With the aim of offering a space for formation and accompaniment to the Bursars of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a meeting was held at the Generalate in Rome from 31 October to 4 April, bringing together 32 persons responsible for “administering the goods and resources of the Church and of Creation”, including the Superior General and some members of the General Council and of the International Economic Council, as well as a Guadalupana Sister of La Salle.
“We were able to get to know each other, to share best practices and also share those practices that challenge us. We were also able to get trained in topics such as transparency, accountability, the ‘mensuram bonam’ [evaluating financial instruments from the perspective of faith and ethics], structures to sustain the mission, supportive economy, economy in the peripheries and economy on a scale”, remarked Brother Sergio Leal, Bursar General of the Institute, highlighting the importance of “balancing and sizing Economy and Theology”, a topic that was addressed by Alessandro Pellizzari during the first day of the meeting.
Synergies and learning
In addition to fostering synergies between the bursars and the Offices and governance bodies of the Institute, in terms of priorities, needs and resource management, the meeting allowed the sharing of “case studies” and “practical cases” as learning opportunities to enable an economy at the service of the charism and the mission, encouraging “responsibility, sustainability and solidarity, with special attention to fragile Districts”.
Hence the need to form networks of local, national and regional bursars, as was stressed during the days of reflection. “How can we collaborate with each another to exercise what Brother Superior General calls ‘cross-pollination’”, asked Brother Sergio, while suggesting that “the challenge we face from now on is to continue training ourselves in different ways and in collaboration with the network of Lasallian universities”. “We also have the challenge of continuing to connect with agents of our Lasallian Family, such as CBIS-Christian Brothers Investment Services-and with 1LaSalle, the global initiative”.
“We seek greater communion, collaboration and solidarity at Regional levels, with prophetically audacious leadership committed to reality, with transparent and accountable systems of accountability, and without losing sight of the need to move out of comfort zones and into the peripheries”, said Br Carlos Gómez, Vicar General, evoking the call of the 46th General Chapter to be “good and faithful stewards of talents and creation”, the invitation of the 46th General Chapter to “leverage the human and financial resources of the Institute in order to guarantee the sustainability of the Lasallian mission”.
In this sense, the role of the bursars regarding the Leavening Movement is also crucial. This topic was deepened by Brother Martín Digilio, General Councillor, who underlined that “the future of our economy lies in synodality and cross-pollination”, so that “we can no longer operate in isolation, but must walk together, sharing resources, knowledge and expertise. Financial interdependence is an expression of our vocation as a Lasallian Family and a key tool to ensure that all communities can flourish and fulfil the mission of educating, evangelising and transforming society”.
“May we know how to administer not only with efficiency, but also with tenderness, so that every coin invested becomes a seed of the Kingdom among the poorest”, Brother Martín concluded.
See below in #LaSalleOrgShortNews the report of Br. Sergio Leal, Bursar General, on the meeting of the Institute’s Bursars:
