Meeting of the International Commission for the New Formation Guide
From August 21 to September 2, the International Commission for the New Formation Guide met in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, at the Colegio Mayor Gelmirez. This commission is composed of Brothers Ángel Medina (Secretariat Brothers Today), Ataíde de Lima (Brasil Centro-Norte, Ongoing Formation Team of the Institute), César Rojas (Norandina), Fabien Bulaimu (PACE), Graham Neist (Star of the Sea), João Carlos do Prado (General Councilor), Lindley Sionosa (Secretariat Brothers Today), Óscar Martín Vicario (General Councilor), Paco García (MDA) and Pere Ferre (L’Hermitage).
The new Formation Guide is composed of 3 nuclei that form the structure of the document, divided into 3 chapters: general aspects of the Marist formation of brothers and laity, the formation of the Marist Brother and orientations and guidelines on how to develop a formation plan, which also contains a compendium of resources that are useful in formation. During the last meeting, the commission worked on cores 2 and 3, chapters 2 and 3 of the Formation Guide.
The elements of chapter 2 include an elaboration of “being a Marist Brother”, the different dimensions of the life of a Marist Brother, the convictions about Marist formation, the participants in Marist formation, the pedagogical and methodological options, the formation itinerary and the different stages within it, and the objectives, contents and evaluation indicators for each stage.
Among the contents of Chapter 3 are a suggested framework for the development of formation plans in the administrative unit and/or regions, a guide for the development of a personalized itinerary, and other items such as values, practical elements, concrete orientations, support materials, references and glossary.
The work done by the commission will be presented to the General Council during the September plenary session. Then, over the next 3 months, experts will be invited to study this first draft. The considerations and comments will be collected in December by the commission, which will then prepare a second draft.