CEFL: Report of the meeting of September 22-23, 20002, (Madrid)

Present
Terry Collins (Secretary), André Jacq, Pat Ward, José-María Perez, Juan Barrera, Antonio Botana, Léon Lauraire, Marco Tottoli.

1. Membership
Brother Marco was welcomed as the new representative for Italy.

It was established by telephone that Robert Carlier was no longer a member of the Commission. The Secretary will write to Brother Aad, Regional Visitor for RELEC, to enquire about a replacement. He will also write to Robert to thank him for his many years of work for the Commission.

2. Address List
The list of postal and email addresses was circulated and brought up to date.

3. Letter from Brother Henri Elsen
The Commission was informed that Brother Henri Elsen had written to say that he was retiring from his position in charge of Lasallian Formation in the District of Belgique Sud, and that he would be replaced by M. Jean Leloup. The Secretary will reply to this letter.

4. Report of the previous meeting
The Report of the Meeeting of February 8-10, 2002, was accepted without amendment

5. Future Meetings
The Secretary referred to a request from Brother Aad that the dates forfuture meetings should be faxed to him on the first day of the currrent meeting so that he could circulate this information before the meeting of the CEV. The following dates and locations were agreed:

2003 February 9 -10, Rome. September 21-22, Paris

2004 February 8 - 9, Madrid. September 26-27, Rome

The question of organising an extended meeting was discussed, but it was agreed that no decision would be made until we had decided on the theme for the Colloquium planned for November 2004.

 

6. CEFL Colloquium 2004

6.1. The Theme of the Colloquium
André as Moderator of the meeting pointed out that the Report of the Previous Meeting suggested three main areas for discussion; lasallian identity, degrees of association and lasallian spirituality.

Marco said it was important to give the Colloquium a practical orientation. He would like to see some discussion of the kinds of formation programmes that can be offered, drawing on the experience of different countries.

Terry pointed out that lasallian identity is a burning issue currently being debated in many ways in the Institute (e.g. The Secretariate for Association, The MEL Standing Committee, The Colloquium on Vocations being organised by CLEP).

Members agreed that lasallian identity and lasallian spirituality were central issues for Lasallian Formation, but that as topics for a Colloquium they were too broad and needed to be made more precise. It was agreed that CEFL would make a useful contribution to the current debated, if it organised a Colloquium to look specifically at the means by which lasallian identity can be developed and communicated..

It was pointed out that such a theme was closely related to The Basic Priciples of Lasallian Formation drawn up by this Commission. In this context lasallian identity and spirituality are a matter of personal growth and spiritual development in communion with others. Consideration of this theme would be a natural development of the Colloquium on Association which we organised in the year 2000, as well as of the Colloquium on Vocations planned for 2003. The aim would be to bring together people's experience of living as Lasallians today.

Further discussion on the contents of the Colloquium produced a diagram of ideas. (Printed as an APPENDIX to the report.)

 

6.2 Title of the Colloquium
It was agreed that the title for the Colloquium in November 2004 will be:- "Comment être lasallien aujourd'hui."

 

6.3 Dates of the Colloquium
It was agreed that the dates for the Colloquium will be

A decision will be made at the next meeting, when we will have more information on the dates of school holidays in the different countries, and on the availability of accomodation in the Casa Generalizia.

 

6.4 Preparation for the Colloquium
Between now and February, members will reflect on the ideas set out in diagram form in the Appendix. Each one will write out his thoughts and circulate them to the others in advance of the meeting.

Between now and September 2003, members will assemble a collection of witness statenments from associates in which people say why they find that "being a Lasallian" is important in their life.

Recommended reading: Etudes Lasalliennes 10.

 

7. Reports from Regions and Districts

7.1 Ireland
A new Pastoral Centre has been set up in Glanaulin, Belfast. It will provide day-time retreat sessions for the schools of the area.

