Chapter Members in outing at Subiaco (birth place of western religious life)

News from Brother General René Stockman f.c.

On the 18th of April, we left for Kigali where we had a short but full program. First was the general assemble of our psychiatric centre Caraes in Ndera that came together for the first time since 1994 with a total new composition: representatives of the congregation and of Caraes Belgium as founders and with representatives of the ministry of health and the church as invited members. The most important issue was the approving of the convention between the government and the congregation, and the meeting went very successful. In the afternoon we met the rector of the Kigali Health Institute in order to discuss the possibility to collaborate with our department of biomedical laboratory sciences in order to upgrade this section. In the evening we visited the community of Butare.

The next morning we continued our trip towards Gitega in Burundi, where we inaugurated the hospitalization wards. From now on is our centre Saint Camille a full hospital in the service of the psychiatric patients of the centre of the country. We thank the brothers Emile and Johan for their enormous dedication.

On the 21^st we returned to Rwanda, where we visited in the afternoon Gatagara, and before leaving on the Sunday afternoon, we had a lot of appointments still in Ndera.

From Rwanda to Ethiopia: Addis Ababa was our next stop. On Monday, we had our first board of the new institute in Gefersa, and of course we were very curious the visit the old centre observing the positive changes since the Brothers have taken over the centre.

In the afternoon I was invited by the Ethiopian bishops who were together in their conference to give a talk about the congregation.

The Archbishop repeated his great appreciation for the presence of the Brothers of Charity in Ethiopia and especially the involvement in the psychiatric centre in Gefersa.  

On Tuesday the 24^th Brother Eric Jeje made his perpetual profession and Brother Bernard Nzambimana renewed his profession. It was of course a good occasion to speak about the charism of our Congregation. In the presence of Brother Romain, the provincial superior and Brother Stan, the regional superior, we had a nice meal in the evening with all the brothers and novices present in Ethiopia. 

On the 25^th we had a few private meetings and we closed the visit with a community meeting with all the brothers. We arrived tired but satisfied in Rome on the 26^th in de early morning, but in the evening we left Rome again for Belgium, where we had a meeting with the European regional superiors about the abuse issues and the way the congregation was coping with it. At the end of this meeting, the group formulated some recommendation for the general chapter. In the evening I opened a new school in Ursel where I was really impressed by the great involvement of the local population. On Saturday we had some meetings with Fracarita International and we returned to Rome on the Sunday afternoon.

On the 30^th of April and on the 2^nd of May we had our last general council meetings for this period, and in the afternoon of the 2^nd I had the meeting with the commission for interreligious dialogue. The following days were full with the further preparation of the general chapter and on the 5^th I was asked to preside a session of the congress of the Pontifical Council for Health Care on the actions of the Church towards people with visual impairment. On the Sunday the 6^th I had the occasion to participate to the swearing ceremony of 26 new Papal Guards in the Saint Peters basilica.

                       

And so we are going to our general chapter, which will start on the 14^th of May. But before, I have the pleasure to celebrate my birthday on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. I thank those who sent me their wishes and I thank in a special way all those who promised to pray for our general chapter!

Our international community in DC

Toward nursing training in India

In 2008 the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), the Catholic University of Leuven and the Brothers of Charity agreed to develop training courses in the field of mental health care in India. Bro. René Stockman, general superior of the Brothers of Charity and president of Fracarita International, announces that the first two courses are expected to start in 2013.

Fracarita turns solar energy into the service of the por

Congrats BOC graduating at Catholic University of America

Fraternal correction

The correctio fraterna or fraternal correction is an important aspect of monastic tradition. It is rooted in the primary idea that we are responsible for the well-being of our neighbours. We must not act like Cain, who, when God asked him “Where is your brother Abel?”, replied “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gn 4:9). We are indeed our brothers’ keeper, as it is phrased. We should be willing to do anything to help our brothers, to protect them from harm, and to admonish them if necessary when we see that they are taking a wrong turn. The latter is especially difficult, delicate, and goes against a persistent and widespread modern trend: that everyone is responsible for themselves. “I can do my own thing,” many young people say. “I’m accountable to no one but myself as long as I don’t harm others.” In his ‘philosophy of the face’, Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas cuts across this mentality and calls on all people to consider themselves their brother’s keeper. He speaks of an ethical imperative, an obligation to help our brother evolve into a better person. And this is where good advice, admonition, fraternal correction, fits in. Perhaps, education should pay more attention to this, without it coming across as a threat. Just think of the times when we were reprimanded; it kept us from harm’s way several times.

