CELAS is the European Commission for Lasallian Formation. It was established by the European Conference of Visitors and is concerned with the ongoing formation of Brothers and partners in Educational mission. It is a working group that gives advice to the Visitors and organizes formation activities. Three years ago, the organizing committee for this colloquium chose Association as its topic. The decision to organize a colloquium around the topic of Association can now be seen as providential, given that the 43rd General Chapter, recently concluded, had as its theme Associated for the educational service of the poor as the Lasallian response to the challenges of the 21st century.

The first section of the Documents of the General Chapter deals with Association and contains 11 propositions and 5 recommendations about Association and Brother-Partner formation. Thus, this colloquium is well timed in terms of continuing the dialogue about Association that will be ongoing for several years.

There were 90 participants at the colloquium from nine European countries, with observers from the United States, Latin America and Canada. It was conducted in the Aula Magna of the Generalate, with simultaneous translation in four languages. I am always surprised at how well the Europeans can move in and out of several languages. I noticed during the presentations that many people didn't need translation, understanding all four languages being spoken: Spanish, Italian, French and English. Needless to say, I had headphones on the whole time.

Following the welcome by Br. Aad Van Bentem, president of the European Conference of Visitors, Br. André Jacq presented the first paper of the colloquium, Brothers and Lay People Associating for a Single Mission: Our Situation in Europe.

Br. André's talk was in two parts. The first dealt with the situation in Europe today, and the second was a reflection based on the current situation. I think the reflections he made in the second part of his talk are well worth discussion beyond Europe and so I have included an edited version of this second part in our Online Publications section in Adobe Acrobat format. The complete proceedings of the coloquium are being published separately in four languages, English, French, Spanish and Italian. When they become available, I will post a notice on the web indicating how they can be attained.

In the first part of his talk, Br. André indicated that in Europe there are currently 481 Lasallian schools with 255,144 pupils being educated by a staff of 23,579 of which 1,045 are Brothers.

The administration of these schools varies greatly from District to Distirct. In some countries like Italy, Spain and Malta, almost all of the heads of the schools are Brothers. In other countries, the situation is reversed. However, even in those countries with a significant number of Borthers as headmasters, senior management teams are usually made up of Brothers and lay staff, with a sharing of responsibilities in administation, management and pastoral care.

While a certain number of teachers subscribe to the Lasallian educational project and have participated in drawing it up, by no means does everybody have a sense of belonging to the Lasallian world.

To a greater or lesser extent, most District Chapters include some sort of participation by lay people. There is a wide variation in the means used for selecting these lay people and in the manner of their participation.

Every District offers Lasallian formation to members of the various "teams" and this plays an important role in developing their sense of belonging to the Lasallian family.

Br. André also indicated that there were other forms of Association that exist in Europe today. The Signum Fidei Movement was started officially by the General Chapter of 1976 and is made up of lay men and women who commit themselves to living according to the charism of Saint John Baptist de La Salle. In France there is a small group of people who make up the Lasallian Third Order which is currently revising its rule. There are also study groups called "recherche et partage" (seeking and sharing) for people who want to find a new form of association linked to mission. Two small "sharing" groups operate in Belgium, possibly more. There are also groups line the Lasallian Associations of Former Students, Lasallian Volunteer Movements, and Lasallian Youth groups. ASSEDIL is the name given to the Association of Lasallian Headteachers in Europe and it provides a link between the headteachers and organises meetings on educational matters. UMAEL is The World Union of Lasallian Former Pupils ( Union Mondiale des Anciens et Anciennes Elèves Lasalliens, Lasalliennes).

Tomorrow, the colloquium continues with the keynote address of Br. Antonio Botana.