On 2nd January, the Marists of Champagnat celebrated the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Institute. There were many events as can be seen on social media. Despite it being the holiday period, Marist communities gathered to remember our history, to thank God for the gift of the charism of Marcellin Champagnat and to dream about a New Beginning.
The General Council made a conscious decision to to be physically present in different parts of the Marist world on this date: Argentina (Br Víctor Preciado), Bangladesh (Br Emili Turú), Kenya (Brothers Antonio Ramalho and Ernesto Sánchez), Rome (Brothers Josep Maria Soteras and Eugène Kabanguka), La Valla (Br Joe McKee) and Sri Lanka (Br Michael De Waas).
Our #MillionMarists campaign had hoped to connect 1 Million Marists around the world yesterday through social media. The campaign successfully reached over 2.5 Million Marists around the world with over 5.5 million views of shared social media posts! We invite everyone throughout the year to continue using this sign of unity among the Marist family via social media networks.
Our website will continue to cover the events taking place in Administrative Units over the coming months.
A reminder that the General Council foresees two other important dates Council to celebrate the Bicentenary: June 6, the feast of Saint Marcellin Champagnat, and September 8, the opening of the General Chapter in Colombia.
The following video shows some images of the celebration on 2 January.
