Living the Animo

I received a call to serve young people, especially the poor people, through education.”

So it was at the tender age of 12 that Alvaro Rodriguez Echevarria entered the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (or de La Salle brothers) in Costa Rica. And 53 years later, Br. Alvaro’s call to serve is as fervent as ever, as the 27th Superior General of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. 

Bro. Alvaro Echevarria, FSC, currently oversees the La Sallian congregation and mission that now spans 82 countries, 5,000 brothers, 80,000 teachers and over one million students.

In an exclusive interview with the STAR during his visit to the closing ceremonies of De La Salle Philippines’ centennial, Bro. Alvaro shares his impressions on the La Sallian community in the Philippines, his thoughts on the La Salle-Ateneo rivalry, and his message for La Sallian alumni in the Philippines.  

PHILIPPINE STAR: Bro. Alvaro, can you kindly explain the mission and charism (spiritual gift) of the La Salle brothers?

BROTHER ALVARO ECHEVARRIA: The La Salle Brothers is a Catholic congregation for education that was founded by St. John Baptist de la Salle in France three centuries ago. St. La Salle was very touched by the situation of the poor, especially of the children and young people who had no possibilities for education. To respond to the needs of that reality, he founded a community of lay religious teachers to educate the poor. This is a mission we continue up to today. But aside from material poverty, we are also confronted with the “new poverty” — young people who have no meaning in their lives. For example, 35 percent of young people in Italy and 50 percent of young people in Spain have no work. It is not easy to be young today. I think the La Sallian congregation has a very important role to play in our world, especially in the service of young people and children.

I understand that the La Salle was responsible for introducing a lot of educational innovations.

Foremost among these (innovations) is education for the poor. During the founder’s time, only the rich had the possibilities for education. Another (innovation) was the spirit of community. The founder had the idea to have a number of students together and conduct a class in a classroom.

St. La Salle was the first one to establish a classroom-type setting?

Yes. Before that, education was individual. It was one teacher to one student. St. La Salle’s idea was to divide the students into groups according to their level. Another important (innovation) in the La Sallian pedagogy was the pragmatist response to the needs of young people by helping them prepare to make a living. At that time in France, the medium of instruction was in Latin. But St. La Salle changed it to French because French was more important for the poor people.

So he made the medium of instruction into the vernacular? This was the same educational thrust of the late Bro. Andrew Gonzalez when he was Education Secretary — to use the local dialect as a medium of instruction in the provincial schools.

We have the same experience in Guatemala. We use the language of the indigenous people not only for instruction, but also to inculturate the La Sallian charism.

How would you describe the kind of Catholic education offered by the La Salle? 

For the brothers, the most important characteristic of a La Sallian education is the spirit of community. We want to transmit a spirit of community to young people and make them feel that they are brothers and sisters to one another. When I say La Salle, it is not only the La Salle brothers, but it is the La Sallian family — students, alumni, parents, teachers — who are brothers and sisters to one another. In Israel, for example, we have a school with teachers, staff and students who are Muslim, Christian and other denominations who come from thirty-two countries around the world. All of the students learn Hebrew, Arabic, English, French and another language of choice. They all live like brothers and sisters in a very difficult situation in Israel.

And how would you describe the La Sallian spirituality?

An important part of La Sallian spirituality is that St. La Salle discovered the plan of God for him in his reality — the reality of the poor, the reality of the children and the reality of the young people. For St. La Salle, reality is a theological place to discover God’s plan of salvation. At the same time, (our founder) was enlightened by the word of God especially from the first letter of St. Paul to Timothy which said “God wished the salvation all the people.” St. La Salle said that if God wished the salvation of all the people, then we need to be the means of salvation. And one means of salvation is through the school. We need to feel that we are instruments of spirituality for young people. That is our spirituality.

As the Superior General, you have a unique perspective on the La Sallian community worldwide. What place does being a La Sallian play in our world?

I’ve had the privilege to visit 80 of the 82 countries where the La Sallian mission is present. I have witnessed the La Sallian charism, spirituality and theology inculturate in each country, especially in countries with different cultures and religions in Asia and the Middle East. In Egypt, I had a wonderful experience of Christian and Muslim teachers and students living and studying together. In the US, there are young La Salllian volunteers who stop school for a year or have recently finished university and serve in La Sallian schools for immigrants. They teach and live together in that community as brothers and sisters. Through that experience, you can identify the three most important La Sallian values. First, faith in God our father, the God of all the religions; second, the brotherhood and sisterhood under God because we are all sons and daughers, brothers and sisters under God; third, service — the most important La Sallian value.

What is your impression of the La Sallian community here in the Philippines — not only the brothers, but also of the teachers, the students and the alumni?

