III AIMEL - Final Report

III International Assembly of the Lasallian Educational Mission (III AIMEL)

FINAL REPORT

III INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE LASALLIAN EDUCATIONAL MISSION

Editorial Team

Colette Allix

Andrés Govela Gutiérrez FSC

Alisa Macskey

CIAMEL

Nestor Anaya Marín FSC, Co-Coordinator

Alisa Macksey, Co-Coordinator

Colette Allix

Antxon Andueza Iturralde FSC

Ferdinand Biziyaremye FSC

Francisco (Paco) Chiva Benajes FSC

Rose Laetitia Nanema Dala

Fritzie Ian De Vera

Vinicio Óscar González Gramajo FSC

Andrés Govela Gutiérrez FSC

Jesús Félix Martínez Martínez FSC

Jessica Antuaneth Ortega García

Keane Palatino

Heather Ruple

Editorial Direction

Alexánder González FSC

Editorial Assistant

Ilaria Iadeluca

Art Direction, Design and Layout

Giulia Giannarini

Translators

Antoine Salinas FSC

Agustín Ranchal FSC

Editorial Production

Ilaria Iadeluca, Giulia Giannarini, Fabio Parente, Alexánder González FSC

Communications and Technology Service, Rome

JULY 2023

III International Assembly of the Lasallian Educational Mission (III AIMEL)

Preliminaries:

A READING GUIDE TO THE DOCUMENT

Although the document can be read in full to learn about the development and outcome of the III International Assembly of the Lasallian Educational Mission (III AIMEL), in this section we would like to point out to readers where to find directly what they might need when consulting it.

1. A short presentation addresses the III AIMEL in a general way and initially reflects the experience that the delegates had at the III AIMEL. The document contains a presentation that talks about the outcome and the development of the III AIMEL in general terms. It partially reflects the experience that the delegates had at the III AIMEL; but what cannot be captured in the document is the strength of the presence of the delegates among each other, the respect and courtesy that was experienced each day among the participants, as well as the sense of humour and wit that enlivened the work of the delegates, the working groups and the central commission of the Assembly.

2. A synthesis of the results is provided below, in a table and a graphical scheme, which can be used to get an overview of the Assembly's decisions. It contains only the titles of the proposals approved and their lines of action.

3. The third heading provides an explanation of the development of the Assembly, its two phases and gives a brief account of the methodology used. This section serves as a record of what happened in this prolonged one-year International Assembly.

4. In the fourth heading, the proposals approved by the III AIMEL, including their lines of action, have been transcribed in full text. They are enriching and very useful texts for those seeking more information on the reflection and justification that went into each proposal and the content of each line of action.

5. By way of conclusion, the fifth heading presents the full text of the final Message to the Lasallian Family sent by the delegates at the end of the Assembly.

6. Finally, under the sixth heading, there are several appendixes with the messages that were presented at the beginning and end of the process, as well as the Letter sent to Pope Francis by the Assembly and his response. Finally, the participants in the Assembly were listed.

Dear Lasallian Family,

Through the Final Report of the III Assembly of the Lasallian Educational Mission we wish to make known the outcome and conclusions of the III AIMEL. To share with the entire Lasallian Family the experience of a long and enriching journey, forceful hit way by the COVID-19 pandemic; above all, we want to communicate the experience of being part of a Network of Lasallian Educational Ministries which bases its richness on diversity, present in many contexts, and with a great positive impact on the world thanks to its educational vocation motivated by the Lasallian charism.

In accordance with the Administrator’s Directory of the Institute (No. 8), Brother Superior General and his Council convened the third International Assembly of the Lasallian Educational Mission for 2020, with the themes of Identity, Vitality and Transformation and the motto "Together we make it possible". After several adjustments due to the pandemic, it was held in two phases: a virtual one from 10 November 2021 to 1 April 2022 and another in-person session, from 28 October to 4 November 2022.

The first phase of the III International Assembly of the Lasallian Educational Mission (III AIMEL) has been a very enriching experience of participation, full of enthusiasm and generating hope, which has provoked an important vision for the Lasallian world. In the second phase, the in-person encounter of delegates who had known each other virtually for a year became a celebration of fraternity and brought out, in a simple and natural way, practical and feasible conclusions, with many possibilities of being effective.

In the Assembly we were once again able to confirm the deep commitment of Lasallians in the Mission. The broad representation of all the Regions and Districts and of all the profiles of the Lasallian Family is a sign of the new reality: Brothers and lay partners, men and women, young and mature.

Although some of the proposals of the III AIMEL address issues that have already been mentioned in the past, they seek to bring about a fundamental renewal of the Institute and are based on a perspective of innovation:

• Firstly, because they are the result of an enormous participative process and have been elaborated jointly by committed Lasallians, without distinguishing whether they are Brothers or lay partners.

• Secondly, because they are situated and start from a different context with eyes set on the future of the Mission.

The proposals of the III AIMEL have a profound sense of urgency. They present the conviction that a transformation of structures that is faithful to the charism needs to be carried out in a courageous and bold manner in the short term, in order to assure the continuity and sustainability of the Lasallian Educational Mission and Community.

Synthesis of the proposals 2.

OF THE III INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE LASALLIAN EDUCATIONAL MISSION

The proposals approved by the III AIMEL and ratified by the 46th General Chapter are included in full text at the end of the report. For the time being, a synthesis is presented in order to facilitate the big picture of the topics included in them.

A. The strengthening, reorganisation, and promotion of the global Lasallian Community.

B. The updating of the Mission’s lines of work in a new “glocal” context. 1

1 Linking the local and global levels especially in the context of globalisation.

A. The strengthening, reorganisation and promotion of the Lasallian community in the world.

PROPOSALS LINES OF ACTION

1A. Through the creation of new Governance and Financing Models in accordance with the new conditions we are living in and that guarantee sustainability.

• At the different organizational levels of the Institute, with recognition of the diverse realities, with participative leadership and collegial management, through appropriate profiles among all Lasallians - Brothers and Lay Lasallians. Integrate the creation of juridical entities in the countries and the global sustainability of the Mission.

1B. Through giving CIAMEL the conditions to animate and follow through on the creation of a global network com- mitted to Lasallian Identity, Mission, and Association.

• To address urgent challenges, encourage the participation of all, and ensure the functioning of new structures.

2. Through the promotion of Formation and Accompaniment for all Lasallians, Lay Lasallians and Brothers, with a vision of the future.

• Share Formation Plans and Resources to enhance identity, sense of belonging, spirituality, fraternal relationships, and sense of community for the educational service of the poor.

3. Through the strengthening of Association structures that promote new models of Community.

• Continue the creation and development of Intentional Communities that share the Mission, life, spirituality, and faith, in order to foster belonging, commitment and Association.

1.1. Group of experts to offer model/s of governance and sustainability.

1.2. Updating of the Statutes of CIAMEL to effectively animate the Lasallian Educational Mission.

2.1. Formation and accompaniment collaborative network

3.1. Create and implement a Strategic Plan* of Association for the Lasallian Mission in each District.

A. The strengthening, reorganisation and promotion of the Lasallian community in the world.

PROPOSALS LINES OF ACTION

4. Through the promotion of a Culture of Vocations that creates personal and community spaces and contexts for accompaniment and discernment.

• Personal and community spaces rooted in the context of the ministries that engage the vocational journey of each person in new forms of community life.

4.1. Creation of Culture of Vocations plan for all Lasallians.

B. The updating of the Mission's lines of work in a new glocal context. PROPOSALS LINES OF ACTION

5. To create sustainable programs to eradicate poverty through the principles of inclusiveness, the culture of fraternity, and coresponsibility.

5.1. Integration of the importance of Education for Social

5.2. Lasallian response to the fragile sectors of the Institute.

6. Through the continued focus of Lasallian Education in the Gospel, with an emphasis on spiritual accompaniment and dialogue with innovative methodologies in new diverse contexts.

• To promote religious, moral, spiritual, and interior education through accompaniment and attention to the needs of people, with prophetic witness attentive to the signs of the times and open to interreligious dialogue in communities that spread life.

6.1. Revitalisation of our commitment for education in interiority, spiritual accompaniment and evangelisation.

B. The updating of the Mission's lines of work in a new glocal context.

PROPOSALS LINES

7. Educational communities that promote social transformation through critical citizenship, social responsibility and integral ecology, united with international efforts to return sustainability to the world.

• In favor of the most vulnerable and through the Lasallian values of fraternity, justice, equity, and inclusion.

8. To deepen the identity as the axis of the dynamism of the mission in new local contexts.

• To deepen the understanding of identity and its expression in different contexts and its evolution.

OF ACTION

7.1. Lasallians united and in communion with other institutions for critical citizenship, integral ecology, and social responsibility.

8.1. Updating and strengthening of Lasallian identity

Creation of new Governance and Financing Models in accordance with the new conditions we are living in and that guarantee sustainability.

Strengthening, reorganization, and promotion of the Global Lasallian Community

Through giving CIAMEL the conditions to animate and follow up on the Mission and the creation of a global network committed to Lasallian Identity, Mission and Association.

Promotion of Formation and Accompaniment for all Lasallians, Lay Lasallians and Brothers, with a vision of the future.

Strengthening of Association structures that promote new Community models.

Through a Culture of Vocations create personal and community spaces and contexts for accompaniment and discernment.

Updating of the Mission’s lines of work in a new “glocal” context

To create sustainable programs to eradicate poverty through the principles of inclusiveness, the culture of fraternity, and co-responsibility.

To continue to center Lasallian education on the Gospel, with an emphasis on spiritual accompaniment and dialogue with innovative methodologies in a new diverse context.

Educational communities that promote social transformation through critical citizenship, social responsibility, and integral ecology, united with international efforts to return sustainability to the world.

To deepen identity as the axis of mission dynamism in new local contexts.

The process 3.

OF THE III INTERNATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE LASALLIAN EDUCATIONAL MISSION

The development of the III AIMEL was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing CIAMEL - as Preparatory Commission - to change not only the date but also the way of conducting the Assembly. This reality not only entailed a great task of creativity, but also made it necessary to learn to do things in a different way. In the end, the process proved to be extremely enriching and leveraged new strategies. The following is a summary of the whole process in the hope that it will be of interest to the entire Lasallian Family and that it will serve to record some of the lessons we learned from this experience.

3.1. The planning of the III AIMEL and its adjustments

Brother Superior General and his Council launched the convocation for AIMEL 2020 in July 2018, appointing the International Council for Association and the Lasallian Educational Mission (CIAMEL) and other Lasallians as the Preparatory Commission for the event to be held from 4 to 15 May 2020, announcing the themes of Identity, Vitality and Transformation and with the motto "Together we make it possible".

The objectives of this International Assembly are: “To evaluate the co-responsibility in the area of Association for the Lasallian Educational Mission throughout the Institute and to identify the main tasks for the faithful and authentic exercise of the Lasallian Mission, in order to propose guidelines for future actions to the General Chapter” (Cfr. The Administrator's Directory No. 8).

The III AIMEL was rescheduled twice due to the pandemic, for September 2021 and finally for March 2022. However, the conditions forced the decision to readjust the schedule of the Assembly and propose to hold it in two phases, one online, before the General Chapter and one in person after the 46th General Chapter.

