Appointment of New Secretary for Formation: Brother Álvaro Rodríguez, Superior General, announces the appointment of Brother Timothy Coldwell as Secretary for Formation as replacement for Brother Aidan Kilty, effective from September 2006.

Brother Timothy Coldwell, from the District of New Orleans-Santa Fe, is currently involved with the San Miguel High School, Tucson, Arizona. In recent times he has come to the Generalate as member of the team preparing the document “Being Brothers Today”.

Brother Superior's Visit to the Madrid sector of Spain's Central District: On the 22nd Brother Superior visited the Saint Pius X Institute for Advanced Catechetical Studies. While there, he shared with students and teachers and he responded to the various questions about current-day catechesis. Brother Álvaro stressed the importance of keeping the human reality of the person very much in mind and being continually enlightened by the Word. He also recognized the efforts made by the Saint Pius X Institute and he invited it to be involved in the associative process in the future. This process is currently underway throughout the Region of ARLEP (Spain and Portugal) and, therefore, the formation of lay persons in the field of religious education should be promoted.

On the same day, in the afternoon, he visited the European novitiate, which has its new site in an area of Madrid known as Ciudad Lineal. The building is small which favors community life and the novices and formation staff take on a great part of the daily tasks. At the present time there are four novices (three are Spaniards and one is from Poland) and four staff members (one from France, one from Poland, and two from Spain). The novices showed their community annual program to the Superior and they also had a lot of questions for him.

On February 23 the Superior met with the people who work at PROYDE, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that coordinates all efforts made in ARLEP in favor of the Third World. Brother Álvaro thanked those involved for all the help that PROYDE provides the different sectors of the Institute, an amount in excess of two million dollars. He also was very positive about the way PROYDE works in the field of education to reach out to the students of the schools in ARLEP in sensitizing them to the needs of the poor countries in our world.

In the afternoon, Brother Álvaro met with the Brothers in the area and he presented his most recent Pastoral Letter. In his presentation, Brother Superior invited the Brothers to look with hope towards the future and to work in vocation ministry. "Association with lay persons does not mean that the door to Brother vocations has been closed. On the contrary, the Brother's vocation is very important in this new form of association with lay persons. The two doors of association need to be kept open: the Brother's vocation and the vocation of the lay Lasallian."

During these days Brother Superior visited the four communities in this District and he was able to meet personally with many of the Brothers. The visit concluded with a meeting with the District Council where he expressed his thanks for all the services that the Central District gave to the formation of Brothers and lay persons, and for its missionary commitment to the sector of Guinea and to the Sub-District of the Gulf of Benin.
^{(Br. Juan Pablo Martin)}

Brother Augustine Boquer, University president from the Philippines, receives honorary doctorate from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota: Brother Augustine Boquer, FSC, Ed.D., president of University of Saint La Salle, Bacolod City, Philippines, was awarded an honorary doctorate at the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota Founder’s Day Ceremony Thursday, March 9. Founder's Day is the annual celebration of the founding of Saint Mary's in 1912 by Winona Bishop Patrick R. Heffron.

Brother Augustine was honored for his dedication to helping others — especially the less fortunate — and advancing higher education throughout the Philippines.

Under his leadership, Brother Augustine linked educational advancement through the University of Saint La Salle with community outreach. The law center at the university provides free legal services to indigent litigants and legal advocacy to those in need, and the Bacolod Boys’ Home provides services for abandoned, orphaned and neglected boys in the province of Negros Occidental in Southern Philippines. Additionally, the Bahay Pag-Asa Youth Center is a corrective and transformational facility for convicted youth offenders of Bacolod City — a refuge from hardened adult convicts and a place where they can receive rehabilitative education. Brother Augustine also serves as the regional director of the International Association of Lasallian Universities and is a member of the District Council of the Christian Brothers of the Philippine District.

