III Tutti Fratelli formation program
On September 9, the third formation program organized by TUTTI FRATELLI, a group of congregations of brothers, began and concluded on October 7, 2023. On this occasion, the formation program was aimed at religious brothers who accompany young people in their formation for religious life.
7 people participated, including members and representatives of different religious institutes of brothers from all over the world:
- Brothers of the Christian Schools (6 members)
- Marist Brothers (6)
- Brothers of St. Gabriel (4)
- Brothers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (4)
- Brothers of San Juan de Dios (5)
- Christian Brothers (4)
- Brothers of Charity (1)
- Brothers of Merciful Jesus (2)
- Brothers of Christian Instruction (2)
- Holy Family Brothers (5)
- Brothers of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (3)
- Brothers of Our Lady Mother of Mercy (4)
- Xaverian Brothers (1)
They are joined by a team of session leaders led by Marist Brother Ángel Medina, director of the Secretariat of Brothers Today. The meeting took place in Rome, at the general house of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
The topics addressed were aimed at responding to two important needs: the person accompanying and the person being accompanied. During the first two weeks, all the interventions, personal and collective reflections were centered on the vocation and mission of the accompanier. Moreover, the last two weeks focused on deepening the realities of today’s youth in general and young religious in particular.
In order to respond to the formative needs of these young people, the participants, with the help of the speakers, are fully engaged in the study of issues related to the spiritual, personal and group accompaniment of young people who wish to embrace religious life. The speakers, who provided valuable insights, reflections and experiences, came from different congregations, including diocesan priests, among them a Burundian, and also a lay teacher. The themes fulfilled expectations: interculturality and community life, fraternity and the identity of the religious brother, the person of the companion and his world, the person of the companion and his own world, and finally vocational discernment.
Finally, the last two days (October 5 and 6) were dedicated to the SIPs (synthesis, integrations and projections), a very important moment to understand more, integrate knowledge and project the mission into the future. Participants engaged in personal and group reviews to jointly chart the way forward for the future mission. Once again, the religious formators strived to use tools that better respond to the emerging needs of religious formation.
All the participants in this formation expressed their gratitude to the Superiors General of the religious Institutes of brothers and to the entire team that organized this formation, especially to Br. Ángel Medina, who coordinated all the formative activities.