Lasallian educational institutions[1] are educational institutions affiliated with the De La Salle Brothers, a Catholic religious teaching order founded by French priest Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, who was canonized in 1900 and proclaimed by Pope Pius XII as patron saint of all teachers of youth on May 15, 1950.[2] In regard to their educational activities, the Brothers have since 1680 also called themselves "Brothers of the Christian Schools", associated with the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools;[3] they are often referred to by themselves and others by the shorter term "Christian Brothers",[4][5] a name also applied to the unrelated Congregation of Christian Brothers or Irish Christian Brothers,[6][7] also providers of education, which commonly causes confusion.[8]
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In 2021 the International Lasallian Mission Web site stated that the Lasallian order consists of about 3,000 Brothers, who help in running over 1,100 education centers in 80 countries with more than a million students, together with 90,000 teachers and lay associates.[9]
Short "one-line" prayers are recited in Lasallian educational institutions during the school day, Typical wordings of some are:[10]
Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God.[note 1]
Live Jesus in our hearts! Forever!
Saint John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.[10]
The US-based La Salle International Foundation, which supports global educational and other networks of the De La Salle Brothers, say on their Web site that they sponsor educational projects and support schools in 80 countries; and that they give special attention to youth at risk, including those "educationally excluded, street children, orphans, victims of child abuse, drug addicts, disabled youth, individuals with mental illness, migrant and refugee youth, HIV+ and AIDS children, child victims of war, juvenile offenders, child laborers, victims of child trafficking, ethnic minorities, disadvantaged girls, and impoverished children".[12]
Since the 1980s increasing numbers of cases of sexual and physical abuse of children, covered up by authorities, in institutions of the Catholic Church[13] and others[14] have been reported. Cases of physical and sexual abuse of children in Lasallian educational institutions, and failure to investigate, report, and subsequently protect children have been investigated, admitted,[15][14] and apologised for.
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In 1975, all of the La Salle schools in Việt Nam were dissolved. In the following year the École Taberd was taken over by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and transformed into a secondary school becoming the Trần Đại Nghĩa Specialist High School for gifted students in 2000.[21]
Sint-Aloysius Scholengroep O.-L.-Vrouw in Zepperen
France
In France, the Brothers of the Christian schools run 68 primary schools, 92 middle schools, 53 general high schools and 47 vocational high schools, including:
Institut polytechnique LaSalle Beauvais, engineering school
Institution Saint-Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (Avignon)
Lycée Saint Joseph - La Salle de Lorient[fr] (Lorient)
College of Santa Fe (1966-2009) (previously St. Michael's College (1859–1966); subsequently the non-Lasallian Santa Fe University of Art and Design from 2010–2018), now closed
Saint Gabriel's System, including St Gabriel's Hall and De La Salle Vocational, for court-adjudicated youth, Philadelphia[32]
Saint Thomas College, Scranton. Administered by the Lasallians 1897–1942, then transferred to the Jesuits. Renamed The University of Scranton in 1938[33]
There have been a number of cases of institutional sexual and physical abuse of children, many over a period of several decades, in Lasallian educational institutions in several countries. Some branches of the De La Salle Brothers admitted to these cases, and issued apologies publicly and to victims. The Northern Ireland Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry in its report on physical and sexual abuse at the De La Salle Boys' Home at Rubane House considered "the extent and frequency of the abuse was such that it was systemic" and that "the [La Salle] Order's failings to properly investigate allegations of sexual abuse and to properly report them to relevant authorities and its failure to take proper steps to protect children from further sexual abuse" amounted to "a systemic failure to take appropriate steps to ensure the investigation and prosecution of criminal offences involving abuse".[14]
On 11 March 2022 ministers from the five main political parties in Northern Ireland and six abusing institutions made statements of apology in the Northern Ireland Assembly.[37]
The six institutions that apologised for carrying out abuse were De La Salle Brothers, represented by Br Francis Manning; the Sisters of Nazareth, represented bySr Cornelia Walsh; the Sisters of St Louis represented by Sr Uainin Clarke; theGood Shepherd Sisters, represented by Sr Cait O'Leary; Barnardo's in Northern Ireland, represented by Michele Janes; and Irish Church Missions, represented by Rev Mark Jones.[37] In live reporting after the apology, BBC News reported that Jon McCourt from Survivors North West said "If what happened today was the best that the church could offer by way of an apology they failed miserably. There was no emotion, there was no ownership. ... I don't believe that the church and institutions atoned today." He called on the intuitions to "do the right thing" and contribute to the redress fund for survivors, saying that institutions have done similar for people in Scotland.[38]:15:11 McCourt praised the government ministers' apologies; they had "sat and thought out and listened to what it was we said.", but said that the institutions had failed to do this, leading to some victims having to leave the room while they were speaking, "compound[ing] the hurt."[38]:15:22 Others angry at the institutions' apologies included Caroline Farry, who attended St Joseph's Training School in Middletown from 1978 to 1981, overseen by nuns from the Sisters of St Louis,[38]:15:04 Pádraigín Drinan from Survivors of Abuse,[38]:14:55 and Alice Harper, whose brother, a victim of the De La Salle Brothers, had since died.[38]:14:55 Peter Murdock, from campaign group Savia, was at Nazareth Lodge Orphanage with his brother (who had recently died); he likened the institution to an "SS camp". He said "It's shocking to hear a nun from the institution apologising ... it comes 30 years too late ... people need to realise that it has to come from the heart. They say it came from the heart but why did they not apologise 30 years ago?"[38]:14:34
"Thousands raped in Ireland's Christian Brothers schools". Belfast Telegraph. 20 May 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2016. Typical article referring simply to "Christian Brothers", described in the text as "Ireland's Roman Catholic-run institutions", i.e., not La Salle
"Congregation of Christian Brothers". US Library of Congress. Retrieved 7 October 2016. "Christian Brothers ... the title is sometimes confusing as it identifies two distinct communities"
"Lasallian Prayer". Saint Mary's College High School. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2022. These short prayers are familiar to Lasallians throughout the world ... and are recited often during the school day.
"Our History". St Aloysius' College. 2019. In 1996, the De La Salle Brothers ceased to have direct involvement in the school, although St. Aloysius' College remains a part of the Lasallian network of schools
"Roncalli High School". Roncalli High School. Archived from the original on February 22, 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
