South Korea

Brief history

The first  meeting was held in  April 29 –30, 1984 with 5 participants: O Dilon, Lee Augustine, Lee Andreia, Sunwoo Joseph, Hong Theresa.

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At the Masuk discipline house of Jesus little brothers.   meeting was on the introduction of French lay fraternity,  plan to translate the way of unity , Gospel sharing, spiritual reading, sharing lives, etc.  There was also the celebration of the Eucharist.

In  July, 2000: the were four Koreans delegates at the World Assembly in Brazil.  They were Lee Paulus, Jang Clara, Hong Theresa, Rev. Go, Insoo.

The Korean fraternities celebrated the 20th commemorative year on May 5, 2004. In July, Korea hosted the First Nazareth Week for Asia with the Asian Responsibles Encounter.

Teams

The fraternities in Korea are present in 4 areas with names that represent the places where Br. Charles lived.  In Seoul, there are 3 groups, namely Nazareth, Beni-Abbes and Sahara; in Daegu the El Golea team (1996) ;  in Mokpo the Asekrem team (1997) and in Hamyol and Junju the Tamanrasset team (2001)

Monthly  Encounters

The group have  spiritual readings, especially, books(or letters) about(of) Charles de Foucauld; Gospel sharing;  Mass ,  meditation with Eucharist , sharing lives each other,  sharing meal, etc.

The  Korean lay fraternities have the following common celebrations: In January, the New year greetings; in June, retreat(for Nazareth life); in November, National assembly and in December for the anniversary of  Charles de Foucauld .

Special(temporary) committees

1. Committee for the cultivation of lay fraternity(CCLF) with Theresa Hong as responsible. Now, CCLF gives the training program for the living of Foucauld's spirituality at Seoul and local areas.
2. Committee for the preparation of world assembly(CPWA) with Lee Stephano as responsible. CPWA also prepared and helped the deepening of 2006 world assembly themes through the Korean assembly and the retreat.

Japan 

The Little Sisters of Jesus arrived in Japan in 1953 and the Little Brothers in 1955.

Around 1967, the lay fraternity begun.  Some Japanese priest studying in Rome were invited by Japanese Little Sisters staying at Tre Fontane and thereafter, showed interest in the spirit of the fraternity. In Tokyo, Father Sawada, who was the confessor of the Little Sisters in Tokyo, introduced some young workers and university students to  the fraternity. The group called themselves “great brothers” recognizing that they themselves were not able to become “little.” Among them was Massalou Ota who subsequently became a Little Brother of the Gospel in 1971. With marriages and transfer of  residences, the group stopped after 1973. 

In 2001, Theresa Hon of South Korea, on here return from the General Meeting in Brazil, helped start a new group in Wakayama. We are busy with our works and have little time to be together. Our meetings begin with mass at the L. Brothers fraternity, a meal and then readings on Charles de Foucauld.  We have finished the Spiritual Journey of Charles de Foucauld by Francois-Six. We have started reading the biography of L. Sr. Magdeleine, Foundress of the Little Sisters of Jesus. 

General Situation of the Catholic Church in Japan

The Japanese Church suffered a lot during the 1930-1945 wars. In 1945 there were 100,000 members which grow to 400,000 in 1965.  After 1970, conversion has stopped and the foreign missionary priest were getting old. 

At Wakayama, in 1980 there were 15 priest. In 2006, there are only 6 priests. We members of the lay group are charged with big responsibilities;  president of the Apostolic Committee of Wakayama prefecture, the Responsible of general secretariat of Wakayama prefecture, the chief of the Liturgical Committee, etc. There are 3,000 Catholics in Wakayama prefecture, the largest parish has 800 and only 130 attend Sunday mass. This makes it really hard us lay members to have regular meetings because of the kind of responsibilities we have in the Prefecture. 

Poverty

There are 25,000 homeless people out of  120 Million Japanese population.  We see this as a threat to the peace of Japanese society. In this regard, all of us are members of night patrol to help homeless people numbering about 100 in Wakayama City. The group of 20 members supported by 10 parishes and 300 persons, which a budget of US$30,000 annually helps in the following activities:  once a week distribution of rice ball in 10 places for 90 people;  Saturdays for 50, once a month dinner for 80  and once a year (New Years Day) for 250-280. We have helped 120 people have their own apartment.  