Thus, the III AIMEL was programmed in two phases:

• The First Phase in virtual mode, from November 10, 2021 to April 1, 2022.

• The Second Phase will be held in Rome from October 28 to November 4, 2022.

The First Online Phase was carried out over a longer period of time, due to the limited hours of the day all delegates can be synchronously in a virtual meeting. It was conducted through a series of synchronous sessions and asynchronous activities. Despite having to get up early or stay up late, due to the geographical spread of time zones, delegates were committed to participating in all asynchronous activities and synchronous sessions.

3.2. The preparation of the III AIMEL until its commencement on November 10, 2021

The Districts and Regions appointed and registered delegates in May 2019. According to what was indicated in the Letter of Convocation, 110 delegates were appointed in the following categories:

• 68 delegates from Districts and Regions (1 person for each District or Delegation and 7 for each Region).

• 2 delegates from IALU

• 2 delegates from Young Lasallians

• 10 members of CIAMEL

• 9 Secretaries of the Institute

• 9 members of the General Council

• 5 delegates appointed by the Superior General

• 5 invited guests appointed by CIAMEL

CIAMEL received notes from all over the Institute with suggestions for the III AIMEL. The five Regions, through different participatory processes and some taking into account the notes sent by Lasallians from some Regions, drafted a Proposal for each of the themes of the III AIMEL: Identity, Vitality and Transformation. Each Region presented three proposals.

CIAMEL studied the 15 Regional Proposals and found a wealth of ideas and content. It also found similar ideas, but distributed differently in each “set” of proposals, according to the way of thinking, the culture, and the way of interpreting the work instructions sent by CIAMEL in each Region.

Based on the study of the Regional Proposals, CIAMEL identified eight Strategic Axes, which contained the richness of all of them.

The process consisted of “deconstructing” each proposal in its fundamental ideas and reorganizing them into eight strategic axes with a different distribution, but seeking to respect and preserve the original intentions.

The Strategic Axes became the new structure containing all the contributions of the five Regions of the Institute distributed in a different order. We can imagine this work of redistribution of ideas or deconstruction and reconstruction of the Proposals as a large matrix in which the titles of the rows are the Regional Proposals and the titles of the columns are the Strategic Axes. In each line the ideas corresponding to each Strategic Axis were placed in the corresponding column.

In order to make the development of the III AIMEL proposals and the process of reflection more relevant and responsive to current times, the following reports were studied and considered: Reflections on the Institute Documents 2, the reports of the International Strategic Council, the Secretariat for Solidarity and Development, and the Covid Impact Study of the Lasallian Research Service. Consideration of these documents made the process of reviewing the Proposals more enriching and meaningful.

2 Declaration on the Lasallian Educational Mission, Lasallian Formation for Mission: The Pilgrim’s Handbook, Identity Criteria for the Vitality of Lasallian Educational Ministries, A Conversation for the Lasallian Family: Deepening our Identity

3.3. Spiritual animation

Once we had decided on the motto: Identity, Vitality and Transformation, we quickly connected the possible animation of the Assembly with the Gospel parable of the good Sower, which speaks of seeds, growth and fruit. When the pandemic changed the plans for the III AIMEL, we were forced to change what we had planned for the inauguration, the prayers, the settings.

The opening session featured a video in which children and young Lasallian students encouraged Assembly delegates to participate. The parable of the Sower was told by boys and girls from all five continents.

We asked Jo Millea (District of Ireland, Malta, Great Britain) to help us visualise through her drawings all that the seed needs to germinate and grow: air, DNA, the gardener's care, fertiliser, protection from dangers - pests - flowers, fruit, harvest. A dozen posters were the backdrop for the slides, videos, and communications that we used to keep us connected to the chosen motto.

The opening prayers of all the videoconference, synchronous and asynchronous sessions that were to form part of the dynamics of the III AIMEL were arranged. For this purpose, one person from each group was prepared to have the presentation in advance. The effort was worthwhile and it was achieved, among all, that the spiritual was the spark that started every meeting.

For the closing of the first phase, a celebration of the Word was held in the Sanctuary of St. John Baptist de La Salle in the Generalate, with the presence of the secretaries and moderators of the working groups of the Assembly and we decorated the presbytery with Jo Millea's posters. The students of the Scuola La Salle performed the parable of the Sower using the altar as the four types of soil on which the seed falls. The celebration was broadcast live on various social networks. The children themselves collected the proposals that the working groups had developed so far and, together with Alisa Macksey (President of CIAMEL), presented them to Br Robert Schieler, Superior General. The whole celebration was animated by the singing of the delegates and the children's choir of the Scuola La Salle, which is next to the Generalate.

The spiritual animation group prepared new prayers for these virtual sessions of the second phase of the III AIMEL.

At the beginning of the in-person session in Rome, a day of encounter was arranged (it was the first time in the whole Assembly process that delegates met in person). We chose the city of Tivoli to organise two tours inside the Villa d'Este and Villa Gregoriana parks, inviting participants:

• to introduce themselves, explain where they live and what their responsibility is in the Lasallian mission;

• to share a difficulty or concern they were experiencing in their work and ministry;

• to share where they were feeling graced or blessed.

All this was done in heterogeneous groups, which meant overcoming language limitations. But with everyone's help it turned out to be a wonderful experience. After the meal by groups, we gathered in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore for a prayer service in common.

During this last phase in Rome, every morning we started with a prayer, around one of the posters and symbols mentioned above. We decorated the Aula Magna, the Sanctuary and three other prayer spaces with various fruits and vegetables. In this last phase of the AIMEL we focused on the harvest. For the spiritual moment in the evening, we used the previous prayer spaces by language groups; in this way we facilitated personal sharing, in an atmosphere of thanksgiving for all the work that had been done and the work that was still to be done to bring the Assembly to a successful conclusion.

We wanted the final celebration to be particularly meaningful. It was a Eucharist where young people from various Lasallian schools in Rome (thanks to the help of Brother Enrico Muller), at the time of the homily, invited in small language groups to reflect on the Gospel where Jesus tells us, "The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few". They themselves initiated

the reflection and gave the floor to the rest of the group. The participative homily ended with the gesture of putting each handprint with paint on a piece of cloth. Afterwards, each group placed its piece of cloth on the altar, making the tablecloth, as an offering, to continue with the Eucharistic liturgy. During the two celebrations, in April and October, we sang the song "Germogli di vita" (Sprouts of life) that Massimo Ceccarelli, a staff member of the Generalate and keen of music, had composed especially for the III AIMEL. The same young people who began the reflection in the homily were the ones who, at the end of the celebration, laid their hands on the delegates and blessed them, as a sign of sending them on mission.

The spiritual animation was possible thanks to all the delegates of the III AIMEL, to the children and young people who helped us, to the Lasallians and Brothers of the Generalate, to the Preparatory Commission, to CIAMEL and to all the other Lasallians and Brothers who have followed the Assembly from their Districts and are sowing the seeds of the proposals and lines of action.

3.4. The development of the III AIMEL

3.4.1 First Phase: Online

The first online phase of the III AIMEL was held from November 10, 2021 to April 1, 2022. It was organised in three stages:

Step 1. Input

This stage consisted of 20 synchronous meetings and 6 asynchronous activities, which allowed the delegates to get to know documents and reports from different organizations on the current situation of Association and the Lasallian Educational Mission and the global context. The documents reviewed included the evaluation of the progress of the II AIMEL during the last seven years.

Stage 2. Work

At this stage, the delegates chose the Strategic Axis in which they wanted to participate. To this end, they sent CIAMEL the three options of their choice in priority order, so that CIAMEL could distribute the multilingual working groups.

The task of each Working Group consisted of reviewing the Working Documents of the Strategic Axis that corresponded to them; considering all the information available and the contributions made by the Regions and organizations of the Institute; and finally, drafting the title, description and justification of the Final Proposal of their Strategic Axis that would be presented for a vote in the virtual plenary session of the Assembly.

To this end, a working document was prepared, which listed all the ideas contributed by the Regions. The Delegates studied this working document, decided on the ideas for their proposal and the Secretaries of the Working Groups drew up Draft 1 of the proposal.

The delegates were encouraged to study and contribute to the other strategic axes by sending comments to the other working groups.

Prior to the plenary sessions that were held the week of 28 March to 1 April in hybrid mode, each Delegate reviewed draft 1 of the Proposal of each Strategic Axis in the III AIMEL Google Classroom platform and submitted comments with suggestions before the plenary meetings of the Assembly.

Considering the comments they received, the Working Groups made adjustments they considered appropriate to their Proposal and drafted Draft 2 of the same, which was presented at the III AIMEL plenary sessions, to be voted on.

Stage 3. Output

The objective of this stage was to present and vote on the Proposals that the Working Groups presented to all the Delegates of the III AIMEL.

All the proposals were approved in the first round, although they received a good number of suggestions to be considered in the next stage to elaborate the Lines of Action and Goals.

3.4.2 Second Phase: In-Person

The second phase of the III AIMEL with in-person modality took place from 29 October to 4 November 2022, in Rome, at the Generalate.

Encouraged by the response and endorsement of the 46th General Chapter, expressed in the following paragraph, the delegates to the Assembly took up the work of the III AIMEL.

"As part of the same family, the delegates of the 46th General Chapter share the proposals and the spirit launched by the first phase of the International Assembly for the Lasallian Educational Mission (III AIMEL), "Identity. Vitality. Transformation".

We encourage the AIMEL delegates to continue their work in the second phase. We share their proposals and justifications, while expressly committing ourselves to develop and implement them, as an essential part of the "new pathways to transform lives" that we are called to build."

Step 1. Input

With the learnings from phase 1, CIAMEL decided to prepare the in-person phase with prior online work. On 28 June 2022, a synchronous workshop was held in two time slots to learn how to create a line of action. This workshop enabled delegates to carry out asynchronous activity 1 of phase 2, which consisted of each delegate drafting a suggested line of action for the proposal created by their working group in phase 1. Delegates could even suggest lines of action for other proposals.

Stage 2. Work

From 6 to 16 September 2022, the working groups held a synchronous session to create their lines of action on the basis of suggestions prepared by their members.

In asynchronous activity 2 of this phase, scheduled from 26 September to 26 October, delegates were able to hear and comment on all the suggestions for the lines of action.

Stage 3. Output

The in-person session was held from 29 October to 4 November in Rome. It began very successfully with a trip and encounter of the delegates on the Saturday before the beginning of the sessions.

The formal opening of this phase was made by Br Armin Luistro, the new Superior General, who, in a moment of utmost importance, concluded his remarks by pointing out that “"no matter how 'good' the work we do is; if we remain 'static' then 'something is going terribly wrong'. We are called to read the signs of the times and evolve our work

and Mission to serve and meet the needs of the world and bring God's kingdom in our time.”. Delegates embraced these comments with a fervour and commitment evident in conversations during breaks and meals.

Brothers Ernest Miller and Jorge Sierra, participants in the 46th General Chapter, presented the outcome of the 46th General Chapter to the Assembly. They highlighted the 46th General Chapter's support for AIMEL's proposals with emphasis on "the communion of Brothers with lay partner to re-imagine our lives and governance; as well as the dream that with diverse vocations we are leaven and yeast for a more fraternal world to find God among the poor and to promote justice". They pointed out that we are on this journey together and by Association, and invited to live the values of: prophetic audacity, solidarity, interiority, culture of encounter, integral ecology that inspired the seven Pathways of transformation that emerged from the General Chapter and that also served to inspire the III AIMEL.

