THE MARIST UNIVERSITY: MISSION HORIZONS BASED ON POPE FRANCIS PONTIFICATE

“The most radical Marist meaning of higher education lies in the role it plays in the challenge of decisively contributing to a world that is more fair and brotherly, a world of active compassion and mercy in favor of those excluded from the benefits of development.” (Marist Mission in Higher Education (No. 27))[1]

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“[The] strong pressure felt in the various realms of the socioeconomic, political, and cultural life challenges the university’s vocation itself, particularly the faculty’s task of teaching and carrying out research and of helping new generations become not only qualified professionals in various fields, but also protagonists of the common good and creative and responsible leaders of the social and civil life, with a correct vision of man and world.” (Francis)[2]

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What makes a Marist university different from other higher education institutions? What are its social and ecclesial roles? How does it expect to be the protagonist of the creation of new paradigms, horizons and possibilities for the contemporary world?

Such questions quickly prove to be necessary in the light of the complex and plural scenery of today’s higher education. It is a reality that is marked by the breaking of the barriers between real and virtual, by the acceleration of the processes of connection, communication and production, by historic achievements and overcomings at a record time, though also by countless crises that are looming, due to the lack of time to properly reflect on the consequences of so many changes implemented so rapidly.

The university, as an institution that delimits the civilizing process, is questioned on this relentless series of changes. The Marist university — thus, Catholic — is especially challenged to offer answers to the just-glimpsed challenges, but, primarily, to do it based on an updated understanding of its identity.[3]

What would be considered the identity of a Marist university? The way its members are and act, the cosmovision and the commitments made institutionally, and the significant presence characterize its nature. The Catholic university is born from “the heart of the Church” (Ex Corde Ecclesiae, hereinafter, ECE), as written by pope John Paul II (1990) – ECE, No.1. It is a practical response to the needs of each time; it is the exchange between the Gospel and culture; it is an option of apostolate in a word in need of ultimate horizons of meaning and institutions committed to humanism.[4] In turn, the identity of the Marist university is marked by the aggregation of these elements and their implementation based on the charism that Brothers and laymen spiritually inherited from Saint Marcellin Champagnat. It is portentous in the greatness of its mission: to be substantively a university — encompassing education, research, extension, innovation and leadership, undertaken with excellence — and to be identifiably Marist, embodying an ecclesial mission in the manner of the Marist educational tradition, in order to “respond to the problems and demands of the time” (ECE, No. 31). It is evangelical in the values it embraces in its actions: the love for the neighbor and the human community, the cultivation of the formation of integral beings, the commitment to the common good and a fulfilling life for all.

How would it be possible, however, to conduct efforts in favor of the demanding higher education from the Marist education tradition? Wouldn’t we be contained within a model that falls short of contemporary expectations for a university? The path to follow does not imply abandoning premises that were historically embraced by Marist education — the love for those involved in educational processes, the spirituality of the heart, and the necessary openness to the formation of all dimension of the person, the significant and evangelizing presence. Instead, the existence of a clear purpose, consistent for over two hundred years, adaptable to the needs of each era, proves to be a distinctive element in offering new responses to new challenges.

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Our presence in the field of higher education offers us a privileged context to promote the dialogue between faith and contemporary thought. We present high academic standards of teaching and research, contributing to social and cultural progress, and providing professional training and personal development for future leaders. Through our university apostolate, we help students integrate their development in faith with personal ethics and a sense of social justice (Marist Educational Mission, No. 156)[5]

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José Tolentino Mendon?a (2016, p.26) wrote, pointing out an observation about the cultivation of spiritual life: “Today we lack not only masters of the inner life, but simply of life, of a complete life, of an existence worthy of being lived.” Fortunately, we have the gratifying experience of having one of these rare masters of life as a spiritual and unifying leader: the Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio; Pope Frances. We want to gather, from his words and servant leadership, some insights on the horizons of the Marist university mission.

The pontificate of Francis is marked by the invitation to create healthier cultures: the culture of encounter, the culture of integral ecology, and the culture of social friendship. The calls for creating these cultures echo, respectively: from the apostolic exhortation Evangelli Gaudium (2013), on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world; from the encyclical letter Laudato Si’ (2015), on the care for the common home; and from the encyclical letter Fratelli Tutti (2020), on fraternity and social friendship. Here is a master who warns of the danger of building walls and advises the evangelical attitude of building bridges. A leader who listens, speaks, and is heard, who thinks and feels the pains of the world and calls on all who listen to him not to be overshadowed by indifference.

