Lasallian Leadership Supports Childrens' Rights
Provincials Br. Timothy Coldwell (New Orleans-Santa Fe District; l-to-r), Br. Larry Schatz (Midwest District), and Br. Dennis Malloy (District of Eastern North America) sign a statement advocating childrens' rights.
January 17, 2012
The leadership of the Brothers of the Christian Schools in the USA-Toronto Region has given its full support for the promotion and protection of the rights of children with the signing of a statement advocating and committing themselves to helping children achieve their full human dignity. The public signing was held on November 19, 2011 before a national gathering of over 250 Lasallian educators in Washington, DC.
This public expression of support and solidarity for the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was adopted in 1989 and ratified by all countries, except the U.S. and Somalia, calls upon political and religious leaders, as well as civil society organizations in this country and throughout the world, to move towards achieving real progress in the protection of children's rights. Today, 14.1 million children in the U.S. are economically poor and much work remains to be done.
The Defense of the Rights of Children has become a focus of the Lasallian Mission since the turn of the 21st century with the release of the Pastoral Letter from Superior General, Bro. John Johnston, FSC, to the Brothers and to all members of the Lasallian Family in 1999. A year later the delegates to the 43rd General Chapter of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools overwhelming endorsed this initiative. Since that time there have been educational and formation events promoting the Defense of the Rights of the Child in the United States-Toronto Region, culminating in the April 2010 Lasallian Convocation at the United Nations.
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Did you know?
The Brothers of the Christian Schools was founded by St. John Baptist de La Salle in 1679 for the purpose of providing spiritual and human education to the children of artisans and the economically poor. The congregation grew to over 16,000 in about 82 countries during the 1960s. Today there are about 5,000 Brothers throughout the world who serve in over a thousand educational ministries together with more than 80,000 partners.