A Little More Information
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.”