Francis is also a strong voice calling for the transformation of the world through education. It was his ardent desire to establish, with every educational community, formal or informal, a global pact — a Global Educational Pact[6] — capable of “building an ‘education village,’ where, in diversity, we share the commitment to generate a network of human and open relationships.” (FRANCISCO, 2019b). As foundations of this pact, Francis lists some fundamental attitudes: having the courage to place the person at the center; investing the best energies with creativity and responsibility; forming people available to put themselves at the service of the community.

The magisterium of Pope Francis is, thus, a great inspiration for the constant updating of the Marist mission in higher education. They are intimately connected not only by the ecclesial bond, but also by the pedagogical options they favor. Francis invites the Church to go “out” to evangelize, to reach out;[7] the Marist educational tradition and the spiritual legacy Champagnat invite to the exercise of the significant presence, to make education a work of love.[8] Both proposals share an integral anthropology, capable of transforming and developing human beings through the conversion of their hearts.[9]

“Marist higher education is animated by the charism and spirituality of Marcellin Champagnat, whose ideal was not limited to a single context nor a single form of expression and service for children and young people.” (REDE MARISTA INTERNACIONAL DE INSTITUI??ES DE EDUCA??O SUPERIOR. Miss?o Marista na Educa??o Superior, hereinafter MMES, No. 25). The horizons of the mission to be assumed by the Marist university are vast. The integral development of students, the formation of educators, the training of leaders — for society in general and for the various fields of action of the Marist Institute in particular — the integration of faith and science, of the Gospel and culture, of professional excellence and compassionate humanism.[10] The pillars of this mission are equally demanding: fidelity to the charism of Champagnat (MMHE, No. 23), following Christ in the way of Mary (MMHE, No. 32), the pedagogy of love, and the proposal of Christian spirituality (ECE, No. 33).

Despite various limitations, many fruits have been harvested over the decades of the Marist mission in higher education. We can see universities that have transformed regional realities through the social development of the communities they are a part of; ecosystems of innovation; development of academic and cultural hubs; references in sustainability and ecological culture; spaces for promoting life and human dignity, as well as dialogue between faith and reason, realizing the long-dreamed perspective of a university in pastoral action,[11] that is, in constant evangelizing action from its various fields of activity.

It seems appropriate to conclude this reflection on the inspirations of Francis’s pontificate (2019c; 2022) for the identity of the Marist university with two excerpts from his messages: the first is part of his speech to the participants in the conference of the International Federation of Catholic Universities, in 2019, on the love languages needed for a more complete education; the second is part of his speech to the participants in the General Conference of Marist Brothers, in 2022:

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Education, in general, but especially in universities, does not consist only in filling one’s head with concepts. Three languages are necessary. Three languages must come into play: the language of the mind, the language of the heart and the language of the hands, so that one can think in harmony with what one feels and does; so that one can feel in harmony with what is one thinks and does; and so that one can do in harmony with what one feels and thinks.

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[Saint Marcellin Champagnat] knew how to “look beyond,” how to teach young people to “look beyond,” to open up to God, to the horizons of love according to the Gospel. Guided by the example of the Virgin Mary, the “good Mother,” as he used to say: Mary was a small woman from a peripheral village, but her heart looked beyond, she had the horizon of the Kingdom of God, she remained open.

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The Marist educational tradition in higher education has a history marked by the fruitful encounter of minds, hands, and hearts; establishing itself as a “beacon of hope in this turbulent world”[12]; understanding itself as universitas magistrorum et scholarium, that is, a community of master and students united in the search for the truth (ECE, No. 1; MMES, No. 16) — who, just as Champagnat when he met young Montagne, realized there was no time to lose when it came to educating and caring for life. The horizons of the mission demand “looking beyond;” they require us to advance solid proposals, adapting to the demands of our time, relying on the consistency of our history, revitalizing our firm purpose.

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References:

COMISS?O INTERPROVINCIAL DE EDUCA??O MARISTA. Miss?o educativa marista: um projeto para nosso Tempo. 2a ed. S?o Paulo: SIMAR, 2000.

CONSIGLI, B. Marcelino Champagnat, um modelo de lideran?a servidora. In: Vozes Maristas: INSTITUTO DOS IRM?OS MARISTAS. Ensaios sobre Lideran?a Profética e Servidora. Roma, 2022. Disponível em: https://champagnat.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/VozesMaristas_EnsaiosLiderancaProfeticaServidora.pdf

FRANCISCO. Exorta??o Apostólica Evangelli Gaudium. Roma, 2013. Disponível em: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html

FRANCISCO. Discurso do papa Francisco aos participantes na plenária da Congrega??o para a Educa??o Católica. Roma, 2014. Disponível em: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/speeches/2014/february/documents/papa-francesco_20140213_congregazione-educazione-cattolica.html