Peacemaking

At present, the largest issue is the desire of the government to change in the Japanese Constitution on the  Article on Peace which prohibits the military force and army to resolve the international conflicts.  There is also the issue on the freedom of faith. The present government and conservative sectors wants to return the Emperor and the Shinto-shrine as the center of the unity of the Japanese people as practiced in 1868 to 1945. It is a Japanese society  that wants nationalism  trough Shintoism and Emperorism.

Message of Charles de Foucauld

With the threat of narrow nationalism in Japan and the desire of being a military force, we are challenged to share in our society the message of universality that L. Br. Charles so often spoke of and lived in his adopted land and  with his poor neighbors.  

Australia 

There are two Charles de Foucauld (CDF) Fraternities in Australia, one in Melbourne and one in Adelaide.

From left: Fr Lawrence Freeman, Simon Tinh Nguyen, Dominic Khanh Pham, Kenny Fernando

The Melbourne Lay Fraternity of Charles De Foucauld was formed thanks to the Little Sisters of Jesus in the city and in particular to Mavis Perera, an active and devoted member of Sri Lankan Fraternity.

Through Monique Heliot of France and Marie Fernando of Sri Lanka, the two former responsibles for Asia, Mavis heard about a man formally belonging to the Saigon Fraternity but actually living in Melbourne. During her two trips to Australia, she tried to get in contact with him, aiming to form a CDF group. During her second trip in 1997, she met him and earnestly encouraged him to form a lay fraternity here. Thanks to her ardent effort in arranging everything needed, some people of Sri Lankan and Vietnamese origin had the first meeting with her in May of that year and finally, a group was formed with five members, composing of

1. Father Laurence Sullivan, an Australian priest,
2. Kenny Fernando, from Sri Lanka
3. Dominic Khanh Pham, from Vietnam
4. Anna Phuc, from Vietnam
5. Simon Tinh Nguyen, from Vietnam

Anna Phuc, however stopped joining the group after several monthly meetings. In addition, the group have had three sympathizers irregularly attending our meetings.

Generally, our meeting takes place on the last Friday of each month at St Francis Church Pastoral Centre, including the participation in the Holy Mass in the Church at the end, celebrated by Father Lawrence Sullivan (a member of the group) for the whole parish congregation.

Usually, each meeting composes five parts:

1. We start with Br Charles’ Prayer of Abandonment.
2. After that we inform each other about ourselves, our family, and sometimes, news from other Fraternities and documents from The International Team.
3. The third part is a brief review of parts of Br Charles’ own life, followed by silent meditation and prayers.
4. The meeting continues with Gospel Sharing, based on the Readings of the Sunday to come
5. The meeting concludes with the final prayer, The Prayer of Abandonment, and those present attending the Eucharist. With blessing of Fr Sullivan, the celebrant, at the end of the Holy Mass at 12:30, the meeting comes to an end.

Adelaide

From left: Michele Cochrane, Francoise Creevey, LS Jeanne, LS Claire

The Adelaide CDF community began in April 1995. It arose out of a community network connected with the Little Sisters of Jesus in Adelaide, South Australia. Little Sister Jeanne Mathilde felt it was time to call some interested people together. It has usually consisted of six members at one time, but these members have changed over the years, and overall about 20 people have been associated with the group. Marie Fernando from Sri Lanka was the first person to welcome our group to the Charles de Foucauld fraternity via a letter shortly after we began to meet.

One of the first members of the group was Kevin Ryan who had had extensive experience with the lay fraternities in Spain where he was in close association with the Little Brothers of Jesus and the Little Sisters. He also had a clear understanding of how the lay communities could be involved in social justice issues.

A major development in the group occurred when LS Gertrude Veronica a German Little Sister visited the Little Sisters in Adelaide. A conversation occurred between herself and Michele Cochrane, and she put the group in contact with Marianne Bonzelet. After this we began to receive the international newsletter, and discovered the existence of the Melbourne fraternity. Thus we then began to make contact with the Melbourne fraternity as well.

