Working Together

42. In our ministries, we seek to create a work environment where every one feels respected and co-responsible. Further, among ourselves we develop a strong sense of companionship, affirming one another and offering mutual support and encouragement.

43. These attitudes are important in facing up to and resolving the tensions that can arise in our schools and other works and that concern all of us, for example issues of salaries and conditions of work. We seek to seize such opportunities for growing in our sensitivity to one another through open dialogue. All of us, as employers, staff or staff organisations, are called on to let ourselves be guided both by the principles of fairness, justice and transparency, and by commitment to our mission. ¹⁸

44. We know that, at both the interpersonal and group level, mistakes will be made, misunderstandings will occur, sensitivities will be offended, and professional differences will arise. Expressing our mutual forgiveness from time to time helps us keep our mission life-giving for ourselves and for those we serve.

45. Our sense of shared mission extends in a particular way to parents, respecting their "primary duty" ¹⁹ for the education of their children. Following the Marcellin’s lead, we welcome them, listen to them, and "work together with them". ²⁰ It is a mutual process: we assist one another to better understand and address the particular situation and educational needs of their children.

46. For Marcellin, it was fundamental that our Marist works be integrated into the pastoral mission of the local Church. This principle guides us today in our relations with parishes and dioceses, as does our desire to share the gift of our charism. ²¹