The working groups held initial meetings to refine their suggestions for the lines of action and this was followed by plenary sessions for approval of the lines of action. Each line of action was presented at least twice, the first time for getting comments and the second time for final approval. The lengthy process of the III AIMEL produced an outstanding result in a very short time.

Closing

The Assembly ended with a touching ceremony in which the proposals and their lines of action were handed over to the Superior General and the President of CIAMEL.

At this event Brother Carlos Gómez, Vicar of the Institute, among other lines of his inspiring message, stated, ...La Salle bequeathed to us a particular way of seeing, being and doing: "The spirit of this Institute is the spirit of faith and ardent zeal". Faith, which impels us to believe that with our mission we can impact the lives of our students, our Brothers and Lasallian Partners, to believe that education transforms, to believe in humanity, and to believe in the good God who inspires us and constantly calls us

to cultivate a deep spirituality that spreads humanism, fraternity and hope.

And the ardent zeal that is passion, commitment and donation to adapt peace, justice, equity and the integrity of Creation; in other words, to generate educational proposals that strengthen the human, the fraternal, the supportive: sustainable development.

A Eucharist was also celebrated with the participation of young students representing the recipients of the work carried out throughout the Assembly.

4.

Full text of the proposals of the III AIMEL

STRATEGIC AXIS 1

Governance and animation structures

TITLE

EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURES FOR THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE MISSION.

PROPOSAL 1.1 To assure the existence of a Model of Governance and a Model of Financial Sustainability that respond to and supports the style of Lasallian Association and that guarantees the vitality and continuity of the Lasallian Educational Mission.

1. That they encompass the Global, Regional, District, National and Ministries levels.

2. That they include the creation of juridical entities recognized by the national laws of each country.

3. That they recognize the diversity of the contexts where La Salle is present, at the same time that it assumes an integral vision of the present reality of the Institute.

4. That they favor leadership and participation in decisionmaking by persons with the best profiles for this task, without distinguishing between Laypersons and Brothers.

5. That they promote participative leadership, collegial management and maintain an adequate balance between subsidiarity and centralized monitoring (control), transparency and accountability based on a Code of Ethics and Good Governance.

6. That they favor cooperation and the creation of networks between the ministries, the Districts, and the Regions.

7. That they imply solidarity and financial sustainability of the most fragile ministries and the promotion of the education of the poor; as well as the formation of all Lasallians, Brothers and Lay Lasallians and the attention to the Elder Brothers.

PROPOSAL 1.2 To guarantee that CIAMEL is empowered to carry out, in a prophetic way, an effective work of Animation of the Lasallian Educational Mission and of Association in order to bring together all the ministries and institutions of the Institute in a global network committed to Lasallian Identity, Mission, and Association.

1. To address the reality and urgent challenges that the world poses to the Lasallian Educational Mission, within the framework of the Declaration of the Lasallian Educational Mission (2020).

2. To encourage the participation of all groups and subnetworks that make up the Lasallian Family, but especially women.

3. To ensure that the Lasallian Educational Mission Councils and the Governance and Funding Models and the Assemblies for Association and Mission function effectively at all levels: ministries, Country, District, Region.

4. To ensure that Districts and Regions have effective strategies for monitoring in a contextualized way the follow-up of the orientations, initiatives, and policies of the Institute.

5. To encourage the participation of Lasallians with the appropriate profile to participate in the structures of governance and decision making, without distinguishing whether they are Lay or Brothers.

6. That CIAMEL is resourced with a full-time executive staff that cooperates with other Services and Secretariats at the Centre of the Institute in the fulfilment of CIAMEL’s mandate.

1. Thanks to the participation of numerous educators and administrators who support the Educational Mission, many of them lay persons and some Brothers, La Salle has an enormous opportunity in the world to contribute to changing the lives of many children, young people and adults. Thanks to the movement that led the Brothers to share their Mission and to promote Association, not only among its members, but now among many others, this Work of God, which is also ours, can offer answers to the most pressing challenges of our time through Education. (Declaration of the Lasallian Educational Mission, 2020).

2. Over the last few years the way of carrying out this Educational Mission, supported principally by the Brothers, has been transformed. With fewer Brothers there are more ministries and more students, thanks to the other partners, men, and women.

3. The pressing demands of this Mission, the enthusiastic collaboration of the lay people and the changes in the world context have made clear signs appear on the scene that a change in the Model of Governance and in the Model of Financing is necessary and even urgent.

4. An audacious attitude is now required to respond with Faith and Hope, in new communities, as St. John Baptist de La Salle did in his time to the calls of the Spirit and to once again guarantee the continuity and viability of the Mission, through a good stewardship with governance and sustainability.

5. Some of these signs are:

a. The very enthusiasm of the lay partners and their desire for participation and empowerment.

b. The dispersion and presence of La Salle at a practically global level, incarnated in a diversity of cultures and contexts.

c. The diminishing relevance and control of the "Center of the Institute" over each District and ministries and the lack of balance between autonomy and solidarity.

d. The erosion in the clarity of roles and responsibilities between the functions of the Institute, the Regions, and the Districts.

e. The unequal distribution of the human resources of the Institute on the one hand and on the other hand the financial and economic resources.

6. The evolution of the participation of lay partners, of the processes of Association, and of the Shared Mission have transformed the reality of the Lasallian Educational Mission. The number of Brothers active in the Mission and especially their proportion in relation to lay partners continues to decrease significantly. Fortunately, for

decades we have been living a process of gradual integration of lay partners in the Mission and in its decision-making structures. However, this evolution continues to be very heterogeneous among the different Regions and Districts of the Institute. In this situation, the governance and decision-making structures that were supported by the Brothers no longer have enough people to carry them forward. In some cases, the Brothers are no longer directly present in the Educational Mission. All of this impels the Institute to go forward and to live this circumstance as a call from the Spirit to take one more step and to advance with clarity towards the transformation of the Lasallian Model of Governance in the world.

7. Similarly, the transformation of the financial structures and policies are impelled to seek new ways of resolving the financing of educational works and of the most fragile sectors of the Institute.

8. Fundamental in this search for new models and structures is the concept of Association for the Educational Mission and its implications of co-responsibility, subsidiarity, solidarity, as well as sustainability and leadership. These models may be inspired by the history of La Salle's origins when our Founder organized his first Communities and assured them vitality and stability.

9. In the search process that the Mission Assemblies and General Chapters have promoted in the past, experiences and best practices have emerged that can be shared and used by the whole Institute. A careful and profound work of reflection and study, leading to the proposal of flexible but clear and effective models, can help to take advantage of these experiences and good practices, to ensure that with respect for the diversity of the Regions of the Institute, each one of them, each District, in each country and each ministry has structures of governance and financing that assure the vitality, identity and continuity of the Mission.

LINE OF ACTION 1.1

Group of experts to offer model/s of governance and sustainability.

GOAL Have one or more governance and sustainability models for the Districts and the Institute.

DESCRIPTION Composition of the Group

The General Council and CIAMEL will appoint a team of experts (e.g., 5 to 7) to explore, discern, and propose implementation of governance and sustainability models for various governance structures across the Institute.

The group of experts will be composed by persons who are experts in governance and financial sustainability of international organizations (religious orders; NGOs; etc.). It aspires to be representative of the diversity of the Institute and could also include persons from outside the Lasallian Family.

Intended Outcomes

A "Model" is understood as a scheme that includes all the elements that are part of a structure and the relationships between them. It is attentive to the appropriate civic and canonical entities recognized by the national/local laws of each jurisdiction and any other applicable international financial regulations or guidelines.

The model/s will consider and respond to the needs highlighted in this proposal.

This group could also be considered (or could contribute) in the fulfillment of Commitments 3.4, 7.2, and 7.3 of the 46th General Chapter.

The group will deliver the results to CIAMEL, the General Council and the Superior General, who together will decide how best to

PROPOSED

RESPONSIBLE

use the results to strengthen the governance and sustainability of the Districts, Delegations, Regions and the entire Institute.

Proposed Methodology

The group will consider experiences and best practices, diversity and interculturality to make a proposal for one or several governance and sustainability models for the Districts and for the Institute.

The group should conduct interviews or solicit inputs to learn current/past and possible/future effective structures, systems, and models of governance and sustainability, especially around Shared Mission, across the Institute and beyond.

a. Superior General,

b. General Council and

c. CIAMEL

PROPOSED SCHEDULE

January-March 2023: Identification and formation of a group of experts (Following a joint meeting of the General Council and CIAMEL)

December 2024: Delivery of Outcomes

LINE OF ACTION

1.2 Updating of the Statutes of CIAMEL to effectively animate the Lasallian Educational Mission.

GOAL Have CIAMEL Statutes that:

1. Clarify CIAMEL’s role in the Institute and the scope of its work in the Lasallian Mission and Family and,

2. Ensure alignment with the orientations of AIMEL 2020 and the 46th General Chapter.

DESCRIPTION CIAMEL, together with the Superior General and the General Council, will appoint a committee from among the members of these two bodies – which may include other persons – to make a proposal to update its Statutes. This group will also:

1. Clarify roles and responsibilities between CIAMEL and present/future Central Secretariats and Services of the Institute (e.g., Association & Mission, Solidarity, Formation, Resources, and Young Lasallians).

2. Identify the means for CIAMEL to animate and take further responsibilities to ensure the growth and effectiveness of all (Regional and District) Lasallian Educational Mission Council/structures, in response to the orientations of AIMEL 2020.

3. Identify the best means to appoint full-time executive personnel required to accomplish CIAMEL’s mandate and mission.

The committee may consider feedback and inputs from other individuals or groups in addition to the General Council or CIAMEL.

PROPOSED RESPONSIBLE

a. Superior General, b. General Council and c. CIAMEL PROPOSED SCHEDULE

January 2023: Appointment of the committee

June 2023: Delivery of Outcomes

STRATEGIC AXIS 2

Formation and accompaniment

TITLE BUILDING AND REVITALIZING FORMATION AND ACCOMPANIMENT FOR THE FUTURE OF THE LASALLIAN MISSION.

PROPOSAL 2 In order to offer and develop formation and accompaniment of Lasallians with the aim of strengthening Lasallian identity, spirituality and association for the mission, we propose that:

1. Develop, support and share plans of initial and ongoing formation based on context and needs of people involved locally or regionally in the mission.

2. Promote, provide, and share resources for formation and accompaniment in the Districts, Regions and at the Center of the Institute.

3. Ensure quality formation and accompaniment for Brothers and Partners, which will nurture and enhance the Lasallian identity and spirituality, foster a sense of belonging, value fraternal relationships, develop a sense of community and create awareness of educational service for and with the poor.

JUSTIFICACIÓN

1. The initial and ongoing formation programs develop a sense of belonging and identity of Lasallians. It also promotes and encourages projects that are rooted in the reality of current times and are in accordance with the Lasallian educational mission.