In July, 2005 Michele Cochrane attended the first NazarethWeek Asia meeting in South Korea and contacts were made within the Asian region. In January 2006 Michele visited the Melbourne Fraternity and shared Gospel reflection and meditation.

The Adelaide group meets once a month on the third Saturday for:-

1. reflection on the Gospel
2. meditation followed by the Prayer of Abandonment
3. discussion of current affairs both nationally and internationally.

We have also supported a school for children in Africa through our member Francoise Creevey. We have had one weekend retreat where we invited Fr Terry Yard, a priest from the Jesus Caritas Fraternity in Tasmania to join us. We also attend local events of the Christian Meditation Movement. Each year near to December 1^st we have a longer meeting with a shared lunch, Gospel reflection and meditation.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country with a total population of 18,000,000,  6% (1,080,000) are Catholics who are mostly living in the coastal area with fishing as their main source of income.

The Lay Fraternity

Mavis Perera is the founder of the Lay Fraternity of Bro. Charles de Foucauld for Sri Lanka.  Later Marie Fernando became the spiritual leader for the Fraternity.  Both did a tremendous job to share spirituality of Bro. Charles de Foucauld  before they died.  After their deaths the Fraternity was almost crashed. But by the blessings of Holy Spirit we managed to continue  to practice the way of life of Bro. Charles de Foucauld. 

There are about 30 members who belong to the Lay Fraternity. Regionally there are 4 Fraternities: in Negombo, 6 members, in Seeduwa, 12 members, in Mathhegoda, 5 members and in Moratuwa, 7 members.

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Our Vision

     Praise the Name of the Load from the word that we say and the task what we do.

Our Mission

     Understand the Message of Lord Jesus by the Gospel and share our thoughts.

     Practice qualities of Bro. Chares de Foucauld in our lives.

     Share the experience that we gained by following Bro. Charles to the community.

Regional Meetings

The members of each region meets once a month for a 3 to 6 hours session.

The meetings consist  of  meditation and prayers, review of previous month experiences, sharing the information from International Bulletin, scripture reading and sharings and General Prayer and celebration of  birthdays, etc.

Island Gathering

Every  6 months there is  a gathering  to share the spirituality of Bro. Charles de Foucauld, with a  full day session  of prayers, Mass, sharings with a companion priest, updates on the regions  and  agape.   In addition to this all members in Sri Lanka are gathering for the annual retreat for 3-4 days.

The tasks we do…

We  managed to do a very silent task in God by visiting families in our area, praying for them, showing them the path to God etc.  Most of our member are contributing other Catholic groups in the society passing the spirituality of Bro. Charles. (Eg : Youth Association, Society of Sacred Heart, Legion of Mary.  As members of the Youth Association we were able to give financial help in the reconstruction of St. Sebastian’s Church of Seeduwa.

India

More than half a century ago the Nazareth spirituality of the Universal Little Brother Charles de Foucauld came alive in India through a few home-ashrams of Little Sisters of Jesus (who arrived in Varanasi in 1953) and Little Brothers of Jesus (who came to Alampundi, S.India in 1964 ). In the course of time, the fraternities of Little Sisters and Little Brothers have created a circle of friends, which have developed in becoming the overall Indian “Spiritual Family of Little Brother Charles”.

Within this larger circle there have grown closer contacts through occasional meetings, especially on the 1st of Dec locally every year. The first general meeting took place in Kamanahalli, Bangalore in 1983. Since then there have been 16 annual/bi-annual general meetings either in north or south: mostly in Bangalore, but also in Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Allahabad, Hyderabad, Varanasi and Penugonda (Andhra Pradesh). A small circular letter was started by the Little Brothers in 1971, which from 1990 became the official Link Letter of the Spiritual Family of Charles de Foucauld in India, under the name "Maitri" (Friendship) — there have been 18 issues of this letter. In 2001 this link letter was renamed "Sarva Maitri" (that is, Universal Friendhip) and slowly it became the contact letter of what we call the "Wider Fraternity" of mostly lay persons; but without making a distinction about non-priests or non-religious!

