Marist Symposium – Third day

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The third day of the Marist Symposium, December 6, included presentations by Father Alois Greiler, Br. Antonio Martínez Estaun, Br. John Klein, Fabiano Incerti, Michael Connolly and Father Milikiade Rayalu. On this day, the Symposium was enriched by the participation of members of the other branches of the Marist family, who joined the participants, among whom the Superior General of the Marist Fathers, Father John Larsen, stood out.

The first lecture was entitled “Why Beatify Jean-Claude Colin? A Marist Vision of the Church”, presented by Fr. Alois Greiler, SM. He has a doctorate in church history (Louvain, Belgium) and worked in the field of Marist history and spirituality, resulting in various publications, retreats, and conferences. In his presentation, Fr. Alois show how the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers) made a restart to promote the cause of their founder, Jean-Claude Colin, in 2009. The members of the congregation are undecided with various arguments in favour or against. Fr. Alois presented the situation of the cause and arguments in favour: Colin as inspiration for a ‘school of saints’, as inspiration for the great work of the Marist pioneers in the Pacific and the other Marist ministries, as inspiration for a Marist church.

The second talk of the day was given by Brother Antonio Martínez Estaún, from the Hermitage Province, currently living in the community of Xaudaró (Madrid). Br. Antonio holds a Master’s degree in Education from Universidad Marista (Mexico). He provided various services to the Institute in General Administration: Director of Communications of the Institute (2005-2011), Member of the International Commission of Marist Patrimony (2011- 2017), Coordinator of the Course Charism and Marist Educational Principles (2012), coordinator of the edition of the History of the Institute (2015) and Postulator General (2016). His lecture had as title “Sources inspiring the Thought of Brother Basilio Rueda”. Br. Estaún indicated that the formation of Brother Basilio Rueda drew from important sources that helped him to form his personality: Marist formation, university formation, where his doctoral thesis “Being and Value” stands out.

The afternoon opened with a talk by Brother John Klein, from the United States Province. He is Province’s Historian, Director of Major Gifts and Planned Giving in the U.S. Province Development Office. Academically, Br. John received his Master’s and Doctoral Degrees in United States History from Fordham University. He served as a teacher and school administrator in several Marist schools and later was Provincial of the former Province of Esopus and in 2003, was named the first Provincial of the new Province of the United States. During the 2009 Marist General Chapter he was elected as a General Councillor. His conference title was “The Americanization of Marcellin’s Marist Project”. Br. John presented the reality of Marist life in the United States from its formation as a separate Province (March 11, 1911) until the involvement of the United States in the Second World War (December 7, 1941).

The last section offered Concurrent sessions as indicated here:

• Ir. Francisco Rivat e a paixão pela escrita – Dr Fabiano Incerti (Province of Brasil Centro-Sul)
• Walfrid: a life of faith, community and football. (Brother Walfrid, Founder of Celtic Football Club) – Dr Michael Connolly (District of West Central Europe)
• Challenges and learnings with religious formation in the Pacific (Fr Milikiade Rayalu, SM).

To conclude the day, the participants were invited to join the community of the General Administration in the daily mass.