Marist Institut - Marist Laity - Secretariado - Objectives and lines of action

To promote in the Institute the process of “widening the space of the Marist tent” and offering a service of animation, of co-ordination and of help to Administrative Units in the domain of the Marist laity, according to the orientations of the XX General Chapter.

Specifics objectivs and lines of action

1. To animate and co-ordinate the process of becoming aware of and explaining the Marist identity of laypeople.

1.1. To co-ordinate the process of the production and distribution of the document “The vocation of the lay Marist”.

1.2 To develop a work of research on the professional, sociological and canonical implications of various forms of “belonging” or of “association” of lay Marists to the Institute (former students, affiliated members to the Institute and to Provinces, the Champagnat Movement of the Marist Family, as well as new alternatives) and to present a proposal of these different possibilities to the XXI General Chapter (2009) so that they can be studied and examined.

2. To promote, in the entire Institute, the strengthening of the formation processes of the brothers and lay Marists on the charism, spirituality and shared mission (partnership).

2.1. To establish networks for sharing the already existing Marist formation processes for brothers and lay Marists, to discover the fundamental elements of this formation and to plan their future.

International meeting on the Marist formation processes for brothers and laypeople (Les Avellanes - Spain, 14-20 May 2007).
Formation course for formators on the charism, spirituality and shared mission (by Marist regions).
Co-ordination of support for Administrative Units who need it, in the conception and the realisation of these Marist formation programmes.
To distribute some of these programmes through the Marist Notebooks, Web, etc.

2.2. To organise one or several meetings (linguistic groups) of Marist formation and to share experiences of Marist “partnership” which help to perceive “new ways of being Marist”: identity, association and belonging, experience of spirituality, the community and mission, new Marist structures, etc. (4 or 5 weeks).

3. To strengthen the awareness and the development of the Marist laity in the world

3.1.To be aware of the progress of the Marist laity in each Administrative Unit.

Through communication with the liaisons (links) for the laity in each Administrative Unit: statistics updated, publication of news, reflections, progress which is done in the incorporation of laypeople in the structures of animation and government, etc.
Direct contact of the Bureau of the Laity with the Administrative Units:

Participation in meetings at the Provincial, regional, continental and whole Institute level, which refer to the Marist laity: mission assemblies (Mendes 2007) meetings of continental mission teams, meetings of the Champagnat Movement and other lay groups of Marists.
Pastoral visits to the Administrative Units: contacts with the people and groups, talks, courses, retreats, etc.
Exchange of reports and reflections with the Consultative Group of Laypeople, appointed by the General Council in 2005 and strengthened by the members of the Commission for the writing of the document “The vocation of a lay Marist” and others.
Periodic meetings with other branches of the Society of Mary and with other congregations, on the subjects of the laity.

3.2.To use the means of communication of the Institute to facilitate the exchange of significant experiences and studies on the “partnership of laypeople”, as well as the work developed by the Bureau, in co-ordination with the department of Communications.

Web Site: Update, Section of the Laity, Blog, forums, etc.
FMS Echoes. Evaluation. Relaunch or suppression.
FMS Message on the laity (2009).
Marist Notebooks

3.3. To maintain the General Council, the Brothers Provincial, the liaisons for the laity and the Consultative Group of Laypeople periodically informed on the activities of the Bureau of the Laity.

4. To give a boost to the progress of the Marist lay association (MChFM and other Marist groups or movements).

4.1. To initiate a process of evaluation, of discernment and of planning for the future of the MChFM: life project, mission, recognition of fraternities, participation in the local Church, formation processes, vocations ministry, promises or personal vows, structures of co-ordination and support, etc.

To gather concerns and initiatives through meetings at the Provincial, regional and continental levels.
To support meetings at the continental level.
To participate in Provincial meetings or by countries.
To produce support materials or make people aware of those already existing in the various Administrative Units.
To support the efforts that are made in creating structures at the regional, continental and world levels.
To maintain the updating of the statistics of the movement and of general information.
To support especially the MChFM in Africa and in Asia.

4.2. To establish the contact and the awareness of other groups or of Maist lay movements that already exist in order to help them to reflect on their progress.

4.3. To expand communication networks between these groups, the MChFM and the structures of animation and government of the Institute

5. To establish a process of reflection on a new way of carrying out Marist Vocation Ministry, in which one takes into consideration, at the same level, the lay Marist vocation and the Marist religious vocation, by offering, in the first case, possibilities of formation, of belonging and of mission.

5.1. To initiate this reflection in different Marist domains

Study in the General Administration’s Mission Commission, in the Continental Mission Teams, and if one thinks so, in the International Commission of Marist Mission.
Study in the General Administration’s Religious Life Commission and in the Bureau of Vocations.
Study as a priority of the Youth-Vocations Ministry in the Provinces, regions and continents.

5.2. To accompany the study and the possible development of the Marist International Voluntary movement for laypeople and brothers, pending the decisions of the General Council on this subject.

5.3. To accompany the study and the possible development of the Mission “Ad Gentes” for laypeople, pending the decisions of the General Council.


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