Life of the Congregation

...This session has helped me to give real substance to the little knowledge I have about Betharram and the life and works of St Michael Garicoits.
...As I made my way up Calvary following the Stations of the Cross, alone or with others I tried to make the link between the Passion of Christ and the life of St Michael; it was not an easy life. Last night in the saint’s bedroom I was struck by the feeling of inner peace which I felt. It was during the “night before the battle” that I discovered the courage of St Michael Garicoits, a man of prayer and of faith, who despite the many difficulties always trusted in God in whom he could see the face of a Father full of goodness and mercy.
...Besides, the diversity of our origins has helped me to understand what we mean by “intercultural”. It is nothing other than St John’s Gospel in practice. “Jesus was about to give his life for the nation. But it was not only for the nation, it was to gather as one the children of God”. (Jn 11, 51-52)
...This session has been a real spiritual treat for us.

Valentin N’Zoré N’Guessan scj, fully professed on September 14th, 2016

After this last witness at the end of the 2016 international session, it is important to come back to an experience which has been going on for 15 years now and is leaving an indelible mark in the meek, humble and obedient heart of our young brothers on the eve of their final commitment.
There is no better guide than Fr Gaspar, Superior general, who during his two terms, met nearly all the batches of this appointment.

The year 2001 marked a new stage in initial Formation, didn’t it?
... At the beginning of the new millennium, Father Francesco Radaelli took in effect, fundamental decisions for initial Formation in the Congregation: the creation of the three novitiates of Bethlehem, Adrogué and Bangalore, one per region; the establishment of a Formation Service for the entire Congregation; a year free of any commitment before perpetual profession and the Formation Session for religious about to pronounce their perpetual vows. These four initiatives are still in force except for a few changes dictated by reality.
From 2001, a session was held every two years without exception, as well as a special session in 2009 so that eight young men from the Saint Michael Region and the Saint-Miriam Region could take part, given that no session was scheduled for the year of the General Chapter. So far, there have been nine Sessions in all.

This session immediately turned out to be a “must do”.
In fact synchronising with all vicariates was not easy nor immediate. One difficulty was that we had to deal with three different calendars for school holidays. In Latin America it is January and February; Europe and Africa take July and August; Asia has April and May. For some, participation in the session interfered with their normal course of studies at the seminary. But we reaffirmed the need to precede perpetual profession with a year clear of  any academic commitment, as written in our Rule of Life, and the situation has improved.
For several years we held to scheduling the session in the spring, but we realized that a significant factor, as surprising as it is, was the weather in Betharram! In order to facilitate the acclimatization of youth, site visits and pilgrimages, it was decided this year to return to a session taking place in summer.

How many religious have had this experience?

Since 2001, 106 young people of the three regions have passed through these international sessions.

Nearly a third of the members of the congregation?

Exactly. In all, there are 36 young people from the St Michael Garicoits Region (34.18%), 30 from the Fr. Auguste Etchecopar Region (29.22%), 40 from the St. Miriam  Region (37.73%). These proportions are interesting because they seem fairly balanced between the regions. However, it must be said that 19 of the participants later left the Congregation, some a little before pronouncing perpetual vows, others soon after, others a few years later.

What has changed in 15 years of experience?
The first sessions were divided into two parts: the first took place in the Holy Land (Bethlehem and Nazareth) and the second in Betharram. The difficulties of obtaining a visa to Israel for some brothers, the ‘tourist’ nature of some visits to holy places rather frustrated the objectives, and the trips were increasing costs ... All this has brought us from 2009 to make this experience only in Betharram to focus on our real objectives.

Have these objectives also changed over the years?
No, the goals set for this experience have remained constant during these 15 years:- To provide young religious preparing for perpetual profession with a deep experience of spirituality which affirms their identity and sense of Betharramite belonging. - To deepen their sense of the prophetic and charismatic character of our Father Saint Michel, through knowledge of the places where he lived his own spiritual experiences and mission.- To facilitate an intercultural experience by getting to know one another in diversity, by respecting differences & learning to value them, by meeting and enriching each other in sharing the good things offered by each culture. All this is very important in a congregation increasingly as international as Bétharram.
However, since 2012, the year of the new Rule of Life, we insist on religious getting to know it better, so we study it, we pray with it and deepen understanding of it because we are aware that many religious were not familiar with it , and this weakens our sense of belonging to the Congregation. We also asked the various animators to use different methods to present the themes.

What do ‘different methods’ mean in practice?
The use of modern IT tools was obvious. But beyond the technical aspect, we tried to encourage the active participation on the proposed themes, to give more space for sharing, for constructive examining of experiences, deepening and clarifying of certain issues. In addition, a personal time is given daily to each participant so that he can internalise in silence the subject treated during the day.
To deepen the knowledge of St. Michael, for example, we read one of his letters each day, because it is precisely in his correspondence that St. Michael talks about his inner  life, his emotions, his spirituality and in which is reflected the gentleness he showed to people.
Sometimes to deepen knowledge and more comprehensive understanding of the Rule of Life, we discussed concrete examples  in the light of the Rule of Life.

In short, fewer conferences and more exchanges?...

You could say so. But the goal is to stimulate a deep and constructive sharing to enable young people to be fully aware of their choices.

In addition to deepening spiritual awareness, what other positive aspects for participants?
The session allows foremost to establish relationships between religious cultures: European, African, Latin American, Indian, and Thai. Living together is possible, as is group work. This is an opportunity to forge bonds of friendship, as seen on Facebook.But I want to emphasize that the sessions helped to deepen our spirituality and our mission, which was lacking in some of the newer Vicariates.In this area, the religious of the Vicariate of France-Spain, which is hosting the session, offered young people the contribution of knowledge and experience, passing the charism that flows from the source in all its freshness.

