Superior General’s Pastoral Letter: Every Christmas, the Superior General publishes a Pastoral Letter to the Brothers. This year the title is ASSOCIATED TOGETHER TO SEEK GOD, FOLLOW JESUS CHRIST, AND WORK FOR HIS KINGDOM: Our Religious Life. This and his previous pastoral letters can be found in the Publications Section of our web site.
^{(Br. Donald Johanson)}

The visit to Greece: To initiate the pastoral visit to the District of France which will take place in April and May next year, I wanted to visit two of its sectors: Greece and Réunion Island. During the visit to Greece I was able to be present in our two communities and in our three schools in Piraeus, Syros and Thessalonica as well as participating in an interesting Educational Congress with the theme: Looking towards the Future. Almost all the Lasallian educators were present. What most caught my attention, once again in an environment where Catholicism is very much in a minority, were the excellent relations and teamwork which are lived within our works, with the Orthodox majority. As everywhere, our pupils feel at home in our centres and the Lasallian values of faith, fraternity and service have their full place. Significant signs of what I have mentioned above were, for example, the dinner with the Catholic Bishop of Syros along with the Orthodox Metropolitan, the Brothers’ community and all the priests of the diocese or the witness shown by the Archimandrite Methodius, our chaplain in the college in Piraeus, with an extraordinary Lasallian spirituality which he was not afraid to value and express.

I was also impressed by the religious spirit which I felt in our centres as well as by the interest shown in the learning of foreign languages and the opening-up to the European Union. One worry is the drop in the number of pupils as a result of the drop in the birth rate and the fact that our schools receive no subsidies and this makes it difficult for them to be accessible to the less well-off. This preoccupation also extends to the fact that we have a limited number of Greek Brothers and the lack of vocations in recent years which we hope can be turned round.

Furthermore, the manner in which a good number of lay Lasallians live the shared mission and association in an ecumenical environment is to be admired. During the Congress in which I participated along with Br.Claude Reinhardt, Councillor and Br.Jacques d’Huiteau, Visitor, I was moved by the presence of a past-pupil of our college in Sofia, Bulgaria, who brought greetings from the past-pupils who benefited from the presence of the Brothers there before the arrival of communism.
^{(Br. Ávaro Rodríguez Echeverría)}

The visit to the Island of Reunion: My experience in Réunion, as part of my visit to the District of France, which will continue next year and which began in Greece, was for me a beautiful experience. This small island in the Indian Ocean, surprisingly beautiful, is of great importance in our Lasallian history because of the fact that it was the nucleus of the expansion of the Institute which enabled the Brothers to come to Madagascar and Mauritius. It is also important because of the memory of our Blessed Brother Scubillion, at whose tomb I was able to pray, and who is for us a witness who invites us to continue the work of liberation which he began in the days of slavery and which we ought to continue in a world where people are living other types of oppression. Réunion is a mixture of harmoniously integrated ethnic groups, cultures and religions where the religious spirit remains very much alive. Our four schools, at present run by lay Lasallians, continue the mission of Christian education which the Church has confided to us, as Monsignor Aubry put it during our visit to the Bishop’s residence. Here too, the number of Brothers is decreasing and we cannot count on new vocations to the Brotherhood, but the Lasallian spirit and mission is in very good health.

I was particularly impressed by the vitality of the Local Council of Lasallian Animation (CLAL), a structure which was new to me, which among other things seeks to ensure a catechesis and pastoral ministry of quality in our schools, which is how it was put by some of its members during a meeting with representatives of the four centres held in Maison Blanche Something which moved me profoundly was the presence, during the visit, of two lay directors and a representative of a director of the three Lasallian centres that we have in Mauritius, which the Brothers left in 1992 ( The centres are now under diocesan supervision).The presence of these directors and their desire to continue a relationship with us by means of Réunion and the District of France seems to me a sign of the indelible stamp which La Salle left on those touched by our charism.
^{(Br. Álvaro Rodríguez Echeverría)}

Inauguration of the European Novitiate in Madrid: On the patronal feast day of Novices, the feast of the Immaculate Conception (8th December), the new European Novitiate was officially inaugurated in a simple ceremony presided over by Br. Ismael Beltran, Regional of ARLEP, in the presence of the Novitiate community and a number of Brothers from nearby communities along with the Secretary for Formation, Br. Aidan Kilty. During the Mass in the local parish Church of the Immaculate Conception, the curate officially welcomed the Brothers into the Parish and looked forward to close co-operation with them in different aspects of parish life. This was followed in the Novitiate garden by the unveiling of a commemorative plaque which highlighted the words of Jesus about “building on rock” (Mt 7:24) which both the Novices and the Novitiate Staff hope will characterise the Novitiate experience. The celebrations concluded with a simple festive meal prepared by the Novitiate community.

The Regions of Europe have been moving towards a common Novitiate for a number of years. The first tentative steps were taken in the early nineties when Novices from Italy and Great Britain joined the ARLEP Novitiate in Griňon and this experience was repeated three years ago when the District of France began to use the same Novitiate. Co-operation continued last year when two more French Novices and a Novice from Lebanon made their Novitiate in Griňon. However, the Novitiate Staff and a number of the Visitors felt that a new location was needed if the European Novitiate was to take on its own identity. It was for this reason that, in early summer, a smaller residence was bought quite near the Marquis de Mondejar community and the St. Pio X Institute in Madrid. Some renovation was necessary to combine two houses into one residence that can cater for a community of around ten Brothers. It has a very homely feel to it and it has been decorated with taste and simplicity. Permission has also been granted to extend the residence should that happy need arise. This year there are four Novices, three from Spain and one from Poland. The Novitiate is directed by Br. Josep Canal from Catalunia, and he is assisted by Br. Juan Gonzalez (Andalucia), Br. Pierre Mourier (France), and Br. Janusz (Poland).
^{(Br. Aidan Kilty)}

Sharing and Friendship Prominent in First National Lasallian Youth Assembly Held in Nigeria: The sector of Nigeria had its first National Lasallian Youth Assembly from the 24th to the 27th of November. The workshop, originally organized by our district shared mission coordinator, was well attended by all of our schools. Each school sent delegates down to Naka and I went with eight of our students from Yola. The workshop lasted for three unbelievable days.

There were different presentations on topics such as My Lasallian Identity, You belong, You Are Not Alone, The Dignity of the Human Person, The Lasallian Educational Mission, The Values of Being a Young Lasallian, and many others. In total, thirty-five of our students attended.

I was amazed at the amount of sharing and friendship that evolved during the course of just three days. The young people were very active and passionate about what had brought them together but above all they were highly impressed with one another and their Lasallian identity. It was a joy for me particularly to be involved in these presentations, discussions and creative prayers organized by these young people.

As many of the young people mentioned, they felt a pain and sense of loss in their hearts when the program finished and they had to return because they felt like making a permanent community. At the end of the assembly there was a commissioning ceremony where participants pledged to remain Lasallian wherever they go or find themselves. I then used the opportunity to announce the next Lasallian Youth Symposium to be held in February 2006 in Yola, Nigeria.

We continue to plant the seeds of young Lasallians wherever we find ourselves, and it continues to be a joy for young Brothers like me.
^{(Br. Moses Abunya, Lwang District of Africa)}

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