2014-01-20 CANADA

Br. Gérard Bachand

Br Emili Turú, Superior General, together with his Council, having studied the results of the survey conducted in the Province, has decided to appoint Br Gérard Bachand Provincial of the  Province of Canada for three years. In his letter to the Province, Br Emili thanks Br Gérard for his availability and the retiring Provincial, Br Bernard Beaudin, for his spirit of service and dedication.

 

Br Gérard Bachand

Born in St-Liboire on 14 September 1946, the fourth of a family of 7 children and the second of five boys. Spent the first 13 years of my life on the family farm cleared by my great grandfather.

Entered the juniorate of Sherbrooke 30 September 1959, the St-Joseph Juniorate in September 1961, Postulancy and Novitiate at St-Hyacinthe, end of August 1963.

Inauguration of the new Central Scholasticate in Montréal-Nord in August 1965. There were six communities of teaching brothers established there. Obtained the A Brevet A (teaching) with  options of mathematics and physics.

Perpetual profession 9 October 1971 at Granby. Second Novitiate in Rome 1983, under the direction of Brother Alain Delorme.

 

On the professional plane :

Teaching for 5 years in the fields of biology and chemistry. Obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Biology in 1975.

From June 1976 to January 2001 my career took another direction by placing me at Camp Mariste in Rawdon, where I took over as director in 1981. During these years, I was heavily involved in the Association of the Camps of Québec and of Canada, being president for several years. In November 2013, the Association des Camps awarded me the « Prix Hommage » for my involvement in the Camps. The Holiday Camps were a privileged type of education outside the school for youngsters from 5 to 16.

From 2003 to June 2014 working at the Institute of Integral Development with Sister Marie-Paul Ross, MIC, PhD in Clinical Sexology, as contributor, i.e. individual accompaniment of persons of all ages and teaching of the MIGS Model (Model of Holistic Intervention in Sexology) developed by Sister Ross, a model especially adapted to treating, « curing » the traumatisms and anxieties linked to the wounds of life and especially of childhood.

 

On the community plane :

Have served on the Provincial Council several times. Member of the Pastoral Committee during the 1980s. Currently member of the Sub-Commission Brothers Today for the Americas and the Working Committee on the Protection of Children.

From the beginning, in 1998, I have been associated with the movement to place lay people in the different works of the province in order to assure the continuation of the Champagnat charism. This was the beginning of the MMQ (Marist Movement of Québec) which in November 2013 adopted the name of Marist Association of Laity.

 

My vision :

Brothers of my generation, in Québec, were formed in the traditional way and have lived their active lives during a major transformation of our French-speaking society in North America, and we are invited to create a new way of being brother today for tomorrow. The sociological  context in which we are immersed shapes people more profoundly than is generally thought.

As human beings we are faced with threats to our environment, our values, our faith and our commitments. As religious brothers we have the mission to travel new roads, new lands, and these lands are on the margin of official systems and not in structures.

We must face up to a certain immobility and act now in a local perspective harmonised to the inevitable globalisation. The great challenge of fraternity resides in sharing, exchange, and not leaving it in communication however technological.

We are in the spirituality of Elisabeth who realises her wish to bear a child when she thinks it no longer possible. I want to continue nourishing the hope, knowing that God will act in his own time. Champagnat and Mary are and will be my guides.

___________

Gérard Bachand, January 2014

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