Untill now, there have been 12 issues of "Sarva Maitri", initially sent to some 100 people. Now, it is almost exclusively sent to some 40 addresses of people more explicitly committed to mutual linking as "Wider Fraternity". They are mostly isolated persons/families, spread far and wide, involved in their own sphere of ocupation and social involvement, and they are unable or not very keen on conducting formal and regular fraternity meetings as such. Hence, there is no structural organization, but just friendship and a common attraction towards the life and message of Brother Charles. Still, there is a genuine affectionate and spiritual link between those unofficial “members,” as they meet occasionally, especially in Bangalore.

As a matter of fact, for participation in the International Meetings the general Indian Fraternity sent its "representatives" (arranging for its own resources): Ms Tina de Sa participated in the Natoye meeting in Belgium (1988), Mrs Kavari Hemraj participated in the Orsay meeting in Paris (1994), and Mr Ramchandra Paul was sent to the meeting in Rio, Brasil (2000). Although Mr Pushparajan was selected as official representative, he could not be sent to the Arusha meeting (2006), but the international team, keen of having somebody from India, invited Mr R.C.Paul again to attend (generously financing his travel and participation). Earlier, he had also volunteered to participate in the 1st Asian Nazareth Week at Sheoul, 2005 (for which also the international team had covered all expenses). In 2003 the "Wider Fraternity" elaborated its own version and Indian adaptation of the "Way of Unity", which serves as its "Little Guide".

The Wider Fraternity will decide in its 17th general meeting of 30 Dec 2006, held in Bangalore, whether it would be wise and feasible to send a delegate for the 2nd Asian Nazareth Meeting at Manila, Philippines (probably at the end of 2007). Hopefully, in this meeting there will be another attempt at a personalized structuring of the existing group, perhaps even with a youth branch! We should grow in mutual relationship first among ourselves with moments of deeper sharing; moreover, in our relationship with other Asian and worldwide fraternities we should avoid the impression of having two identities, one in the south and one in the north of India!

Philippines

The Philippines is  the world’s second largest archipelago made up of  7,107 Islands.  In the world,  it is   the 13^th most populous country,   Metro Manila the 11^th most populous metropolitan area, the fifth largest Christian nation and the third largest English speaking country.   

The People, Culture and Language

The estimated population is  90 Million -  83% Catholic, 9 % Protestants , 5% Muslims, 3% Buddhists  and  a small percentage animist. The original inhabitants are the Negritos believed to have traveled through land bridges in the early times.  There are about 80 indigenous tribes.   The people, language  and culture is  a fusion of Austronesian, Malay, Chinese, Indian, Spanish, and  Arab ancestry. There are  170 languages and dialects - one national language (Pilipino), 18 regional languages and many more dialects. English is an official language used in business, schools and communication.  11% or about 10 Million Filipinos are scattered  in 193 countries in the world.  They are the so called “Global Filipino.”  The Filipino diaspora is  the third largest among overseas Asian groups after China and India.  Filipinos are strong in their faith, whether Catholic,  Christian,  Muslim.   They  are family-oriented, meal-oriented, kundiman (sad Filipino song about wounded love) – oriented, bayani (hero) – oriented, spirit – oriented,  loves celebration and are very hospitable.   

Natural Resources, Environment Issues  -  It is a place of natural wonders  — forests, center of the center of the center of  marine life in the world,  mineral mines, mountain ranges,  rivers, oceans , seas, beaches, flora. fauna, etc.  However, at present, it is one of the earth’s “biodiversity hot spots” due to reckless abuse and misuse of resources.   It is  also one of  the most disaster prone country in the world  due to the country’s geographical and physical characteristics - lying along the Western Pacific Basin, the world’s busiest typhoon belt w/ an average of 20 typhoons a year, the coastal areas  prone to flood and storm surges.  It is part of the Circum-Pacific seismic belt  and lies in between two major tectonic plates whose movements create mountain ranges, islands, volcanoes, 80 % of the world’s earthquakes and tsunamis.  There are 220 volcanoes with 21 active  (Mt. Pinatubo, 1991,  being the worst eruption in terms of  destruction of  resources spanning 10 years.)  El Nino occurrences induce drought in many parts of the country, regularly posing a serious problem in agricultural production and potable water supply.    Man-made disasters  due to social, economic and political environment  where people live in adverse socio-economic situations that lead them to inhabit high risk areas and engage in unsustainable and dangerous livelihoods,  over exploitation of natural resources  causing flashfloods and landslides,  oil spills,  militarization/armed conflicts , development aggression, fire, red tide, epidemic, pollution (fish kill, toxic waste, etc.).   Every year there is tremendous destruction to life, properties,  nature, livelihood .  For the majority of the Filipino people, disasters have become part of “normal” life.  They  experience difficulties but they find ways to survive.  However, worsening economic conditions can cause these coping strategies to fail.

