ANNOTATED – The Brothers of the Christian Schools in the World Today: A Declaration (1967)

This version of the Declaration, the work of the 39th General Chapter of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (1966-67) is the 1997 translation of the document with annotations in the margins that refer to the Rule of 2015.

Since its publication in 1967, The Brother of the Christian Schools in the World Today: A Declaration has profoundly impacted the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. This impact can be seen in specific sections of the current Rule, approved by the 45th General Chapter in 2014 and by the Vatican in 2015. This annotated version of the Declaration provides documentation of the specific parts of the text which were foundational for parts of the new Rule. On each page of the text that of this version of the Declaration, the citations on the left margin indicate specific Articles in the current 2015 Rule. For further reference, the full text of each part of the Rule that is cited are listed at the end of the document.

This resource was researched and prepared in 2018 by Br. Paul Avvento, FSC.

Categories: Animators, Education, English, History, Leaders, Print, Scholars, Spirituality

The Details

Description

As stated in the foreword, written by Br. Charles Henry Buttimer, Superior General, “The Brothers of the Christian Schools in the World Today – A Declaration” is a result of the 39th General Chapter of the Brothers (1966-67) and is “an authoritative statement that would serve as foundation and unifying principle of all the Chapter’s work.” The version linked with this entry is the 1997 translation, the need for which is explained by Br. Luke Salm in the introduction.

The purpose of the document “is to invite each of us to resolutely enter upon the path of renewal and adaptation. It appeals to us to renew our patterns of thought, it urges us to a lasting purification, to a continuous revision of our personal synthesis to the end that we may each day respond to the demands of our vocation with fidelity and dynamism. Conversion is always a bit frightening, but let us not be afraid. Let us receive this Declaration as an appeal to rise above our fears and to go forward to the renewal by the light of the great documents of Vatican II. Then we shall understand that this text here presented to you is something other than one document among many. This document imparts the spirit that should animate our renewal and invites us to undertake it.”

The Declaration “should contribute to strengthen further in all our hearts an apostolic virtue par excellence: the assurance of him who knows that he has been called by God, sent by him among men [and women] to serve them, and who is fully aware that the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit are given him that he may be a better servant of God and of youth.”