2. Formation and accompaniment programs will help Lasallians respond to those entrusted to our care, in varied and creative ways, while living in fidelity with the Lasallian charism.

LINE OF ACTION 2.1

3. Formation in the Lasallian mission creates opportunities to build and nurture a Lasallian identity which chart new paths to keeping the mission alive, dynamic and meaningful.

4. Lasallian formation for mission promotes unity amidst diversity. It highlights what unites Brothers and other Lasallians in the mission. It develops and strengthens spirituality. It also creates and provides new and different ways to share the Lasallian charism.

5. Lasallians involved in continuous formation processes are co-responsible for the dynamism of the mission. (Lasallian Formation for Mission: The Pilgrim’s Handbook [2019], p.54)

6. Building a Lasallian culture begins with a shared understanding of the Lasallian story, identity, charism and mission and core values. (Lasallian Formation for Mission: The Pilgrim’s Handbook [2019], p.54)

7. Effective formation needs supportive structures and access to resources. As much as possible, to facilitate a clear formative pilgrimage, the formation experiences should be regular, stable, strategically oriented and above all be related to the particular context in which they are lived. (Lasallian Formation for Mission: The Pilgrim’s Handbook [2019], p.54)

Formation and accompaniment collaborative network

GOAL Enhance and promote an international and collaborative network that will ensure relevant formation and accompaniment of all Lasallians (Brothers and Partners) in different contexts.

DESCRIPTION Enhancement and promotion of such a formation network will:

1. Provide opportunities (such as a framework, models, best practices), to strengthen formation and accompaniment at

PROPOSED RESPONSIBLE

all levels (local, District, Region, Institute) for all Lasallians;

2. Require a platform/channels/ media and personnel to facilitate the sharing of resources.

3. Enhance joint formation processes (Brothers – Partners, inter-District or international).Help to explore new pathways of formation and assess the quality of formation with the help of University research

4. Help to explore possibilities of formation in answer to the call of the 46th General Chapter and Institute documents such as: Pilgrim’s Handbook, Declaration, Pathways of Transformation, Identity Criteria, A Conversation for the Lasallian Family, etc.

Desired projects:

1. Centralized repository of formation tools, formators and content used in the Lasallian mission;

2. Creation of a repository of formation plans taking place throughout the Lasallian world;

3. Identify the themes of formation that are unexplored;

4. Joint formation initiatives;

5. Provide a consultancy service (to create, enhance, and review formation programs and processes) for districts or regions that request it;

6. Identify and share best practices.

a. The Secretariat for Formation and

b. The Secretariat for Association and Mission

PROPOSED SCHEDULE

June 2023

a. Establish a group of experts to reflect on and define the role and responsibilities of the collaborative network and set up the working schedule.

b. Explore the possibility of setting up a Formation committee in each Region.

STRATEGIC AXIS 3

Lasallian association and community

TITLE EFFECTIVE STRUCTURES OF ASSOCIATION AND INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY FOR LASALLIAN COMMITMENT.

PROPOSAL 3 The signs of the times require us to review the current reality of association, as well as to create and further develop opportunities, structures, and networks that will:

1. Establish, foster, and secure structures of belonging, commitment, and Association in each District.

2. Build and continue to develop intentional communities of Lasallians to share mission, life, spirituality, and faith.

3. Ensure formation in Lasallian identity for all Lasallians in the various stages of engagement in Association for Mission.

4. Ensure accompaniment and governance from the context of Lasallian Association.

JUSTIFICATION De La Salle and the first Brothers realized that no individual can accomplish the mission alone, but it is possible to do it "together and by Association" through an educational and faith-filled community (A Conversation for the Lasallian Family: Deepening

our Identity. 2020. p. 20) Since our origins, Association is a foundational expression of the Lasallian charism.

It is not possible to live and understand Lasallian mission and spirituality today without reference to the original commitment to live the mission "together and by Association.”

Today, it is necessary to pave the way towards an Association based on a free commitment to an integral Lasallian formation process. This will enable the Lasallian Family to strengthen the commitment of all Lasallians, enchanted and challenged by the mission, so that they can build a more just, supportive, and fraternal world in favor of the most vulnerable.

We need to create, encourage, and sustain transformative and innovative opportunities, structures, and networks of Association for mission. The Lasallian Family serves the needs of the most vulnerable in society, creating vitality for the mission with new and existing forms of Association and thus sustaining identity and commitment.

The call and the journey of Association for the Lasallian Family are not because there are fewer Brothers to do the work but rather a response from the movement of the Holy Spirit and a continual commitment to read the signs of the times, to address the needs of those entrusted to our care, and to build the Reign of God.

Nevertheless, without structures of Association, the absence of Brothers in many Districts in a very near future places Lasallian Mission at risk.

The Lasallian Family recognizes the number of committed Lasallian/Associates engaged in the Lasallian educational mission today.

Developing of a better and more effective linkage between the Institute, Regions, and Districts in terms of shared mission is critically necessary. A strong bond between Brothers and committed Lasallians/Associates in shared mission will allow us to live our shared vocational journey.

LINE OF ACTION

3.1

The direction of structures and plans regarding Association should come from AIMEL and CIAMEL. In light of the 46th General Chapter’s theme on Association, it is critical for these bodies to speak for the Lasallian Family and offer clear direction and insight to Chapter delegates.

We need to develop Vatican II’s “ecclesiology of communion” and respond prophetically to the challenge of the responsibility of the laity, especially women, in the Church or in their own faith traditions.

Association is the opportunity to recreate and strengthen the life of the Brothers and the role of their Brothers' Communities.

Association implies sharing faith, a sense of community, and opportunities for generating new expressions of Lasallian spirituality.

Create and implement a Strategic Plan* of Association for the Lasallian Mission in each District.

*Strategic Plan: A document in which the decisions, the goals to be achieved, the actions to be carried out, the roadmap and the means to achieve the objective to be achieved are expressed.

GOAL Develop and implement a Strategic Plan in each District with the participation of Brothers and Lasallian Partners to advance Association for Mission in the local context.

DESCRIPTION CIAMEL will provide guidance and accompaniment, as needed, so that the Plan:

1. Be created from the local reality, from the lived experience and from the official documents of the Institute on Association for Mission.

PROPOSED RESPONSIBLE

2. Be closely related to the strategic plan on governance of each District requested by the 46th General Chapter. "Renewed Structures of Government." (Circular 478, 3.2).

3. Include a process that fosters and creates fraternities, communities and/or other intentional Lasallian groups that respond to and reflect local needs.

4. Assume that the Lasallian Family accepts the plurality of vocational options and avoids the risk of creating levels, classes, or status.

5. Provide for appropriate resources.

a. CIAMEL, in cooperation with

b. the Secretariats of Association, Mission, and

c. the MEL Councils (Accompany the Districts in this task and offer orientations and examples, especially where a Plan does not exist).

PROPOSED SCHEDULE June 2024: Districts submit their plan to the Secretariat for Association.

STRATEGIC AXIS 4

Culture of vocations

TITLE CULTURE OF VOCATIONS: CREATING PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY SPACES AND CONTEXTS FOR VOCATION ACCOMPANIMENT AND DISCERNMENT.

PROPOSAL 4 Develop a vision and plan for a culture of vocations rooted within the context of local educational works and ministries. This culture of vocations engages each person’s vocational journey within the community and includes the formation

JUSTIFICATION

of the members of the educational community. It focuses on accompaniment and discernment while encouraging new forms of community and spiritual life for all Lasallians in a manner that responds to the signs of times.

1. That Circular 475 be used widely as a grounding document to develop a common understanding of the meaning of culture of vocation.

2. That Circular 475 be used as a resource in developing, assessing, and sustaining a local culture of vocation.

3. That a thriving culture of vocations be nurtured in every context with spiritual accompaniment and vocation development opportunities for Brothers, Sisters, Lasallian Partners, students, alumni, retired Lasallians, and all those inspired by the Lasallian mission.

1. We want to invite all Lasallians to contribute to the creation of a "culture of vocations" in whatever environment they find themselves. It is addressed to everyone, Christian or not, poor or rich, to those who live the Lasallian charism and to those who do not live it (Circular 475. From Hope to Commitment: Understanding Lasallian Vocations, p. 27).

2. A "culture of vocations" requires a cultural shift and challenges us to commit ourselves to this change. In the context of the Lasallian Family, this cultural shift presents three challenges: involvement, collaboration, and intentionality (Circular 475. From Hope to Commitment: Understanding Lasallian Vocations, p. 29).

3. Creating spaces for vocational discernment can lead to a deepening understanding of Lasallian spirituality, which recognizes the presence of God in the faces of all persons, especially the most vulnerable.

4. A "culture of vocations" creates the conditions that allow each person to discover how God wants them to love, as

well as the place to carry out this particular vocation as a response to the needs of the world, especially those of the poor (Circular 475. From Hope to Commitment: Understanding Lasallian Vocations p. 29).

5. The complexities of today’s multicultural and multireligious context present urgencies and challenges to the Lasallian Educational Mission. These urgencies and challenges demand educational communities that are viable and sustainable over time, communities that create an atmosphere where individuals and the community as a whole can reflect on God's call to respond to present and future needs.

6. Formation in different areas, particularly in experiences of educational attention to the poor, the promotion of justice and catechesis, allows for a deepening understanding of various Lasallian vocations and their implications for Lasallian community life, spirituality, and mission. We are called to strengthen the Mission, Spirituality and to continue to appropriate the Lasallian Charism because this work of God is also ours and it requires a response to the educational calls of the world context.

7. That as Lasallians authentically live out their vocational calls in responding to the signs of the times, we may serve as prophetic examples of a thriving culture of vocation to those beyond the Lasallian educational mission.

LINE OF ACTION 4.1

Creation of a Culture of Vocations Plan for all Lasallians. GOAL Create and implement in all Districts, Delegations or Sectors a Culture of Vocations Plan by 2025.

DESCRIPTION In order for this goal to be achieved, the Secretariats involved will develop and facilitate a process whereby each District, Delegation or Sector creates, elaborates upon, and implements a Culture of

Vocations Plan in accordance with the proposals of Circular 475 and in alignment with the pathway of transformation number 6 from the 46th General Chapter.

1. Promote the reading of and familiarity with Circular 475 at all levels of the District, Delegation or Sector.

2. Create a culture of vocations team at the District, Delegation or Sector level that has the task of moving the culture of vocations work forward.

3. This team will develop a process to identify the existing reality in each local context via self-assessment.

4. Identify both the formation needs for the development of the plan and the training proposals necessary to implement a culture of vocations.

5. At the District, Delegation or Sector levels, draw up a culture of vocations formation plan, based on the needs identified.

6. At the Institute level, the Secretariats create a shared space to propose an outline of what these plans should be like and offer examples of Districts, Delegations or Sectors that already have them; including formation opportunities for culture of vocation teams at the local level.

7. Each District or Delegation submits a status report to the Secretariats outlining the implementation realities. This will include a self-evaluation component.

8. The Secretariats will carry out a monitoring process every two years, either directly through the Regions or those responsible for this area at the District, Delegation or Sector level. The Secretariats will present the results of this monitoring to CIAMEL.

PROPOSED RESPONSIBLE PROPOSED SCHEDULE

a. All Secretariats concerned.

b. MEL Councils of the Districts, Delegations or Sectors.

