In recent times, the European laity were the first group to develop autonomous structures enabling them to live the vision of Fr Chevalier alongside the professed. They undertook much of the initial work involved in bringing to birth the vision of an International Family of Laity.
In 1995, for the first time, an international ‘lay meeting’ was organised in Issoudun, France with limited participation of people from outside of Europe.
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Historical photos from the first gathering of Laity
This meeting took place at the joint request of Fr Michael Curran, then MSC Superior General, and the Franco-Swiss MSC Province. That meeting led to the formation in 1997 of the steering committee of the Council of Laity of the Franco-Swiss MSC Province, with Louis Joly as co-ordinator.
Photo: A meeting of the first European Lay Council.
Fr Michael Curran MSC, General Superior, and Fr Chema MSC (from Spain) were visitors. The meetings were organised in Miribel near Lyon, and members stayed in the homes of family friends of Louis and Nadette.
(used with permission)
Photo: Louis and Nadette Joly. Louis died on October 7, 2020. (used with permission)
In 1999, the European Council invited the laity to attend another International Gathering in Issoudun and from that gathering, a global alliance was formed. This gathering was truly international with participants from many parts of the world, and it is regarded as the first of the International Assemblies.
Photos: Participants in the 1999 Gathering of the Laity in Issoudun.
One aim of this meeting was to form an International Leadership Team, which occurred. In order to limit costs, membership was limited to European lay members from Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, England, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain. There were seven founding lay members, as well as a representative from the three Congregations and a representative from the Chevalier Formation Centre, Cor Novum, Issoudun. The names of the founding members are:
Louis JOLY, president and treasurer (France)
Marie-Blanche CORDONIER, secretary (Switzerland)
Sue KIMBERLEY (England)
Mimi van POPPEL (The Netherlands)
Angeles FONDEVILA (Spain)
Sr Stephani ORLOWSKI MSC (Germany)
Rita CLEUREN (Belgium)
Sr Suzanne BEIGNON FDNSC, General Council representative (France)
Photo: Participants in a meeting of the European Council , 2002, in Miribel (near Lyon) The photo includes Sr Barbara Daniels MSC (third on the left). (used with permission)
From 2000 onwards, the European Committee met twice each year in Lyon, France. The Committee recognised that it had an international mission and worked hard to stay in touch with the whole world and to create the collegial and structural foundation for the current structures.
Louis undertook the roles of Secretary General and Treasurer from 1999 to 2007 when Rita Cleuren, from Belgium succeeded Louis. The official headquarters of the international non-profit Association of Laity moved to Brussels in 2016.
The Franco-Swiss lay organisation had allocated considerable funds for the formation of their laity and they donated the entirety of these funds to the European Council of Laity. Administrative and accommodation costs for meetings were paid from this fund and the travel expenses to and from Lyon were borne by the European countries.
During this period, groups were also forming all around the globe and national and regional structures were beginning to develop, particularly in Southern and Central America.
The European Lay Council recognised the diversity that existed (and still exists) amongst a membership that comes from most continents and many, many countries and saw the need to organise another international meeting outside of Issoudun, thus the second International Assembly was held in 2008 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. One of the goals of that meeting was to establish a fully-fledged International Lay Council. While significant progress was made towards the achievement of that goal, it was not fully realised until the third Assembly in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Photo: The meeting place for the second international Assembly, Escuela de Evangelización San Juan Pablo segundo. Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic
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 Elisabeth Hartmann (Germany) and Marie Pellish (USA) (used with permission) |
Photo: A later European Council: from the left to the right : Mimi van Poppel, Louis Joly, Elisabeth Hartmann, Hannie Jansen, Therese (a visitor from Germany), Rita Cleuren, Sr Relida Gumur FDNSC Trigen, Ana San Martn, Jozefa Meys. (Louis, Therese and Jozefa have died)
(used with permission)
Following the 2008 Assembly, the European Lay Council continued to work towards the goal of a truly international and representative Council of the Laity of the Chevalier Family. The connections between Europe and the wider global family grew stronger through visits to many parts of the world, fully funded by European laity and religious. Jozefa Meys, Hannie Jansen and Rita Cleuren were key figures in the work that occurred between 2008 and 2017 and the global family owes these tireless pioneers a great debt of gratitude.
Others who contributed were Sara Nash from England who succeeded Sue Kimberley, Sylvie Barghon from France who succeeded Marie-Blanche Cordonier from Switzerland, Helen Gabcova from Slovakia, Elena Cedrola and Anna Mazzonzelli from Italy.
Image: Laity of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart - France/Switzerland. (used with permission)
Throughout those early days the laity were accompanied by dedicated professed men and women who attended meetings in Miribel, Paris and Lyon. In particular, we thank:
MSC: Michael Curran, Mark McDonald, Nick Harnan, Fransiskus Wahyudi
FDNSC: Relida Gumur, Merle Salazar, Madeleine Ngoy
MSC Sisters: Barbara Winkler
The third International Assembly that was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2017 was a turning point in the development of the lay movement. At that meeting a document of Guiding Principles and Statutes was accepted as the foundational organisational directions of the Laity of the Chevalier Family and an election was held for an International Council:
Alison McKenzie (Australia) was elected as General Secretary and Doris Machado (Brazil) as the Deputy. Rita Cleuren was invited to join the committee and Fr Hans Kwakman MSC continued as the Spiritual Companion to the Council. Since then, Peter Cheong from Korea has been invited to join as a member of the Council.
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Photos above: Third International Assembly of the Laity
Photo: Sylvie Barghon, Peter Cheong and Jozef Bouwens in Sâo Paulo 2017
(used with permission)
The work continues and the documents on this website reflect the maturing understanding of the Laity of the Chevalier Family of their distinctive identity and their integral place in the Chevalier Family.
Photo: A recent image of the European Lay Council. Ian Nash (England), Sara Nash (England), Elena Cedrola (I) Anna Mazzonzelli (I), Helena Gabcova (Slovakia) Elisabeth Hartmann (Germany), Sylvie Barghon (F), Nadette Joly (F), Louis Joly. (F) Roland Douchin (F - Cor Novum - translator), Hans Kwakman MSC (NL) Hannie Jansen (N), Rita Cleuren (B)
Used with permission