FRANCISCO. Carta Encíclica Laudato Si’. Roma, 2015. Disponível em: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20150524_enciclica-laudato-si.html

FRANCISCO. Exorta??o apostólica pós-sinodal Christus Vivit. Loreto, 2019a. Disponível em:? https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20190325_christus-vivit.html#_ftn116

FRANCISCO. Mensagem do papa Francisco para o lan?amento do Pacto Educativo. Roma, 2019b. Disponível em: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/messages/pont-messages/2019/documents/papa-francesco_20190912_messaggio-patto-educativo.html

FRANCISCO. Discurso do papa Francisco aos participantes na conferência da Federa??o Internacional Das Universidades Católicas. Roma, 2019c. Disponível em: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/speeches/2019/november/documents/papa-francesco_20191104_dirigenti-universita.html

FRANCISCO. Carta Encíclica Fratelli Tutti. Roma, 2020. Disponível em: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20201003_enciclica-fratelli-tutti.html

FRANCISCO. Discurso do papa Francisco aos participantes na Conferência Geral dos Irm?os Maristas. Roma, 2022. Disponível em: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/pt/speeches/2022/march/documents/20220324-fratelli-maristi.html

JO?O PAULO II. Constitui??o Apostólica Ex Corde Ecclesiae. Roma, 1990. Disponível em: https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/pt/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_15081990_ex-corde-ecclesiae.html

MENDON?A, J. T. A mística do instante: o tempo e a promessa. S?o Paulo: Paulinas, 2016.

REDE MARISTA INTERNACIONAL DE INSTITUI??ES DE EDUCA??O SUPERIOR. Miss?o Marista na Educa??o Superior. Curitiba: Champagnat, 2010.

REDE MARISTA INTERNACIONAL DE INSTITUI??ES DE EDUCA??O SUPERIOR. A??o evangelizadora marista na educa??o superior. Incerti, F; McMahon, J.; Ma?aneiro, M.; Mateucci, R. Curitiba: PUCPRESS, 2017.

TEIXEIRA, E. F. B.; MENTGES, M. J. A educa??o superior marista na perspectiva do servi?o. In: Vozes Maristas: INSTITUTO DOS IRM?OS MARISTAS. Ensaios sobre Lideran?a Profética e Servidora. Roma, 2022. Disponível em: https://champagnat.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/VozesMaristas_EnsaiosLiderancaProfeticaServidora.pdf

[1] See (REDE MARISTA INTERNACIONAL DE INSTITUI??ES DE EDUCA??O SUPERIOR, 2010).

[2] See (FRANCISCO, 2019c).

[3] See (TEIXEIRA; MENTGES, 2022, p.428-434).

[4] “(...) Catholic education institutions offer to all a proposal that seeks the integral development of people and that is a response to everyone’s right to have access to learning and knowledge. But they are also asked to offer to all, fully respecting the freedom of each individual and the educational environment’s own methods, the Christian message, that is, Jesus Christ as the meaning of life, of the cosmos and of history.” (FRANCISCO, 2014)

[5] See (COMISS?O INTERPROVINCIAL DE EDUCA??O MARISTA, 2000).

[6] See the official website of the Global Compact on Education – https://www.educationglobalcompact.org/en/

[7] Pope Francis (2019a, No. 222) acknowledges the university as an important space of evangelization of young people, and suggests as inspiring criteria of his mission “the kerygma experience, the dialogue at every level, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity, promoting the culture of the encounter, the urgent need of “creating a network” and choosing those left behind, those discarded and abandoned by society.”

[8] See (CONSIGLI, 2022).

[9] “Universities are a privileged setting to think about and develop this commitment to evangelization in an interdisciplinary and inclusive manner. Catholic schools, which always seek to combine the educational task with the explicit proclamation of the Gospel, constitute a very valuable contribution to the evangelization of culture, even in countries and cities where an adverse situation encourages us to use our creativity to find appropriate paths.” (FRANCISCO, 2013, No. 134)

[10] “Through service and creative work, we must provide our students, as well as the entire academic community, with examples of hope, solidarity, responsibility, freedom, justice, critical awareness, interiority, reconciliation, and peace, which contribute to the search for the meaning of life.” (TEIXEIRA; MENTGES, 2022, p.427).

[11] See especially (REDE MARISTA INTERNACIONAL DE INSTITUI??ES DE EDUCA??O SUPERIOR, 2017).

[12] This is one of the appeals of the XXII General Chapter of the Institute of the Marist Brothers — available at: https://www.champagnat.org/shared/bau/Document_XXII_General_Chapter_Print_PT.pdf