September 2023 - December 2023.

Reading of and reflection upon Circular 475 across the local levels.

December 2023 - August 2024.

a. Creation of culture of vocations teams/ working groups at the District, Delegation or Sector levels.

b. Assess local realities and develop self-assessment processes.

c. Identify needs for the drafting of formation plans and proposals.

September 2024 - August 2025.

a. At the District, Delegation or Sector levels, draw up the culture of vocations formation plan.

b. Secretariats concerned create a shared platform that outlines necessary components, shares best practices, provides support resources, and f training as needed.

September 2025 - December 2025.

Status reports with self-evaluation components submitted to Secretariats.

Ongoing . The Secretariats present the reports of the ongoing monitoring and evaluation process to CIAMEL, every two years.

STRATEGIC AXIS 5

Service to the poor and inclusion

TITLE LASALLIAN RESPONSE TOWARD ERADICATING POVERTY THROUGH INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES.

PROPOSAL 5

To create, support, promote and implement at each District or local level of ministry, as appropriate, sustainable programs and intentional communities to eradicate poverty in its various forms through strengthening principles of inclusivity, the culture of fraternity and co-responsibility.

JUSTIFICATION

Eradicating poverty, and its different forms, is central to the Lasallian Mission where communities and educational ministries integrate the principles of inclusion with recognition and respect for diversity and uniqueness of the individual and communities. The Lasallian response calls for Brothers and Partners to work together and by association in the service of and with the poor. This includes not only the materially poor but those who are marginalized because of race, religion, gender and disability.

As Lasallian individuals and a community, we are called to promote the Christian vision of humanity:

1. Embracing new lifestyles eliminating the discrepancies between what we proclaim and what we do.

2. Embracing our preferential option of the poor, “specificity of the Institute”, through a proactive promotion of justice fighting any factor of exclusion offering quality education, healthcare, and redistribution of wealth.

3. Promotion of inclusive leadership requires a reallocation of Institute resources to invest in bridging the technological gap between Regions, Districts, Sectors, and Delegations to ensure full and active participation throughout the Institute in forming its future.

LINE OF ACTION 5.1

Integration of the importance of Education for Social Justice in all Ministries.

GOAL Create or reinforce in all ministries a culture of justice in their curricular and co-curricular programs and build open and inclusive educational communities.

DESCRIPTION Enhance existing educational services with the poor or create new ones and provide the appropriate human and financial resources.

Key Aspects or Activities:

1. Review, integrate and institutionalize service-learning opportunities in the curriculum and co-curricular programs of educational institutions to understand and address the issues of marginalized sectors of society in alignment with the Declaration on the Lasallian Educational Mission and the Global Compact on Education.

2. Foster connections among Lasallians through expanded international networks in order to enrich their cultural and global awareness and share best practices and resources for integrating justice, peace and the integrity of creation.

3. Expand the Lasallian International Volunteer Program.

Indicators of Success and Basis for Evaluation:

1. Initiating regular activities to address one or more of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, because of the Lasallian commitment of educational service with the poor and the promotion of justice (see Declaration 3.5.2.a).

2. Creating a database, dashboard, and process for collecting data regarding the outcomes and initiatives responding to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

PROPOSED RESPONSIBLE

3. Institutionalization of service learning in the various educational communities.

a. Secretariats of the Institute

b. Secretariat for the Lasallian Educational Mission

c. Districts/Regions/Countries/Institutions

PROPOSED SCHEDULE 2023: Project Development 2024: Project Implementation 2025: Sharing of experiences and best practices

2026:

Continuation and expansion of projects and partnerships

LINE OF ACTION 5.2

GOAL

Lasallian response to the fragile sectors of the Institute.

Make a significant impact on the educational challenges of fragile sectors.

DESCRIPTION The Institute will Identify the educational challenges in fragile sectors and engage the Lasallian Family to respond accordingly as one global Lasallian educational community exploiting the strength of the global brand. This will ensure increased synergy and collaboration among the Lasallian institutions thus widening our reach and heightening our impact. The Superior General, General Council and CIAMEL will decide which sector or sectors to prioritize.

PROPOSED RESPONSIBLE

The project will require:

Human resources:

1. Invest in formation of Brothers and Partners according to a clear educational plan based on prioritized needs assessments of fragile sectors.

2. Invest in teacher training and development of other education professionals in order to lift the standard of education in the most fragile sectors.

3. Create, expand and enhance partnerships (for example, NGOs, government agencies, others) to provide support and equal access to resources and services, and identify structural solutions to address the causes of the various forms of poverty.

Financial Resources:

To advance the implementation of the 46th General Chapter line of action on co-responsibility: it is expected that contributions will be made by all sectors of the Lasallian Family, building on initiatives already in place in the Districts.

Indicators of Success and Basis for Evaluation:

1. Engage IALU to conduct actionable research to analyze and evaluate the impact of initiatives to address the educational challenges of fragile sectors.

2. An annual report on the collection and use of funds raised for the Solidarity Fund.

a. General Council & Brother Visitors

b. Secretariats in collaboration with one another

c. Secretariat of Solidarity and Development

d. General Bursar

e. Heads of Institutions

PROPOSED SCHEDULE 2022: Starting date 2023:

a. Priorities identified.

b. First phase report prepared in advance of IV AIMEL and 47th GC. 2028 - 2029: Impact research conducted.

STRATEGIC AXIS 6

Evangelization

TITLE A LASALLIAN EDUCATION CENTRED ON THE GOSPEL OF JESUS AND DEDICATED TO SPIRITUAL ACCOMPANIMENT AND DIALOGUE.

PROPOSAL 6 To implement innovative methodologies for accompaniment and education regarding interiority and in the practice of human and evangelical values.

1. To promote the religious, moral and spiritual education and accompaniment of children and young people and of all Lasallians, being attentive to the specific needs in matters, Lasallian interiority, spirituality and faith.

1. To welcome all people of good will to discern their Lasallian vocational call.

JUSTIFICATION

2. To engage in prophetic witness that responds to the signs of the times.

3. To commit to interreligious, intercultural and intergenerational dialogue being inclusive of people who profess a faith other than Christianity or none at all.

4. To be attentive to the specific needs of children and young people and be able to cultivate interiority, faith and spirituality among them.

5. To get closer to the reality of children and young people in order to know their world better, to connect with their language and to update the means of evangelization.

6. To promote the creation and consolidation of educational communities with a spiritual and life-giving dimension.

1. Understanding the role of the Catholic Church in a pluralistic world and the role of believers within the Church are important issues that determine evangelizing and catechetical processes themselves. These issues cannot be lost sight of as a very important number of Lasallians, students and teachers, belong to other Christian denominations, to different faiths and religious traditions, or they live a very personal spirituality without affiliations. There is no doubt that this richness also poses important challenges for Lasallians in the field of ecumenism, religious freedom and multi-culturalism. (Declaration on the Lasallian Educational Mission. Challenges, convictions and hopes. P.78)

2. The Lasallian educator is called to nourish one’s interior life, to enrich one’s spirit, and is called to holiness. The Lasallian educational community is called to educate, nourish, and accompany the inner life of those entrusted to their care. Drawing on the innovative spirit in the Lasallian heritage, the educational community helps young people to perceive the mystery of the Divine presence

in themselves and the community. Educational centers are places of welcome and encounter with the Loving Transcendent. This evangelizing project leads young people to an engagement and encounter to promote justice and reconciliation within the community and the world.

3. The Lasallian involved in his work, project or mission, is called to be nourished in interiority and enriched in spirit, called to Transcendence and to sanctity in the tradition of faith and zeal for the educational mission to the children and young people begun by the Founder and the first Brothers initiated. Lasallians are called to nourish and share this view of interiority-spirituality, to perceive the mystery of the Divine indwelling in the mist of educational mission. The educational centers become places of an Encounter with Transcendence, known in many faith traditions as God’s presence. (A Conversation for the Lasallian Family, Deepening our identity, p. 13).

4. Each generation needs a fresh proclamation and relevant articulation of the person and message of Jesus Christ. Each generation hungers to hear and act upon the good news that God is close and is living and loving in our very being. The Lasallian educational community, drawing on its history and heritage, uses its innovative spirit to evangelize in ways that are theologically coherent and experientially relevant to each generation.

5. In creative fidelity to the Founder and the first Brothers, who made as a priority the cultivation of the inner life of the young people entrusted to their care, evangelization in the Lasallian educational community dedicates itself to awakening one’s inner life to the presence of God, who is loving and living in the human heart and soul.

6. In the face of forces that tempt the young person to put distance between oneself and the sacred, evangelization in the Lasallian educational community is marked by deep listening to the experience and perspective of the young

in order to help them identify the spiritual hunger and the desire for meaning that emerges from their hearts.

7. The Lasallian educational community’s “anthropology” is rooted in the fundamental conviction is that each person is an image of God, is wanted by God, and beloved by God.

LINE OF ACTION 6.1

Revitalization of our commitment for education in interiority, spiritual accompaniment and evangelization.

GOAL To ensure an entity at the Institute level (Secretariat, network, commission…) that will promote and support the education of interiority, spiritual accompaniment, and evangelization, at the regional, District, Sector and Delegation level*, while reading the signs of the times.

* “all levels of Institute and members of the Lasallian Family”.

(Cfr. Rule 17.2, 46th CG. Commitment 1.5 and 2.3 and Circular 461, 5.6)

DESCRIPTION

The entity will work closely with all levels of the Institute and all members of the Lasallian Family to foster the development of the education of interiority, spiritual accompaniment and evangelization.

In particular, it will communicate and collaborate with teacher training centers, Lasallian education research centers, universities and people who are responsible for the education of interiority, spiritual accompaniment and evangelization to promote specific projects and actions.

The same entity shall create a work plan and submit it to the General Council and CIAMEL for approval. The plan shall include, at least, its form of work, activities and its annual budget. Its tasks will be:

1. To collect and disseminate information through a database that includes experts, successful experiences,

specialized centers, periodic regional or global events, among other items and also the people responsible for the education of interiority, spiritual accompaniment and evangelization at all levels of the Lasallian Mission.

2. To encourage and create new methodologies for the education of interiority, spiritual accompaniment and evangelization.

3. To disseminate best practices and new methodologies using all possible means seminars, courses, workshops, graphic materials, online programs, technical resources, etc.

4. In particular,

a. To develop new methodologies that foster interreligious, intergenerational, and multicultural dialogue among educators of all religious beliefs and spiritual sensibilities and non-believers.

b. To invite Regions, Districts, Sectors and Delegations to implement at least one new methodology.

RESPONSABLES PROPUESTOS

a. Brother Superior General and his Council

b. CIAMEL

c. The members of the entity (Secretariat, Network, Commission or other).

CALENDARIO PROPUESTO 2022-2023

Stage 1. Appointment of the entity. Creation of the work plan

2024

Stage 2. Implementation of the plan.

2027 Stage 3. The evaluation of the entity’s work and revision of the plan if it is necessary.

STRATEGIC AXIS 7

Citizen training and social sense

TITLE LASALLIAN EDUCATIONAL COMMUNITIES FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIETY: CRITICAL CITIZENSHIP, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND INTEGRAL ECOLOGY, A NEW WORLD IS POSSIBLE

PROPOSAL 7 To sustain and enhance our efforts to collaborate globally for the transformation of the world, the Lasallian educational communities are called to:

1. Promote the formation of critical citizenship for the exercise of a civic responsibility that seeks the common good of society.

