{"id":127339,"date":"2026-09-21T10:53:50","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T08:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/?p=127339"},"modified":"2026-09-21T12:17:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T10:17:03","slug":"from-reims-to-rome-90-years-of-the-generalate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasalle.org\/en\/from-reims-to-rome-90-years-of-the-generalate\/","title":{"rendered":"From Reims to Rome: 90 years of the Generalate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The year 2026 <\/b>marks <\/span>the 90<\/b>th<\/b> anniversary of the beginning of community life at the Generalate in Rome (1936-2026). <\/b>This is a historic milestone in the long journey of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, from a small neighbourhood in Reims to its current headquarters.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Through the centuries<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

It all began in<\/span> 1682<\/b>, when Saint John Baptist de La Salle and the first teachers moved to <\/span>Rue Neuve<\/span><\/i> in Reims. That first dwelling, situated in a poor neighbourhood, effectively became the Congregation\u2019s first true Mother House. In the years that followed, the Institute\u2019s administrative centre moved in step with the development of its work: from Paris (1698) to Rouen (1703, at Saint-Yon, where the Founder ended his earthly life), via Lyon following the upheavals of the French Revolution.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the nineteenth century, the headquarters returned to Paris, first to <\/span>the Maison du Saint-Enfant-J\u00e9sus <\/span><\/i>(1821) and then to the famous <\/span>Maison Saint-Joseph <\/span><\/i>on Rue Oudinot (1847), eventually accommodating over 540 Brothers and novices by 1890. However, at the beginning of the 20th century, the anti-congregational laws in France (the \u2018Combes Law\u2019<\/span> of 1904) forced the Institute into exile to Lembecq-lez-Hal, in Belgium.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

The turning point of 1928 and the invitation to settle in Rome<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

The opportunity to find a permanent home arose in the late 1920s. Following the Lateran Pacts (1929), Pope Pius XI invited religious institutes to establish their headquarters in Rome.<\/span><\/p>\n

On 26 October 1928, Cardinal Camillo Laurenti sent a letter to the Brothers of the General Chapter inviting them to consider moving to Rome <\/span>\u201cclose to the common Father of the faithful […] to give the Institute ever-renewed vigour and growth<\/span><\/i>\u201d. The Brothers\u2019 response was immediate: the General Chapter voted unanimously in favour of the move.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

1935-1936: A monumental building project<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

In 1929, the Institute purchased a plot of land measuring approximately 24 hectares to the west of Rome, just two and a half kilometres from Vatican City, near the historic chapel of the Madonna del Riposo.<\/span><\/p>\n

In<\/span> 1935<\/b>, the foundation stone was laid. What followed was an extraordinary feat of engineering and human endeavour for the time:<\/span> 15 months of construction <\/b>and as many as<\/span> 800 workers labouring round the clock<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

In<\/span> 1936<\/b>, the majestic building finally opened its doors, marking the beginning of community life at the new General House. The following year, in<\/span> 1937<\/b>, the sacred relics of Saint John Baptist de La Salle arrived there, and the foundations were laid for the first La Salle school in the area.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

The Second World War: a refuge and a hospital<\/b><\/h2><\/div>

A few years after its inauguration, the outbreak of the Second World War put the House\u2019s existence to the test. With the establishment of a temporary headquarters in Maul\u00e9on (France), the Roman building became a place of refuge and charity:<\/span><\/p>\n