Poverty incidence is estimated at   78% (majority in the rural areas)   with   26%  of the population  living  below poverty line.  An estimated  20%  cornered 51.8% of the country’s income  with the poorest make do with only 9.3% .   There are 20 Million people homeless.    This is one of the  reasons why millions of Filipinos have opted to work abroad.   

Politics is  largely controlled by the  elite .  Patronage politics and “guns, goons and gold” thwart the people’s will.   The Philippines   has experienced on and off  good governance, colonization (Spanish, British, American and Japanese), revolts and revolution, martial law, surge of communist group, armed conflicts,  dictatorship,  people power.  The 1986 People Power Revolution made the Philippines a model for active non-violence in the desire of  attaining democracy and freedom.    At present,  most Filipinos doesn’t trust in the way many of the political leaders run the country.

Land Reform -   The inequitable distribution of the country’s  resources is inherited from the colonial past and has not been addressed effectively  by the Philippine government since.   The Spanish era (1521-1896)   have  together with  establishing the Catholic faith  also established as their own vast land holdings both for the government and the different religious groups in the  church.   “The Spanish bequeathed to the Americans (1896-1946 and post era)  a colony with an extreme concentration of wealth and land , with the Spanish elites and religious orders controlling vast estates. The American colonial efforts at land reform strongly favored the landowners, the educated and the wealthy.” (www.apmforum.com) .  The themselves assumed titles to approximately two-thirds of all arable lands in the Philippines.  Three land reform programs came , 1955, 1963, 1972.  In 1986, after the People Power revolution,  the Constitution made owning land a constitutional right of Filipino farmers.  The Compre hensive Agrarian Reform was made the centerpiece of economic development policies.  There are  some successes due to the diligence and work of different developmental groups.  On the other hand, efforts at land reform over the last 15 years have served only to perpetuate the cycle of rural unrest which included extra judicial killings, poverty, and economic stagnation.  Farmlands are being recently converted to industrial, residential, commercial and tourists areas mainly because the creation of exemptions inserted by landowners in Congress.    

The  Christian Church -  The Catholic church is still young in the Philippines – 400 years with  the coming of the Spaniards.  The history of the church for its first 333 years was intertwined with faith and colonization, racism, oppression,  land grabbing.    The American period brought the Protestant faith and  education but  also took lands for themselves.  In recent years, the leaders of the  Christian churches have been vocal in its preferential option for the poor.   It was also  instrumental in the change of dictatorial government.   A number of Church leaders have been visible in the fight for good governance, human rights, elections, environmental concerns,  alleviation of poverty, etc.    There are a lot of  religious and lay groups that  take action in these issues also.  The CBCP issues pastoral letters concerning  these issues also.  ( see CBCP Pastoral Letter of Jan. 2007on “The Dignity of the Rural Poor – A Gospel Concern www.cbcponline.org) 

The Muslims -     The Muslims have lived in Mindanao long before colonization came.  They were the people  who resisted colonization ,thus making the area of  Mindanao free from foreign influence in the past.   In recent years,  there were a number of groups who wanted to have either autonomy or independence from the government, thus  taking up arms until the present.  There  was also the issue of the Muslim and Christians conflict.    At present,  there are a number of  groups  who are living  lives of dialogue  with Muslims and Christians (Bishop-Ulama Group, Silsilah Dialogue Movement, different religious communities, etc. .)     Mindanao is also a place where big foreign multinational corporations (Del Monte, Dole, etc) have set up vast track of  farmlands for  pineapple, bananas, rubber,  etc.