La Salle is very alive in the Philippines! I can feel that all of you — the brothers, the lay people, the students, the alumni, the parents — are all proud to be La Sallian. And I think the success of La Salle over here is the union among all the stakeholders. We only have around 50 brothers in the country, but we have a lot of extraordinary lay people engaged in the La Sallian mission. As a result, we have more than 100,000 students here in the Philippines, even more students than we have in the United States! If a country has many La Sallian students, it is because the brothers and lay people are working together for the La Sallian mission. I have said that we have no more brother schools, we have La Sallian schools.

As we close the centennial year of the institution, is the La Salle congregation satisfied with what La Salle has accomplished here in the Philippines?

I was impressed with the celebration of La Salle’s centennial in the Philippines and I was particularly touched by the ceremonies that honored the roots of the La Sallian district in the Philippines and the (foreign and local) brothers who worked in the Philippines during those years. But as you end your centennial, what is just as important as recalling the past is for La Salle Philippines to see the future. I am very happy to know that one of the fruits of this centennial is the growing vocation for the brothers. That’s a wonderful sign.

 St. La Salle’s original mission was to provide education for the poor and underprivileged. How are we continuing that mission here in the Philippines and in Asia?

There are two ways that La Salle serves the poor. First, we serve the poor directly through education such as our school for fisherfolk in Bagac, Bataan so they can gain more economic opportunities in life. But just as important is to be able to serve the poor through social justice formation among young people by creating an attitude of solidarity with the poor. In Asia, we have two big private schools that have a school for handicapped students in the same campus. The students of the regular school are vey close to the handicapped students. I think it is very important that we create an attitude to be open so as to creatively, concretely and directly serve the poor.

During the last three administrations in the Philippines, the La Salle brothers have been active in the political area — whether it was with the opposition or the administration. We have had brothers serving in the government (the late Bro. Andrew Gonzalez was Education Secretary during the Estrada administration, the late Bro. Rolando Dizon as the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairman during the Arroyo administration and Bro. Armin Luistro is the current Education Secretary) and the La Salle brothers also released a statement during the term of President Arroyo calling on her to resign. Are these political activities encouraged or discouraged by La Salle as a whole? And how is it related to the La Sallian mission?

Not an easy question. (Laughs) I think there is not only one response for that. It depends on each reality (where the La Salle brothers are present). Like I said earlier, what is more important about La Sallian spirituality is to know the reality and to respond to the needs of that reality. In the Philippines, the brothers have been very aware of the reality of the country and are engaged in helping seek a solution to it. Sometimes, they cannot be neutral when it comes to the reality of the situation. There are exceptional situations like when you have brothers serving in the government. We have had similar situations in other countries (where La Salle is present as well). The Philippine brothers are responding to a concrete need and we support that. But what is even important is the political formation of the student and the political engagement of our brothers.

When the brothers become engaged in politics, do they have to ask your permission first?

(Smiles) Yes. But they also need the permission of the congregation and the local church. 

I’m curious as to how you perceive this rivalry between the Jesuits and the La Salle brothers. Does this rivalry reach all the way to the top?

(Laughs) I know in the Philippines that you have a great difference between the green and the blue. In the past, we were rivals with Jesuits in many aspects but nowadays the rivalry is just in sports. In fact, Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, the superior general of the Jesuits, is a former La Salle student in our school in Barcelona. 

I read in an interview of Fr. Nicolas that he even once thought of becoming a brother because he enjoyed education. 

Fr. Adolfo was very touched when we invited him to celebrate the feast of St. John Baptist de La Salle two years ago (in the motherhouse). In his homily, he expressed his great admiration and love for the brothers. He is a very nice and simple man. At the level of superior general, Fr. Adolfo and I enjoy a wonderful relationship. Every year, we have two meetings in Rome to reflect together over different points of the religious life. We live those meetings in great fraternity. Yes, we acknowledge that there is rivalry with the Jesuits in sports. But that is not the most important thing. The most important thing is that we feel that we brothers with one another. In the future, I hope we can work more together with the Jesuits on very specific and important projects.

What parting words would you like to leave us — the teachers, students and alumni — of the La Sallian institutions in the Philippines?

Br. José Pablo Basterrechea, the Superior General from 1976 to 1986, often talked about “not taking the name of La Salle in vain.” What he meant by that is to be La Sallian is not only to wear symbols that identify you with La Salle or to be very enthusiastic over victory in sports like basketball. What is more important as a La Sallian is to be open to the needs of the others. To know the reality that you are living in and to try to actively respond to serve the people, especially the young people. To feel that that is the will of God for us. To be an instrument of salvation for the others. To have a heart for our brothers and sisters and to be always open to others in spite of the religious, cultural and social differences. To be La Sallian is to live as brothers and sisters to one another.

Animo La Salle, Br. Alvaro.

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