three centuries will see a new flowering of its dynamism in the next generation, that is, over the next century.” <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>

With these words taken from the speech of Brother Charles-Henri, former Superior General of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, to the General Chapter of 1976, begins the work <\/span>“From One Community to Another<\/i><\/b>,<\/span>” <\/i><\/b>written by <\/span>Brother Pedro Mar\u00eda Gil<\/b>, of the Arlep District (La Salle in Spain and Portugal), which consists of two volumes and is part of the<\/span> Collection of Lasallian Studies<\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under the general direction of <\/span>Brother Santiago Rodr\u00edguez Mancini<\/b>, Director of the Office of Lasallian Heritage and Research, this new publication is the<\/span> 19th <\/b>issue of this significant collection, which for more than three decades has contributed significantly to the dissemination and deepening of the living tradition inherited from Saint John Baptist de La Salle. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Looking to the future\u00a0<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

On this occasion, <\/span>the research of Brother Pedro Mar\u00eda Gil is part of the commemoration of the 300<\/b>th<\/b> anniversary of the pontifical recognition of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools<\/b>, through the Bull <\/span>In Apostolicae dignitatis solio<\/span><\/i>, issued by Pope Benedict XIII at the end of January 1725. “a good occasion to look to the future and to ask ourselves about the meaning of its journey through these three long centuries of life,” as he himself states in the presentation of the book.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The concrete origin of this work was in the reception of the capitulants, returning from the Assembly in Rome in 2022,” continues Brother Pedro. “Before them, in their reflections, <\/span>I had the impression that we had not made much progress in interpreting the dynamics of the last half-century<\/b>.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, observing that “two or three decades had passed that showed both the inadequacy of the inherited model for the Lasallian community and the emergence of new forms in its design,” Brother Pedro felt moved to “systematise reflection on the process of the large Lasallian community with the aim of spreading it throughout its universe and contributing to harmonising the different situations.” To this end, he adds, <\/span>“I was greatly helped by the reception of the study in Rome and, in particular, by the Lasallian Research Seminar held in October last year<\/b>.”<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Transformation of the community experience <\/b><\/h2><\/div>

Although the author had initially planned to title the work “Three Centuries Later,” in explicit reference to the Bull, he confesses that <\/span>“little by little, I saw clearly that I had to be more specific and make it clear that three centuries later, we were facing a transformation of the community<\/b>.” “That is why I thought it was important to point this out on the cover.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, as he delved deeper into the convictions that accompanied him during the process of research and systematisation, Brother Pedro acknowledges that “throughout my life, I had come to realise that De La Salle was not the founder of the Christian Schools\u2014as some of our hymns sang\u2014but that he had founded the Brothers of the Christian Schools, that is, communities that would animate the schools. <\/span>That network of communities was the essence of our inherited institutional structure<\/b>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“From that point on, I understood better what had happened during the last century and perceived the Institute’s desire to establish a new model. In other words, I interpreted the entire 20<\/span>th<\/span> century as a movement towards the refounding of the Community of the Christian Schools,” he adds.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Restore, Renew, Refound<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

He has developed this perspective extensively throughout the first volume of his work: <\/span>“A Century of Signs<\/b>“. “It was first a time of perplexity and attempts at restoration. Then, another time, full of generosity, dedicated to the renewal of what had been inherited. Finally, we are living the fruit of this and we speak of a time of refounding,” he asserts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, in the second volume, <\/span>“The Interior Architecture<\/b>,<\/span>” <\/b>he refers to the axes of the new Community and proposes six criteria for building it: (1) An Institution in History; (2) the New Evangelisation; (3) the Call; (4) the Commissioning; (5) the Christian School; and (6) the Community of the Christian School. Thus, he emphasises that the objective of his study has been “to achieve a common language regarding Lasallian identity” as “a possible underground architecture for a possible future.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Three keys to understanding<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

“I believe that it is time to gather together all our efforts to overcome perplexities and give meaning to the renewals, interpreting everything as a great invitation to fidelity to God, to the Institute, and to the ‘signs of the times’,” emphasises the Spanish religious, as he shares some keys to reading this new Lasallian work \u2014 the same ones he has used in his writing \u2014 namely:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n