The Civil Society  -  There are more than 4,000  development  non profit groups  that  helps in the alleviation of poverty/ poverty reduction  giving hope. The programs they have cut across the whole country and outside, urban and rural poor, socio-politico-economic-cultural-environment-human rights, gender issue etc. facilitating people to work for their own development.  There are many stories of success attained.  But  they are also confronted with the reality that the tasks at hand are so big.  They have also taken part in the  peaceful change of government leadership. The country  have   one of the most organized and developed  civil society groups.

Of course, any traveler who has been to the Philippines   will tell you that it’s the people and their culture that makes the Philippines unique.  Long poised at the centre of Southeast Asia trade, colonized by a succession of world powers, the Philippines is a vivid tapestry that reflects varied cultural inheritance.  And despite the poverty that afflicts much of the nation, the Filipinos themselves are among the most ebullient and easygoing people anywhere. (lonely planet – Philippines)

The Lay  Fraternity – Beginnings -  The Little Sisters of Jesus came to the Philippines in April , 1976 and the Little Brothers a few months after. This was the period of martial law (1972-1986).  From 1979 to 1981 with the help of L. Sr. Marlene Karla, a group of  6  lay people met monthly  monthly for sharing  and prayers with Fr. Joseph Larsen, CICM as companion priest.   However,  due to personal and business matters that hinder each one in attending the group stopped the meetings.  For  the following years the Little Sisters tried to encourage  to start the lay group but  to no avail.  In 2001, the Little Sisters celebrated  25 years of presence in the country. Two  Little Sisters, Theresia-Toshiko, A Japanese and Marlene-Karla, a German, came back to the Philippines. They,  with L. Sister Margaret Louise started  the first community  in 1976.   L. Sr. Marlene shared with  Angelina, a former L. Sr., that  she knows well Marianne, the International Coordinator of the Lay Fraternity at that time.    Marianne sent a Christmas greeting after.   In early 2005, Angelina wrote a letter to Marianne.   In turn, Marianne  invited her to attend as an observer in  the  First Asia Continental Meeting/Nazareth Week which was held in South Korea in July 2005.  She was able to attend the “historic” joyful  meeting .  The 13  participants were from  S. Korea, Japan, Australia, Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines with L. Br. Vincent as chaplain and  Marianne, the International Coordinator.

The  Lay  Group (“Little Friends”) in the Philippines  is a  fruit of the  beatification of Charles de Foucauld started meeting in October, 2005.    We joined the L. Brothers, L. Sister.  Jesus Caritas  Priests Fraternity and friends  in the celebration of Charles Beatification in November and  a  public Mass held at the Cathedral of  Our  Lady of Perpetual Help with 3 Bishops concelebrating in celebration of  Dec 1 death anniversary  Bro. Charles

 

The fraternity members with Cardinal Rosales, Archbishop of Manila

The Members and the Fraternity  Life  -  Our members are coming from different areas of Metro Manila. Angel and Grace, a couple with two children; Rica , Anthony, Jojo and Tess another couple, Angge , two others who are irregular in attendance and Emy  who joined us last December 2006.  Our works and commitments cuts across the society like  education and teaching , children , business, marine, voluntary works and  development works in  asset reform (agrarian reform, land and water rights, socio-eco dev) with farmers.    

Our regular meetings are sharing on the Gospel, our experiences, readings on Charles de Foucauld, the Little Guide and other sources, sharing news, adoration and our simple agape. We hope to be able to spend together a Nazareth time/weekend in the near future.  We have finished reading together the Little Guide.  We also  hope to be able to start a group in the  Visayas and Mindanao in the future as there are friends and people interested in those areas.   During  the visit of Miong jun in October 2006, we met with the Jesus Caritas priests at their National Assembly and we hope  we can work with them in their areas for closer ties with the Spiritual family of Bro. Charlespossible and possible  start of lay groups. We had an afternoon with  Cardinal Rosales who is one of the founding and active member of the Jesus Caritas and a very close friend of the Little Sisters and Little Brothers since the late 1970s.  He is very glad to see that there is now a lay group and support us. 

As members, there are challenges before us in trying to live Bro. Charles spirituality  which in reality  is lived by millions of our country wo/men.