Other religious contributing to these sessions are acting as ‘resources’ for these meetings.
During all these years, many of our brothers were engaged in giving conferences and / or accompaniment. At first they came mostly from ‘the cradle of the Congregation’...men such  as Fr. Beñat, Fr. Jean (Lambert), Fr. Gaston, Fr. Jean-Do, Fr Jean-Luc, Fr Jacky , brother Emile, Fr. Gerard ... But in recent years, younger brothers have joined the leadership team: Fathers Mauro (Brazil), Chan (Thailand), Stervin (India) and Jean- Paul Kissi (Cote d’Ivoire) in particular.

Was it due to their greater availability?
Not just that. It was important to offer a presence of Formators of all ages and from all cultural backgrounds, both to facilitate communication with and among young people and to guarantee them support in their language. The brothers I have named have also attended Formators’ courses, and more and more, they have a good command of English.

Indeed, at each session, the issue of language is raised. Is it an obstacle?
Although we are very insistent that English be taught in houses of formation, language remains a real problem for communication between young people. It is true that young people who speak English become more numerous each time, but still many do not speak it. And among those who have mastered this language, many have learned it before entering Betharram; in formation houses, we do not take sufficient care of this aspect which is increasingly important for a person who wants to be a missionary.

The session is now well established initiative, but have you in mind other possible solutions?
Sometimes I wonder whether the sessions should not be longer and more intense to allow young people to internalize more the experience of our charism. Each congregation has its own style of building its Formation program. The fact is that the quality of the sessions also depend a lot on participating groups and the Formation previously received in the communities. Some groups were very difficult, they lacked maturity or showed rebellious attitudes and accepted with difficulty the proposals offered by the session. The 2016 group has proved itself, very mature, and has expressed enthusiasm for the proposals made, even suggesting interesting initiatives to further improve the climate.

In conclusion, what importance do you give to these sessions? They are a very valuable experience for the reasons I just stated. And they justify all the efforts made by the Regions and by the General Council in both human resources and financial resources.
Young people themselves say in their testimonies that the Session is a crucial time in their formation, mainly because it offers them the opportunity to learn about our father and founder St. Michael Garicoits. Furthermore, the visit to the places helps them to trace an even deeper experience.Knowledge of brothers from different cultures will be a plus when it comes to ask some religious to be available to go to work in other vicariates.

Gaspar Fernández Pérez scj
Superior General

Jean Paul Kissi Ayo scj, Master of novices:

It is the challenge of the cultural mix which I am not likely to forget, and which was very well accepted by all the religious. We were all able to accept the differences by mutually accepting each other in view of the need to form international communities. The religious, taking part in this session succeeded in grasping these realities: they were open to the cultural facts. Of course there are still a few difficulties in communicating because of the language but that can easily be resolved as each religious is involved in learning another language so as to make conversations easier.
What I retain from this session is the invitation to get a better knowledge of the Betharram spirituality and of our belonging to our religious family. Each Vicariate has its realities what was mentioned in the different conversations and it is in these realities that the Betharramite spirituality must be inculturated. This is possible thanks to a prayer life and fraternity in community which is to be encouraged at all times.
I was very happy to be able to follow this session as a young Formator; I have learned a lot from the seniors and from those religious in formation.
I pray that our desire to live and share the treasure of Betharram may grow in us all the time.

The 2016 session in its daily unfolding | care for the interior life and intercultural enrichment

- First of all meditation to begin our day; we were each invited to give real consistence to this rendez-vous of personal prayer.
- During Lauds a letter from St Michael was read in the three languages thus giving us a better knowledge of our Father founder. This initiative was greatly appreciated by all especially as we were praying around his desk on which he had written many of those letters. The saint’s bed room helped the young religious to be impressed by such a sacred space.
- After a more intellectual work during the day, there was a more personal reflection and feed- back allowing the young religious to deepen the topics further.
- In the evening the examination of conscience was proposed to all, according as it is recommended in the Ignatian method of prayer.
- Every week the young religious met his director for the session; this enabled him to review the topics studied, discuss whatever problems encountered during the session and the unfolding of the day.
- Personal times of silence were a regular feature of the session, especially during the walks at Ibarre, Igon, Loyola, Lourdes, not forgetting the daily reminders met in the sanctuaries, or the Calvary of Betharram. The evenings made way for the presentation of the different vicariates thanks to the use of “power points” which are interesting. The liturgy is the special space where the differences are noticeable, some being more imagined than others but all convey a lively interest to the words and actions. Even if the language barrier continues to be a real problem for the discussion groups, the singing leads to a real communion. The differences can be noted too at cooking level and the special meals!
There was a real sense of openness during the Masses on Sundays. At Betharram the Sunday Masses took on a special appeal with the contribution of the young guests invited by the Vocations team: the Betharramite youth from Ivory Coast, or the FVD youth from Paraguay on their way to the World Youth Days in Krakovie not forgetting the “Me Voici” Fraternity. Times of prayer and sharing were a rich experience for all the sessionists as well as for the regular visitors to the sanctuaries at Betharram. These latter were agreeably surprised at seeing the vitality of the Betharram youth beyond their usual horizons We were very happy to see how attached the young religious are to the reality of Betharram in the wider world. We animators were witnesses of the constant growth of the spirit of St Michael Garicoits. Today it is all the more evident in the new realities at the “peripheries” of our Europe which has such a crying need of the vitality!

Laurent Bacho scj,
General Councillor for formation