7.2 Central Europe
The meetings of the Heads of Lasallian Schools continue. Lasallian Formation in Rumania is at the very basic level of developing the concept of "a Christian school" in the minds of the staff.

7.3 Italy
The current process of joining together the Districts of Torino and Roma is having its effects on Lasallian Formation. A single national CELAS has been set up under the leadership of Gabriele Di Giovanni and Marco Tottoli. New modules are being devloped for the programme. The sessions take place at weekends and this year they have been attended by 45-50 people.

A new national constitution for the Famiglia Lasalliana was approved at a recent meeting in Paderno. The Famiglia Lasalliana in each school brings together the various Lasallian groups and "associations" related to the school. In the past each Famiglia Lasalliana has had its own individual constitution. The new constitution means that the national Famiglia Lasalliana will be an autonomous body, recognised in civil law, independent of the District and responsible for its own finacial affairs.

7.4 Spain
Third Semana Lasaliana took place during the summer in Santiago de Compostela, under the title: "In camino hacia l'asociación". It was attended by 28 Brothers and 40 lay people who already had some experience of Lasallian Association and wished to go further. The group work on three aspects of association: 1) Communion betweeen Brothers and Lay People; 2) Criteria for giving formal recognition to associates; 3) Structures for association. The session was very successful. Discussions revealed how much value people place on the experience of association. In particular some participants were led to make a more specific personal commitment to association. One of the discussion groups was made up people who exercise a mission outside of schools. A summary of the results will be published.

7.5 France
In July 2002 the Assembly for Lay People was held at the same time and location as the District Chapter of the Brothers. One of the joint commissions was on "Association" and it produced a proposition that there should be a single Association of Brothers and Lay People for the whole of France which would be an integral part of the District of France. It would be based on the personal commitment of people whose activities may be in schools or outside of schools. The proposal still has to receive authorisation, and many details remain to be worked out. However, members of the CEFL felt it was an extremely interesting development.

7.6 The Secretariate for Association
Antonio Botana gave a description of the activities of the Institute's Secretariate for Association and the International Commission on Association set up after the General chapter of 2000. The main work currently being done consists in collating information about developments in Association. A questionnaire has been circulated which asks Districts to identify the people involved in association, to describe the new forms of association that have emereged and to outline the vision of the future shape of the District. An initial report will be made to the Superior General and his Council in December. Antonio also informed the Commission that a working group had been set up to produce a new Declaration suitable to the realities of Shared Mission abnd Association.

7.7 The Temporary Commission On Vocations
A report of the last meeting of the Commission was received, giving the initial plans for the Colloquium on on Vocations in November 20003. The contents were noted, but no action was called for.

 

8 Manuals for Associates
This was a continuation of the discussion begun at the February meeting (Rapport page 8). It was agreed that it would be better for such manuals to be produced by each country separately rather than attempt a common manual for all. There is a lot of material already in existence which can be used. For example:- historical material in the Cahiers Lasalliens and the Etudes Lasalliennes; the twelve booklets on Lasallian Pedagogy produced by CLEE (Spanish texts have been published); L'Itinerario Educativo by Fr Secondino Scaglione.

It was pointed out that these texts are not available in the languages of Eastern Europe, and that cosequently Brothers and Lay Associates are not aware of the developments in this area.

 

9. CEFL Budget
Copies of the Balance Sheet for the years 2000 - 2002 and the Budget Predictions for 2002-2004 were distributed. These documents were composed by the secretary in June 2002 and sent to Brother Mario Zammit for distribution to the CEV. Brother Terry said that the Budget Predictions showed an increase of 30% over the previous budget, and that this was mainly due to the increase in the number of people attending the meeetings and the expected increase in travel costs. Brother Antonio Botana indicated that he does not claim travel expenses from the CEFL account when he attends the meetings.

 

Next Meeting

February 9-19, 2003, Casa Generalizia, Rome.

(Arrive Saturday 8 February. Finish Monday, midday)

Brother Juan Barrera will act as moderator.