“The Superior General emphasizes that we are not five Districts looking at each other, but rather looking in the same direction, to continue the work of the mission,” now that we are the Lasallian Region of North America.
May 9, 2012
Dear Brothers and Partners,
On May 19, 2012 in a simple ceremony at La Salle Residence in Laval, Montreal the newest Region of the Institute will come into existence. At the request of the Superior General and his Council, the Regions of Canada Francophone and United States of America-Toronto (USAT) will become one.
In light of changing demographics the 43rd General Chapter in 2000 made the re-structuring of Districts and Regions an Institute priority. Among other reasons, it did so to remedy the isolation of certain sectors of the Institute and to address the challenge of appointing Visitors for some sectors as well as financial challenges a sector may be facing.
The genesis for this new Region came at the conclusion of the 44th General Chapter in 2007 in a meeting of the Canada Francophone and USAT Chapter delegates with Br. Alvaro Rodriguez Echeverria. At that meeting, Brother Superior requested the leadership of the two Regions to begin a process that would lead to the creation of the new Region. The process included the Visitor and Auxiliary Visitor of Canada Francophone participating in some meetings of the USAT Visitors Conference, the exploration of collaborating in a new ministry, visits of the USAT Region General Councilor with the Brothers, communities and ministries of Canada Francophone, and visits/meetings of the Director of the Lasallian Volunteers and the Region’s Director of Vocation Ministry with members of the Canada Francophone Region.
Naming a new Region or District presents its own challenges. At the February 2012 meeting of the Regional Conference of Christian Brothers, the Visitors approved a request that the new District be known as Region Lasallienne de I’ Amerique du Nord (RELAN) or Lasallian Region of North America. Such a title is similar to three of the four other regions of the Institute: RELAL (Latin America), RELEM (Europe and the Middle East) and RELAF (Africa). While we know Mexico is part of North America, Br. Alvaro has reminded us that when creating Regions, cultural similarities are taken into account as well as geographic proximity.
The new Region consists of five Districts:
Canada Francophone, Eastern North America, Midwest, New Orleans-Santa Fe, and San Francisco.
Each District is under the leadership of a District Leadership Team headed by a Brother Visitor. The Canada Francophone District has 132 Brothers. It has 12 communities, four pastoral ministries–Villa des Jeunes, Centre NotreDame de la Rouge, Camp de La Salle, and Centre Jean-Baptiste de La Salle–and a multicultural center for educational and social ministry.
The creation of this new Region underscores the strong Lasallian presence in Canada and the United States for 175 years. On May 19, with Brothers and Partners from the United States, Toronto and Quebec in attendance, Br. Alvaro, as the guest of honor, will formally approve this historic unification. We welcome this new phase in our history as we continue to strengthen and invigorate the Lasallian mission in Canada and the United States.
Sincerely,
Brother Robert Schieler, FSC
General Councilor
RELAN
To download Br. Robert’s letter, click here >