“Through his capable leadership, visionary perspective and generosity of heart, Brother Gus has been a model of service to humanity,” Brother Craig Franz, president of Saint Mary’s University, said. “His vision of helping others improve their lot in life through education has improved the lives of thousands, often those who are most in need.”
^{(Deb Nahrgang, Director of Communication)}

Bethlehem University Announces New President: Brother Daniel Casey, FSC, Vice Chancellor, announced today the appointment of Archbishop Fouad Twal, Coadjutor Archbishop of Jerusalem, President of Bethlehem University. In his role as President of Bethlehem University, Archbishop Twal will promote the University and preside at various official and public functions.

In speaking of the appointment of Archbishop Twal, Brother Daniel said, “Bethlehem University is blest to have Archbishop Fouad Twal appointed to the position of President; his knowledge and experience both in Palestine and internationally will be of great benefit to Bethlehem University. All at Bethlehem University wish our new President all of God’s blessings as he assumes this important responsibility.”

An official ceremony to welcome Archbishop Twal will be held at Bethlehem University in May 2006.
^{(Maher Bandak)}

The publications of Br. Flavio Pajer: Br. Flavio Pajer (fpajer@lasalle.org) has published a new school text-book for the study of the Catholic religion and other religions, intended for the first cycle in Italian secondary schools. The textbook (La Religione, Società Editrice Internazionale, Torino 2006) is spread over 3 volumes for the pupils, plus a didactic Guide for the Teacher, giving a total of 790 richly illustrated pages. (www.seieditrtice.com) . It was written in conformity with the new Syllabus 2005 of the Italian Scholastic Reform and carries – as required by the laws of the Concordat – a nihil obstat from the Italian Episcopal Conference.

Recently, Br. Flavio Pajer, in his capacity as President of the European Forum for Religious Instruction in Public Schools (www.eufres.org) in the four-year period 2002-2006, was invited by the Council of Europe to participate in the International Colloquium on “Dialogue, tolerance, religion and human rights”, held in Kazan (Russian Federation) from Feb. 22nd- 24th 2006. (www.coe.int).

Beginning this year, Br.Flavio is also the new Director of Rivista Lasalliana, “a quarterly of culture and pedagogical formation” (www.lasalliana.com): it is one of the oldest cultural publications of the Institute, having been founded by the Brothers of the District of Turin in 1934.
^{(Br. Flavio Pajer)}

The Inaguration of the Videoconferencing Room in the Generalate: Sunday, March 5, 2006, we opened the Videoconferencing Room in the Generalate. For the first time, in Rome, Brother Superior was involved in a meeting that was taking place thousands of miles away. The meeting was the "partial" Assembly for the northern part of the RELAL Region, and it took place in Cuernavaca, Mexico. At the beginning of their meeting, twenty-four representatives from Central America, South Mexico, North Mexico, and the Antilles were delighted to feel supported as they saw and heard Brother Superior, thanks to the giant screen that projected his image. There was dialogue between the delegates and Brother Superior who, from the videoconferencing room in Rome, was able to see and greet the delegates.

Brother Superior stressed the importance of this and of each of the "partial" Assemblies as a way of preparing for the 2006 International Assembly. He reminded the delegates that this was a new structure which was foreseen by the 2000 General Chapter, whose purpose was to see to broader participation of the representatives of the Lasallian Family in the discussions centering around Association and Mission. The conclusions from the "partial" Assemblies will be taken up by the International Assembly and, using these conclusions, the International Assembly will draw up guidelines and action plans for the future of the Lasallian Family. The participants of the Assembly in Cuernavaca were very grateful for Brother Superior's virtual presence with them and they highlighted the fact that they were encouraged and enlightened by his words. Brother Superior also directed a message to the participants of a day of recollection on the topic of Association of the District of North Mexico.

Certainly the use of the technology of videoconferencing is something that deserves close attention. We hope that many other Districts and Regions will invite Brother Superior, other members of the General Council, or Secretariats to use this wonderful new technology for their future events. This technology has been made possible thanks to the Generalate's Communication Commission and is at your service.
^{(Br. Lorenzo González K., Secretary General)}

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