
Ongoing Formation of the Brothers
The Bureau of Brothers today, responsible for the formation of the Brothers, met in Rome, from 28 to 30 June, with the members of the teams in charge of the formation houses of the Institute. First of all, they reflected and exchanged on the development of the courses « Senderos » (Escorial) and « Midlife Renewal » (Manziana). The two teams expressed their happiness with the experiences and the processes and programmes followed by 13 Brothers at Manziana and 9 at the Escorial.
The principal aim of the meeting, however, was to organise the formation programme for the community animators to be held next year in the two houses. This will be a special programme lasting two months: the first from 2 February to 31 March, and the second from 26 April to 23 June 2012. One of the novelties of the programme is that the two groups will do the Hermitage experience together. There is the challenge of language, Marist universality, the multiculturality of the group, etc., but it is a value and a challenge to be lived for 9 days.
The meeting in Rome with the Brother formators was also an opportunity for sharing points of view with the liaison Councillors of the Bureau, Brothers Eugène K., Josep Maria S. and Ernesto S. This was a time for confirming the support of the General Council for the programme and its direct involvement in the development of some of the workshops planned.
The members of the two formation teams, English as well as Spanish and Portuguese, went back very satisfied, looking forward to receiving the new groups who will take part in the programmes at Manziana: « Horizontes » in August, and « Third Age » in October.