12 October 2004

Callan, Co. Kilkenny, at the birthplace of Blessed Edmund Rice, was the venue for a recent gathering of Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers. Up to two hundred Brothers gathered with a representation of the Edmund Rice Network to inaugurate a new association between the two Congregations which were founded by Blessed Edmund Rice.
 
The model of association has been chosen in order to best express the common source of the Congregations and, as importantly, the desire to grow in unity as a response to the gospel call of Jesus “that they may be one.” The association was first launched in Northern Ghana at a gathering of Brothers and Presentation Sisters held during August.
 
Presentation Brother, Martin Kenneally, outlined the course of collaboration between the two Congregations in recent years which has brought them closer together. “The model of ‘association’,” he said, “rather than that of amalgamation, has been chosen in order to better express the freedom and depth of commitment with which the Brothers are coming together. This will help the Congregations face “the ever changing signs of the times and the challenges to develop new expressions of life and mission.”
 
References were made to the various ways in which the Brothers have moved in recent years from the separateness and competitiveness that were hallmarks of their historical development. They now experience a new friendship, a new brotherhood and a new commitment to mission especially with poor people. There already exists a new Nagle-Rice community in Cork formed by the Presentation Sisters and the two Congregations of Brothers.
 
Recently the Congregation Leadership Teams of both Congregations met in Cork for three days of prayer, reflection and planning. Brother Philip Pinto, Congregation Leader of the Christian Brothers remarked that “it was wonderful to be with the Presentation Brothers in Cork and in terms of outcomes we could not have asked for more. The Congregations share the same spirit,” he said. He referred to another group of Brothers known as the Calcutta Brothers who in 1890 amalgamated with the Christian Brothers in India. “The model of association is different,” he said, “and we will await the emergence of the new growth from the seed planted today.”
 
Brother Andrew Hickey, Congregation Leader of the Presentation Brothers, said that “it was very significant that we gather in Callan, the birthplace of Blessed Edmund. It is the spirit of Edmund Rice who gathers us again in this place,” he said.
 
For over ten years the two Congregations have been associated with many joint efforts which are renewing their life and mission and remodelling older structures. Development Programmes have been organised for the Presentation Sisters, the Brothers and their lay associates in many parts of the world. The Edmund Rice Schools Trust in Ireland, which is now being formed, will be a significant influence on the ethos and development of the schools traditionally associated with the Congregations. Recent celebrations associated with Blessed Edmund Rice and with the foundation of the two Congregations have been jointly initiated by both Congregations. As a sign of the new association the two Congregation Leaders exchanged copies of their Constitutions which were described as “the two lungs of Edmund Rice.”
 
Speaking at the conclusion of the ceremony in Callan, Brother Philip Pinto declared that “the day was not a day for tokenism. The association being expressed in the presence of the gathering must appear in action. We are opening our hearts and our resources, spiritual and material, to one another,” he said.
 
There are 1,300 Brothers in both Congregations throughout the world. They have responsibility for the ownership and trusteeship of about three hundred schools. Many new foundations are being made in the developing parts of the world and among those who are most marginalised. As the Brothers in Ireland and England develop new expressions of their life and mission, they are now helped and supported by a growing number of lay colleagues and associates who form part of the Edmund Rice Network. People within this Network, including students from the various schools, have travelled to developing parts of the world in order to bring help and support to the people and especially the children. These have been experiences of life-changing dimensions for the participants in such schemes.
Br. Edmund Garvey (SMI)