2. Develop service-oriented social responsibility and integral ecology.

3. Contribute to the sustainability of our common home for the benefit of all humanity, especially the most vulnerable.

4. Renew our social commitment, as a response to the signs of the times, considering the distinctive values of the Lasallian Educational Mission, especially fraternity, justice, equality, and inclusion.

JUSTIFICATION A new world is possible through the hope transmitted by the international network of Lasallian educational communities animated by the values of the gospel.

The Lasallian Educational Mission acquires its deepest meaning through the pedagogy of fraternity preparing for life. It provides all members of the educational community, skills, and tools to relate to themselves (inner life) and to others, creating a special appreciation for the beauty, sustainability of life and the Common Home.

Fundamental in Lasallian education is a global citizen formation that generates local impacts on civic ethics and that is manifested in daily actions, through probity, solidarity, transparency, responsibility, and compassion.

In addition, it promotes critical thinking to care for our Common Home, allowing us to analyze, understand and interpret the world in which we live to enrich education, since superficiality is increasingly present, and the interior life more absent.

Due to the inadequate management of environmental and social realities, the Common Home (integral ecology) is in danger:

1. New forms of poverty and exclusion have emerged, so it is essential to promote the inclusion of the diversity of cultures, religions, and social classes in Lasallian education.

2. The different lifestyles that are commonly used in the new generations have generated an increase in anxiety in young people, for which it is recommended:

d. Help them express their thirst for justice and their aspirations for change.

e. Promote the development of a sense of dialogue and multiculturalism.

f. Guide them to commit to discernment.

g. Educate them in respect for nature, the environment and human life.

3. We assume this responsibility by enhancing talents, developing skills, promoting critical thinking, citizen

training, respect for the environment, human life, and integral ecology, through Lasallian values for the benefit of all, especially those most in need.

LINE OF ACTION 7.1

Lasallians united and in communion with other institutions for critical citizenship, integral ecology, and social responsibility.

GOAL Sustain an increase in District, Regional and international collaboration to respond to the commitments of the 46th General Chapter regarding critical citizenship, integral ecology, and social responsibility, inspired by the Declaration and aligned with the Global Compact on Education and the Laudato Si' Action Platform.

DESCRIPTION The Lasallian Educational Communities will be responsible to:

1. Ensure adherence to the Global Compact on Education, the Laudato Si’ Action Platform and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

2. Document and share the progress of commitments on the issues of integral ecology, social responsibility, and critical citizenship.

3. Encourage collaboration and integration of projects between all levels of education related to critical citizenship, social responsibility, and integral ecology.

4. Utilize the Lasallian global network to share talents, resources, educational experiences, and best practices through information and communication technologies (ICT).

5. Develop processes and actions that promote an institutional culture consistent with the commitments made for integral ecology, critical citizenship, and social responsibility, involving the Institute, the Regions, and the Districts.

PROPOSED RESPONSIBLE

6. Foster collaboration with multisectoral partnerships within the Lasallian Family, the Church and other private and governmental institutions to design and deploy innovative solutions that address issues of critical citizenship, social responsibility, and integral ecology.

a. Lasallian Educational Communities

b. CIAMEL

c. Regional Mission Secretaries

d. Persons Responsible for the Educational Mission of the Districts

e. District MEL Counselors

f. IALU

PROPOSED SCHEDULE

2023: Collect and organize data in each of the Districts in which best practices are already being conducted in relation to the curricular integration of education projects in critical citizenship and integral ecology.

2024

Generate and implement in each District a formation program for the entire Lasallian Family.

2025: Generate District and regional opportunities to share good practices on programs or projects related to critical citizenship and integral ecology.

Sustain over time the implementation of projects with constant evaluation.

STRATEGIC AXIS 8 Identity of the educational work

TITLE THE VITALITY OF THE LASALLIAN IDENTITY AS THE DYNAMIC AXIS OF THE MISSION IN NEW CONTEXTS.

PROPOSAL 8 Based on the Declaration on the Lasallian Educational Mission and Identity Criteria for the Vitality of Lasallian Educational Ministries we wish:

1. To deepen the understanding of Lasallian identity around the world from its expression in different contexts, and its evolution in response to the signs of the times.

2. That each District supported by its region develops its ability to adapt, support and strengthen Lasallian identity and to evaluate whether its identity is operating in a relevant way within educational works.

JUSTIFICATION

Identity can be considered as the set of characteristics in which all Lasallians can recognize themselves.

This identity should be a vehicle of unity among Lasallians and of dynamism for the Lasallian educational mission, which must continue to remain attentive to the changes in society and the emergence of new educational needs.

The identity must, therefore, be defined in order to serve the vitality of the mission in creative fidelity.

It is therefore important to:

1. Have a better understanding of Lasallian identity and its capacity to thrive in different contexts.

2. Define a frequency of reviewing the reference documents of the Institute and the Districts that guide our actions to ensure that they reflect our changing world and educational needs.

LINE OF ACTION 8.1

3. promote and give testimony to Lasallian educational identity by:

a. reinforcing the brand "LA SALLE", the image of the Lasallian mission and its educational relevance.

b. developing a sense of belonging among the members of the Lasallian Family.

c. being at the service of all who are involved in and benefit from the mission.

d. working in a spirit of solidarity and mutual support.

Updating and strengthening of Lasallian identity.

GOAL To strengthen the vitality of Lasallian identity by:

4. Ensuring the Lasallian documents specified below are accessible through translation and contextualization.

5. Evaluating the vitality of Lasallian Identity based on the “Identity Criteria for the Vitality of Lasallian Educational Ministries” in order to develop plans for continuous improvement.

6. Sharing best practices.

DESCRIPTION The Vitality of Lasallian identity will be enhanced by

1. Responding to the need for accessibility, appropriation and contextualization through translation into local languages including the following documents:

a. “Declaration on the Lasallian Educational Mission”

b. “Identity Criteria for the Vitality of Lasallian Educational Ministries”

PROPOSED RESPONSIBLE

c. “Lasallian Formation for Mission: The Pilgrim’s Handbook”

d. As well as possible additional documents determined by CIAMEL

In some Districts this should include an adaptation of Lasallian documents with a team of translators adapting them to the needs of the local contexts.

In this process synergies between Districts, Mission Councils and the university network (IALU) should support the districts in need of resources.

Districts share relevant translations or adaptation of the documents and provide a copy for the archives in Rome.

2. Evaluating the vitality of the Lasallian identity using the “Identity Criteria for the Vitality of Lasallian Educational Ministries” process every 3-5 years to ensure continuous improvement and implementation of documents.

Districts can rely on the support of the Secretariat for Association and Mission, which has developed specific tools to implement the process.

Districts share their assessment results and action plan with the District Mission Councils and the Secretariat.

3. The annual sharing and promotion of at least one best practice or experience on Lasallian Identity in each ministry or District, which will be ensured by each District.

a. CIAMEL

b. Secretariat for Association and Mission

c. Districts, Regions, Mission Councils

PROPOSED SCHEDULE

Starting 2023: Entrust Districts and/or Mission Councils with the task of commissioning appropriate translations of the selected texts at the District level.

By 2029:

Districts share their translations of the texts and provide a copy for the archives in Rome.

Starting 2023: Each District applies the identity criteria as an instrument to evaluate Lasallian identity in each educational ministry.

By 2029: Share the results of the evaluation with the District Mission Councils and the Secretariat for Association and Mission.

Starting 2023:

The annual sharing of at least one best practice on Lasallian Identity will be offered and later reported at District level.

5.

By way of conclusion, the letter that the Delegates of the III AIMEL sent to the entire Lasallian Family at the end of the in-person phase is presented here.

Rome 5, November 2022

III AIMEL Message to the Lasallian Family

From October 29 to November 5, 2022, a total of 110 Brothers and Lasallian educators gathered in Rome to celebrate the second phase of the International Assembly for the Lasallian Educational Mission.

Due to the COVID pandemic, the first phase had to be held online. Thankfully the second phase could be held in person. During the first phase, the delegates developed proposals and their justifications for each of the eight axes or central themes of the AIMEL.

The work of the second phase focused on drafting the lines of action for the proposals, which have been presented to, and accepted by the 46th General Chapter. These lines of action would now make the proposals operational. They were created by inter linguistic groups that were formed of delegates from all the Institute Regions.

Once these lines of action had been drafted, the secretaries of the groups presented them to the general AIMEL Assembly for comments and suggestions. Later, the final draft of the lines of action was presented to the Assembly. Our dialogue was, at all times, rich, profound and fraternal, seeking points of convergence and respecting the diversity of opinions.

All the lines of action take into account the road that has already been traveled in the Lasallian mission, and they open new doors to the future. All of them were finally accepted by a majority vote of more than two thirds.

We, the delegates of AIMEL, want to express our thanks to:

• The Districts and Delegations for the trust they have placed in us.

• The Superior General, the General Council and all the Secretariats and Services of the Generalate. We have felt "at home" at all times.

• The members of CIAMEL and all the people who have made this great experience of shared Lasallian mission possible. We believe that the work that has been done has been very fruitful, and that the decisions that have been made are a bold response to the calls that we received from those in the Lasallian mission and from the 46th General Chapter.

We have shared an experience of mutual understanding, of a work well done, of fraternal live and of shared prayer. We return to our homes ready to share and live what we have discerned and decided here together.

Fraternally in Jesus and La Salle. The members of III AIMEL 2020

Appendixes 6.

6.1

WELCOMING REMARKS OF THE FIRST PHASE, BY BR ROBERT SCHIELER, SUPERIOR GENERAL

WELCOMING REMARKS

BROTHER ROBERT SCHIELER FSC

SUPERIOR GENERAL

“The future enters into us in order to transform itself in us long before it happens.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the third International Mission Assembly. I appreciate the creative responses of those who have prepared the assembly to the conditions imposed by the pandemic. I also appreciate your good will and spirit of collaboration as you generously adapt to the assembly’s hybrid format. I express my sincere gratitude to the members of CIAMEL and gratefully recognize their generous donation of talents and time. I am especially grateful to our wonderful Partners who have given so much to our mission of human and Christian education while attending to their families and fulltime responsibilities in their respective Lasallian ministries.

The theme of the assembly is Identity, Vitality and Transformation: together we can do it. Transformation is the key: I believe that we discover our identity and ensure our vitality through our transformation. Transformation requires us to courageously step into the unknown. “There are no maps, quick fixes, easy answers or guarantees. It is the nature of transformation to not know what lies ahead.” 3

Furthermore, the possibility of transformation is motivated by our responses to a host of preliminary questions. For example:

Δ How do we move the global Institute and the world-wide Lasallian Family towards a future where we joyfully and effectively witness to Jesus Christ and his project for the Reign of God in an attractive and relevant way?

Δ How do we deal with educational communities and other centers that no longer respond to the criteria of Lasallian identity?

