News Archive December 2008
EUROPEAN MARIST FORUM ON EDUCATION
On the 23 July 1816, twelve newly ordained priests came together
in the Basilica of Fourvière in Lyon. They promised to found a
Society dedicated to Mary. Of these twelve, four persevered and,
in 1836, founded the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers).
On the 1 June 2008, fifty representatives from the seven
existing European Provinces gathered at the Basilica of
Fourvière to mark the official beginning of the new European
Marist Province, with Fr John Hannan as the first European
provincial.
The Marist Fathers have a long history of commitment to
education, and have founded schools and colleges across the
globe. St Mary’s College, Middlesbrough, was the first Marist
school established on English soil in 1904.
At the end of November 2008, the new European Province organised
its first pan-European Education Forum, which was held at its
school in Margency, just north of Paris, and which brought
together the Marist schools and colleges from England, France,
Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. Two Marist priests from
Holland, one of whom is currently based in Norway, also took
part.
The keynote lecturer, Fr Hughes Derycke, a priest of the
‘Mission de France’, formerly Deputy General Secretary of the
Catholic Education Service in France, and currently teaching at
the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales,
provided a challenging overview of Catholic education within the
context of growing globalisation, religious plurality,
indifference and secularisation. Presentations from all the
institutions represented illustrated the wide spectrum of
socio-economic contexts within which the Marist schools and
colleges seek to provide education ‘sub Mariae nomine’.
On a practical level, the first Forum provided the opportunity
to begin to determine how the European Marist schools and
colleges can work together to promote sporting and cultural
links (St Mary’s already has an established exchange with the
Lycée Saint-Vincent in Senlis), the sharing of good practice and
teaching materials, and, of course, an enhanced understanding of
Marist spirituality. The three day conference was hard work,
but, needless to say, immensely enjoyable thanks to the
traditional Marist hospitality!
The photograph shows Fr Noel Wynn, the last Marist priest to be
Principal of St Mary’s College, with the College’s display
stand.
