Drafting Committee of the New Formation Guide
The international commission in charge of revising the 1993 Formation Guide, also known as the International Commission of the New Formation Guide (ICNFG), concluded its work with an online meeting on May 7. They put together the proposals received for the âInstrumentum Laborisâ, which was produced during a previous meeting in Santiago de Compostela from August 21 to September 2, 2023.
At the plenary session last September, the document prepared by the commission was presented to the General Council. Afterwards, several brothers, laymen and laywomen were invited to critique the text. They pointed out certain situations and raised questions that were taken into consideration by the members of the commission. The last meeting served as a space to integrate in the text the new suggestions and recommendations.
The new Formation Guide is conceived to have 3 main parts, namely, Marist formation in general â brothers and laypeople; the formation of the Marist brother; and guidelines and tools to help develop a formation plan, as well as a compendium of resources useful in formation.
The international commission, which met for the first time in October 2020, is composed of Brothers Ăngel Medina (Brothers Today Secretariat), Ataide de Lima (Brasil Centro-Norte, Institute’s Ongoing Formation Team), CĂ©sar Rojas (Norandina), Fabien Bulaimu (PACE), Graham Neist (Star of the Sea), JoĂŁo Carlos do Prado (General Councillor), Lindley Sionosa (Brothers Today Secretariat), Ăscar MartĂn Vicario (General Councillor), Paco GarcĂa (MDA), Pere Ferre (L’Hermitage).
Drafting Committee of the New Formation Guide
The General Council has appointed a team which, starting from the text drawn up by the ICNFG, will be in charge of the final drafting of the document to be approved by the General Council and presented to the General Chapter of 2025. This team is made up of Brothers HipĂłlito PĂ©rez (Central America), Isidro Azpeleta (Santa MarĂa de Los Andes) and Francisco GarcĂa (District of Asia). On May 17, together with the Brothers Today Secretariat, the team held its first meeting online. The team will be responsible for making the text coherent, with the proper theological and practical foundations.
General Chapter mandate
On initial and ongoing formation, the XXII General Chapter gave a mandate to the Institute:
“For a new beginning we believe that we need new structures and processes that recognize and support our distinctive vocational paths as Marists. reform our processes of initial and ongoing formation and offer new paths at the level of the Institute and Administrative Units to care for our vocation as brothers: accompaniment, attention to each brotherâs situation and stage in life.â
For its part, the General Administration, in its Strategic Plan, Project 3 (Beacons of Hope: Structures for Initial Formation), invited us to “revise both the current plans and structures of the initial formation for Brothers and the Formation Guide.”
International Commission of the New Formation Guide – July 2022