Δ Are we contemplating reality with the eyes of faith so as to respond to the emerging needs of the People of God as ministers of God and ambassadors of Jesus Christ who

desire that everyone, especially those who are poor, can live life to the fullest?

Δ Are we willing to let go of certain structures and ways of doing things so as to allow new life to come into being?

These and other questions invite us to consider a doublefaceted transformation: interior and exterior; or, personal and institutional.

Two thousand years ago, Saint Paul wrote a letter to the nascent Church at Rome. He said to those first Christians:

Approximately 320 years ago, writing a meditation to his Brothers on the feast of Jesus’ Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, Saint La Salle wrote:

"I urge you, brothers [and sisters], to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may be able to discern what it is that God wants." (Rm. 12: 1-2).

The change which must take place in us is interior; we must be entirely transformed by the light and fullness of grace and by the possession of the Spirit of God.4

We must “renew our minds”, view reality in light of the Gospel, so that we can discern the best way forward. Walking and conversing with others, sharing our stories and praying together provide us with signposts that indicate the best path to follow.

In Lasallian Formation for Mission: A Pilgrim’s Handbook, we read:

From the charismatic founding event that gave birth to the Lasallian story, dialogue between personal and communal experiences has always been the starting point for the formation pilgrimage. Lasallian identity and spirituality find their origins in the practice of reflecting on daily experiences to recognize God’s loving presence and action. This dynamic interaction ‘touches the hearts’ of Lasallians and moves them to become co-workers with God in the mission.5

The purpose of this assembly is to reflect on our experiences and allow our hearts to be touched and our minds transformed so that we can become more effective co-workers with God in our mission of human and Christian education. You, Partners and Brothers, are the protagonists. You are called to open the door to the future: The future enters into us in order to transform itself in us long before it happens. As a global Lasallian family,

5 Lasallian Formation for Mission: A Pilgrim’s Handbook. Generalate, Rome, 2019, p. 14.

we are embracing our future that continues to daily unfold before us.

In addition to A Pilgrim’s Handbook, we have received and studied other publications designed to inspire our reflections and inform our actions. The texts describe our Lasallian identity and offer paths to vitality and transformation. Each document connects us to a 340-year heritage that continues to be a catalyst to opportunity and freedom for millions of children and young people. I believe that our mission is more important than ever. The United Nations tells us that over 263 million children have never crossed the threshold of a classroom. My hope is that our discussions and discernment on identity, vitality and transformation will help us to respond to the educational needs of these children.

We must, of course, be somewhat inward looking during the assembly. It is important that we both evaluate the quality of the multiple expressions of our identity and determine effective strategies to ensure the vitality of the mission. At the same time, we must look outward and see reality from the bottom up, from the perspective of those who live on the margins. The pandemic is only the latest crisis reminding us our world and human family are not well. Our poor and marginalized sisters and brothers can indeed benefit from our mission of human and Christian education as together we look for concrete responses to heal the wounds caused by forced migration, war, starvation, climate change, racism and societal inequalities.

In my Pastoral Letter to the Brothers, One Call Many Voices (2016), I said the Holy Spirit subtly breaks into our lives through many voices and events. Of the many voices crying out to us, I encourage you to listen to the voice of young people and the poor today. They are many prophets among them. You are daily

in contact with the young. You hear their cries. You listen to their concerns, the fears they express about the future they are inheriting from us. As Lasallian educators and Lasallian educational communities we are to be beacons of hope:

Hope is an indomitable outflow of the spirit that drives us to live God's plan and the generous surrender of the vocation to which the Lord has called us; it implies commitment, serenity, a deep look, the ability to spread noble aspirations, to heal pain, to dream horizons, and to walk with others, to ask ourselves again about who we are, about our motivations, about the driving forces of our life. 6

My expectation is that we have the courage to see reality from the perspective of those on the peripheries and that we have the strength to ease their anxieties so that God’s desire that everyone lives life to the fullest burns brightly on their faces.

The greatest miracle that we perform is to touch the hearts of our students with Christian hope which “…is our capacity to predispose events to take a certain turn, by preparing for it or be recognizing tendencies favorable to it.”7 We strive to turn events into experiences of the Reign of God and we strive to recognize tendencies that facilitate its realization.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will direct us to identify those tendencies that facilitate our encounters with the poor, the vulnerable and the abandoned. I pray that we develop more

6 Gómez, FSC, Carlos. Personal reflection, 3 November 2021.

7 Robinson, Marilynne. What are We Doing Here? Essays. New York. 2018, p. 234

effective strategies to announce the Gospel to the poor and prepare them to be protagonists in making the world a better place for everyone.

With our diversity of cultures and faith traditions, we Lasallians are brightly shining beacons of hope. Together let us reflect on identity, vitality and transformation and affirm that “The future belongs to those who give the next generation reason for hope.” 8 Thank you.

6.2 OPENING REMARKS OF THE SECOND PHASE

Buongiorno e benvenuto a Roma! Let me speak from the heart and welcome you warmly to your house, our house, the Casa Generalizia. Let me start by sharing with you a study in contrasts. Look at the photos of all the Superiors General looking at us through 340 years of the Institute. They all wear the same religious habit—a black habit with a rabat. They all look a little too saintly for us. Then look around you and see the different colors of the people who are in this room. They don't even have the same color of their hair or the same color of their skin. They have different eye shapes and attired with wonderful colors of the rainbow in each of those who have come here, and most importantly, there are more women than men. This morning, we were in the sanctuary of St. John Baptist de La Salle.

Another study of contrasts. Before us are the relics of our holy founder-- dry bones. And in that same sanctuary, we gathered alive with our hopes and dreams, pulsating with energy. But we carried the same dream that those relics lived in his life. Walk around this building, solid, imposing—another study in contrasts. Look around at the paintings that you will see. Many talks about the past, moldy dreams of a glorious past. And look at the people who are walking through these corridors today. Noisy, chaotic, speaking many different languages. Sometimes we understand each other, and at other times, we don't. But we still gather around those same corridors.

Friends, this is what we are harvesting today. A harvest of newness. A new springtime for the Lasallian family in the world.

A harvest of the future. Seeds planted in the past now germinate in the hearts of so many different communities that John Baptist De La Salle never imagined.

Today we gather filled with that same spirit, recognizing that the God who called Jean Baptist is the same God who calls us today. The God who moved him deeply to go out of his comfort zone is the same God who invites us to enter into a deep experience, a new encounter that hopefully will bring us out of our comfort zones. There's much for us to be grateful for.

There's much for us to be afraid of. But the God whom we know is with us today is a gentle God. And he will lead us one step at a time. Piano a piano to where he wants us to go. Welcome. Enjoy the adventure. Good morning.

6.3 CLOSING REMARKS

Dear Lasallians, Brothers and Partners,

St John Baptist de La Salle wrote, "This Institute is of the greatest need". De La Salle and the first teachers were “deeply moved” by the situation of abandonment of poor children; no doubt they saw in them the face of God.

Today, perhaps, we are not necessary, but we can be immensely meaningful. Thus, parodying De La Salle, I like to think that this "Institute is of the greatest significance" as long as we continue to meet Jesus Christ in the suffering faces.

Poets have the gift of telling bitter stories with beauty and opening eyes while breaking hearts. Eduardo Galeano, a universal Uruguayan, has described them as "the nobodies". And he says:

The fleas dream of buying a dog and the nobodies dream of getting out of poverty, ...

The nobodies: the children of no one, the owners of nothing.

The nobodies: the none, struggling to survive, dying the life, broken.

Who

are not, even if they are. Who do not speak languages, but dialects.

Who do not make art, but handicrafts. Who do not practice culture, but folklore.

Who are not human beings, but human resources.

Who do not have faces, but arms. Who do not have name, but number.

Who do not appear in world history, but in the red chronicle of the local press. The nobodies, who cost less than the bullet that kills them.

AIMEL has called us to dream and to decide, and also to think about the "nobodies". We have experienced an Assembly in dialogue and openness, sensitive to the contexts. We have visualised the future and tried to envisage the sustainability of the mission. It is an Assembly held after the General Chapter. In the same way, it made efforts to reach out to the whole Lasallian Family, to young people, to IALU, to the Guadalupana de La Salle Sisters, to the Marist Brothers. In our reflections, have heartily embraced the Pope's invitations to the Global Compact on Education and Laudato Si'. Certainly, the III AIMEL was a Gathering with the aroma of prophecy.

As the Lines of Action were being approved, I could not help but think of the parables of Jesus that speak to us of the small: like the mustard seed, the birds of the air, the widow's offering, the lost coin, the lost sheep, the repentant sinner, the leaven.

A few days ago, we were blessed to visit the Fratelli Project in Lebanon, born of the prophetic decision of our InstitutesLasallian and Marist - to move forward in the search for joint

projects that revitalize our mission, strengthen our bonds, and generate hope. The focus of the Fratelli is the educational accompaniment of Syrian migrants fleeing the terror of war and who are strangers in a foreign land, waiting to be able to put down roots somewhere or to return one day when the violence that expelled them ceases.

Marists and Lasallians have been present in Lebanon for more than 120 years. The educational quality and social standing of our schools is recognised and appreciated. Immense schools whose students number in thousands and whose graduates number in tens of thousands. Educational ministries that have withstood civil wars, political vicissitudes, social and economic crises. They have provided a quality educational service, and created an environment where Christians and Muslims live together in respect and appreciation, despite differences that in other contexts would be impossible.

Fratelli is a fragile presence - presumably temporary; the children and their families are Muslim, poor, as migrants are; they left behind their belongings, land, history. Will they return? Hard to say, quite possibly not. Starting Fratelli was an act of hope, of audacity, of solidarity, a decision to go to the borders and accompany children and young people in critical situations and offer them non-formal educational processes: a proposal to strengthen values, to help them in reading and writing, languages and mathematics, as well as sports that help build community, and educational stimuli that allow them to continue successfully in formal school.

Fratelli has become a "sign of contradiction" that teaches without talking too much, that questions without violence, that shows paths without forcing. It is an oasis of peace, joy and faith; in short, a space of significance.

The traditional Marist and Lasallian works looked on with scepticism, bewilderment, and some resentment. The same was true of the local Christian Church. The question repeated - even

today - "why support and serve those who have made war on us and invaded the country? Why serve the 'enemies' when there is so much need among the Lebanese? Why not channel those resources to the Lebanese poor?" All valid questions, but hardly answerable. The human drama exists and the commandment of love, the heart of Christianity, is to love - even one's enemies. This is the radical nature of the Gospel.

If in the beginning there was misunderstanding and later indifference, it is also true that today acceptance is growing and the same century-old schools are beginning to feel its positive effects and are slowly experiencing processes of conversion, respect and even collaboration.

Fratelli has shown us paths of conversion and wonderful spaces to grow, to dream, to share and to serve. It has demanded from us consecration and creativity, commitment and generosity; it has invited us to overcome fears and set out on a journey, to overcome the fear of uncertainty and the inability to take risks. Fratelli is an example of how an uncomfortable question can be answered: "Where is your brother? Where is your sister?"

In the "Lasallian Conversations" we have been inviting Lasallians to the "Leavening Project". It is not a step-by-step guide explaining how to implement the project. It is not a recipe, it is not makeup, it is not "change everything so that everything stays the same". Instead, it is a movement, a constant search, a prophetic wager, a call to leave our comfort zones and abandon ourselves into God's hands like the sailor who puts out to sea without sails or oars.