There is a powerful passage on fraternal correction in the Gospel. Jesus covers it in a specific catechesis. “If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: whatever the misdemeanour, the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain the charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, treat him like a gentile or a tax collector.” (Mt 18:15-17). Jesus provides a clear strategy on how we should help a neighbour when we see that he is walking down the wrong path. The first motion is of course very delicate: do we have the right to tell someone when he is wrong and what arguments do we have to come to this conclusion? The words that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees sounds almost like an echo: “Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You must therefore do and observe what they tell you; but do not be guided by what they do, since they do not practise what they preach. You clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance.” (Mt 23:3.25). And Jesus feels just as strongly about judging others: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own? And how dare you say to your brother, ‘Let me take that splinter out of your eye,’ when, look, there is a great log in your own? Hypocrite! Take the log out of your own eye first, and then you will see clearly enough to take the splinter out of your brother's eye.” (Mt 7:1.3-5). Here, we could conclude that we do not have the right to say something to our brother, as we ourselves are never without fault. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged”, do not pass judgement on others, leave them be and they will leave you be. It is closing our eyes to it, covering it up for the sake of peace and quiet. We know that the latter is under a great deal of pressure in view of the issue of abuse in the Church. It is said that a veil was drawn over too many known cases of abuse, and the people in charge are blamed for adopting a cover-up policy, and at times the charge of ‘negligence’ is heard. The latter is taking it far, too far, because negligence only exists when one fails to save someone who is in distress and one did have to possibility to actually save that person. Still, we are left with a feeling of doubt when it comes to judging another person’s behaviour.

The first step could be to maintain a clear distinction between the person and his actions. This remains an important principle, a hard one at that, as the action and the person are so closely intertwined. When we indeed see things that are wrong and we try to interpret them, we are talking about the actions and not the person. We do not judge nor condemn the person; we do judge and condemn his actions. This is what the message should be

Office of the Superior General

News from the Superior General

After a long period in Rome, I left the generalate on the 13th of February, not expecting that I should stay the whole night in the airport of Rome due to the heavy snow that came over the Eternal City. So it was only at noontime that I arrived in Ghent, just in time to prepare myself for the next trip to Africa and Asia.

 The first visit was to Nairobi, where we guided the retreat for our 41 African novices from the 14^th until the 18^th of February. We went all together to the retreat house of the Dimesse Sisters, a very quite place where the novices could really deepen their relation with God. Immediately after the retreat we left for Zambia to visit our formation house in Lusaka and to do some exploration together with Brother Constantino Kaunda for the future apostolate.

 On the Sunday the 19^th we made a trip to Kalulushi in order to visit a farm that was proposed to the congregation. Due to bad weather, we could only arrive at 7 p.m. and so it was already dark. Finally we arrived back in Lusaka at 4 o’clock in the morning! In Lusaka itself we had good contacts with different congregation and also the direction of the Chainama hospital. We returned to Nairobi on the 21^st, in order to have the same activity in Kenya. Together with Brother Pasco and Brother Paulin we visited Loitokitok at the foot of the Kilimanjaro, Meru and some places in Nairobi itself. Of both visits, the results will be discussed in the general council.

 On the 26^th of February we left for Manilla, and the following day we arrived in Tabaco (Bicol) in order to guide our 17 postulants in their preparation of their oblation. Very special is the fact that we have 6 African postulants in the group, so again we can speak of a real international noviciate.

 On the 2^nd of March, we had the oblation and from that moment we have 17 more members as novice in our congregation. On the same day we had also the perpetual profession of 4 brothers of the Philippines: Brothers Edcel, Allan, Manuel and Adrian. We had 3 bishops to preside the ceremony: the actual bishop of Legaspy, Mgr. Joel Baloyo and the 2 emeritus bishops of Legaspy who are both very familiar with the brothers. It was a real feast day for the region! At the end of the ceremony, we had also the opening and the blessing of a new consultation building for our Rehabilitations centre “Holy Face”. From now on, the psychiatric patients who are coming for ambulant care will be welcomed in a more adapted environment.

After a short stay in Manila where we had some meetings with authorities, we left on the 6^th of Marc very early to Vietnam, where we visited our brothers.  The most important event was there the perpetual profession of our first Vietnamese brothers Dominic and Ignacio on the 10^th of March. Next to it we visited several places in order to have a better idea for the further development of the apostolate. 

 On the 7^th of March, we went to Trong Duc where our novices did their practicum in a psychiatric center.  The day afterwards I was pleased that I could stay for the first time in our new house, and we visited the places where our brothers are doing their apostolate for the moment.  The day of the perpetual profession was a real feastday and a day of thanksgiving for the past 10 year in Vietnam. On the Sunday 11^th of March, we had the blessing of the new house of the Sisters of Charity and on the 12^th in the evening we returned to Belgium, where for two weeks we will teach our brothers-students spirituality and medical ethics. 

Bros. in formation in Nairobi