Fratelli helps us to understand its nature, power, and transformative capacity. The leaven contains the microorganisms that reproduce in a medium that allows it and has the effect of transforming and growing. Fratelli has transformed the lives of migrants, has spread hope in sad children, has shaken the foundations of century-old institutions that are renewing themselves, has generated unions between Brothers and Congregations, has attracted volunteers,

partners and international support, has enabled the creation of Christian community in Muslim contexts.

Fratelli has called on the solidarity of students and families from other countries who come together to support, fund, pray, and be present. In this way, timidly, quietly, simply and without violence, it is generating new dynamics, building alliances, renewing institutions, and changing lives. It has given rise to lay vocational processes, it has given new meaning to the consecration of our Brothers, it has increased the sense of belonging to the Lasallian and Marist Family.

On the other hand, the III AIMEL has outlined for us the lines of action for "Structures of animation and governance", "Formation", "Processes of Association", "Culture of Vocations", "Eradication of Poverty and inclusive communities", "Education focused on the Gospel and spiritual accompaniment", "Educational communities for social transformation", "Vitality of Lasallian Identity". Certainly, a monumental work. In other words, we have the ingredients, we have set out the routes, we have visualised the horizons. Now we have to add the leaven, knead the flour, and prepare the baking: leaven to renew our mission and strengthen our vocation: leaven to give new meaning to life.

There are many reasons to be grateful and many people to acknowledge. Gratitude to CIAMEL, to the Preparatory Commission, to our Secretariat for Mission and Association, to the Services of the Generalate, to the Mission Councils of the Districts, to so many Partners and Brothers who vibrate with passion and excitement for the mission and the search for paths. Thank you, Alisa, Jessica, Vinicio, Colette, Jesús Félix, Rose, Ferdinand, Fritzie, Keane, Andrés, Heather, Paco, Antxon, Nestor, and many others who, with their hard work here and there, behind the scenes or in the limelight, have made possible an experience full of synodality.

Einstein is credited with saying that "the path to madness is to believe that things will change by doing the same thing over and over again". The call to us with anguish is to answer a question

that hurts and spurs, "Where is your brother? Where is your sister?", and it points us to part of the answer: in the Peripheries! which may be geographical but are also existential, political, economic and educational.

The peripheries are on the frontiers of dehumanisation, where the "nobodies" increase, wounds bleed, exclusions swarm; they are where silences cry out, peace is trampled and cowardly war sows horror; they are in the places where we have given up searching, or where we have been overcome by weariness and the abulia produced by existential emptiness; they are also in our works whose lethargy is killing them through starvation but, above all, they are where our eyes do not want to look.

De La Salle left us a particular way of seeing, being and doing: "The spirit of this Institute is the spirit of faith and ardent zeal".

Faith, which impels us to believe that with our mission we can have an impact on the lives of our students, our Brothers and Lasallian Partners, to believe that education transforms, to believe in humanity, and to believe in the good God who inspires us and constantly calls us to cultivate a deep spirituality that spreads humanism, fraternity and hope. We have to believe that education is and will be the best way, the only non-violent way, to include, to have a political impact, and to open paths to overcome exclusion. Education is, without a doubt, an act of faith and hope, a continuous discernment and an abandonment into the hands of the Lord.

And burning zeal is passion, it is commitment, it is donation to acclimatise peace, justice, equity and the integrity of Creation; that is to say, to generate educational proposals that strengthen the human, the fraternal, the solidarity: sustainable development. And, of course, to create real projects where fraternity at the educational service of the poor is evident and replicable in the educational world: opportunities with others, because we cannot do much alone. Education is undoubtedly a space for dreaming and, in these times, for dreaming in the peripheries. Ardent zeal is

the leaven that transforms and makes meaningful what has been losing its flavour and meaning.

Dear Lasallians, at the conclusion of this III AIMEL, let us renew our faith in what is profoundly human and in the incomparable value of Fraternity; let us risk being leaven, let us propose to be music that accompanies the journey of our peoples, let us make education an engine of transformation and a source of hope.

Lord, in your hands we place what we have lived, to the peripheries we direct our gaze, in community we risk our lives, and with faith and ardent zeal we set out on our journey.

Live Jesus in our hearts.

6.4 LETTER TO POPE FRANCIS

November 4, 2022

TO YOUR HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Vatican City

Your Holiness,

We give you our best wishes for your health and for success in your pastoral ministry.

The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, together with the entire Lasallian Family, would like to thank you for the welcome and the message that Your Holiness addressed to the members of our 46th General Chapter on May 21, 2022.

You told us that the world is experiencing an educational emergency and that the challenges of fraternity, care for the common home and many other challenges can only be answered through education. We are aware, as you expressed, that in order to respond to these challenges we, as educators, must be on the front lines.

You also said that we cannot do this work alone, but we do it in educational alliance with families, with educational and ecclesial communities, and within local educational realities.

This is precisely what we, as members of the III International Assembly of the Lasallian Educational Mission (III AIMEL), have tried to respond during the days we have gathered in Rome. We are 110 Brothers and Lasallian educators representing 80 countries, united in realizing the project of Jesus of Nazareth and the dream of our Founder, St. John Baptist de La Salle.

It was just this month that Your Holiness is inviting all of us to pray so that suffering boys and girls, those living on the streets, the victims of war and orphans, may have access to education.

We, the members of the Lasallian Family, commit ourselves that, as you also state in your message, no child in any country should live abandoned, and that all children should find in our educational centers a family that welcomes them, educates them, accompanies them, and helps them realize the purpose that God has for them.

Together, as a Lasallian Family, we commit ourselves to respond to the commitments of the "Global Compact on Education" and the encyclical "Laudato Si".

For us, education will continue to be the way to bring forth a more evangelical, more human, and more fraternal world.

Holy Father, we pray for the continuity of your apostolic mission for the good of the Church and of humanity.

Fraternally in Jesus and De La Salle,

6.5 POPE FRANCIS' RESPONSE

Vatican City, 25 November 2022

Dear in the Lord,

Encouraged by feelings of filial bond and affection, and also in the name of the coordinators of the Lasallian Family, you have kindly sent the Holy Father an attentive letter, in which you convey your appreciation for the good reception and the message he has reserved for you.

His Holiness cordially thanks you for this sign of closeness and assures you of his fervent remembrance in prayer, so that the Lord may grant you to persevere faithfully in your purposes of Christian life, bearing witness to the fraternity and joy of the Gospel to all those around you. With these lively wishes, Pope Francis asks you to pray for him and his service to the holy People of God and, while commending you all to the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, he cordially imparts to you his Apostolic Blessing, which he extends to your beloved ones.

I take this opportunity to express to you the assurance of my esteem and appreciation in Christ.

6.6 EXTRACT FROM THE MESSAGE OF THE VICAR GENERAL OF THE MARIST BROTHERS

United in the spirit and fraternal presence of the meeting, the Marist Brothers, in the words of Brother Luis Carlos Gutiérrez, Vicar, conveyed to us a message from which we highlight the following:

... I am very grateful for the invitation of this Mission Assembly, especially to Br Armin, Superior General. It is an honour and a privilege to be among you at this time and it is, above all, a sign of communion between our two communities and charismatic families.

... We are two congregations closely related in our historical paths for three fundamental reasons: the first one is charismatic, and is due to our being brothers in the Church; the second is apostolic: we educate children and young people for life and for the Gospel. And the third is our evolution as congregations and together with the laity, paths that are becoming very similar in various aspects of our journey.

... We are very similar. If you close my eyes, you place me in the Assembly and omit the word La Salle, our challenges and concerns remain almost identical throughout the world and in our approach to mission. This similarity is not accidental. It is because we see the world with an equivalent and all-encompassing gaze. It is because we start from common roots and shared values from a very similar historical evolution in many respects. This makes both communities realise today that we grow with history and that when we have looked backwards, denying today, we have finally diminished.

We have changed. Our institutes have changed. Today, we cannot understand our missionary essence without the presence and contribution of lay men and women; today we cannot understand each other without networking; today we cannot move forward without coordinating efforts for mission.

... What leaders do we want to be today? This question was posed to us by our former Superior General, late Seán Sammon. And it is true, we must take up the challenge of leadership at this moment in history as courage, and avoid two current problems: fear of leadership and cynicism. As Lasallians and Marists, we seek to take up the challenge of leadership, which is an urgency in our Institutes. We need to create the conditions and offer the formation for a leadership of service, prophetic and qualified. We need to move forward in a leadership that faces reality, takes up its option to lead through service and compassion, and restores and transforms environments and lives.

6.7 III AIMEL OBSERVERS REPORT

During the Assembly, Mary Catherine Fox, ASFC, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota and James Logan, Director of Mission, District of Northeast America (DENA) were invited to observe the process. Acknowledging the value of their observations and comments, some of the most significant are reproduced below as a sample, without claiming to be a complete synthesis.

"What joy we witnessed at the meeting - at last in person - of all the delegates! CIAMEL and the Preparatory Commission also reflected, in their smiles and greetings, the happiness of finally being able to engage and interact in person. The seriousness of the light and the blessing of the community prayer, the moments of socials and dialogue...

... We recommend continuing the practice of a retreat both as a starting point, and considering moments (hours or evenings) of retreat throughout the assembly process to help reflection, critical thinking and forward movement.

...According to our observations, the working groups were the most interesting aspect of the Assembly. They seemed to function as mini-cultures within the larger context of the Assembly. While it is clear that all Assembly delegates are fully engaged and involved, the working group model has its strengths and, at times, its challenges....

...Our observation during the Assembly is that the women who participated provided incredible leadership, facilitation and insights. This Assembly has modelled well the valuable role of women in the Lasallian mission and we recommend that the communications office highlight and share - throughout the Institute - the role that women played at this Assembly. We hope that this sharing will help to promote the role of women throughout the Institute...".

6.8. PARTICIPANTS

RELAL

Antilles - Mexico South

RELAL

Antilles - Mexico South

RELAL

Argentina - Paraguay

RELAL Argentina - Paraguay

RELAL Bogotá

RELAL

RELAL Bolivia - Perú

RELAL

RELAL

RELAL

Central America - Panama

RELAL

Central America - Panama

RELAL

Bogotá

RELAN

SFNO

RELAN Midwest

RELEM Arlep

RELEM Arlep

RELEM Arlep

RELEM

France and French-speaking Europe

RELEM

France and French-speaking Europe

RELEM

France and French-speaking Europe

RELEM

France and French-speaking Europe

RELEM

France and French-speaking Europe

RELEM Belgium North

RELEM Belgium North

RELEM Belgium North

RELEM Central Europe

RELEM Proche Orient

RELEM Italy

Delegates by Regions

Delegates by Regions

Delegates to the III AIMEL

Delegates to the III AIMEL

Delegates to the III AIMEL

Districts and Regions

Delegates by vocations

Secretaries

Districts and Regions

Council

Districts and Regions

Council

Secretaries of the Institute

Secretaries of the Institute Guests of Brother Superior General

IALU CIAMEL General

Guests of Brother Superior General

Young Lasallians

Sisters Lay Men

Sisters Lay Men